Military

Regional conflicts present their own set of unique challenges to the international community. These conflicts may be political, economic, environmental, or social in nature, but are deeply tied to a sense of place. These conflicts can only be resolved with multiple nations involved. 

This research area includes issues as diverse as China-Taiwan military competition, nuclear nonproliferation on the Korean Peninsula and South Asia, and political instability in the Middle East and North Africa. 

The Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) addresses critical challenges to international security through methodologically rigorous, evidence-based analyses of insurgency, civil war and other sources of politically motivated violence. The project is comprised of leading scholars from across the country from a variety of academic disciplines. ESOC aims to empower high quality of conflict analysis by creating and maintaining a repository of micro-level data across multiple conflict cases and making these data available to a broader community of scholars and policy analysts.

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Karl Eikenberry, former ambassador to Afghanistan and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General, argues that although successful, the American All-Volunteer Force has developed liabilities due to weak political oversight and internal accountability of its senior leadership. These liabilities ultimately weaken the insitution by making the U.S. military the go-to solution for foreign policy problems and insulating defense spending and preventing economically sustainable cuts to the military. Additionally, elilminating mandatory military service has also weakened American civic virtue by pushing civic responsiblities on others. All these liabilities warrant a critical look. 

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The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2013
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This event is now full. We cannot accept any more RSVP's, but you can e-mail Zhila Emadi (zemadi@stanford.edu), if you would like to be placed on a waitlist.

 

About the Speaker:

General C. Robert Kehler is the commander of U.S. Strategic Command. He provides the President and Secretary of Defense with a broad range of strategic capabilities and options. He is responsible for the plans and operations for all U.S. forces conducting strategic nuclear and conventional deterrence and Department of Defense space and cyberspace operations.

General Kehler entered the Air Force in 1975 as a distinguished graduate of the Pennsylvania State University Air Force ROTC program. He has commanded at the squadron, group, wing and major command levels, and has a broad range of operational tours in ICBM, space launch, space control, space and missile warning operations.

General Kehler's staff assignments include tours with the Air Staff and Strategic Air Command headquarters. He was also assigned to the Secretary of the Air Force's Office of Legislative Liaison, where he was the point man on Capitol Hill for matters regarding the President's ICBM Modernization Program. As director of the National Security Space Office, General Kehler integrated the activities of a number of space organizations on behalf of the Under Secretary of the Air Force and Director of the National Reconnaissance Office. He has also served as deputy director of operations, Air Force Space Command, and as deputy commander, U.S. Strategic Command.

CISAC Conference Room

General C. Robert "Bob" Kehler Commander, United States Strategic Command Speaker
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John Villasenor, a CISAC affiliate and professor of electrical engineering and public policy at UCLA, writes in this IEEE SPECTRUM article with Mohammad Tehranipoor, that counterfeiters sell old components as new, threatening both military and commercial systems.

They explain that the global trade in recycled electronics parts is enormous and growing rapidly, driven by a confluence of cost pressures, increasingly complex supply chains, and the huge growth in the amount of electronic waste sent for disposal around the world. Recycled parts, relabeled and sold as new, threaten not only military systems but also commercial transportation systems, medical devices and systems, and the computers and networks that run today’s financial markets and communications systems.

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IEEE SPECTRUM
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John Villasenor
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Counterinsurgency strategy, as applied in Afghanistan, rested on the assumption that it was feasible for the U.S. military to protect the Afghan population, that foreign aid could make the Afghan government more accountable, and that the Karzai administration shared U.S. goals. But all three assumptions turned out to be spectacularly incorrect.

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Foreign Affairs
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CISAC's Karl Eikenberry talks to UCtv about the future of the American all-volunteer military force and the situation in Afghanistan, through the lens of his own experiences as a soldier and diplomat. 

Eikenberry commanded coalition forces in Afghanistan and served as U.S. Ambassador from 2009-2011.

Karl Eikenberry William J. Perry Fellow in International Security Speaker CISAC
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Stanford's Karl Eikenberry and David Kennedy discuss the implications of America's switch to an all-volunteer force. The consequences go beyond the military itself, impacting Congress, Presidents, and the general public. They conclude that the growing civil-military divide threatens the health of the American democracy.

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The New York Times
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Armed with only their cameras, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning conflict journalist Mike Boettcher and his son Carlos, provide unprecedented access into the longest war in U.S. history.  Their journey took them to the highest mountains along the border with Pakistan to the deserts of the Helmand Province in the south, exposed to and sharing the same risks of the combat soldiers they were covering.

 “The Hornet’s Nest”, unfolds as a true story of survival and heroism not only for the soldiers, but also for a father and son team who seek to re-connect under the most harrowing of circumstances.  The unscripted, real and visceral scenes will leave one with the appreciation of the true nature of combat and for the Soldiers and Marines who fight for each other in the world’s most dangerous place: The Borderlands of Afghanistan.

The film will began after a brief introduction and stage setting by Dr. Perry and COL. J.B. Vowell. Following the film there will be a Q & A session with Mr. David Salzburg, the films producer, Mr. Boettcher, the ABC News journalist and COL. Vowell.

 

Running time: 93 mins.

CEMEX Auditorium
Knight Management Center
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Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at FSI and Engineering
rsd15_078_0380a.jpg MS, PhD

William Perry is the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at Stanford University. He is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and the Hoover Institution, and serves as director of the Preventive Defense Project. He is an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control. He was the co-director of CISAC from 1988 to 1993, during which time he was also a part-time professor at Stanford. He was a part-time lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Santa Clara University from 1971 to 1977.

Perry was the 19th secretary of defense for the United States, serving from February 1994 to January 1997. He previously served as deputy secretary of defense (1993-1994) and as under secretary of defense for research and engineering (1977-1981). Dr. Perry currently serves on the Defense Policy Board (DPB). He is on the board of directors of Covant and several emerging high-tech companies. His previous business experience includes serving as a laboratory director for General Telephone and Electronics (1954-1964); founder and president of ESL Inc. (1964-1977); executive vice-president of Hambrecht & Quist Inc. (1981-1985); and founder and chairman of Technology Strategies & Alliances (1985-1993). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

From 1946 to 1947, Perry was an enlisted man in the Army Corps of Engineers, and served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1948 and was a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves from 1950 to 1955. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1997 and the Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1998. Perry has received a number of other awards including the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal (1980 and 1981), and Outstanding Civilian Service Medals from the Army (1962 and 1997), the Air Force (1997), the Navy (1997), the Defense Intelligence Agency (1977 and 1997), NASA (1981) and the Coast Guard (1997). He received the American Electronic Association's Medal of Achievement (1980), the Eisenhower Award (1996), the Marshall Award (1997), the Forrestal Medal (1994), and the Henry Stimson Medal (1994). The National Academy of Engineering selected him for the Arthur Bueche Medal in 1996. He has received awards from the enlisted personnel of the Army, Navy, and the Air Force. He has received decorations from the governments of Albania, Bahrain, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Poland, Slovenia, and Ukraine. He received a BS and MS from Stanford University and a PhD from Pennsylvania State University, all in mathematics.

Director of the Preventive Defense Project at CISAC
FSI Senior Fellow
CISAC Faculty Member
Not in Residence
Date Label
William J. Perry Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at FSI and Engineering and Co-Director of the Preventive Defense Project at CISAC; FSI Senior Fellow; CISAC Faculty Member Host
J.B. Vowell Visiting Scholar, CISAC Commentator
David Salzburg Producer, "The Hornet's Nest" Commentator
Mike Boettcher Journalist, ABC News Commentator
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