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2020 Halifax International Security Forum

2020 Halifax International Security Forum

Date
November 20-22, 2020
Location
Hybrid
Participants
300

Agenda & Speakers

Friday, November 20
Saturday, November 21
Sunday, November 22

8:00 EST

Informal Sessions via Zoom Off the record

 

Afghanistan’s Final Piece

  • WITH: Dr. Orzala Nemat, Research Associate, Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, Hassan Soroosh, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Canada
  • HOSTED BY: Ian Brodie, Associate Professor, Fellow, University of Calgary; Canadian Global Affairs Institute

 

Back: Nagorno-Karabakh

  • WITH: Leila Alieva, Affiliate Researcher, Russia and East European Studies, Oxford University; Vasil Sikharulidze, Chairman, Atlantic Council of Georgia
  • HOSTED BY: Ia Meurmishvili, Senior Editor, Voice of America, Georgia

 

Hong Kong’s Present, Taiwan’s Future

  • WITH: Dolkun Isa, President, World Uyghur Congress; King-wa Fu, Associate Professor, Journalism and Media Studies Centre, University of Hong Kong; Emily Lau, Former Chairperson, Former Member, Democratic Party, Legislative Council, Hong Kong, 
    Szu-Chien Hsu, Deputy Secretary-General, National Security Council,
    Taiwan
  • HOSTED BY: Roland Paris, Professor of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa

 

London Outs, Brussels Pouts

  • WITH: Francois Bausch, Minister of Defence, Luxembourg; Juri Luik, Minister of Defence, Estonia
  • HOSTED BY: Robin Shepherd, Vice President, Halifax International Security Forum

 

Maduro’s Venezuela: A Rogues’ Gallery

  • WITH: David Smolansky, Special Envoy for Venezuelan Migration and Refugee Crisis, Organization of American States; Luis Rubio, Chairman, Mexican Council on Foreign Relations, Mexico Evalua; Mónica Beltràn, Chargée d’Affaires a.i., Embassy of Colombia in Canada; Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno, President, ProBogota, Chairman, Virtus Global,
  • HOSTED BY: Chris Sabatini, Senior Fellow for Latin America, Chatham House

 

Tide Power: Bay Of Fundy’s Electric Waves

  • WITH: Tammy Harris, Former Deputy Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force; Bruce Cameron, Senior Associate, Envigour; Paul Owens, Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency,
  • HOSTED BY: Jonathan Meretsky, Managing Director, Merit House

10:00 EST

Plenary 3: Economic Depression: Democracies’ Recession On the record

Speakers

Foreign Affairs and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour
Moderator
Nick Schifrin

Nick Schifrin

Nick Schifrin is the foreign affairs and defense correspondent for PBS NewsHour, based in Washington, D.C. He leads NewsHour’s foreign reporting, and has created week-long, in-depth series for NewsHour from China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Cuba, Mexico, and the Baltics. The PBS NewsHour series “Inside Putin’s Russia” won a 2018 Peabody Award and the National Press Club’s Edwin M. Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence. Prior to PBS NewsHour, Schifrin was Al Jazeera America’s first foreign correspondent, based in Jerusalem. He led the channel’s coverage of the 2014 war in Gaza, reported extensively on the Syrian war, and covered the revolution in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. From 2008-2012, Schifrin was the ABC News correspondent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2011 he was one of the first journalists to arrive in Abbottabad, Pakistan after Osama bin Laden’s death and delivered one of the year’s biggest exclusives: the first video from inside bin Laden’s compound. Schifrin is a visiting fellow at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, where he lectures and teaches a foreign policy class. He is also a Council on Foreign Relations term member and an Overseas Press Club Foundation board member.

President, Republic of Estonia
Kersti Kaljulaid

Kersti Kaljulaid

President Kersti Kaljulaid is a supporter of a nonrestrictive legal space for the ongoing digitalization of economies and governments. She is an active promoter of sustainability and halting climate change. She advocates for publicly speaking up against violence and for giving a voice to those affected by it.

In 2016 Kersti Kaljulaid was elected President of the Republic of Estonia. Previously she served from 2004 to 2016 as a Member of the European Court of Auditors. Kersti Kaljulaid was the CFO and CEO of the Iru Power Plant of state-owned energy company Eesti Energia and prior to that Prime Minister Mart Laar’s Economic Advisor.

