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2014 Halifax International Security Forum

2014 Halifax International Security Forum

Date
November 21-23, 2014
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Participants
300

Agenda & Speakers

Friday, November 21
Saturday, November 22
Sunday, November 23

6:00-8:30

Breakfast

LOCATION: Elements Dining Room at the Westin Nova Scotian

8:30-9:45

Plenary 2: 
Is Winning Possible? The Laws and Lawlessness of Asymmetric War On the record

Speakers

Chief International Correspondent, BBC
Moderator
Ms. Lyse Doucet

Ms. Lyse Doucet

Ms. Lyse Doucet is the BBC’s award winning Chief International Correspondent who attended the forum in 2009 and 2013. She is a presenter for BBC World News TV and BBC World Service radio and is often deployed to anchor special news coverage from the field and report across the BBC. She played a key role in the BBC’s coverage of the “Arab Uprisings “ across the Middle East and North Africa. She is a regular visitor to Afghanistan and Pakistan from where she has been reporting for the past two decades. Her work has also focused on major natural disasters including the Indian Ocean tsunami, and more recently Pakistan floods. Before joining the BBC’s team of presenters in 1999, Ms. Doucet spent 15 years as a BBC foreign correspondent with postings in Jerusalem, Tehran, Amman, Kabul, Islamabad, and Abidjan. Ms. Doucet was born in eastern Canada and has a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto and a BA Honours from Queen’s University at Kingston.

Former Minister of Defense, Georgia
The Hon. Irakli Alasania

The Hon. Irakli Alasania

Irakli Alasania is a Georgian political leader who forged a liberal political movement after resigning in protest as Georgia’s Ambassador to the United Nations in 2008. In 2012, his ‘Free Democrats’ party alongside other political institutions established the Georgian Dream coalition and swept the 2012 parliamentary elections. He served as the Minister of Defense of Georgia from 2012 to 2014. Minister Alasania’s career as a diplomat, intelligence and defense official, has been committed to the peaceful reintegration of Georgia and strengthening of both its security and quality of life for the thousands of citizens displaced by the 1992-1993 civil war. He has held notable roles within the Ministry of State Security, headed the Abkhazian Government-in–Exile, and served as the Georgian President’s Special Envoy for the Georgian-Abkhaz Peace Talks. Born on December 21, 1973 in Batumi, Georgia, he holds a B.A. in International Law from Tbilisi State University (1990-1995) and is a graduate of the Georgian Academy of Security (1994-1996). He is married to Natia Panjikidze with two children.

Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government
The Hon. Falah Mustafa Bakir

The Hon. Falah Mustafa Bakir

Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir has been serving as the Head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Department of Foreign Relations since September 2006. He was the KRG’s liaison officer to the Coalition Provisional Authority in 2003 and to the Multi-National Forces’ Korean Contingent stationed in Erbil in 2004. He also served as a Senior Adviser to the KRG Prime Minister from 2002 until 2004. He spent four years as the KRG Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Irrigation, from 1999 to 2002. He Joined the KDP’s Foreign Relations office in 1991 and was appointed as KDP Public Relations Officer from 1996 to 1999. Minister Bakir obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Mosul, his graduate degree in development studies at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom, and a senior manager’s executive program certificate at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is fully fluent in Kurdish, English, and Arabic.

Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
General Jean-Paul Paloméros

General Jean-Paul Paloméros

General Jean-Paul Paloméros was confirmed by the North Atlantic Council as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation in August 2012. From 2009 to 2012, General Paloméros served as Air Force Chief of Staff. In 2005, he was appointed Vice-Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, where he implemented a new organization named “Air 2010.” Throughout his career he acquired extensive experience both as an operational commander and as a fighter pilot, having flown 82 combat missions and more than 3,500 flying hours. General Paloméros graduated from the Royal Air Force Staff College in 1993 where he was awarded the Curtis Prize by the Chief of the Air Staff of Great Britain. He joined the French Air Force Academy in 1973 and qualified as a fighter pilot in 1976. He was awarded the rank of Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honor and is an Officer of the National Order of Merit, in addition to holding the Aeronautical Medal.

Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command
General David Perkins

General David Perkins

General David G. Perkins commands the US Army Training and Doctrine Command and is responsible for selecting and recruiting every US Army soldier, training and educating Army professionals, and designing the future US Army. His numerous senior leadership positions include Special Assistant to the Speaker of the House, 104th US Congress; Battalion Commander during Operation Able Sentry; Brigade Commander for the invasion of Iraq; Executive Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Division Commander during the transition of U.S. Forces from Iraq in 2010-2011. General Perkins commanded the US Army’s premier education and leader development institution at Fort Leavenworth, responsible for managing training development and support, developing US Army doctrine, and synchronizing leader development. A native of New Hampshire, he graduated from the US Military Academy, holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering as well as a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies.

In a lively and contested discussion, panelists and audience debated the definition as well as the ability to win asymmetric wars, such as with ISIL. Panelists and participants were divided on the ability to truly win a values-based conflict. In the shadow of international conventions governing the rule of law, panelists addressed the social and political forces at play that exacerbate conflict and the resolution to conflict. Panelists also presented views on the relationship between coalition and international military forces, regional political stability and local community engagement in areas of asymmetric war.

