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2016 Halifax International Security Forum

2016 Halifax International Security Forum

Date
November 18-20, 2016
Location
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Participants
300

Agenda & Speakers

Friday, November 18
Saturday, November 19
Sunday, November 20

15:00-15:30

Opening Video and Introduction On the record
https://vimeo.com/191725574/0a6696d083

 

The 2016 Halifax International Security Forum kicked off with remarks by Peter Van Praagh, President of the Halifax International Security Forum, and The Hon. Harjit Sajjan, Canadian Minister of Defence, welcoming participants to Halifax and to the 2016 Forum.

15:30-16:15

“The West Block” Hosted by Tom Clark On the record

PRODUCED FOR CANADA’S GLOBAL NEWS

Speakers

Chief Political Correspondent, Global News
Moderator
Mr. Tom Clark

Mr. Tom Clark

Mr. Tom Clark is Chief Political Correspondent for Global News and Host of the network’s flagship political show The West Block with Tom Clark. With Tom at the helm the show has become the most watched political show in Canada. Tom is one of Canada’s most recognized and respected journalists. He has interviewed every Prime Minister since Lester B. Pearson and covered every federal election campaign since 1974. Before joining Global News, he was CTV bureau chief in Beijing during the early 1980’s, and spent five years as the bureau chief in Washington DC. Tom has spent much of his career traveling the world, reporting from 33 countries and six active war zones, most recently Afghanistan. He was in Berlin when the wall fell and in Tiananmen Square the night the Chinese army attacked.

Senior Fellow, The Future of Diplomacy Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Dr. Paula Dobriansky

Dr. Paula Dobriansky

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky has attended the Forum since 2009, most recently as a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Chair, National Board of Directors of the World Affairs Councils of America. From 2010–2012, she was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters, and also held the Distinguished National Security Chair at the US Naval Academy. She served as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009) and from 2007-2009, as the President’s Special Envoy to Northern Ireland. She received the Secretary of State’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal, for her work in these positions. Other high level government positions include: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Deputy Head of the US Delegation to the 1990 Copenhagen Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), and Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council, the White House. From 1997- 2001, she served as Senior Vice President and Director of the Washington Office of the Council on Foreign Relations and was the first George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Ambassador Dobriansky received a B.S.F.S. summa cum laude in International Politics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Soviet political/military affairs from Harvard University.

Minister of National Defence, Canada
The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan

The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan

Harjit Singh Sajjan has served Canada and his community as both a soldier and a police officer. He continues his service to Canada as the Member of Parliament for Vancouver South and as Minister of National Defence. Harjit is a retired Lieutenant-Colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces and a combat veteran. He was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina and served three separate deployments to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Harjit has received numerous recognitions for his service, including the Meritorious Service Medal for reducing the Taliban’s influence in Kandahar Province. He is also a recipient of the Order of Military Merit, one of the military’s highest recognitions. Harjit also served as an Aide-de-Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Harjit was a police officer with the Vancouver Police Department for 11 years. He completed his last assignment as a Detective-Constable with the Gang Crime Unit specializing in organized crime. He proudly tackled gang violence and drug crimes in Vancouver. Harjit is also a human security specialist, and has lectured to a wide audience in both Canada and the United States.

Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces
General Jonathan Vance

General Jonathan Vance

General Jonathan H. (Jon) Vance is the Canadian Armed Forces Chief of the Defence Staff. He joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1982 and has served in Canada, Germany and on UN Peacekeeping operations with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions, The Royal Canadian Regiment. General Vance has commanded at all levels within the field force from platoon commander to brigade commander and in combat operations as a Joint Task Force Commander in Afghanistan. Following his tours in Afghanistan, General Vance served in Army headquarters as Chief of Staff Land Strategy and as Director of the Strategic Joint Staff in National Defence Headquarters. He completed a tour as Deputy Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples in July 2014 before assuming the position as Commander, Canadian Joint Operations Command in September of the same year. General Vance was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in July 2015.

The opening panel discussion on Day 1 of the Forum was produced as part of Global News’ “The West Block,” hosted by Tom Clark. This session addressed the future of democracy, peace and conflict in an increasingly changing global political environment. The panelists focused on the importance of multilateralism, the dangers of viewing problems in isolation and the necessity of developing conflict prevention strategies before problems materialize. There was broad consensus among the panel of the imperative nature of this conversation in lieu of the recent US presidential election. Speakers weighed the wider implications of this shifting political environment on U.S.-Canadian relations, North-Atlantic cooperation, the West’s relationship with Russia, as well as the NATO alliance. The session concluded by considering the opportunity for constructive engagement and collaboration with Russia in Syria and in the Arctic.

