FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 15, 2017

HALIFAX, NS — Halifax International Security Forum, North America’s leading foreign affairs and defense conference, released the agenda of its plenaries and panel discussions that will be taking place this weekend from November 17-19.  The Forum is hosted by Canada’s Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Harjit Sajjan.

A copy of the complete agenda can be found here.

Highlights for discussion include:

• Identifying our shared strategic purpose as democracies.  The opening panel will explore whether our desire for peace, our economic ambitions, or our core principles take priority. Taking part in this discussion will be Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison, the US Permanent Representative to NATO; Ms. Jane Harman, Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Dr. Constanze Stelzenmüller, Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; and, Dr. Margaret MacMillan, Professor of History, University of Toronto.
• Exploring the dangers of nuclear confrontation with General John Hyten, Commander of US Strategic Command; Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins from the University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Sung-han Kim of Korea University; and, Moshe Ya’alon, former Minister of Defense of Israel.
• Debating whether a rapprochement with Russia is smart policy now, or whether it must wait for the post-Putin era. Panelists include Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ukraine; Vladimir Milov, President of the Institute of Energy Policy in Russia; and, Antoni Macierewicz, Poland’s Minister of National Defence.
• Considering the role of women in international conflict resolution in a variety of formats, including in conversation with The Hon. Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s Minister of National Defence; H.E. Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General; General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, together with Ms. Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Laureate and Founder, Women Journalists Without Chains; Ms. Nancy Lindborg, President, United States Institute of Peace; and, Ms. Fauziya Ali, Founder and President, Women In International Security Kenya and Chair, Sisters without Borders.

Other featured speakers include Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet Inc., H.E. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Ömer Çelik, Turkey’s Minister for European Union Affairs; and, Richard V. Spencer, Secretary of the United States Navy.

Now in its ninth year, the Halifax International Security Forum welcomes leaders from over 70 countries to Halifax, Nova Scotia to discuss ways to further democracy and global security.

Halifax International Security Forum is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC. The Forum is made possible by the generous support from its partners, including the Government of Canada and the Halifax Canada Club.

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For more information, please contact:

Robin MacLachlan, Communications Manager, Halifax International Security Forum – (613) 294-6128

For media inquiries or to register for accreditation to the Forum please contact communications@halifaxtheforum.org

Please direct other inquiries to info@halifaxtheforum.org

Follow the Halifax International Security Forum on social media, our website, and watch plenaries live on our Facebook Page.

On Twitter: Follow us at @HfxForum for regular updates, quotes and pictures from the plenary floor. Be sure to take part in the conversation by using the hashtag #HISF2017.

On Facebook: Like our Facebook page and follow the Forum’s proceedings over Facebook Live – https://www.facebook.com/Halifaxtheforum.

On our website: Live stream the plenaries as they happen on our website – https://www.halifaxtheforum.org.