Kersti Kaljulaid has graduated from the University of Tartu in the field of genetics in the Faculty of Natural Sciences and she has a master`s in Economics and Business Administration. She is fluent in English and French and also speaks German, Finnish, Russian.

Kersti Kaljulaid is married and has four children.

Editor, Foreign Affairs
Gideon Rose

Gideon Rose

Dr. Gideon Rose is the Editor of Foreign Affairs. He assumed this role in 2010 after serving as Managing Editor of the magazine from 2000-2010. Prior to that he was Deputy Director of Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and from 1994-1995 he served as Associate Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He received a BA in Classics from Yale and a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard, and has taught American foreign policy at Princeton and Columbia. He is the author of How Wars End (Simon & Schuster, 2010) and other works.

 

Chairman, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy
Leon Panetta

Leon Panetta

Leon Panetta co-founded The Panetta Institute for Public Policy with his wife Sylvia in 1997 upon completion of his service as White House chief of staff in the Bill Clinton administration. He co-directed it with her until 2009, when he left to serve as CIA director and then secretary of defense under President Obama. He returned to the Institute as chairman in 2013.

A Monterey native and Santa Clara University School of Law graduate, Secretary Panetta began his long and distinguished public service career in 1964 as a U.S. Army intelligence officer, receiving the Army Commendation Medal. Upon discharge he went to work in Washington as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senate minority whip Tom Kuchel of California. In 1969, he was appointed director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, where he was responsible for ensuring equal opportunity in public education, and later he served as executive assistant to the mayor of New York City. He then returned to Monterey, where he practiced law until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976.

Serving his Central Coast district in Congress for sixteen years, Secretary Panetta became a respected leader on agriculture, federal budget, ocean and healthcare issues and from 1989 to 1993 he chaired the House Budget Committee. He won passage of the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988, Medicare and Medicaid coverage of hospice care for the terminally ill, and numerous measures to protect the California coast, including creation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

In 1993, Secretary Panetta left Congress to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget for the incoming Clinton administration.There, he was instrumental in developing the policies that led to a balanced federal budget and eventual budget surpluses. In 1994, he accepted appointment as the president’s chief of staff, and is credited with bringing order and focus to White House operations and policy making.

Upon leaving the Clinton administration in 1997, Secretary Panetta joined with his wife Sylvia to establish and co-direct The Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay. Reflecting the Secretary’s ideals and personal example, the nonpartisan, not-for-profit study center seeks to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service and prepare them for the policy challenges of the future.

Secretary Panetta returned to public service at the start of the Barack Obama administration as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he supervised the operation to find and bring international terrorist Osama bin Laden to justice. Then, as Secretary of Defense, he led efforts to develop a new defense strategy, conduct critical counter terrorism operations, strengthen U.S. alliances, and open military service opportunities to Americans regardless of gender or sexual orientation. He chronicles his life in public service in his best-selling memoir Worthy Fights, which was published by Penguin Press in 2014.

Over the years Secretary Panetta has served on numerous boards and commissions. He co-chaired California Forward, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative and Governor Schwarzenegger’s Council on Base Support and Retention. In 2006, he served on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan national commission seeking a new course for the war in Iraq. At present, he serves on the boards of directors for Oracle and Blue Shield of California. He serves as co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Defense Personnel Task Force and the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Countering Violent Extremism.

The economic fallout from COVID-19 has sparked the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression. It has also exacerbated existing inequalities in a devastating way. Is the world now headed for a period as tumultuous as the 1930s? Does history repeat itself or, as American humorist Mark Twain said, does it simply rhyme?

Gideon Rose thinks that we may have avoided the worst outcomes of the 1930s, but our belief in the natural progression of democracy has taken a hit. He pointed to how the pandemic inspired a further rise in nationalist sentiment. Jane Harman feels there wasn’t enough recognition of the fact that many people were left behind in the rush to streamline globalization. Senator Tim Kaine is certain that the best way to confront a pandemic is through international cooperation. Can the US get back on track as a global leader, despite the pandemic? Secretary Leon Panetta fears that the catastrophic handling of the pandemic in the US has raised questions both at home and abroad about America’s capability of handling a crisis. President Kersti Kaljulaid still hopes, however, that we will see some positive outcomes from the pandemic – specifically due to new technologies, new ways of working, and expanded supply lines.

