Saturday, November 18 - Halifax
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2023 Halifax International Security Forum

DATE
November 17-19, 2023

LOCATION
Halifax, Nova Scotia

AGENDA & SPEAKERS

6:00-8:00

Breakfast

LOCATION: Seaport Social Restaurant

8:00-8:30 

Presentation ON THE RECORD

The John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service

Presented by Mr. Peter Van Praagh

8:30-9:00

Halifax Chat  ON THE RECORD

WITH: Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Tenth Prime Minister, State of Israel, Israel; Mr. Nick Schifrin, Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour, United States

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MODERATOR Mr. Nick Schifrin

Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour, United States

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Prime Minister Ehud Barak

Tenth Prime Minister, State of Israel, Israel

9:30 – 10:30

Plenary 3: Victory in Ukraine = Example for Israel ON THE RECORD 

Speakers

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MODERATOR Mr. Nick Schifrin

Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour, United States

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Ms. Alicia Kearns

MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, United Kingdom

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President Petro Poroshenko

5th President of Ukraine

10:30-11:00

Halifax Chat ON THE RECORD

Let My People Go: Keeping Faith with Our Hostages. And Ourselves (2023)

Speakers

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MODERATOR Mr. Jason Rezaian

Opinions Columnist, The Washington Post, United States

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Ambassador Roger D. Carstens

Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Department of State, United States

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Ms. Evgenia Kara-Murza

Advocacy Director, Free Russia Foundation, Russia

11:30-12:20 

PLENARY 4: Victory in Ukraine = Indo-Pacific Possibilities ON THE RECORD

Speakers

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MODERATOR Ms. Luiza Savage

Executive Editor for Growth, POLITICO, United States

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Dr. Comfort Ero

President & CEO, International Crisis Group, United Kingdom

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General Wayne Eyre

Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces, Canada

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General Charles Flynn

Commanding General, U.S. Army Pacific, United States

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Mr. Nathan Law

Democracy Activist, Hong Kong Democracy Council, Hong Kong

12:20-12:30 

Halifax Chat ON THE RECORD

WITH: Secretary Penny Pritzker, United States Special Representative for Ukraine’s Economic Recovery, Department of State, United States

 

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Secretary Penny Pritzker

United States Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery, Department of State, United States

12:30-13:30 

Mid-day Meal

LOCATION: Atlantic Ballroom

13:30-14:30 

Plenary 5: Victory in Ukraine = Feeding the World ON THE RECORD

Introduction by: Ms. Cindy McCain, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme, United States

Speakers

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MODERATOR Mr. James Coomarasamy

Senior Presenter, BBC, United Kingdom

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Mr. Johan Bergenas

Senior Vice President, Oceans, World Wildlife Fund US, United States

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Senator Chris Coons

Senator from Delaware, United States

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Dr. Hanna Hopko

Head of ANTS Network and Co-Founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, Ukraine

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Pastor Esther Ibanga

Executive Director of Women Without Walls Initiative, Nigeria

15:00-15:30 

Halifax Chat ON THE RECORD

WITH: Dr. Brendan Nelson, President, Boeing Global, Australia; MODERATOR Dr. Janice Stein, Founding Director, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Canada

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MODERATOR Dr. Janice Stein

Founding Director, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Canada

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Dr. Brendan Nelson

President, Boeing Global, Australia

15:30-16:30 

Plenary 6: Victory in Ukraine = Allies’ Access to Innovation ON THE RECORD

Speakers

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MODERATOR Ms. Jeanne Meserve

Host NatSec Tech Podcast, United States

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President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic

Fourth President of Croatia, Croatia

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Mr. Liam Maxwell

Director, Government Transformation, Amazon Web Services, United Kingdom

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Minister Hanno Pevkur

Minister of Defence, Estonia

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Senator Mike Rounds

Senator for South Dakota, United States

19:00-21:00 

Dinner Sessions ALL SESSIONS OFF THE RECORD

 