“We define asymmetry as the process of thinking, organizing and acting differently in order to maximize your advantage to exploit an enemy’s weakness to gain the advantage. And so that is what war is…So war by our definition is asymmetric. All war is asymmetric.”

— Gen. David Perkins, Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

“Our strategy is to take all these components of war, the political part of it, the military part of it, the informational part of it, and have a series of dilemmas in figuring out in each case how you maintain a position of relative advantage constantly. So there really is never an end to it and that’s why I think it’s appropriate to say winning is constant. Winning. It’s never done [finished].”

— Gen. David Perkins, Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

“Firepower wins a battle. National power wins at the strategic level. So what we have to make sure – from the Army’s point of view, that we train and develop our leaders to understand all of the elements of national power, including coalitions, the political element, the economic element, all of the joint pieces.”

— Gen. David Perkins, Commanding General, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command

“If we look to the world at the end of the 20th century and certainly the world in which we live today, what we call asymmetry is more about unconventional, and even more about unrestricted warfare. I mean that we are facing straight adversaries, enemies, that are not complying, that are not accepting the world – the rules of the game.”

— Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

“We can win on the short term and lose on the long term and vice versa. I would argue that in the Balkans we lost – we lost a lot when we accepted the overrun of safe areas.”

— Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

“The Afghan forces are doing better and better every day. They are gaining skills. They are courageous. They are committing themselves. And we see the transition coming. So let’s commit ourselves for the result, support mission, training, advice, assist. That could be the most wonderful success of one coalition for many, many years and it is really worthy because the alternative is terrible.”

— Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

“Can we afford to lose, because this is not just a battle far away? This is a battle that comes all the way back home, including here in Canada.”

— Ms. Lyse Doucet, Chief International Correspondent, BBC

“The strategy is there but it has to be more clear. The vision has to be clarified. Air strikes alone cannot win the war. They are effective. They are helpful but you have to have troops on the ground.”

— The Hon. Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government

“For us, winning should be creating the conditions where we can support the countries to develop their economy, to develop their democracy, actually to stabilize them. But these conditions need to be met by degrading the offensive posture of the non-state actors, like ISIL and others.”

— Mr. Irakli Alsania, Former Minister of Defense, Georgia

“War is the extension of politics and it’s the tools of politics and of course we need to deal with things militarily but at the same time, creating the environment for reconciliation only can be done through community interactions. Just one last point I want to make is that we have to be consistent. We have to learn from our own past mistakes.”

— Mr. Irakli Alsania, Former Minister of Defense, Georgia

“We tend to look at the world because we have an expeditionary element to how we operate and we bring – we try and bring effective responses outside of our countries to other countries and therefore we tend to internalize and own the problem when in fact much of the asymmetry stems from – whether it’s the politics or the nature of the – the very nature of the conflict itself. It is owned by somebody else. So we can sit here and try and wrestle with means to alter the situation in Syria but ultimately much of the asymmetry is generated and created by the very nature of the conflict inside that country. And so to come from the outside and go in, to try and put a solution in place just adds to the overall asymmetrical effect.”

— Mr. Vance Serchuk, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security

“The Arab Spring and the revolutions were hijacked. The uprising started but there was no leadership to lead and to bring it about to the safe side. Therefore, they were hijacked by the Islamists who took control and created a lot of sensitivities and nervousness.”

— The Hon. Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government

9:45-10:15

Coffee Break

10:15-11:30

Plenary 3: Who Controls the Map? Lost Innocents, Persistent Criminals, Depraved Terrorists On the record

Speakers

Author, Journalist, and Founder, LeadersLink
Moderator
Ms. Kathleen Koch

Ms. Kathleen Koch

Ms. Kathleen Koch is a Washington-based author, speaker, moderator, freelance journalist, and founder and executive director of LeadersLink, the first non-profit to harness and share elected officials’ disaster lessons learned to help communities better prevent, prepare for, and recover from similar crises. Koch developed her expertise while covering numerous disasters for CNN including Hurricane Katrina. She anchored two prize-winning documentaries on the recovery of her hometown, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and recorded its journey in a best-selling book, Rising from Katrina, which was named Best Non-fiction in the Southeast Region in the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards. For 18 years, Koch was a CNN Washington correspondent specializing in aviation reporting and covering the Pentagon, White House, and Capitol Hill where she received multiple awards including the Peabody. Koch currently writes op-eds for publications including CNN.com, USA Today, and U.S. News & World Report.

Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Shlomo Avineri

Dr. Shlomo Avineri

Dr. Shlomo Avineri is Professor of Political Science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He is a graduate of Hebrew University and the London School of Economics and served as Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He held visiting appointments at Yale, Cornell, University of California, Cardozo School of Law, Australian National University, Oxford, and Northwestern University. He has been a fellow at the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Institute for World Economy and International Relations, and Collegium Budapest. In 1996, he received the Israel Prize, the country’s highest civilian decoration. His most recent book is Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State.

Commander, United States Southern Command
General John Kelly

General John Kelly

General John Kelly was born and raised in Boston, MA. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1970 and was discharged as a sergeant in 1972. Following graduation from the University of Massachusetts in 1976, he was commissioned and served in command positions from platoon through Marine Expeditionary Force. He also served as the Commandant’s Liaison Officer to the US House of Representatives, Special Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and the Legislative Assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. As Commanding General of First Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD), he led Multinational Force-West in Al Anbar and western Nineveh provinces of Iraq. General Kelly most recently served as the Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, before taking command of United States Southern Command in November 2012.