There’s no doubt that the pandemic has changed the world forever and Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, had a sobering warning: COVID-19 hit the most vulnerable populations in Canada the hardest. If we aren’t careful, the next pandemic will do the same.

“We didn’t notice that globalization, which sounded great, didn’t benefit a lot of people- it dislocated work in particular- those people are left out.”  

— Kersti Kaljulaid, President, Republic of Estonia

“Despite these tragic events and the global pandemic, Canada remains engaged in operations around the world.”

— Jane Harman, the Director, President, and CEO of the Wilson Center

“Although the US may have escaped the worst, the fact that we brushed so close and that there were so few guardrails means that we can no longer take liberal democracy as an uncontested norm.”

— Gideon Rose, Editor, Foreign Affairs

“Russia and China fear alliances. The Western world has been able to protect its security because we come together.” 

— Leon Panetta, Chairman, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy

“I can guarantee that the next pandemic is going to hit the same vulnerable populations.”

— Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer, Canada

“I think coronavirus has demonstrated that we aren’t going to solve the big problems in the world without effective and vibrant alliances and international organizations.”  

— Senator Tim Kaine, Senator from Virginia, United States Senate

Remarks From President Erdoğan On the record

Speakers

President, Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a Turkish politician serving as the current President of Turkey. He previously served as Prime Minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 before being required to stand down upon his election as President in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed HFX participants, to highlight Turkey’s commitment to protecting its national sovereignty and peace in the region. Speaking to the ongoing issues in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, he expressed thanks to the Russian Federation for their help in brokering a ceasefire in the conflict. He also addressed the conflict in Libya, and advocated the continuation of dialogue to encourage peace. Erdoğan reiterated Turkey’s determination to pursue natural resources in the Mediterranean, and says Turkey has never closed the door on dialogue and diplomacy to do so.

“We have never closed our doors to dialogue and diplomacy.” 

— President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Republic of Turkey

“We do not have an eye on any country’s land, sovereignty, or domestic affairs.” 

— President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Republic of Turkey

11:00 EST

Plenary 4: Clubs Med: The Scramble For Middle Earth On the record

Speakers

Vice President, Halifax International Security Forum
Moderator
Robin Shepherd

Robin Shepherd

Mr. Robin Shepherd is Vice President at Halifax International Security Forum. A British citizen, Robin has been a senior journalist and think tank analyst for many years. Among the highlights of his career, he has been the head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House, Moscow Bureau Chief for the Times of London, and the author of two previous books, A State Beyond the Pale: Europe’s Problem with Israel; and Czechoslovakia: The Velvet Revolution and Beyond. He is currently writing a book on democracy in the digital revolution.

 

Former Minister of Justice, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel
Tzipi Livni

Tzipi Livni

MK Tzipi Livni is Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Justice, State of Israel. MK Livni has the posts of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Acting Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and was Chief Negotiator in the peace process negotiations with the Palestinians in 2008 and 2013. Livni served as a member of the National Security Cabinet and the Senior Security Cabinet during the Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead and Operation Protective Edge. Livni previously served in the Mossad and as Director General of the Government Companies Authority. She is currently the head of the Hatnua Party and co-leader of the Zionist Union. She is a member of the Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, and head of the Subcommittee for International Legal Warfare.

Ambassador of France to UNESCO, France
Véronique Roger-Lacan

Véronique Roger-Lacan

Ambassador Véronique Roger-Lacan has been France’s Permanent representative to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe since September 2015. She has held numerous positions in the French Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministries, including Special Representative for the fight against maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Guinea and Malacca Strait, and Head of the Mali-Sahel inter-agency unit at the time of the French military operation Serval. From 2011 to 2013 she served as Head of the Inter-Agency team for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and, prior to that, worked as a Strategic Affairs Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Additionally, she spent two years in the cabinet of the French Minister for Humanitarian affairs, and nine years in the Ministry of Defense as Deputy Policy Director in charge of crisis management and European Affairs. Ambassador Roger-Lacan has also worked at the NATO International Secretariat’s Defense Planning and Operations Divisions and at the United High Commissioner for Refugees’ regional offices in South East Asia (Bangkok) and the BeNeLux (Brussels). Ambassador Roger-Lacan is the Founder of the program “Encourage Excellencies” connecting interested diplomats with young, female students in the Balkans, Central Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, to offer guidance and thereby encouraging them to enter the diplomatic field.

