Summary Report

2008 Joint Symposium - Strategic Re-Assessment:
From Long-Range Planning to Future Strategy and Forces

Organized by 

The Institute for National Strategic Studies
in cooperation with the
Office of the Secretary of Defense and US Joint Forces Command
at
National Defense University
Institute for National Strategic Studies
300 5th Avenue
Fort Lesley J. McNair
Washington, DC 20319
Phone:  202-685-3857   Fax:  202-685-3866

4-5 June 2008
 

Symposium overview   

Fundamental to the development and implementation of a successful future defense posture is a foundation comprised of a well-reasoned assessment of the future security environment, a clear understanding of the “realm of the possible” for and limitations of military forces, and an understanding of the nation’s security objectives.  Developing an appropriate assessment of the future security environment is not something done in a vacuum as it is impossible to fully separate purely military or national security issues from other elements of the national and global environment.  This is particularly true for the United States.  Technical innovation and adaptation, the rise and decline of other actors on the international stage, domestic politics, globalization and its effects on trade, migration, communications, and the power of nonstate actors all, bear heavily on any security assessment.

There is no shortage of assessments of the future security environment.  In the last decade, National Defense University itself has produced several, most recently, Strategic Challenges – America’s Global Security Agenda. The objectives of this symposium are to examine some of these strategic assessments, to review our success at incorporating their key elements into strategic and operational plans, and to propose ways to institutionalize best practices into the process for future force development and joint force planning.  We will explore these issues through a series of panel discussions and keynote addresses.  Featured speakers will include military officers, government officials, and experts from research institutes.  The symposium will be held at the National Defense University, Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington on 4-5 June 2008.

The program is open to the public.  Participants are expected from government, business, universities, and research institutes from the United States and abroad. 

Key concepts:

• Speakers will include U.S. military officers, government officials, and think-tank researchers (government and non-governmental)
• Presentations will be covered by NDU non-attribution guidelines, (similar to “Chatham House” rules), with willing participants available for on-the-record interviews

Featured speakers include current and former senior government officials.  Agenda and other information is available at: http://www.ndu.edu/inss/symposia/joint2008/agenda.htm

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