About the Event: The global energy transition will trigger more competition among great powers—the United States, China, and Russia. Global efforts to transition to low-carbon fuels to meet climate goals have prompted the realization that China is the Saudi Arabia of low-carbon energy manufacturing and exports. The only area of commercial low-carbon energy that China is not yet leading is nuclear reactor and fuel exports, an area in which Russia, the other U.S. adversary, continues to dominate despite its actions in Ukraine. While there has been increased global collaboration and coordination on low-carbon energy and emissions targets, major energy consumers, including the United States, are facing growing competition over resources, such as critical minerals needed for low-carbon technologies, and a race to manufacture and innovate new forms of low-carbon technologies. The United States is currently at a disadvantage, as it is dependent on imports for critical minerals, renewable technologies, and nuclear fuel. The energy transition has the potential to reorder energy suppliers and import dependencies, and countries leading the race to supply the transition will reap the economic and geopolitical benefits traditionally afforded to dominant fossil fuel suppliers. China’s new role as a dominate supplier of the energy transition bodes well for its broader foreign policy initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative and Global Energy Interconnection. Hence, it’s important to examine the energy transition in the context of great power competition to better understand how the world’s changing energy landscape could potentially affect U.S. national, economic, and energy security absent prudent planning. You can find the publication here: https://cgsr.llnl.gov/content/assets/docs/CGSR-Livermore-Paper-12-EnergyTransition-2023.0831.pdf.

About the Speaker: Asmeret Asghedom is the associate deputy director of the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Prior to joining CGSR, she worked at various positions in the U.S. federal government for over 10 years, focusing on global energy security issues. From June 2018 to January 2022, she was the director of the Energy Security Division in the Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, managing the production, briefing, and coordination of energy and climate security intelligence products that were briefed to the U.S. president and cabinet officials. From January 2017 to May 2018, she was a production chief and an intelligence analyst in the Energy Security Division, writing finished intelligence products and briefing senior officials, including the secretary of energy, on global energy issues with the potential to impact U.S. national security. From June 2016 to December 2016, she was a policy advisor at the Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs, focusing on economic policy in the Middle East and North Africa. From November 2011 to May 2016, she was an economist at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, forecasting the production, demand, and price of global crude oil, tracking major supply disruptions, and analyzing geopolitical events affecting global oil and natural gas markets. She holds a BA in political science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), a BA in journalism and media studies from UNLV, and an MA in international economic development from American University in Washington DC.

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Event: New digital technologies are profoundly changing human thought, including in the interpretation and application of international law. In this seminar, I employ both critical and behavioural approaches to international law to reflect on the technological revolution in international law, developing a cognitive-behavioural critique of contemporary law of armed conflict. Through an interdisciplinary and empirical exploration, I demonstrate that despite their differences – methodologically, theoretically, and ideologically – both critical and cognitive-behavioural approaches to international law share a commitment to complexity: a reading of knowledge production as a situated exercise, affected by geography, positioning, and motivations.

About the Speaker: Shiri Krebs is a Professor of Law at Deakin University and Law and Policy Co-Lead at the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CSCRC). In 2023-2024 she is a Visiting Professor at Stanford University and a Senior Humboldt Fellow at Hamburg University. She is an affiliate scholar at Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and serves as the elected Chair of the international Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict. Her current funded projects include an ARC DECRA Fellowship studying the regulation of predictive technologies for preventive counterterrorism, at the intersection of law, science, and technology. 

Prof Krebs’ research on international fact-finding, biases in counterterrorism decision-making, and human-machine interaction in drone warfare, has influenced decision-making processes through invitations to brief high-level decision-makers, including at the United Nations (CTED, Office of the Secretary-General), the United States Department of Defence, and the Australian Defence Force. Her recent research awards include the ‘Researcher of the Year’ Award (Australian Women in Law Awards, 2022), the David Caron Prize (American Society of International Law, 2021), the Australian Legal Research Awards (finalist, Article/Chapter (ECR), 2022), and the Vice-Chancellor’s Researcher Award for Career Excellence (Deakin, 2022). 

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Event: How does possession of nuclear weapons affect decisionmaker psychology? Extensive research documents the causes of proliferation, but we know far less about the psychological consequences of this proliferation. Drawing on advances in psychological research on power, this paper expects that possession of nuclear weapons increases support for preventive war. In contrast to conventional security and prestige arguments, the feeling of power activates a curious combination of fear and overconfidence -- the hallmark features of preventive war thinking. The paper examines this expectation through internal documents in the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations. The findings shed new light on the effects of nuclear weapons on foreign policy in general, as well as the sources of preventive war thinking in particular.