 

Member of the Greek Parliament, Secretary Gen. of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs
Tasos Chatzivasileiou

Tasos Chatzivasileiou

Tasos Chatzivasileiou is a Member of the Hellenic Parliament (Nea Demokratia Party) and Secretary General of the Standing Committee of National Defense and Foreign Affairs. Moreover, he is a Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (EPP/CD Group).

He was born in Serres, Greece, in 1981 and he has studied Political Science, with a specialisation in International Relations and Political History. He graduated from the Department of Turkish Studies of the University of Cyprus and he continued his studies in International Politics and Southeastern Europe Studies at the University of Athens. He holds a PhD in Political Science and History from Panteion University of Athens.

He has been honored with scholarships from the Republic of Cyprus, as well as scholarships of the “Alexander S. Onassis”, “Lilian Voudouri” and “Bodosaki” Foundations.

He has received academic awards by the Republic of Cyprus and the University of Cyprus. He speaks fluently English, French and Turkish and has an advanced language level in Spanish.

He has previously worked as a Special Advisor at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hellenic Parliament and as a Research Fellow at the Department of Foreign Policy and Cyprus Issue at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus. He has participated in various research projects in Athens, Brussels, Istanbul and Nicosia and has taught as a visiting researcher at Ankara University and Panteion University. His articles have been published in newspapers and academic journals in Greece and abroad. In the private sector, he has worked as a consultant for International Business Development in Athens and Istanbul.

On December 2019, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis appointed him as International Secretary of the Nea Demokratia party.

With so many moving parts in the Middle East, nothing ever remains the same for long. This is especially true in a year like 2020. Over the past few months, we have seen a deterioration in relations between Greece and Turkey, even while alliances are improving between Israel and nearby Arab states. With regional debates over border lines and access to natural resources, there is no end to the diplomacy needed in the Middle East.

Véronique Roger-Lacan issued a forceful call for increased multilateralism in the Middle East. She said multilateralism is founded on the protection and promotion of individual human rights and freedoms and if every member of the international community respected those basic multilateralism principles, there would be less conflicts such as those in the Mediterranean to manage. Tzipi Livini sees positive new alliances forming between Israel and its neighbors. She was optimistic that they can continue to normalize relations with Arab and Gulf countries. Meanwhile, Tasos Chatzivasileiou hoped that President Biden will strengthen diplomacy and re-establish the United States as a badly-needed mediator between Greece and Turkey.

In a vast region, with many different priorities, the current global instability makes it more important than ever to have strong institutions that can encourage dialogue and democracy in the Middle East.

“I believe that globally, the day after COVID-19, the gaps between countries will be broader and a huge question will be how international organizations deal with this.” 

— Tzipi Livni, Former Minister of Justice; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel

“The EU doesn’t close its door to anyone, the EU has criteria that all EU member states respect and follow.”

— Véronique Roger-Lacan, Ambassador of France to UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

“There is a constant threat of war against Greece.” 

— • Tasos Chatzivasileiou, Member of the Greek Parliament, Secretary Gen. of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs

HFX2020 Welcomes the Peace With Women Fellowship On the record

HFX is proud once again to present the Peace with Women Fellowship, a leadership program for senior female officers from across the NATO alliance. The Fellowship provides a chance for women across the democratic world to build and strengthen their networks and encourage leadership in all levels of national security. As Peter Van Praagh said, women in security should not be the exception, they should be the norm. Our exemplary 2020 Fellows prove that this is true.