African Security: Where is the Next Mali? (2013)

  • Speakers: General José Nunes da Fonseca, Chief of General Staff, Portuguese Armed Forces, Portugal; Dr. Iko Ibanga, Executive Director, Pro-Health International, Nigeria
  • Host: Ms. Shari Bryan, Managing Partner, Aegean Strategies, United States

 

AI: Awesome Initiative or Apocalypse Impending? (2017)

  • Speakers: Mr. James Baker, Director of the Office of Net Assessment, Department of Defense, United States
  • Host: Ms. Margaret Miller, Cybersecurity Reporter, POLITICO, United States

 

Arctic Security in a Time of Thaw (2010)

  • Speakers: Ms. Heather Conley, President, German Marshall Fund of the United States, United States; Ms. Madeleine Redfern, COO, CanArctic Inuit Networks, Canada
  • Host: Mr. Roland Paris, Director, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada

 

Beyond Borders: Transnational Trafficking and Crime (2011)

  • Speakers: Mr. Sergio Alcocer, President, Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, Mexico; Ambassador Carlos Vecchio, Ambassador of Venezuela to the United States, Venezuela
  • Host: Dr. Kathleen J. McInnis, Senior Fellow & Director of the Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, United States

 

Broken China: Handle With Care (2015)

  • Speakers: Mr. Nathan Law, Democracy Activist, Hong Kong Democracy Council, Hong Kong; Mr. Penpa Tsering, Sikyong, Central Tibetan Administration, India
  • Host: Mr. Dean Fealk, Managing Partner, Northern California, DLA Piper, United States

 

Cold Weather, High Prices, Long War: Finding Our Winter Resilience (2022)

  • Speakers: General Robert Brieger, Chairman of the EU Military Committee, European Union; Ms. Maria Mezentseva, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine, Ukraine
  • Host: Dr. Eva Busza, Regional Director of Eurasia Programs, National Democratic Institute, United States

                     

Facing the Future: Developing a Security Community in the Balkans (2010)

  • Speakers: Mr. François Lafond, Adviser, Expertise France, France; Minister Ejup Maqedonci, Minister of Defense, The Republic of Kosovo
  • Host: Mr. Randy Scheunemann, Strategic Counselor to HFX, Vice Chairman, International Republican Institute, United States

 

Fukushima Follow-Up: The Future of Nuclear Power (2011)

  • Speakers: Dr. Emma Belcher, President, Ploughshares Fund, United States; Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Department of State, United States
  • Host: Ms. Luiza Savage, Executive Editor for Growth, POLITICO, United States

 

Germany and its Alternatives (2018)

  • Speakers: Mr. Thomas Silberhorn, Member and Spokesperson for Transatlantic Relations, CDU/CSU Group in the German Bundestag, Germany; Ms. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Director and Fritz Stern Chair, Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings Institution, United States
  • Host: Senator Peter Boehm, Parliament of Canada, Canada

 

Iran: What Do We Do? (2009)

  • Speakers: Mr. Ali Ehsassi, Member of Parliament, Chair, Foreign Affairs & International Development Committee, Canada; Dr. Mehdi Yahyanejad, Co-Founder & Board Member, NetFreedom Pioneers, United States
  • Host: Ms. Mercedes Stephenson, Ottawa Bureau Chief and Host of The West Block, Global News, Canada

 

Israel Is Real (2023)

  • Speakers: His Excellency Iddo Moed, Ambassador of Israel to Canada, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel; Dr. Luis Rubio, Chairman of Mexico Evalúa, Mexico
  • Host: Mr. Kenneth Wollack, Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy, United States

 

Laws of War: Do They Work? (2009)

  • Speakers: Ms. Lise Grande, President and CEO United States Institute of Peace, United States; Mr. Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General, Ukraine
  • Host: Ms. Elisa Massimino, Executive Director Human Rights Institute, Georgetown Law, United States

