Atlantic Council Events

In light of a shrinking force structure and limited resources despite increasing global commitments, our panelists David Barno and Nora Bensahel, senior fellows at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; Brad Carson, former Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at US Department of Defense provide a range of recommendations in three distinct time horizons to help Army leaders build the next Army successfully. From the Army Today, 2016-20, the Army of Tomorrow, 2020-25, and the Army of the Day After Tomorrow, 2025-40+, Barno and Bensahel offer fresh ideas that spark debate, challenge hoary assumptions, and animate the need for change. The event took place on September 21. 2016, moderated by Missy Ryan of the Washington Post. The original report by Barno and Bensahel is available here (http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/reports/the-future-of-the-army).

On September 9, 2016, our panelists Chris Bakemeyer, deputy assistant secretary for Iran at the US Department of State; David Mortlock, nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center; and Barbara Slavin, acting director of the Atlantic Council’s Future of Iran Initiative discussed the outlook for investment in Iran, the ongoing status of existing sanctions, and the broader context of US policy towards Iran. We delved into the implications of these trends both for policymakers and private sector leaders considering investment opportunities in Iran. Richard Morningstar, Founding Director and Chairman of the Global Energy Center, delivered welcoming remarks, and Yeganeh Torbati of Reuters moderated the discussion.

On the heels of recent tragic and perhaps paradigm-shifting events such as the Nice attack and Turkish coup attempt, Atlantic Council’s Senior Fellow Michael Weiss and Jasmine El-Gamal analyzed the Anti-ISIS Coalition's progress in a special members and press call. The call was convened on July 19, moderated by Bilal Saab, director of the Atlantic Council's Middle East Peace and Security Initiative. The Atlantic Council's Members Conference Call (http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/support/members-program) series provides members from around the world an exclusive opportunity to speak directly with the work of the Atlantic Council.

Gérard Araud, Ambassador of France to the United States, joins the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative for a discussion on French leadership in a Post-Brexit Europe. Following the Ambassador’s remarks, Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Jeremie Gallon engages Ambassador Frederic Hof, Director of the Council’s Rafik Hariri Center on the Middle East; Ms. Laure Mandeville, Atlantic Council Senior Fellow; and Ambassador John Herbst, Director of the Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center to debate France's role in navigating Europe's identity and electoral politics, developing and implementing a more coherent strategy to the south, and ensuring strength and unity in the face of a revisionist Russia. The event took place on July 28, 2016.

As news continued to flow in in regarding the attempted coup in Turkey on July 15, analysts Sir Peter Westmacott, Aaron Stein, and Matthew Bryza joined in on a Members Conference Call to provide analysis for the future of Turkish politics, and the implications for the fight against ISIS. The conference call took place on July 18, 2016. This call is part of the members’ conference call series which provides members from around the world an exclusive opportunity to speak directly with the work of the Atlantic Council. For more information, visit http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/support/members-program (http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/support/members-program).

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, is one of the most important trade agreements in history. In the following program, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom discusses the future of TTIP and transatlantic trade relations. The event took place on June 29, 2016.

On June 27, 2016, in light of Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union, the Atlantic Council discussed what the US, UK, and crucial European Allies must do to bolster NATO's strength and solidarity, especially in a post-Brexit Europe. We also launched a report on “Restoring the Power and Purpose of the NATO Alliance”, authored by Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns and General James L. Jones, who presented their final conclusions. The event was moderated by Evelyn Farkas.

General Philip M. Breedlove, former Commander of US European Command and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO, spoke at the Atlantic Council’s public conference: The Future of NATO Enlargement and New Frontiers in European Security. Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of Atlantic Council, moderated the discussion. The conference was held on June 8, 2016.

What's the nature of modern Russian propaganda? Our panel of four journalists from Russia and Ukraine discuss the changing face of Kremlin propaganda. The panelists were Masha Gessen, journalist and author of The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin; Vasily Gatov, visiting fellow at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; Daria Dieguts, foreign correspondent of TV Channel “Ukraine”; and Natalka Pisnya, special reporter and head of bureau in the United States for 1+1 Media Group. The discussion focused on the challenges facing independent Russian-language journalism, and was moderated by Karina Orlova, a journalist with Echo of Moscow. The event took place on May 23, 2016.

Robert Work, Deputy Secretary at the US Department of Defense, discussed art, narrative, and the third offset in the ending keynote of 2016 Global Strategy Forum on May 2, 2016. The discussion was moderated by August Cole, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Art of the future Project, and introduced by Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council.

On May 2nd 2016, the Atlantic Council hosted its second annual Global Strategy Forum. In this episode, you will hear our debate on America’s role in the world between David Rothkopf, CEO and editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy Magazine, and Kori Schake, research fellow at the Hoover Institution. The panel debated the resolution: We must “Make America Great” again. The debate was moderated by Daniel Chiu, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development in the US Department of Defense

On May 2, 2016, the Atlantic Council hosted its second annual Global Strategy Forum. This year’s theme was “America’s Role in the World,” and featured TED-style talks, a formal, moderated debate on America's Role in a Changing World, as well a final keynote address by Deputy Secretary Robert Work on how fiction and art can help the Third Offset Strategy succeed. This podcast highlights the first panel, "Strategic Foresight: How a Changing World Affects America", with panelists Arati Prabhakar, director of DARPA at the US Department of Defense; Jennifer Sciubba, senior fellow at the Strategic Foresight Initiative of the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; Amy Zalman, founder and principal of Strategic Narrative Institute; and moderator Deborah Westphal, CEO of Toffler Associates.

President Obama met with Gulf Cooperation Council leaders at a summit meeting in Riyadh on April 21 amid recent tense exchanges in the press over the United States' relationship with the Gulf states. The meeting agenda was wide-ranging in scope and subject matter, and included the state of progress on the deliverable items from last year's summit at Camp David and the most pressing regional security issues. On Tuesday, April 19, at 8:30 a.m. EDT, a special members and press call was convened to discuss the challenges facing the US and its GCC partners, priorities for the summit, and prospects for the future of the US-GCC relationship with Zalmay Khalilzad, President of Gryphon Partners; Barry Pavel, Vice President, Arnold Kanter Chair, and Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; and Ali Tulbah, Managing Director at McLarty Associates.

On March 17, just days before the President's trip to Cuba and Argentina, National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice discussed President Obama's vision for the Western Hemisphere and how, during his visit to Latin America, he aimed to solidify and advance this strategic partnership.

This podcast covers our launch event for the report: Alliance at Risk: Strengthening European Defense in an Age of Turbulence and Competition. The event took place at the Atlantic Council's headquarters on February 26. It featured a discussion of the report with a panel of leading experts, moderated by Barry Pavel, Vice President, Arnold Kanter Chair, and Director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Despite Russian aggression in Ukraine and growing threats along NATO’s southern flank, many European allies find it difficult to increase their defense capabilities and meet the commitments they made at the Wales Summit. To address this important challenge, the Atlantic Council produced its Alliance at Risk report, which draws together noted experts and former senior officials to examine the vulnerabilities in European defense and provides recommendations on the way forward. The project highlights six leading nations from NATO’s north, south, east, and west, illuminating the many perspectives and diverse defense priorities that exist within the Alliance today.