Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analysis, Elsa Kania of the Center for a New American Security, and Jack Watley, PhD, of the Royal United Services Institute, discuss Russian and Chinese artificial intelligence and autonomy capabilities with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted after a panel discussion hosted by CNA at its Northern Virginia headquarters.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., the chairman of the House government operations subcommittee as well as chairman of the US delegation to the NATO parliamentary assembly, discusses NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s historic address to a joint session of Congress and the Atlantic Alliance on its 70th anniversary with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the NATO Engages event marking the 70th anniversary of the Washington Treaty that founded the alliance on April 4, 1949, sponsored by the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund, the Munich Security Conference and numerous other leading think tanks.
Fred Kempe, the president and CEO of the Atlantic Council think tank, discusses the need for a global NATO and the alliance at 70, his take on Vice President Mike Pence’s address to the NATO Engages conference — co-sponsored by the Atlantic Council, German Marshall Fund, the Munich Security Conference and other key think tank’s — as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s address to the US Congress. The interview was conducted at the NATO Engages event marking the 70th anniversary of the Washington Treaty that founded the alliance on April 4, 1949, with 12 nations that over the decades as grown to 29 nations.
Kasper Høeg-Jensen, the head of the security policy and operations department of Denmark’s ministry of defense, discusses closer Nordic cooperation, NATO, Greenland, China, climate change and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview, conducted at the residence of Sweden’s ambassador to the United States, followed an Atlantic Council event in Washington marking 10th anniversary of the Nordic Defense Cooperation agreement to improve collaboration among Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Tom Karako, the director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discusses successful US national missile defense test on March 25, 2019, the Trump administration’s “masterpiece theater” 2020 defense budget request and the need for a space sensor to help detect more advanced threats like hypersonic weapons with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Association of the United States Army’s annual Global Force symposium and conference in Huntsville, Ala., where our coverage is sponsored by L3 Technologies and Leonardo DRS.
James Hackett, the editor of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ annual 2019 Military Balance, discusses global defense trends with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the London-based think tank’s office in Washington.
Svein Efjestad, the policy director at Norway’s defense ministry, discusses lessons from NATO’s Trident Juncture 2018 exercise the country hosted, balancing the Atlantic alliance and Nordic Defense Cooperation, emerging threats like China, cyber and 5G, and the Trump administration’s Cost Plus 50 proposal with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview, conducted at the residence of Sweden’s ambassador to the United States, followed an Atlantic Council event in Washington marking 10th anniversary of the Nordic Defense Cooperation agreement improve collaboration among Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Michael Bayer, the chairman of the Defense Business Board who chaired US Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s “Cybersecurity Readiness Review,” discusses cyber threats, challenges and recommendations to improve security with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The three other participants in the review were J.H. Whitney Investment Management Chairman John O’Connor, Oceanus Security Strategies President Ronald Moultrie and former Raytheon Chairman and CEO William Swanson.
Johan Lagerlöf, the deputy director general and head of strategy and security policy at Sweden’s Defense Ministry, and Maj. Gen. Michael Claesson, Swedish Army, the Swedish Armed Forces’ head of plans and policy who also serves as chairman of the Nordic Defense Cooperation Military Coordination Committee, discuss NORDEFCO’s closer cooperation among Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the organization’s 2025 plan, Russia, China, cyber and disinformation threats, climate change and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview, conducted at the residence of Sweden’s ambassador to the United States, followed an Atlantic Council event in Washington marking NORDEFCO’s 10th anniversary and what’s next.
Amb. (Ret.) Doug Lute, a retired US Army lieutenant general who served as US ambassador to NATO, and Amb. (Ret.) Nick Burns, one of America’s top former diplomats who also served as US ambassador to NATO — both now affiliated with Harvard University — discuss their new report “NATO at Seventy: An Alliance in Crisis” and the vital importance of the Atlantic Alliance and America’s role in it with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Center for a New American Security where the report by Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs was publicly released.