“We have to send a strong message to Russia that destabilizing is unacceptable.”

— The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan

“Multilateralism is a matter of necessity, it’s not just ideology.”

— General Jonathan Vance

“The United States must lead in the global order, so we’re not leaving a vacuum where others can create mischief.”

— Ambassador Paula Dobriansky

“The peacekeeping of the past is not the peacekeeping of today.”

— The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan

16:15-16:45

Coffee Break

16:45-17:00

Britain’s Place in the World On the record

Sir Michael Fallon reflected on the Week of Remembrance, beginning his address with praise for Canada’s courage to fight for democratic values amidst the threats it faces from global extremism, Russian aggression, and rogue nations. In his call to make democracy great again, he argued that the strength of democracy lies in the will of the people. Affirming the importance of strengthening democracy, Defence Secretary Fallon noted that NATO also has a role to play, especially when it comes to ensuring that all members uphold their common commitment to defending democratic systems. In conclusion, Defence Secretary Fallon stated that Britain has a clear view of its place when it comes to standing up for democracy. As the world grows more complex and dangerous, Britain is ready to uphold its commitment by employing hard, soft, and smart power in order to maintain a safe and prosperous future for all.

17:00-18:00

Plenary 1: Make Democracy Great Again On the record

Speakers

Managing Editor, Foreign Affairs
Moderator
Mr. Jonathan Tepperman

Mr. Jonathan Tepperman

Jonathan Tepperman is the managing editor of Foreign Affairs magazine and author of the upcoming book, The Fix: How Nations Survive and Thrive in a World in Decline (Crown, September 2016). Tepperman has spent close to twenty years working on international affairs as an editor, writer, and analyst. He started his career in foreign policy working as a speechwriter at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1994. After stints as a reporter at the Forward and the Jerusalem Post, he joined Foreign Affairs in 1998 as a junior editor. He later moved toNewsweek International, where he was deputy editor (under Fareed Zakaria), and then worked as a political risk consultant before returning to Foreign Affairs in January 2011. Tepperman has written for a range of publications, including Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the New Republic, and others, on subjects ranging from international affairs to municipal politics to food and fashion. Tepperman has interviewed more than a dozen world leaders, including Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Japan’s Shinzo Abe, Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto, Indonesia’s Joko Widodo, and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame. He is the coeditor of the books The U.S. vs. al Qaeda (2011), Iran and the Bomb (2012), and The Clash of Ideas (2012). Tepperman has a BA in English from Yale, an MA in law from Oxford, and an LLM in law from New York University. He is vice chairman of the Halifax International Security Forum, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of the New York Institute of Humanities. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
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.

Minister for European Union Affairs, Turkey
The Hon. Ömer Çelik

The Hon. Ömer Çelik

Ömer Çelik serves as the Minister for European Union Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the 65th Turkish Government since 24 May 2016. He previously served as Minister of Culture and Tourism of the 61st Turkish Government between January 2013 and September 2015. He previously served as AK Party’s Vice Chairman in charge of Foreign Affairs between March 2010 and January 2013 and in charge of Promotion and Media between September 2015 and May 2016. He has also served as Political Advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since 2002, was elected as the Deputy of Adana in 22nd, 23rd and 24th legislative periods, and is a Member of NATO Assembly of Parliamentarians Turkish Group, Turkish Grand National Assembly Commission of Foreign Relations and Commission of Environment. He graduated from Gazi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Department of Public Administration and got his master’s degree from the same university, in the Department of Political Science. He is a political scientist and strategist.

Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom
The Right Hon. Sir Michael Fallon

The Right Hon. Sir Michael Fallon

The Right Hon. Sir Michael Fallon KCB MP was appointed Secretary of State for Defence in July 2014. Prior to that he was Minister for Business and Energy, a joint post based at both the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Between January 2014 and July 2014 he was also Minister for responsibility for Portsmouth. Michael has been MP for Sevenoaks, Kent, since 1997. Previously, he was MP for Darlington from 1983 to 1992. He was a minister in the Department for Education and Science in 1990. He has also held positions on the Treasury Select Committee and as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Michael is a former director of Quality Care Homes plc (nursing homes), Just Learning LTD (nurseries), Attendo AB (Scandinavian social and health care) and Tullett Prebon plc (inter-dealing broking). Born in Scotland and married with two children, Michael was educated at Epsom College and St Andrews University.