 

NATO in Asia? Or a NATO for Asia? (2010)

  • Speakers:  Lieutenant General Gavan Reynolds, Chief of Defence Intelligence, Department of Defense, Australia; Dr. Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institute, United States
  • Host: Mr. Bruce Weinrod, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University, HFX Fellow, United States

 

NATO: Necessary (2016)

  • Speakers: Minister Arvydas Anušauskas, Minister of National Defence, Lithuania; Ms. Irene Fellin, Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, NATO, Italy
  • Host: Ms. Susan Markham, Program Director, Peace with Women Fellowship, HFX, United States

 

The Nature of Geopolitics? The Geopolitics of Nature (2023)

  • Speakers: Dr. Sarah Glaser, Senior Director of the Oceans Futures, World Wildlife Fund US, United States
  • Host: Mr. C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director, Institute for Strategic Dialogue, United States

 

Never Mind the BRICS, Here’s the CRINKs (2023)

  • Speakers: Ambassador Kelley Eckels Currie, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council, United States; Mr. Dolkun Isa, President, World Uyghur Congress, Germany
  • Host: Dr. Ian Brodie, Professor, University of Calgary, Canada

 

Problems and Partners: The Middle East (2009)

  • Speakers: Chairman Mohammed Abulahoum, Justice and Building Party, Yemen; Mr. Falah Bakir, Special Assistant to the President of Kurdistan Region for Foreign Policy Affairs, Iraq; Mr. Niko Lange, Senior Fellow, Munich Security Conference, Germany
  • Host: Dr. Nancy Okail, President and CEO, Center for International Policy, United States

 

Public Opinion: Mobilizing the Key Strategic Asset (2010)

  • Speakers: Mr. Wu’er Kaixi, General Secretary, Taiwan Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, Taiwan; Mr. JJ Omojuwa, Chief Strategist, Alpha Reach, Nigeria
  • Host: Ms. Rosa Brooks, Ginsburg Professor of Law and Policy, Georgetown University Law Center, United States

 

Rapprochement With Russia: Post-Putin Prep (2017)

  • Speakers: Ms. Natalia Arno, President, Free Russia Foundation, United States; Mr. Vladimir Milov, Vice President, Free Russia Foundation, Russia
  • Host: Dr. John Glenn, Senior Director, National Endowment for Democracy, United States

 

Sea, Sky, Space, Cyber: Secure? (2010)

  • Speakers: Mr. Scott Carpenter, Managing Director, Jigsaw, Google, United States; Colonel Kalliroi Landry, United States Space Force, United States; Commander Nicole Petrucci, Commander, Space Delta 3, United States Space Force, United States
  • Host: Ms. Wenchi Yu, Fellow Harvard Kennedy School and Host  TVBS News ‘Meeting Room’, Taiwan

 

Te Amo, Ammo: On Time Rearming (2023)

  • Speakers: Honorable Jane Harman, Chair, Commission on the National Defense Strategy, United States; General Martin Herem, Commander, Estonian Defence Forces, Estonia; Mr. Andriy Shevchenko, Head of Mission to Ukraine, Ukrainian World Congress, Ukraine
  • Host: Mr. Laurent Ruseckas, Executive Director, S&P Global, United Kingdom

 

 Today’s Technologies, Tomorrow’s Battles and the Laws that (Try to) Govern Them (2011)

  • Speakers: Mr. James Appathurai, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO, Belgium; Mr. Jürgen Hardt, Foreign Policy Spokesman, CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag, Germany; Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Former President of Estonia, Estonia; Colonel (Ret.) Roderich Kiesewetter, Member of Parliament, German Bundestag, Germany; Ambassador Robert O’Brien, Chairman of American Global Strategies, 27th U.S. National Security Advisor, United States
  • Host: Dr. Janice Stein, Founding Director, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Canada