In HFX was joined by the 2020 Peace With Women Fellows:

  • Group Captain Carol Abraham, Chief, Defence Strategy Management, New Zealand Defence Force
  • Colonel Katharine Barber, Wing Commander for the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base Florida, United States Air Force
  • Colonel Rejanne Eimers-van Nes, Commander, Personnel Logistics, Royal Netherlands Army
  • Colonel Melissa Emmett, Career Manager General Staff, British Army
  • Colonel Ivana Gutzelnig, MD Director, Military Centre of Aviation Medicine, Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic
  • Colonel Dr. Stephanie Krause Commander, Medical Regiment No 1, German Armed Forces
  • Lieutenant Colonel Lene Lillelund, Battalion Commander, Logistics Regiment, Danish Army
  • Captain Rebecca Ore, Commander, Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, United States Coast Guard
  • Major General Germaine Seewer, Commandant, Armed Forces College, Deputy Chief, Training and Education Command, Swiss Armed Forces
  • Colonel Rebecca Talbot, Chief of Staff, Supply Chain Branch, Australian Defence Force
  • Colonel Geneviève Lehoux, Director, Military Careers Administration, Canadian Armed Forces
  • Colonel Valérie Morcel, Head, 54th Signals Regiment, French Army

11:50 EST

Plenary 5: Go Canada! Middle Powers Show The Way On the record

Speakers

Pentagon Reporter, POLITICO
Moderator
Lara Seligman

Lara Seligman

Lara Seligman is an award-winning journalist who covers the Pentagon for POLITICO. Her reporting on the military and the defense industry has taken her around the world, from the Middle East to Mongolia to the backseat of an Air Force Thunderbird. Before joining POLITICO, Lara covered the Pentagon and national security for Foreign Policy. There, she traveled to West Africa to cover the rapidly expanding terrorism threat in the Sahel, and accompanied the Secretary of Defense on his first international trip to Asia. She has also written for the Washington Post, Defense News, Aviation Week, and Inside Defense.
A Philadelphia native, Lara graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

Chief of Defence, Australia
Angus Campbell

Angus Campbell

General Angus Campbell joined the Australian Army in 1981, graduating from the Royal Military College – Duntroon in 1984. He was assigned to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps and initially served as a platoon commander in the 3rd Battalion (Parachute), The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR).

He then served in troop and squadron command appointments within the Special Air Service Regiment. In 2001 he was appointed the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (2RAR). While in command, the battalion group deployed to East Timor, as a component of the United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor.

General Campbell has also served in a range of staff appointments including as Aide-de-Camp to the Chief of Army, as a strategic policy officer in Army Headquarters, an instructor at the Australian Command and Staff College and as Chief of Staff to the Chief of the Defence Force.

Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, Latvia
Artis Pabriks

Artis Pabriks

Dr. Artis Pabriks is currently serving his second term as the Minister of Defence. In 2004, he was elected as a Member of the Latvian Parliament and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served as a minister until 2007. From 2007 until 2010 he was a Member of the Parliament. In 2014, he was elected to the European Parliament at the European election. As an academician, the main fields of his research activity are political theory, ethnic policy, multiculturalism, and foreign and security policy. He is also the author and co-author of numerous publications on these topics. In 1996, Dr Pabriks became the first Rector of Vidzeme University College, later becoming a Professor there. He has been a Professor at Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration since 2010. He has also worked as a policy analyst and researcher in several NGOs.

Minister of National Defence, Canada
Harjit S. Sajjan

Harjit S. Sajjan

Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan is the Minister of National Defence of Canada. He 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. Minister Sajjan 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. Minister Sajjan 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. Minister Sajjan 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. Minister Sajjan is also a human security specialist, and has lectured to a wide audience in both Canada and the United States.

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Rachel Kleinfeld

Rachel Kleinfeld

Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld advises governments, philanthropists, and activists on how democracies make major social change. As a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, she particularly focuses on countries facing violence, corruption, and other problems of poor governance. Her recent book (Knopf, 2018) investigates counties that successfully overcame extreme violence. Dr. Kleinfeld served for a decade as the founding CEO of the Truman National Security Project, a movement of military, policy, and political leaders to promote policies that advance security, dignity, and human flourishing, for which Time Magazine named her one of the top U.S. political leaders under 40. From 2011-2014 she served on the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, which advised the Secretary of State quarterly. Rachel is the author of multiple books and articles, including Advancing the Rule of Law Abroad: Next Generation Reform, which Foreign Affairs magazine named one of the best foreign policy books of 2012. Her D. Phil is from Oxford, and her B.A. is from Yale, but her heart resides in her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico and in her hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Is Canada destined to be a middle child amongst greater powers? In a year marked by a rising China and struggling America, Canada’s top bureaucrat Ian Shugart thinks the biggest question his country must answer now is – How are we going to participate in the global order and what is the best contribution that we can make?

