2018 Texas National Security Forum

The Return of Great Power Competition

November 30 - November 30, 2018  |  8:00 am - 5:15 pm  |  Etter-Harbin Alumni Center

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 Texas National Security Forum
The Return of Great Power Competition 

Friday, November 30, 2018
8:00 AM – 5:15 PM
Etter-Harbin Alumni Center
The University of Texas at Austin 

Registration has closed for the fifth annual Texas National Security Forum. The event was free and open to the public.

This year’s forum, “The Return of Great Power Competition”, featured a keynote conversation with Senator Richard Burr, Senator Mark Warner and Senator John Cornyn of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; and a keynote address by Senator Ben Sasse of the Armed Services Committee. Several panels featured experts on Global Threats, Strategies and Tactics, Russia, China, and World Order. The full agenda can be viewed below.

 

AGENDA

7:30 – 8:00 am  ·   Arrival and Registration
 
Coffee / Tea / Light breakfast available
 

Session I 

8:00 – 8:15 am   ·   Welcome Remarks
 
Robert Chesney, Director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law
William Inboden, Executive Director of the Clements Center for National Security

8:15 – 9:30 am   ·   Panel One: World Order

  • Antony Blinken, Former Deputy Secretary of State
  • Eric Edelman, Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy
  • Kristen Silverberg, Former Ambassador to the European Union
  • Moderator: Lorinc Redei, Lecturer and Graduate Advisor, Master of Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs

9:30 – 10:45 am   ·   Panel Two: Russia

  • General Philip Breedlove, USAF, Ret.; Former Supreme Allied Commander Europe
  • Evelyn Farkas, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia
  • Daniel Fried, Former Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs
  • Moderator: Mary Neuburger, Director of the Center for Russia, East European and Eurasian Studies

10:45 – 11:00 am   ·   Break

Session II

11:00 am – 12:15 pm   ·   Keynote Conversation on the SSCI Investigation into Russian Active Measures

Introduction by President Gregory Fenves, The University of Texas at Austin 

  • Senator Richard Burr, Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Senator Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Senator John Cornyn, Member of the Select Committee on Intelligence
  • Moderator: Stephen Slick, Director of the Intelligence Studies Project

12:15 – 12:45 pm   ·   Lunch 

Buffet lunch provided for participants and registered guests

12:45 – 1:30 pm   ·   Keynote Address by Senator Ben Sasse, Member of the Armed Services Committee 

Introduction by Admiral Bob Inman, Centennial Chair in National Policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs

Session III
 
1:30 – 2:45 pm   ·   A Special Conversation on Global Threats

  • General Raymond Anthony Thomas, USA, Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command
  • Admiral William McRaven, USN, Ret.; Former Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command
  • Admiral Eric Olson, USN, Ret.; Former Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command
  • Moderator: J. Paul Pope, Senior Fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project

 
2:45 – 4:00 pm   ·   Panel Three: Strategies, Tactics and Tools

  • Elbridge Colby, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • Peter Feaver, Former Special Advisor for Strategic Planning, National Security Council
  • Mary Beth Long, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense
  • Andrew May, Office of Net Assessment, Department of Defense
  • Moderator: Celeste Ward Gventer, Associate Director of the Clements Center for National Security

 
4:00 – 5:15 pm   ·   Panel Four: China

  • Christopher Johnson, Former Central Intelligence Agency Analyst
  • Kelly Magsamen, Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs
  • James Steinberg, Former Deputy Secretary of State
  • Moderator: Joshua Eisenman, Faculty Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security and Distinguished Scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law

5:15 pm   ·   Forum Adjourns