Minister of National Defence, Canada
The Hon. Rob Nicholson

The Hon. Rob Nicholson

Minister Rob Nicholson serves as the Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls. He was first elected in 1984 and re-elected in 1988, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011. In July 2013, Mr. Nicholson was named Minister of National Defence. Previously, he was appointed Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. During his first term in Parliament, Mr. Nicholson served as Minister for Science and Minister responsible for Small Business, as well as Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Mr. Nicholson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen’s University and a law degree from the University of Windsor. A lifelong resident of Niagara Falls, he practiced law and was involved in municipal politics. Mr. Nicholson is married to Arlene and is the father of three children.

Deputy Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The Hon. Alexander Vershbow

The Hon. Alexander Vershbow

Ambassador Alexander Vershbow is the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, the first American to serve in the position. He took up his position in February 2012 after serving for three years as the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, where he was responsible for US security and defense relations with Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa. From 1977 to 2008, Vershbow was a career member of the US Foreign Service, serving as US Ambassador to NATO (1998-2001); Russia (2001-2005), and the Republic of Korea (2005-2008). Previous posts include Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council (1994-97) and State Department Director for Soviet Union Affairs (1988-91). Vershbow, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, holds degrees from Yale and Columbia Universities in Russian/ East European Studies and International Relations.

Panelists and participants engaged in thorough debate on the globalization of criminal and terrorist activity, the inter- and transnational funding sources for destabilizing actions by non-state actors and the resultant impact on nation states as well as on local populations. Panelists concluded that the battle would not be quick or simple; complex historic, ideological and operational challenges exist in the establishment of stability and the fight against international crime. Panelists asserted that like-minded countries must cooperate and collaborate in this effort and that domestic laws and efforts to curb demand must keep pace.

“Those of us who believe in nation states and the pluralism that can and should exist within nation states have a responsibility to ensure that these free actors, these ones who will challenge the nation state, don’t get their way and there are a number of ways we can do that. We can do it within our own borders and we can do it with international cooperation but it’s something that we have to do.”

— The Hon. Rob Nicholson, Minister of National Defence, Canada

“The way to fight (the drug trade) is to reduce the drug demand in the United States, in Canada and the rest of the world. The amount of money that is generated by drug consumption primarily in the west fuels unbelievable levels of violence throughout the world. But certainly in Central America and other parts of the Americas and Caribbean, just cocaine alone, the profit that comes out of the United States, cocaine alone is about 80 billion dollars a year.”

— Gen. John Kelly, Commander, United States Southern Command

“Russia still enjoys the status of a state, enjoys the benefits of the international system but at the same time it’s using non-state actors to actively destabilize a neighboring country.”

— The Hon. Alexander Vershbow, Deputy Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

“There is no one size fits all. We have to understand whether it is in Iraq, Kurdistan or whether it is in Ukraine and Russia, the history is what brought about the crashes. …there is no one criteria. The only advice one can give to policymakers is before you make decisions, whether it is of intervention or non-intervention. Where they are looking for your allies and trying to find your enemy, know a little but about the history of the region.”

— Dr. Shlomo Avineri, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“We all know the history. And it will continue to expand and morph for probably decades and decades to come. I mean this will be a very, very long war and no one in this room, in my opinion, will be alive at the end of this war. We will win it so long as we stay true to our values and our likeminded, decent people gather together and do what needs to be done.”

— Gen. John Kelly, Commander, United States Southern Command

“Israel is a nation state that was fighting an organization, whether you call it terrorist or not, it was fighting an organization that was not fighting or playing by the rule of international law … they are first cousins of the same phenomenon. It is a non-state organization that shields itself behind women and children, occasionally behind international law, which it of itself is not committed to so this is one of the problems Israel is suffering from.”

— Dr. Shlomo Avineri, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“I think also the viability of a solution is building up local forces who can fight for their own countries, fight for their own more moderate ideologies to counter the toxic ideologies of groups like ISIL and also building up institutions of local governments.”

— The Hon. Alexander Vershbow, Deputy Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

“I am a strong partisan for NATO enlargement, and I still believe that we have to uphold that vision and not be intimidated by Russian efforts to draw red lines and to re-establish the sphere of influence in their neighborhood.”

— The Hon. Alexander Vershbow, Deputy Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

“The globalization of all these different types of crime is a factor that we have to deal with and those of us in the nation states have to ensure that number one, we have that global cooperation with those who are likeminded individuals and countries, and ensure that our laws keep pace with what is actually happening in this world.”

— The Hon. Rob Nicholson, Minister of National Defence, Canada

“Everything I have done in my career, on the battlefield or right now, what I do now in Southern Command, everything I have done has begun and ended with human rights.”

