The Johns Hopkins University / Applied Physics Laboratory announced the 7th year of its Rethinking Seminar Series. This year’s theme is Rethinking the Future International Security Environment and the objective is the “exploration of possible future international environments including potential adversaries and threats to US National Security.” Topics to be covered include:
- Regional areas of concern (i.e., the Middle East, China, Russia, and N. Korea)
- Economics and National Security through examinations of potential economic threats to the US and her allies including:
- The use of sovereign wealth funds to manipulate markets and currencies
- Nation state economic collapse, sovereign default, and nation state instability
- US and Allies’ budgets, deficits and their ability/inability to fund robust national security infrastructures
- Resource Competition and Scarcity including issues of energy, water, agriculture and strategic minerals competition
The free events will occur about every month near the Pentagon. Video, audio, and usually the presentation and even notes are posted to the web about one week after each meeting.
Video from the 2009-2010 series, Rethinking US Grand Strategy and Foreign Policy, is posted on the APL Playlist of the JHU YouTube Channel.
The first event of the 2010-2011 series begins Monday, November 1st with Dr. Geoffrey Kemp, Director of Regional Strategic Programs at The Nixon Center.
Cost: free
Date: Monday, November 1, 2010
Time: 6p-8p
Where: Marriott Residence Inn, Pentagon City, 550 Army-Navy Drive, Arlington, VA
Register online here by 25 October 2010.
More information: http://jhuapl.edu/rethinking/ or peggy.harlow@jhuapl.edu
I’ve attended a few of these and many more than that online. They are good opportunities to listen to series speakers, ask questions, and (often more importantly) hear the questions of the attendees. I recall asking John Nagl several years ago (2006?) something about private military companies and their impact on local populations when he was speaking about his then-new book, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife.
