MINISTER NICHOLSON AND SECRETARY HAGEL LEAD THE CONVERSATION AT THE FIFTH ANNUAL HALIFAX INTERNATIONAL SECURITY FORUM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5 November 2013

Washington, DC – The Honourable Rob Nicholson, Canadian Minister of National Defence, will host American Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, at the fifth annual Halifax International Security Forum. Secretary Hagel is delivering the opening remarks at the Forum which is being held from November 22nd – 24th, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“It is an honour for me to host Secretary Hagel at the Halifax International Security Forum during his first visit to Canada as Secretary of Defense,” said the Honourable Rob Nicholson, Canada’s Minister of National Defence. “Canada and the United States have strong military bilateral relations and our security engagements are strengthened by the Halifax conversations.”

Minister Nicholson and Secretary Hagel previously met at the NATO Defense Ministers’ meetings in October 2013. Secretary Hagel’s speech continues the Halifax tradition of having the Secretary of Defense open the November Forum.

Secretary Hagel and Minister Nicholson will be joined by more than two dozen international Ministers, as well as military leaders and security experts from over 50 countries. The Halifax International Security Forum brings together 300 individuals annually who are on the ground facing consequential local threats, writers who challenge and influence the world’s thinking on security, and decision-makers who make the tough choices.

“At Halifax, we engage the most relevant players in addressing today’s complex realities,” said Peter Van Praagh, President of the Halifax International Security Forum. “I am proud that Minister Nicholson and Secretary Hagel are welcoming democratic leaders from around the world for our discussions this weekend.”

The 2013 Halifax International Security Forum features eight on-the-record sessions and 28 off-the-record sessions. The on-the-record panels focus on the following subjects:

· The West Today: Calculated Power or Complete Paralysis?

· Bloody Autocracy, Religious Kleptocracy, Unstable Democracy: In Search of Better Choices for the Middle East (and Beyond)

· If Democracies Won’t, Alternatives Will: Reviving Global Responsibility

· From India to the Americas: The Trials and Tribulations of a New Pacific Order

· Robot Wars: The Technology Strikes Back

· Arctic Encounters: Hot Commodities, Cold War

· Free Radicals (With Return Tickets): Boston, Nairobi, and the Future of Terrorism

· WMD: Whose Moral Dilemma?

The Halifax International Security Forum is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC.

For more information about the Halifax International Security Forum please contact our communications team at: communications@halifaxtheforum.org

Follow the Halifax International Security Forum on twitter @HFXforum, #HISF2013.