At the start of the Biden administration, the United States and its allies are facing a number of critical challenges to their national security.  In Asia, these challenges include the security threats posed by China and North Korea.  In Europe, a resurgent and hostile Russia poses a threat at a time when the NATO alliance has been weakened through years of diminished support and commitment.  In the Middle East, Iran continues to promote instability throughout the region and threatens its neighbors with terrorism, proxy wars, and the prospect of acquiring nuclear weapons.

The current challenges to national security also include the threat of cyberattacks launched by hostile nations and non-state actors, the grave public health threat and drain on national resources and social order posed by the ongoing global pandemic, an increasing number of natural disasters caused by climate change, and the growing danger of domestic terrorism fueled by increasing ideological polarization and an attack on objective facts and truth posed by organizations such as QAnon.

Our program will feature a discussion by four defense and national security experts on how the United States and its allies around the world are likely to respond to these multiple challenges and what that may mean for A&D companies who will be supporting this effort.  Our expert panelists will include:

Ambassador Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., Chairman Emeritus at the Stimson Center, who previously served in the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, including as the United States Special Envoy for MANPADS Threat Reduction, Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs

Ernest J. (E.J.) Herold, Executive Director of IISS-Americas, who previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Defense Investment at NATO, following an assignment with IBM in Brussels and a full career in the U.S. Army, retiring as a Colonel

Ambassador (Ret.) Marisa Lino, Associate Fellow, Defense and Military Analysis Program, IISS, who previously served as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the United States Department of Homeland Security and as an Ambassador and career Foreign Service Officer in the United States Department of State

Honorable Peter MacKay, PC QC, Strategic Advisor to Deloitte Canada and to McInnes Cooper, who previously served as Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Howard Weissman of our Washington D.C. office will moderate the discussion.