— Gen. John Kelly, Commander, United States Southern Command

11:30-12:00

Coffee Break

12:00-13:15

Plenary 4:
 O Say, Can’t You See? The Indispensable Role of the Exceptional Superpower On the record

Speakers

Managing Editor, Foreign Affairs
Moderator
Mr. Jonathan Tepperman

Mr. Jonathan Tepperman

Jonathan Tepperman has been the Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs magazine since February 2011. Tepperman first joined Foreign Affairs as a junior editor in 1998 and spent several years there before moving on to Newsweek International. There he served as Deputy Editor and ran (at various times) the Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America sections, oversaw special projects, and wrote cover stories, opinion pieces, and a regular style column. Tepperman writes frequently about international politics for a range of publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New Republic, and others. In 2013, he served as a guest columnist for the International Herald Tribune. He is the co-editor of a number of books, including The US vs Al Qaeda: A History of the War on Terror and Iran and the Bomb: Solving the Persian Puzzle, and is currently writing a book on how to solve some of the world’s toughest problems. Additionally, Mr. Tepperman is a member of the Board of Directors and the Agenda Work Group of the Halifax International Security Forum.

Senator (D-VA), United States
The Hon. Tim Kaine

The Hon. Tim Kaine

Tim Kaine is a US Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Kaine, a member of the Armed Services Committee and Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, has actively shaped US national security policy since joining the Senate. Kaine has also emerged as a leader on the issue of war powers, launching a bipartisan effort with Senator John McCain to reform the 1973 War Powers Resolution that clearly defines Congress’s role in decisions of war. Kaine began his public service career by taking a year off from law school to work with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. Kaine entered political life in 1994, serving as a Councilman and then Mayor of Richmond, Virginia until 2001. Kaine was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2001 and Virginia’s 70th Governor in 2005. Last year, Kaine helped lead the US Congressional delegation to the 2013 Halifax International Security Forum.

Senator (R-AZ), United States
The Hon. John McCain

The Hon. John McCain

The Honorable John McCain is a Republican Senator of the state of Arizona. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986. Senator McCain attended college at the United States Naval Academy and launched a 22-year career as a naval aviator upon his graduation. Senator McCain’s last Navy duty assignment was to serve as the naval liaison to the United States Senate. He retired from the Navy in 1981. His naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona, serving until his election to the U.S. Senate. Senator McCain is currently the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He also serves on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and the Committee on Indian Affairs.

In a unique and bi-partisan panel, the role of American power and influence was discussed and debated. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine argued that the US should replace the ideal of being indispensable with being exemplary, while Republican Senator John McCain asserted that, with the fundamental principles of freedom and democracy, American power is still indispensable in today’s world. The panel topics and participant questions virtually toured American influence around the world, through North and South America, Eastern and Continental Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the South China Sea, among other areas. Panelists agreed that Congressional involvement would be crucial going forward, acknowledging that the United States is currently in violation of its own War Powers.

“On the issue of national security, during the Cold War, we were always in the scenario of a nuclear exchange. So, we were always in great danger but I have never seen the world in greater disarray and a failure of American leadership throughout.”

— The Hon. John McCain, Senator (R-AZ), United States

“I guarantee you, that if we had left a sustainable force behind (in Afghanistan), that a situation would be different and I’ll tell you again what I’ve been saying ever since the President announced it, unless we leave a sustaining force behind in Afghanistan, we’re going to see the same movie. And, that’s really watching — it’s like watching a train wreck as we did in Iraq.”

— The Hon. John McCain, Senator (R-AZ), United States

“We’re projecting our values, religious tolerance, press freedom, gender equality, equality for folks regardless of sexual orientation in ways they’re affecting the rest of the world. When there’s humanitarian crisis like Ebola, we all work together, but it’s US soldiers and personnel that are over in Africa trying to fight it off, people want us. Magnanimity go back to Aristotle, the pinnacle character of virtue of a person or of a society, is Magnanimity. It’s a hard concept to understand.”

— The Hon. Tim Kaine, Senator (D-VA), United States

“I want to replace indispensable with exemplary. We should try to be the exemplary nation and exemplary nation and if we are, we’re much more likely to be indispensable. But, if you try to be the indispensable nation, you’re much more likely to blunder in to situations where maybe you — others are better suited or coalitions are better suited or maybe you shouldn’t be there at all. Let’s be exemplary.”

— The Hon. Tim Kaine, Senator (D-VA), United States

14:30-15:00

Halifax Chat: Abdullah Gül On the record

Speakers

Publisher, The Commentator
Moderator
Mr. Robin Shepherd

Mr. Robin Shepherd

Mr. Robin Shepherd is the owner/publisher of Britain’s fastest growing new media outlet, The Commentator. He is also a senior fellow of the Central European Policy Institute (CEPI), based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Mr. Shepherd has held senior fellowships with several top think tanks in the United States, Britain, and Europe. Before entering the think tank world a decade ago, he was a foreign correspondent, firstly for Reuters and subsequently The Times of London, where he was the Moscow bureau chief. He has been associated with Halifax International Security Forum since its inception and is a member of the Halifax International Security Forum Agenda Working Group.

11th President, Republic of Turkey
H.E. Abdullah Gül

H.E. Abdullah Gül

Abdullah Gül was the 11th President of Turkey from 2007 to 2014. A founding member of the AK Party (Justice and Development Party), he served as Prime Minister from 2002 to 2003 and Foreign Minister from 2003 to 2007 at the AK Party governments. Before the AK Party, Mr. Gül was a member of the Virtue Party, where he led the Reformist Movement. He was both a member of and a MP from the Welfare Party, where he served in leading Parliamentary commissions, represented Turkey at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and held the positions of Spokesperson and Minister of State in the 1996 coalition government. Mr. Gül holds a Ph.D. from Istanbul University in Economics. Before his political career, he worked at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah from 1983 to 1991. He is married to Hayrünnisa Gül and is the father of three children.

