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2021 Aspen Security Forum

2021 D.C Edition

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November 2 - 4, 2021
The InterContinental - Wharf
Washington, D.C.

...and more to be confirmed.

The Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum team was delighted to convene the 12th Annual Aspen Security Forum from November 2 - 4 in Washington, D.C. at the InterContinental Hotel (The Wharf).

The in-person Forum featured perspectives from global leaders and discussed the most pressing national security and foreign policy issues of the day, such as: the current global cyberthreat landscape; bilateral and multilateral trade and defense cooperation; combatting global and domestic extremism; growing tensions between democracy and illiberalism; supply chain security; recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; and more.

Agenda
*Speakers and times are subject to change.
All session times in ET.

Day 1: Wednesday, November 3rd

9:00 - 9:05 AM

Introductory Remarks

  • Nicholas Burns, Executive Director, Aspen Strategy Group

  • Anja Manuel, Director, Aspen Strategy Group

​

9:05 - 9:45 AM

Keynote | A Conversation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Military Challenges of the 21st Century

  • Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  • Moderator: Lester Holt, Anchor and Managing Editor, NBC Nightly News

 

9:45 - 10:30 AM

Keynote | Cybersecurity is National Security: Cyber Command and NSA's Partnership Defending the Nation

  • Paul Nakasone, Commander, U.S. Cyber Command and Director, National Security Agency

  • Moderator: David Ignatius, Columnist and Associate Editor, The Washington Post

 

10:30 - 11:15 AM

Panel | Defeating the Virus: The Biden Administration’s Global Vaccination Pledge

*Co-Presented with the Aspen Institute Health, Medicine, and Society Program

  • Gary Edson, CEO, COVID Collaborative

  • Anne Pritchett, Senior Vice President, Policy and Research, PhRMA

  • Kathleen Sebelius, former Secretary of Health and Human Services

  • Gayle Smith, Coordinator for Global COVID Response and Health Security, Department of State

  • Moderator: Kavita Patel, Nonresident Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution

 

11:15 - 11:45 AM

Panel | Space as Critical Infrastructure

  • John Galer, Assistant Vice President, National Security Space, AIA 

  • Sam Visner, Technical Fellow, The MITRE Corporation

  • Moderator: Joseph Marks, Reporter, The Washington Post

​

11:45 AM - 12:00 PM

Break | Lunch Pickup

 

12:00 - 12:30 PM

Keynote | A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice

  • Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State

  • Moderator: Margaret Brennan, Moderator, Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, CBS News

​

12:30 - 1:00 PM

Panel | On the Rise: Perspectives on Foreign Policy

  • Aspen Strategy Group Rising Leaders

​

1:00 - 1:45 PM

Panel | The Nexus of Climate Change and National Security

  • Todd Gloria, Mayor of San Diego

  • Daniel Poneman, former Deputy Secretary of Energy

  • Alice Hill, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, The Council on Foreign Relations

  • Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative for Renewable Energy for All, the United Nations, and Co-Chair, UN-Energy

  • Moderator: Jim Sciutto, Chief National Security Correspondent, CNN

​

1:45 - 2:00 PM

Keynote | Updates from COP26

  • Raj Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation

  • John Kerry, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

  • Moderator: Jim Sciutto, Chief National Security Correspondent, CNN

​

2:00 - 2:30 PM

Keynote | A Conversation with House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff

  • Adam Schiff, Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

  • Moderator: Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News and Host, Andrea Mitchell Reports, MSNBC

 

2:30 - 3:00 PM

Keynote | A Conversation with the Minister of Defense of Singapore on the Asia-Pacific

  • Ng Eng Hen, Minister of Defense of Singapore

  • Moderator: Joe Nye, Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group

​

3:00 - 3:30 PM

Panel | Democracy vs. Authoritarianism: The Global Struggle

  • Mike Abramowitz, President, Freedom House

  • Sadanand Dhume, Senior Fellow, AEI

  • John Frank, Vice President for UN Affairs, Microsoft

  • Moderator: Lara Jakes, Diplomatic Correspondent, The New York Times

 

3:30 - 4:00 PM

Panel | Follow the Money: Corruption and National Security

  • Daniel Eriksson, CEO, Transparency International

  • Jane Harman, Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita, The Wilson Center

  • Juan Zarate, Chairman, Center on Economic and Financial Power, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

  • Moderator: Dina Temple-Raston, Senior Correspondent, The Record

​

4:00 - 4:30 PM

Keynote | The China Challenge: A Conversation with Senator Jack Reed

  • Jack Reed, Senator from Rhode Island

  • Moderator: Gordon Lubold, White House and National Security Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

​

4:30 - 5:00 PM

Panel | The Future of Europe and the Transatlantic Alliance 

  • Brendan Boyle, Representative for Pennsylvania's 2nd Congressional District

  • Philippe Etienne, Ambassador of France to the U.S.

