The Future of Force

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) are pleased to introduce the Future Strategy Forum, a new initiative to connect women scholars who research national security with its leading practitioners.

U.S. national security would be better served if all talent were empowered to contribute, regardless of gender, and if cutting-edge academic research spoke directly to practitioner communities. And yet, women remain underrepresented in national security research and policymaking, and national security academics remain siloed from policy. The Future Strategy Forum confronts these two challenges by bringing together female scholars and practitioners to address critical challenges and advance women in national security.

Open to all, the inaugural conference, “The Future of Force,” will feature all women-panels devoted to the changing character of warfare and potential new strategies for the United States and its partners.

The Future of Force Conference Agenda:

8:00 AM - 8:30 AM   Registration and Breakfast

8:30 AM - 8:45 AM   Welcome Remarks

Dr. Kathleen Hicks
Director, Senior Vice President; Henry A. Kissinger Chair; Director, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
 
Dr. Francis Gavin
Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and Director
Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs Johns Hopkins SAIS

Sara Plana and Rachel Tecott
PhD Candidates, Political Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

8:45 AM - 10:15 AM   Panel 1: “Actors: Future of State Security Competition”

Ms. Julie Smith (Moderator)
Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program, Center for a New American Security
               
Ms. Amanda Dory
Faculty, National War College
 
Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro
Assistant Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
 
Dr. Olga Oliker
Senior Adviser and Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
 
Dr. Ariane Tabatabai
Director of Curriculum and Assistant Teaching Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

10:15 AM - 11:30 AM   Panel 2: “Actors: Future of Non-State Power”

Dr. Erin Simpson (Moderator)
Director for Strategic Planning, Northrop Grumman Government Relations Analysis Center
 
Dr. Emma Ashford
Research Fellow, CATO Institute
 
Dr. Audrey Kurth Cronin
Professor, American University, School of International Service
 
Ms. Ciara Knudsen
Director of Strategic Planning, SECI, Department of State
 
Dr. Maria J. Stephan 
Senior Advisor, United States Institute of Peace

11:30 AM - 11:45 AM   Coffee Break

11:45 AM - 1:00 PM   Panel 3: “Tools: Future of Warfare Technology”

Ms. Rebecca Hersman (Moderator)
Director, Project on Nuclear Issues, and Senior Adviser, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
               
Ms. Katherine Charlet
Director, Technology and International Affairs Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
 
Dr. Lindsay P. Cohn
Associate Professor, U.S. Naval War College
 
Ms. Sarah Mineiro
Staff Lead for Strategic Forces Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee
 
Dr. Rupal Mehta
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM   Lunch

1:45 PM - 3:00 PM   Panel 4: “Solutions: Integrating the Toolkit”

Dr. Mara Karlin (Moderator)
Associate Professor of the Practice of Strategic Studies, Associate Director, Strategic Studies Program, Executive Director, The Merrill Center, Johns Hopkins SAIS
 
Dr. Naazneen Barma
Associate Professor, Naval Postgraduate School Department of National Security Affairs
 
Ms. Bathsheba N. Crocker
Vice President for Humanitarian Programs and Policy, CARE
 
Ms. Kelly Magsamen
Vice President for National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress
 
Ms. Dana Stroul
Senior Professional Staff Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

3:15 PM - 4:30 PM   Panel 5: "From the Situation Room to the Seminar Room"

Ms. Beverly Kirk (Moderator)
Fellow and Director Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative; Director for Outreach, International Security Program

Capt. Asha Castleberry
U.S. Army Reserves, Adjunct Faculty Professor, Fordham University

Ms. Shamila Chaudhary
Senior South Asia Fellow, New America; Senior Advisor to Dean Vali Nasr, Johns Hopkins SAIS

Dr. Janne Nolan
Research Professor, Elliot School of International Affairs George Washington University; Chair, Nuclear Security Working Group

Ms. Sara Plana
PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, MIT

Ms. Rachel Tecott
PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, MIT

Dr. Tamara Cofman Wittes
Senior Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings

4:30 PM - 5:30 PM   Closing Reception

This event is made possible with support from Smart Women Smart Power Initiative, the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS, and co-creators Sara Plana and Rachel Tecott, Ph.D. candidates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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