Rachel Kleinfeld believes that the time is now for countries like Canada to take on a leadership role on the world stage. Australia’s Angus Campbell is optimistic about the opportunity for middle powers to encourage other countries to join that effort. From Latvia, Artis Pabriks believes that the strength of the European Union is a positive example of middle powers coming together to create a political force on the world stage.

In dealing with global power struggles, a US leadership change and the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada cannot find its way alone. Canada’s Minister of National Defence Harjit S. Sajjan stated that middle powers can be united to face adversity and we should never underestimate the power of nations coming together.

“China needs to realize that the rest of the world is watching very closely, and when they find that citizens can be arbitrarily detained, it’s not a bilateral issue- it’s an issue for the world.”

— the Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, Department of National Defence, Canada

“Large powers usually earn respect not only through their power but through their example.”  

— Artis Pabriks, Minister of Defence, Ministry of Defence, Latvia

“Although US leadership on the globe was inconsistent, sometimes ineffective, and sometimes unwelcome, it had been a cornerstone both democratically and militarily.”

— Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

“I’m very optimistic about the future of US power in the world, and about the ability of major powers to innovate and generate the kind of influence necessary to support a rules-based international order.” 

— Angus Campbell, Chief of the Defence Force, Australian Defence Force

Featured Speakers On the record

Speakers

Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office, Government of Canada
Ian Shugart

Ian Shugart

Ian Shugart became Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet on April 19, 2019. Prior to joining the Privy Council Office, he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from May 2016 to April 2019. From July 2010 to May 2016, Mr. Shugart was Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada and chairperson of the Canada Employment Insurance Commission. Before that, he served as Deputy Minister of the Environment and Associate Deputy Minister of the Environment.
Prior to joining Environment Canada, Mr. Shugart held several senior positions in the Health Portfolio, including:
Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Policy Branch, Health Canada (1999-2006)
Visiting Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Protection Branch, Health Canada (1997-1999) Executive Director, Medical Research Council (1993-1997)
While working at Health Canada, Mr. Shugart also served as chair of the Global Health Security Action Group and the Health Task Force of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and as a director on the World Health Organization’s executive board.
Prior to this, Mr. Shugart served as Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Social Policy and Programs in the Federal-Provincial Relations Office of the Privy Council Office. He spent several years on Parliament Hill in senior advisory roles to the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, the Minister of National Health and Welfare and the Leader of the Opposition.
He is a graduate in political economy from Trinity College at the University of Toronto.

Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Jane Harman

Jane Harman

Ms. Jane Harman resigned from Congress in February 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 and has made numerous Congressional fact-finding missions to hotspots including North Korea, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Recognized as a national expert on security and public policy issues, Harman received the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Service, the CIA Seal Medal, the CIA Director’s Award and the National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal. She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, State Department Foreign Policy Board, CIA External Advisory Board, the Director of National Intelligence’s Senior Advisory Group, and 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 and Harvard Law School.

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada
Theresa Tam

Theresa Tam

Dr. Theresa Tam was named Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) on June 26, 2017. She is a physician with expertise in immunization, infectious disease, emergency preparedness and global health security.
As the federal government’s lead health professional, Dr. Tam provides advice to the Minister of Health, supports and provides advice to the President of the Public Health Agency of Canada, and works in collaboration with the President in the leadership and management of the Agency.
The Public Health Agency of Canada Act empowers the CPHO to communicate with other levels of government, voluntary organizations, the private sector and Canadians on public health issues. Each year, the CPHO is required to submit a report to the Minister of Health on the state of public health in Canada.

15:00 EST

Plenary 6: Space: Contested On the record

Speakers

Security Analyst, Canada's CTV News, Member, Homeland Security Experts Group and Member, Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity
Moderator
Jeanne Meserve

Jeanne Meserve

Jeanne Meserve is a security analyst for Canada’s CTV News, and a member of the Homeland Security Experts Group and the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity. She moderates on a wide array of topics for groups including the Munich Security Conference, AtlanticLIVE, and the International Women’s Forum.  She speaks on communication, media and election security, and has provided communication coaching to leaders of corporations, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and government. As an anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News Jeanne Meserve won two Emmy Awards, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and contributed to two Peabody Awards.  She is a member of the board of the non-profit Space Foundation.

Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force
John Raymond

John Raymond

Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond is the Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force. As Chief, he serves as the senior uniformed Space Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipping of all organic and assigned space forces serving in the United States and overseas.

Gen. Raymond was commissioned through the ROTC program at Clemson University in 1984. He has commanded at squadron, group, wing, numbered air force, major command and combatant command levels. Notable staff assignments include serving in the Office of Force Transformation, Office of the Secretary of Defense; the Director of Plans, Programs and Analyses at Air Force Space Command; the Director of Plans and Policy (J5), U.S. Strategic Command; and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

Gen. Raymond deployed to Southwest Asia as Director of Space Forces in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Prior to leading establishment of the U.S. Space Force and serving as the first Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Raymond led the re-establishment of U.S. Space Command as the eleventh U.S. combatant command.

Senior Vice President, Space and Launch Boeing Defense, Space, and Security
Jim Chilton

Jim Chilton

Jim Chilton is senior vice president of the Space and Launch division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS). Chilton assumed this role in April 2018 as BDS announced a new operating structure to sharpen focus on key markets and move faster to meet customers’ needs. It realigned his previous Space and Missile Systems organization created in July 2017 to focus entirely on space and launch programs for government and commercial customers.

The Space and Launch portfolio includes the International Space Station; the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle; NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS); government and commercial satellite systems; and Boeing’s participation in United Launch Alliance.

From October 2016 to the July 2017 restructuring of Boeing’s space and defense business, Chilton led Network & Space Systems (N&SS), which included much of the current Space and Launch portfolio. Prior to that role, starting in 2013, he was vice president and general manager of Strategic Missile & Defense Systems within N&SS. Previously, Chilton served as vice president and program manager for Exploration Launch Systems and led SLS, Boeing’s heavy lift launch vehicle program. Before SLS, Chilton served as program manager for the Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) contract at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. He led final assembly and testing of space shuttle and expendable launch vehicle payloads, including hardware destined for the International Space Station.

Chilton began his career with Boeing in 1984 as a turbo machinery development engineer at the Rocketdyne division in Canoga Park, Calif. He went on to hold a number of roles in engine test and launch operations.

Chilton has served on many boards, including the board of directors for the National Children’s Advocacy Center and the International Astronautical Federation industry relations committee.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Washington State University and a master’s degree from the Florida Institute of Technology. He also completed the systems acquisition course for general and flag officers at Defense Acquisition University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s advanced management program.

In an international environment featuring great power tensions and complex new security challenges, do defense leaders spend enough time considering space as a domain of warfare? Should every nation create a Space Force? In this session, panelists discussed space as a hotly contested issue in global security.

General John Raymond is an impassioned advocate of America’s newly created Space Force, and the critical domain that it patrols. As other countries seek to weaponize space, the U.S. Space Force is determined to keep space a free, fair, and peaceful place. NATO also has a role to play, and Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach explained how satellites in space provide critical navigation, intelligence, and reconnaissance support for the Alliance. But it’s the partnerships with industry that make America a world leader in space exploration. Boeing’s Jim Chilton emphasized the industrial side of space, noting that his company will continue to provide new and high-quality space technology for both commercial and military use.

The panelists ultimately made it clear that if Western democracies want to support global peace and the rules-based international order, they must continue to invest in space technology through public-private partnerships, enhance diplomatic cooperation, and promote common rules for all countries to follow.

In the current global environment, space should be treated no differently than land, air, or sea.

Mr. Chilton framed space as a domain of opportunity, where research and innovation will help the $424 billion global space economy grow even larger. Acknowledging the widespread global interest in space, he noted that countries ranging from India and Australia to China are demonstrating greater interest and ambition.