Continuing the Halifax International Security Forum tradition of a one-on-one, on-the-record conversation, the 2014 Halifax Chat featured a discussion between H.E. Abdullah Gül, the 11th President of Turkey, and Mr. Robin Shepherd, Publisher of the Commentator.

13:15-14:30

Lunch

LOCATION: Atlantic Ballroom

“The complexities that we are dealing with continues to grow in significant ways … when I started my journey as an intelligence professional … fast-forward 28 years to today, the level the complexity, the breadth is mind-blowing to me. … On the large number of partnerships and relationships that are foundational to the future, because as this expectation of knowledge grows for you, the places you have to go to get that information, the partners you need to help you, they also grow. So the complexity of the people and organizations that you are dealing with are just amazing to me.”

— Adm. Mike Rogers, Commander, United States Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service

“We have to rethink this. When two massive intelligence failures happen in the US – one was called 9/11 and another one was call the national intelligence estimate on Iraq – we rethought the organization of our intelligence community. … we passed, in 2004, an Intelligence Reform Act. … It’s 10 years after that, and I would argue that we have to rethink it again. It’s not just about moving boxes, but about assessing the threats against us now.”

— The Hon. Jane Harman, Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Woodrow Wilson International Center Scholars

“The cumbersome nature now of our intelligence infrastructure becoming so big and unwieldy, and to be able to sort through the various sources that are coming in often in straws… What I think is successful in acting on actionable intelligence is best when it is fused, not fudged, but fused.”

— Min. Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

“Some of what we need to examine is right there in plain view and that has to be fused with the intelligence – human intelligence, signals intelligence.”

— Min. Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

“I would argue that open source information is more useful now than much of our human intelligence …data-mining of open sources and building profiles on people may be the best intelligence we have.”

— The Hon. Jane Harman, Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Woodrow Wilson International Center Scholars

“We have to constantly keep our eye on public confidence and being able to command that respect from the people we represent. We cannot compromise our values while professing to protect them. The rule of law is a very important backdrop.”

— Min. Peter MacKay, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

“Sometimes the most effective stuff you do isn’t the cloak and dagger black operations, sometimes its something as simple as … open-source information. US government, law enforcement and intelligence is hamstrung – they can’t easily look at it. There are legal restrictions and rules that prevent them. That’s not true of the private sector.”

— The Hon. Frances Townsend, Executive Vice President for Worldwide Government, Legal, and Business Affairs, MacAndrews and Forbes Holdings, Inc.

“Risk has never been greater and trust has never been lower … We have got to overcome that. If we compromise who we are and what we are in the name of security, they have won. I think we can maintain security without compromising our freedom. A world of amazing freedom with limited security isn’t in our best interest, just like a world with amazing security and limited freedom–I don’t think we want that either.”

— Adm. Mike Rogers, Commander, United States Cyber Command; Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service

“Security and liberty are not a zero-sum game.”

— The Hon. Jane Harman, Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Woodrow Wilson International Center Scholars

“This is an ideological war, and we have to get good at it. … We have to get very good at propaganda again.”

— Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, Prime Minister’s Special Representative to Business on Cybersecurity House of Lords, United Kingdom

15:00-16:15

Plenary 5:
 
Get Smart: Gaining Intelligence, Missing the Meaning On the record

Speakers

Washington Editor-at-Large, The Atlantic, and Editor-in-Chief, AtlanticLIVE & QuartzLIVE
Moderator
Mr. Steve Clemons

Mr. Steve Clemons

Mr. Steve Clemons is Washington Editor-At-Large for The Atlantic and Editor-in-Chief of AtlanticLIVE and QuartzLIVE. He is also Editor-at-Large for Quartz. At AtlanticLIVE, The Atlantic’s premium events division, Clemons develops concepts and editorial content and leads programs as an interviewer, moderator, and host. Clemons joined The Atlantic in June 2011 from the New America Foundation, a think tank devoted to pragmatic, non-ideological policy innovation, and intellectual entrepreneurship. He helped launch the Foundation twelve years ago, served as its Executive Vice President for eight years, founded its American Strategy Program, and continues to serve there as a Senior Fellow. Mr. Clemons also served as Executive Vice President of the Economic Strategy Institute, as Senior Policy Advisor on Economic and International Affairs to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and as the first Executive Director of the Nixon Center. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum Council on Geopolitical Risk.

Chief International Correspondent, BBC
Ms. Lyse Doucet

Ms. Lyse Doucet

Ms. Lyse Doucet is the BBC’s award winning Chief International Correspondent who attended the forum in 2009 and 2013. She is a presenter for BBC World News TV and BBC World Service radio and is often deployed to anchor special news coverage from the field and report across the BBC. She played a key role in the BBC’s coverage of the “Arab Uprisings “ across the Middle East and North Africa. She is a regular visitor to Afghanistan and Pakistan from where she has been reporting for the past two decades. Her work has also focused on major natural disasters including the Indian Ocean tsunami, and more recently Pakistan floods. Before joining the BBC’s team of presenters in 1999, Ms. Doucet spent 15 years as a BBC foreign correspondent with postings in Jerusalem, Tehran, Amman, Kabul, Islamabad, and Abidjan. Ms. Doucet was born in eastern Canada and has a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto and a BA Honours from Queen’s University at Kingston.

Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Hon. Jane Harman

The Hon. Jane Harman

Jane Harman resigned from Congress February 28, 2011 to join the Woodrow Wilson Center as its first female Director, President and CEO. Representing the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security.  During her long public career, Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues.  She received the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Service in 1998, the CIA Seal Medal in 2007, and the CIA Director’s Award and the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2011.  She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, State Department Foreign Policy Board, the Director of National Intelligence’s Senior Advisory Group, the Homeland Security Advisory Committee.   She was a member of the CIA External Advisory Board from 2011 to 2013.  Harman is a Trustee of the Aspen Institute and the University of Southern California.  A product of Los Angeles public schools, Harman is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School. Prior to serving in Congress, she was a top aide in the United States Senate, Deputy Cabinet Secretary to President Jimmy Carter, Special Counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice. She has four adult children and four grandchildren.

Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Canada
The Hon. Peter MacKay

The Hon. Peter MacKay

Peter MacKay was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. After graduating from Acadia University, he studied law at Dalhousie University and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in June 1991. Mr. MacKay opened a private law practice in New Glasgow, specializing in criminal and family law. In 1993, he accepted an appointment as Crown Attorney for the Central Region of Nova Scotia. Peter MacKay was first elected to Parliament in 1997. In his first five years, he served as House Leader for the Progressive Conservative (PC) caucus. On May 31, 2003, he became Leader of the PC Party of Canada. In 2004, he was named Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. In July 2013, Mr. MacKay was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Previously, he was Minister of National Defence, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. Mr. MacKay has been a philanthropist and advocate for numerous charitable organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada and Right to Play. He is married to international human rights activist and founder of Stop Child Executions, Mrs. Nazanin Afshin-Jam-Mackay. They have a beautiful baby boy, Kian Alexander.

Commander, United States Cyber Command, Director, National Security Agency, Chief, Central Security Service
Admiral Mike Rogers

Admiral Mike Rogers

Admiral Mike Rogers assumed his present duties as Commander, US Cyber Command and Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service in April 2014. Since becoming a flag officer in 2007, Rogers served as the Director for Intelligence for both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and US Pacific Command, and most recently as Commander, US Fleet Cyber Command/US TENTH Fleet. His joint and naval service both afloat and ashore has been extensive to include service on a numbered fleet staff, carrier strike group, and various Naval Security Group elements. Rogers is a native of Chicago and attended Auburn University, graduating in 1981 and receiving his commission via the Navy ROTC. He is also a graduate of the National War College and the Naval War College, holding a Master’s of Science in National Security Strategy.

In the global race for intelligence, panelists explored the evolving conditions, within which state and non-state actors alike are collecting and sharing information. Panelists assessed the value and usefulness of traditional forms of often covert and costly intelligence gathering compared to the availability of open-source resources. Panelists discussed the use of social media platforms as a tool for extremist forces to propagate their messages and gain support. It was agreed that free and democratic states have a more compelling message to deliver, but they have to improve on delivery to win the ideological war. ISIL’s use of the Forum’s hashtag (#HISF2014) was put forward as an example of their widespread use of social media.

16:15-16:45

Coffee Break

16:45-17:45

Plenary 6:
 Africa Breaking Out On the record

Speakers

Columnist and Foreign Affairs Commentator, The Guardian
Moderator
Ms. Natalie Nougayrède

Ms. Natalie Nougayrède

Natalie Nougayrède, 48 years old, is a member of The Guardian’s Editorial board, a columnist and Foreign Affairs commentator. She was previously Executive Editor of Le Monde. A former foreign correspondent (Moscow) and diplomatic correspondent for Le Monde, she has covered international security issues and the post-Soviet transitions since the 1990s.

Program Director, Africa, International Crisis Group
Dr. Comfort Ero

Dr. Comfort Ero

As Crisis Group’s Africa Program Director, Comfort Ero oversees the organization’s work in West, Central, Southern and Horn of Africa. She first joined the organization in 2001 as West Africa Project Director, after serving for three years as the Political Affairs Officer and Policy Advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary General in Liberia. Prior to Crisis Group, she was Deputy Director of the Africa Program at the International Center for Transitional Justice. Previously, she was Research Fellow at the Conflict, Security, and Development Group at King’s College, and a Research Associate for the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Her areas of expertise include conflict prevention, management and resolution, mediation, peacekeeping, transitional justice, and Africa’s politics and international relations. She has a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, University of London.

Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute
Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh

Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh

Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh has organized and advised international election observation missions to nearly a dozen African countries, and designed and supervised country specific democracy support programs with civic organizations, political parties, and legislative bodies in nearly twenty African countries. As an expert on democratization in Africa, Dr. Fomunyoh makes frequent guest appearances on major radio and television networks including CNN, BBC, NewsHour, and National Public Radio and provides interviews for major national and international newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and Le Monde. He has published a number of articles in academic journals on African politics and democratization. Dr. Fomunyoh holds a Licence en Droit from Yaoundé University in Cameroon, a master’s degree (LL.M.) in international law from Harvard Law School, and a Ph.D. in political science from Boston University.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, United Nations
Ms. Karin Landgren

Ms. Karin Landgren

Appointed as Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), Ms. Landgren assumes her duties in Monrovia on July 20, 2012. Previously, Ms. Landgren was the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Burundi and Head of the United Nations Mission in Burundi. Until January 2011, she served as Representative of the Secretary-General to Nepal, where she oversaw the implementation of the mandate and eventual closure of the special political mission. Ms. Landgren worked extensively on humanitarian and refugee issues as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eritrea and Singapore, and during postings to India and the Philippines, before serving as the Organization’s legal adviser in 1994-1998. Between 1998 and 2008, she served as the first head of child protection for the United Nations Children’s Fund. Ms. Landgren has published and lectured on post-conflict, humanitarian, refugee, and child-protection issues, and holds a B.S. (Economics) in international relations and a master’s degree in international law (LL.M.) from the London School of Economics.

Editor, AfricanLiberty.org
Mr. Japheth Omojuwa

Mr. Japheth Omojuwa

Japheth Joshua ‘JJ’ Omojuwa is an international public speaker, social media expert, blogger, socio-economic and political commentator, and columnist for two of Nigeria’s most respected newspapers, The Punch and Leadership Newspapers. His blog, Omojuwa.com is Nigeria’s political blog of the year. JJ recently concluded a six-month stint as a lecturer (on Africa: Democratic prospects and challenges) at Free University of Berlin. JJ was ranked 29th of 100 Most Influential Black People on Digital/Social Mediain April 2014 alongside Barack Obama, Beyonce, Oprah Winfrey amongst others. JJ is a well sought after international speaker and has graced platforms from Rio to Berlin, Cape Town to New York, including several Universities around the world. He participated as a panelist at a side event during the 2013 United Nations General Assembly. JJ has over 156,000 followers on Twitter with over 6,000 new followers every week. His tweets reach over one million people every day.

The overarching theme put forward by panelists and participants in this plenary was the multiple diverse narratives simultaneously proceeding on the continent. Panelists asserted that, while it is true that Africa is on the rise, the trajectory remains uneven and may be leaving behind large segments of the populous. The strain that the recent Ebola outbreaks put on domestic and international resources was a central topic among the speakers. Panelists and participants also discussed the influence of non-state actors such as Boko Haram and their influence in areas of the continent.

“There is always a risk in the way we look at Africa. It’s almost seasonal. It goes from the bad news story to the good news story … It tends to become a very un-nuanced and a very binary approach to what’s going on in Africa, which is a vastly complex continent.”

— Ms. Karin Landgren, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, United Nations

“Africa is rising. I do not deny that things are working positively on the continent. I like to see Africa as a plane that has taken flight, which is a good thing and no accident. It’s moving but that plane took off without the majority of the people. So we have the majority of the people still on the ground; there has to be a discipline of development. Some of the people are going to be very, very angry and would like to take the plane down. That’s why we have Al-Shabab, that’s why we have Boko Haram. I think for Africa to truly breakout we have to understand the fact that this plane has to come back to the ground to pick up these other people before it gets to its destination.”

— Mr. Japheth Omojuwa, Editor, AfricanLiberty.org

“For me the topic of ‘Africa Breaking Out’ conjures the imagery of this continent that is trying to recast its honor relative to the rest of the world in the 21st century. How does Africa break out of the stereotyping that has happened in the past in regards to the continent?”

— Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute

“I think there really needs to be a genuine conversation within the international community when it comes to putting in place the infrastructure to sustain peacekeeping and peace building in African countries and then preparing the countries for competitive elections.”

— Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central and West Africa, National Democratic Institute

“Ebola has exposed that rebuilding a country is not just about building the military and the police, and we don’t even do that well. Rebuilding the country requires you to look at the social contract of a country–the bit that the international community can’t do well because it requires intimate long term engagement that doesn’t allow you to just “check the boxes.”

— Dr. Comfort Ero, Program Director, Africa, International Crisis Group

“The Nigerian government has done a great job of connecting farmers through mobile phones, some 11 million farmers to their mobile phones. In the past it used to be that they would have to go to middlemen to assess opportunities from the government, now they can actually directly access loans, essential services and it’s actually having a massive effect in the sector. In 1998 there were about 112 million Nigerians and 400,000 mobile phones. Today there are over a 100 million mobile phones in Nigeria and 169 million Nigerians.”

