AMBASSADORS, MILITARY LEADERS TO DISCUSS EUROPEAN UNION AND NATO RELATIONSHIP NOV. 18
The United States' new administration will be facing profound changes and difficult decisions regarding leadership in the Atlantic Alliance and European security. With those issues in mind, more than 200 national and international leaders will gather to discuss "The European Union and NATO: Rivals or Partners?" Saturday, Nov. 18, at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va.
The symposium, sponsored by Old Dominion and Allied Command Atlantic, is an opportunity for government officials, civilian analysts and high-ranking military officers from NATO's 19 nations to address the mission and roles of NATO and the European Union.
The symposium will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, with an invitation-only dinner with James Dobbins, assistant secretary of state for Europe, who will discuss "Europe and America: Rifts, Drifts and Risks in Transatlantic Relations."
The conference officially opens 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, with a welcome by the two co-hosts, James V. Koch, president of Old Dominion, and Gen. William F. Kernan, the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic.
Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark will give the morning presentation at 9:30 a.m. entitled "Transatlantic Security Reflections." The former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Clark led the forces of NATO nations into the first major military offensive operation of the alliance's history.
John Hamre, former Deputy Secretary of Defense and president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, will give the luncheon address, "Transatlantic Defense Cooperation," at 12:30 p.m.
A roundtable discussion on "Prospects for a European Security and Defense Policy" will be held at 10:30 a.m. Featured panelists include Ivo Daalder, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; Mircea Geoana, Romanian ambassador to the U.S.; and Peter Rodman, director of National Security Programs, Nixon Center.
A second roundtable discussion on "Maintaining a Transatlantic Security and Defense Identity," will be held at 2 p.m. with panelists Ron Asmus, senior scholar for the Council on Foreign Relations; Steve Flanagan, director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies; and Istvan Gyarmati, vice president of the East-West Institute.
The symposium will close with an address by Hugo Paemen, former European Union ambassador to the U.S. and senior advisor at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Paemen will discuss "NATO and the EU: Staying the Course," at 4 p.m., followed by concluding comments by Koch and Kernan.
Held in the Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center on Old Dominion's campus, "The European Union and NATO: Rivals or Partners?" costs $30, which includes lunch. To register or for more information, contact Old Dominion University at (757) 683-3116 or rsvp@odu.edu, or SACLANT Headquarters at (757) 445-3380 or bragg@saclant.nato.int.