Atlantic Council Events

Crude oil prices have hit a twelve-year low owing to a combination of resurgent Iraqi exports, the United States' shale revolution, and Saudi Arabia's refusal to cut production in an effort to protect its market share. Additionally, post-sanctions Iran's re-entrance into the global marketplace has contributed to this global glut, which will only pose further challenges to the region's energy producers. Dr. Salam Fayyad, Former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority; The Hon. Sherri Goodman, Board Director at the Atlantic Council; Karen Elliott House, Former Publisher at the Wall Street Journal; and Raad Alkadiri, Managing Director for Petroleum Sector Risk at IHS Energy discuss the security and economic implications of falling oil prices on the Middle East.

Admiral Michael S. Rogers, the Commander of US Cyber Command and Director of the National Security Agency, talks about his strategic priorities for 2016. The event took place on January 21, 2016, at the Atlantic Council headquarters.

The Atlantic Council recently held a special event, “Reflections of a Former Secretary of Defense,” a conversation with the 24th Secretary of Defense and former US Senator from Nebraska, Chuck Hagel. Listen as he discusses his unparalleled experience across branches of government, in academia, and in the private sector. He spoke to a packed audience at the Atlantic Council headquarters on January 13, 2016.

At a time when women's participation in government is increasing throughout Latin America, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and fellow influencers in the region for the launch of the Women's Leadership in Latin America Initiative. Led by Ambassador-in-Residence Capricia Penavic Marshall, the event featured a panel of female leaders from Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia.

A top Citibank executive and one of Ukraine's most popular rock stars were among five luminaries who offered their suggestions on November 9 for cleaning up the endemic corruption that has long strangled the Ukrainian economy and kept foreign investors away. Andy Hunder, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, moderated the discussion titled “Securing Ukraine’s Future: Winning the Fight Against Corruption,” with Anna Derevyanko, Executive Director of the European Business Association; Svyatoslav “Slava” Vakarchuck, a social activist and lead vocalist with the Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy; Steven Fisher, CEO of Citibank Ukraine; and Ihor Petrashko, Deputy CEO of UkrLandFarming.

The Atlantic Council hosts its first TPP-focused public event in Washington, DC since the successful conclusion of negotiations. US Trade Representative Michael Froman and Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State Daniel R. Russel discuss what the Trans-Pacific Partnership means for US economic and strategic leadership and the implications for commercial opportunities in Latin America and in Asia.

Stella Dawson of Thomson Reuters moderates a discussion on using big data to target human trafficking in a strategically significant way, and what the government can do to prevent malevolent actors from using new technologies for nefarious purposes. Other speakers include Ernie Allen, Former President and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and International Center for Missing and Exploited Children; Bradley Myles, CEO of Polaris Project; Kilian Moote, Project Director of KnowTheChain, Humanity United; Amy Pope, Deputy Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, White House; and John Solomon, Director of Threat Finance at Thomson Reuters.

The Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security recently held a high-level war game to explore future courses of action that the US-led coalition could pursue against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, including staying the course, implementing a diplomatic surge, and carrying out a heavy military intervention. Participants explored these options with the aim of informing key domestic and regional stakeholders on the critical components of a successful coalition strategy. The public event presents the findings of the simulation, before initiating a broader discussion of the strategic challenges facing the United States and its partners in the fight against ISIS.

The Hon. Chuck Hagel, Distinguished Statesman at the Atlantic Council, and H.E. Ine Eriksen Søreide, Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Norway, discuss the major challenges facing NATO and the political and military way forward as the Alliance approaches its crucially important Warsaw Summit in 2016. The event took place on September 24, 2015, and was moderated by Fred Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council.

With renewed fighting in Ukraine’s east, few now deny that Moscow is financially and militarily backing the separatist war in east Ukraine and has in fact invaded its neighbor on several occasions in the past year. The new report by The Interpreter, “An Invasion by Any Other Name: The Kremlin's Dirty War in Ukraine”,​ aims to offer a complete account that proves Russia is behind the unrest in the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east. Listen to the conversation with Michael Weiss, Editor-in-Chief of The Interpreter and Senior Editor at The Daily Beast; and James Miller, Managing Editor of The Interpreter.

Penny Mordaunt is the first woman to assume the post of Minister of State for the Armed Forces at the UK Ministry of Defense. At the Atlantic Council on September 3, 2015, she provided her perspective on the priorities of the UK military for the short and long term, and commented on the UK's strategic aims as a partner and ally.

Can the United States really shame another country for espionage excess? The Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative in the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security featured a discussion on how the United States should react to Chinese cyberattacks on sensitive government systems, such as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Siobhan Gorman, a Director in the Washington office of the advisory firm Brunswick, moderates the panel featuring Catherine Lotrionte, Director of the Institute for Law, Science and Global Security at Georgetown University; Robert Knake, the Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Jason Healey, a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council.

On Thursday, July 30, 2015 the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center launched its task force report, "Empowering America: How Energy Abundance Can Strengthen US Global Leadership." Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Warner discussed the report's recommendations and answered questions from audience members. David L. Goldwyn, Chairman of the Atlantic Council's Energy Advisory Group, moderated the discussion, and Richard L. Morningstar, Founding Director of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center, provided welcome remarks.

On June 9, 2015, the Atlantic Council hosted What's Religion Got to Do with It?, a Middle East Strategy Task Force (MEST) event featuring Co-Chairs Madeleine K. Albright and Stephen J. Hadley, together with a panel of experts on Islam, politics, and Islamist extremist groups’ use of social media as a recruitment tool. The participants examined the extent to which religion is a driver behind the rise of violent extremism and sectarianism in regional politics.

The Middle East Strategy Task Force (MEST) is a bipartisan effort that seeks to examine, through dialogue with partners in the Middle East and the international community, how the United States and other key actors can better collaborate to rebuild a regional order based on well-governed, legitimate states. MEST Co-Chairs Madeline Albright and Stephen Hadley discuss public opinion in the Middle East with a distinguished panel on June 4, 2015. The event was the public launch of MEST. To view the data presentations, please watch the webcast at http://bit.ly/1OLCSgJ (http://bit.ly/1OLCSgJ).