— Mr. Japheth Omojuwa, Editor, AfricanLiberty.org

18:45

Pre-Dinner Reception

LOCATION: VIA Rail Station

19:30

Dinner Sessions

Africa Rising, Revising
WITH: Dr. Peter Pham, Director, Africa Center, Atlantic Council; Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, West Africa Editor, The Africa Report; Ms. Stella Sabiiti, International Trainer, Facilitator
HOSTED BY: Dr. Camille Grand, Director, Foundation for Strategic Research

All’s Fair in Love and (Hybrid) War
WITH: Mr. Øystein Bø, State Secretary, Ministry of Defense, Norway; Mr. Pavol Demeš, Transatlantic Fellow, Bratislava Office, The German Marshall Fund of the United States; The Hon. Philippe Errera, Undersecretary for Policy and Director of Strategic Affairs, Ministry of Defense, France
HOSTED BY: Ms. Rosa Brooks, Senior Fellow, New America Foundation; Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center

Anti-Israel or Anti-Semitic?
WITH: The Hon. Werner Wnendt, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Canada; Dr. Dov Zakheim, Senior Fellow, Center for Naval Analyses
HOSTED BY: Mr. Robin Shepherd, Publisher, The Commentator

Arctic: Encounters on Top of the World
WITH: Dr. Natalia Loukacheva, Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Governance and Law, University of Northern British Columbia; Ms. Jill Sinclair, Executive Director – External Engagement and Partnerships, Department of National Defence, Canadian Defence Academy
HOSTED BY: Ms. Maryscott Greenwood, Senior Managing Director, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP

Asian Advances: China’s Creeping Mission
WITH: Mr. Evan Garcia, Undersecretary of Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines; The Hon. Shingo Yamagami, Ambassador and Deputy Director-General, Foreign Policy Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
HOSTED BY: Dr. Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research and Columnist, Wall Street Journal

Corruption and the Erosion of the Nation State
WITH: The Hon. Mohammed Abulahoum, Head, Justice and Building Party, Yemen; Dr. Luis Rubio, Chairman, Center of Research for Development
HOSTED BY: Ms. Jacqueline O’Neill, Director, The Institute for Inclusive Security

Coup D’emocracy: Protecting Freedom at What Cost?
WITH: The Hon. Howard Dean, Former Governor of Vermont, Senior Strategic Advisor, McKenna Long and Aldridge LLP; Mr. Andrei Sannikov, Chairman, European Belarus Foundation
HOSTED BY: Dr. John Glenn, Policy Director, US Global Leadership Coalition

Democratic Asia: The Call for Japanese-Korean Strategic Cooperation
WITH: Mr. Hideshi Tokuchi, Vice Minister of Defense, Japan; Dr. Sue Mi Terry, Senior Research Scholar, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
HOSTED BY: Mr. Dean Fealk, Partner, DLA Piper

Fading Attraction: Europe’s Magnetic Pull
WITH: Mr. Peter Siklosi, State Secretary for Defense Policy and Defense Planning, Hungary; Mr. Ralf Brauksiepe, Parliamentary State Secretary, Germany
HOSTED BY: Mr. Randy Scheunemann, President, Orion Strategies

Frenemies: Our Gulf Partners
WITH: Mr. James Baker, Principal Deputy Director, Joint Staff Strategic Plans and Policy and Strategist to the Chairman, United States Department of Defense; Mr. Ayman Mhanna, Executive Director, Samir Kassir Foundation
HOSTED BY: Mr. David Kramer, Senior Director for Human Rights and Human Freedom, McCain Institute for International Leadership

Lethal Listserves: What Bad Guys Learn from Each Other
WITH: H.E. Eka Tkeshelashvili, President, Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies; General Petr Pavel, Chief of Defense, Czech Armed Forces
HOSTED BY: Ms. Heather Hurlburt, Director, New Models of Policy Advocacy Project, New America Foundation

Modi Operendi: The New India
WITH: Dr. Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations; Ms. Ira Trivedi, Author
HOSTED BY: Mr. W. Bruce Weinrod, Senior Counselor, Defense, Global Impact

Pipeline Corridors: The Geopolitical Goals of Energy Infrastructure
WITH: The Hon. Gary Doer, Ambassador of Canada to the United States of America; Mr. Vladimir Milov, President, Institute of Energy Policy; Mr. Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist & Managing Director, ARC Financial Corporation
HOSTED BY: Dr. Ian Brodie, Research Director, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary

Political Islam: Political? Islam?
WITH: Mr. Zaffar Abbas, Editor-in-Chief, Dawn; Mr. Scott Malcomson, Director of Communications, International Crisis Group
HOSTED BY: Dr. Janice Gross Stein, Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto

(Re-)Visit Cuba
WITH: Mr. Antonio Rodiles, Director, Estado de SATS; Mr. Dan Runde, Director, Project on Prosperity and Development, Center for Strategic and International Studies
HOSTED BY: The Hon. Peter Boehm, Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada

Sanctioning Reality: The Outsized Role of Capital Markets
WITH: Dr. Pippa Malmgren, Founder, DRPM Group; The Hon. Ilya Ponomarev, State Representative, Russian Duma
HOSTED BY: Mr. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director, Center for Justice and Accountability

Suffering from Withdrawal: Afghanistan, Iraq
WITH: The Hon. Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government; Dr. Ján Kubiš, Head, United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan
HOSTED BY: Ms. Julianne Smith, Senior Vice President, Beacon Global Strategies LLC and Former Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President

Technology’s Role in Development and Peace
WITH: H.E. Toomas-Hendrik Ilves, President, Republic of Estonia; Mr. Scott Carpenter, Deputy Director, Google Ideas
HOSTED BY: Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Associate, Democracy and Rule of Law Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Ukraine’s Dysfunction, NATO’s Function?
WITH: Mr. James Appathurai, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Mr. Ralf Fücks, President, Heinrich Böll Stiftung
HOSTED BY: The Hon. Kurt Volker, Executive Director, McCain Institute for International Leadership

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