Featured Speakers On the record

Speakers

Chairman of the Military Committee, NATO
Stuart Peach

Stuart Peach

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach is Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, his fourth four-star appointment. He was born in 1956 in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. He was educated at the University of Sheffield, University of Cambridge, RAF Staff College, and the Joint Services Command and Staff College. Commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1977, he flew Canberras and Tornado GR1s in reconnaissance and strike roles. He commanded IX (Bomber) Squadron, and did several staff tours including personal staff officer to the Commander-in-Chief in RAF Germany. His operational service includes tours in Belize, Hong Kong, Germany, Turkey, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Kosovo, and the USA. His senior UK staff appointments include Chief of Military Intelligence, Chief of Joint Operations, Commander of the Joint Forces Command, Vice Chief of Defence, and Chief of Defence.

“The US is the best in the world in space because we have the best partners and the best industries. We built space force to better work with our industry partners to ensure that we can remain the best.” 

— Gen. John Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force

“The world changes, but we feel that the US must always have a strong space force supported by strong industry.” 

— Jim Chilton, Senior Vice President of the Space and Launch division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security

“Space is right at the heart of our NATO command and control capabilities.”

— Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach, Chairman of the Military Committee, North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Clippings

POLITICO
China's tech authoritarianism too big to contain
Ryan Heath

“Too many of the world’s great challenges, including climate and inequality, require China’s input for the country to be isolated by the West, the Halifax International Security Forum report concludes, but those democracies will need to use the U.S.-led post-war alliance system to force chance. That’s one fundamental advantage China does not have at its disposal: It has no real allies, only clients and fearful neighbors.”

CBC News
Western diplomats ponder the problem of dealing with a more aggressive China
Murray Brewster

“One of the marquee panels at the Halifax International Security Forum, held virtually this year, began on Friday with a grainy, grey video of an elephant being chased and eventually overpowered by a pride of lions. It was a stark visual metaphor for Beijing’s relative isolation as a world power — the fact that China is a powerful nation with few allies, while western democracies are overwhelming when they act in concert. There was, however, a palpable sense of dismay among some of the panelists when the conversation turned to whether the international community is a pride of lions or a collection of kittens.”

The National Post
On China at least, Joe Biden should follow the lead of Donald Trump
Robin Shepherd

“Policy-makers around the world need to wake up to the reality of the China threat by carefully studying and learning about the various elements involved, from the Leninist essence of the CCP, through its assault on global democracies in international institutions, to its generalized and broadly-based interference in free and open societies. As a starting point, our organization,HFX, has produced China vs. Democracy: The Greatest Game, which we see as a “Handbook for Democracies” that discusses these challenges, and more, and is available for anyone to download.”

Bloomberg
Biden Unlikely to Quickly Unwind China Tariffs, Democrat Says
Daniel Flatley

““I would not expect the president-elect to simply just take off all the tariffs and try to take us back to where we were in 2016,” Coons said at a security conference Friday. “I would expect him to begin by consulting with our close and trusted allies, like the United Kingdom, like Canada, before moving forward.” Coons, who appeared at the Halifax International Security Forum, said he was not speaking for Biden or the transition team but was outlining what he saw as Biden’s likely course of action based on their relationship and Biden’s long experience working in foreign relations as a senator and vice president.”

CTV News Atlantic
Janice Gross Stein on International Security Forum

Janice Gross Stein joined Bruce Frisko and CTV News Atlantic to talk about the agenda for the 2020 Halifax International Security Forum, how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world’s democracies, the impact of the recent US election on global democracy, and what the rise of China means for Canada.

National Defense
HALIFAX FORUM NEWS: China's New Rockets Called Asymmetric Threat to U.S. Navy
Yasmin Tadjdeh

“They’re creating very advanced platforms — and weapons systems to go with those platforms — in the naval or maritime sphere, with their air forces [and] with their rocket forces,” said Adm. Philip Davidson. “China will test more missiles — conventional and nuclear associated missiles — this year than every other nation added together on the planet.” There is an “incredible asymmetry” in the region due to the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force and what it’s capable of doing both in terms of capability and quantity, he said during a pre-recorded interview at the Halifax International Security Forum, which this year is being hosted both in person in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

More News & Press

In Pictures

Washington, D.C., November 20, 2020: HFX 2020 forum at the Big Whig at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., November 20, 2020: HFX 2020 forum at the Big Whig at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., November 20, 2020: HFX 2020 forum at the Big Whig at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C.

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