Professor, Distinguished Fellow at the Hudson Institute, James Clarke Chace Professor at Bard College, and Editor-At-Large at The American Interest
Mr. Walter Russell Mead

Mr. Walter Russell Mead

Walter Russell Mead is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and the Humanities at Bard College, the Distinguished Scholar in American Strategy and Statesmanship for the Hudson Institute, and the Editor-at-Large for The American Interest, where he directs the popular Via Meadia blog. He previously served as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. The author of God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World (2008), Professor Mead is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal and the United States book reviewer for Foreign Affairs. His next book, The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People, will be published by Knopf in early 2017.

The moderator, Jonathan Tepperman, framed the first plenary by asking whether 2016 can be considered as a year of democracy’s vindication or defeat. Speakers responded that the answer is much more complex. The viability of the Western democratic model is being challenged, but the feeling of disenfranchisement among segments of the population is part of a broader trend of alienation from liberalism – in both ideology and practice. The discussion that followed stressed the importance of politics transcending political parties and institutions in order to get closer to addressing the needs of the people.

“We are moving toward Twitter democracy.”

— Dr. Shlomo Avineri

“We are being out-gunned by the scale and speed of Russian propaganda and interference.”

— Sir Michael Fallon

“People are not reacting against democracy; they are reacting against the party system.”

— The Hon. Ömer Çelik

“Mass democracy can become an alienating phenomenon.”

— Mr. Walter Russell Mead

“We have to understand that the difference between political science and public opinion polls is the difference between astronomy and astrology. You look at the same stars, but the methodology is slightly different.”

— Dr. Shlomo Avineri

18:45

Shuttle to Pier 21

LOCATION: Westin Lobby

19:00-19:30

Reception

LOCATION: Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

19:30-21:30

Gala Dinner


Presentation of the Builder Award
Senator Tim Kaine, Senator from Virginia, United States Senate

21:45

Night Owl Sessions

Middle East Mess: Who Should Clean It Up? Who Can?
LOCATION: Atlantic Ballroom

SPEAKERS:

  • Mr. Farea Al-Muslimi, Non Resident Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • H.E. Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government
  • Dr. Ralf Brauksiepe, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Defense, Germany
  • Mr. Lotfi Maktouf, Founder and President, Almadanya
  • MODERATOR: Dr. Janice Stein, Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management and Founding Director, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto

 

Russia: Putin’ the Bloc Back Together
LOCATION: Harbour B

SPEAKERS:

  • The Hon. Hannes Hanso, Minister of Defence, Estonia
  • General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the Military Committee, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • Mr. Bohdan Yaremenko, Chairman of the Board, Maidan of Foreign Affairs
  • MODERATOR: Mr. Josh Rogin, Columnist, Washington Post

 

Sea, Cyber, Space: The Long Game in Asia
LOCATION: Tradewinds

SPEAKERS:

  • The Hon. Seung Joo Baek, Member of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea
  • Mr. Ram Madhav, National General Secretary, BJP, and Director, India Foundation
  • Mr. Tsuyoshi Sunohara, Secretary-General for US-Japan Project, Japan Center for Economic Research
  • MODERATOR: Mr. Randy Scheunemann, President, Orion Strategies

Clippings

McCain, Kaine Among Security Forum Delegates
Fram Dinshaw

“Political heavyweights including Republican senator John McCain and Hillary Clinton’s recent running mate Timothy Kaine are due in Halifax for this year’s International Security Forum.”

Ukraine Seeks Support Against Western Aggression
Steven Chase

“A senior Ukrainian government official is calling on Canada and European allies to help keep a united Western front against Russian aggression from crumbling in the wake of the election of Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin.”

Czech General to Trump: ‘NATO’ is as Relevant as Ever
Esther King

“No American president would dare renege on NATO treaty commitments, a top general said late Wednesday, responding to President-elect Donald Trump‘s suggestion that he may not defend fellow NATO members under attack.”

Donald Trump will be ‘top of mind’ at Halifax International Security Forum
Zane Woodford

“Janice Stein, a program advisor at the Forum, says the delegates coming from all over the world will all be talking about one thing: Trump.”

Tim Kaine to be honoured in Halifax
Chronicle Herald Staff

“Hillary Clinton’s recent running mate Tim Kaine is being honoured at the upcoming International Security Forum in Halifax just 11 days after they lost to Donald Trump in the U.S presidential election.”

The Jihadists Strike Back
Isabelle Lasserre

“In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is losing territory fast. The organization barely now controls 40 per cent of the 60,000 square kilometres it occupied in the region in October 2014. The disintegration of the caliphate installed on the land of the Sham — the old name for Syria — has led some to foretell its disappearance in the medium term. But this good news will not have as a consequence the end of Islamist terrorism.”

More News & Press

In Pictures

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