  • Emily Haber, Ambassador of Germany to the U.S.

  • Moderator: Nick Schifrin, Foreign and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

 

5:00 - 5:20 PM

Keynote | The Lithuania Story

  • Arnoldas Pranckevičius, Deputy Foreign Minister of Lithuania

  • Moderator: Nick Schifrin, Foreign and Defense Correspondent, PBS NewsHour

​

5:20 - 5:25 PM

Closing Remarks

Anja Manuel, Director, Aspen Strategy Group

​

Day 2: Thursday, November 4th

9:00 - 9:05 AM

Introductory Remarks​

  • Anja Manuel, Director, Aspen Strategy Group

  • Dan Porterfield, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute

 

9:05 - 9:30 AM

Keynote | A Conversation with the Secretary of the Navy

  • Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy

  • Moderator: Kevin Baron, Executive Editor, Defense One

​

9:30 - 10:00 AM

Panel | An Increasingly Adversarial World: Cross-Atlantic Perspectives

  • Dame Karen Pierce, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the U.S.

  • Kori Schake, Senior Fellow and Director of Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, AEI

  • Tom Wright, Director, Center on the United States and Europe, the Brookings Institution

  • Moderator: Matt Kaminski, Editor-in-Chief, Politico

​

10:00 - 10:45 AM

Panel | The Great Experiment: The Health of American Democracy

  • Arthur Brooks, William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School; Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School

  • Amy Walter, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Cook Political Report

  • Moderator: Susan Glasser, Staff Writer, The New Yorker 

 

10:45 - 11:45 AM

Panel | Building a More Resilient Global Supply Chain

  • Elissa Slotkin, Representative for Michigan's 8th Congressional District

  • Michael McCaul, Representative for Texas' 10th Congressional District

  • Bruce Andrews, Corporate VP and Chief Government Affairs Officer, Intel

  • Chester "Chip" Davis, Jr., President and CEO, Healthcare Distribution Alliance

  • Moderator: Anja Manuel, Director, Aspen Strategy Group

​

11:45 AM - 12:15 PM

Keynote | Rejecting Decline: Mapping America's Choices in the Digital Revolution

  • Ben Sasse, U.S. Senator for Nebraska

  • Moderator: Stephen Hayes, CEO and Editor, The Dispatch

 

12:15 - 1:00 PM

Break | Lunch Pickup

​

1:00 - 2:00 PM

Panel | Global Economic Recovery: Challenges and Opportunities

*Co-Presented with the Aspen Economic Strategy Group

  • Mike Froman, former U.S. Trade Representative

  • Austan Goolsbee, Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

  • Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum

  • Dambisa Moyo, Global Economist and Author

  • Moderator: Edward Luce, U.S. National Editor and Columnist, The Financial Times

 

2:00 - 2:05 PM

Flash Talk | Fast Follower Strategy

  • Mike Brown, Director, Defense Innovation Unit

​

2:05 - 3:00 PM

Panel Preserving America's Technological Edge

  • Mike Brown, Director, Defense Innovation Unit

  • Chris Lynch, Co-Founder and CEO, Rebellion Defense

  • Teresa Shea, Vice President, Cyber Offense and Defense Experts, Raytheon Intelligence and Space

  • Moderator: Nancy Youssef, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal

​

3:00 - 3:45 PM

Keynote | The Future of Special Operations Forces

  • Richard Clarke, Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command

  • Moderator: Michèle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

 

3:45 - 4:30 PM

Keynote | A Conversation with U.S. Marine Corps Commandant David Berger

  • David Berger, Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps

  • Moderator: Courtney Kube, Correspondent, NBC News

 

4:30 - 5:15 PM

Keynote | Protecting the Homeland in a New Era: A Conversation with Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

  • Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security

  • Moderator: David Sanger, White House and National Security Correspondent, The New York Times

​

5:15 - 5:20 PM

Closing Remarks

  • Nicholas Burns, Executive Director, Aspen Strategy Group

  • Anja Manuel, Director, Aspen Strategy Group

​

The 2021 Aspen Security Forum is Produced in Partnership with

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With Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

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