About the Speaker: Caleb Pomeroy is a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. He researches the psychology of power in international relations, notably the effects of relative state power on human thought and behavior. His work is published or forthcoming at International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, and Security Studies, among other outlets. He holds a PhD in International Relations from The Ohio State University, an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Oxford, an MSc in Security Studies from University College London, and a BA in Economics from Boston College.

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Event: Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is not a local or regional conflict; it is the prerequisite of the global confrontation between democratic and authoritarian regimes. We don’t know when and how the war will end, but it is abundantly clear that victory over authoritarian regimes like Russia, Iran and China is impossible without Ukraine aboard. 

We have all believed in the power of international law and the rule of law until it has been shattered by repeated violations perpetrated by the Russian Federation. Democratic values and principles should be protected with power. And the power is not making declarations but making tanks, drones and missiles. Democracy has to be backed up with power to be able to resist those who are trying to destroy it. 

About the Speaker: Oleksii Goncharenko is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Vice President of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons. In Parliament, he is a member of the ‘European Solidarity group’, and head of the caucuses ‘For Democratic Belarus’, and ‘For Free Caucasus’. MP Goncharenko is a founder of Ukraine’s largest network of educational-cultural centres, the Goncharenko Centers, which have become volunteer hubs since February 2022.

MP Goncharenko has been fighting against Russian propaganda and publishes widely in international media to bring the truth to the world about Ukraine. He is included in the sanctioned persons lists of the Russian Federation. MP Goncharenko is a guest speaker at Yale University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Pennsylvania.

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Event: James Goldgeier will be presenting on his 2023 book Evaluating NATO Enlargement: From Cold War Victory to the Russia-Ukraine War, co-edited with Joshua Shifrinson. The book provides a nuanced discussion of the merits and drawbacks of NATO enlargement and compares the pros and cons of the NATO enlargement policy against potential alternatives that were not chosen. Goldgeier will discuss key themes raised by the chapter authors, who represent a range of perspectives and whose chapters discuss NATO enlargement’s influence on the course of U.S. foreign policy, democracy and security in Central and Eastern Europe, NATO’s own development as a political and military institution, and NATO’s relations with China and Russia. 

About the Speaker: James Goldgeier is a Visiting Scholar at CISAC, a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Professor of International Relations at the School of International Service at American University, where he served as Dean from 2011-17. He is a senior adviser to the Bridging the Gap initiative, and he serves as a co-editor for the Oxford University Press Bridging the Gap book series. He is chair of the State Department Historical Advisory Committee, and he serves as a member of the Secretary of State's International Security Advisory Board. 

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

Join us in celebrating 40 years of CISAC as we reflect on our past achievements and look forward towards new knowledge for a safer world in the decades to come.

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

Media: please reach out to fsi-communications@stanford.edu or cisacevents@stanford.edu

About the Speaker: Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and a Senior Fellow on Public Policy at Stanford University. She is the Denning Professor in Global Business and the Economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, she is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm.

From January 2005 to January 2009, Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first black woman to hold the post. Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor) from January 2001 to January 2005, the first woman to hold the position.

Rice served as Stanford University’s provost from 1993 to 1999, during which time she was the institution’s chief budget and academic officer. As Professor of Political Science, she has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of the university’s highest teaching honors.

From February 1989 through March 1991, Rice served on President George H.W. Bush’s National Security Council staff. She served as Director, then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs, as well as Special Assistant to the President for National Security. In 1986, while an International Affairs Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, Rice also served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Event: 

The Strategic Posture Commission is a bipartisan group mandated by Congress in 2022 to examine the threat to the U.S. strategic posture in 2027-2035 and beyond. The group reported its unanimous findings and recommendations in October 2023, concluding that the United States is facing a strategic challenge requiring urgent action: a world where two nations, China and Russia, will possess nuclear arsenals on par with the United States. This outlook requires an urgent national focus and concerted actions not currently planned. Chair Madelyn Creedon and Vice Chair Jon Kyl will discuss this threat environment and present the findings and recommendations of the Commission. CISAC Director Scott Sagan will preside.

About the Speakers: 

CHAIR - Madelyn R. Creedon
The Honorable Madelyn R. Creedon had a long career in federal service; she served most recently as Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within the Department of Energy, a position she held from 2014 to 2017. She also served in the Pentagon as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs from 2011 to 2014, overseeing policy development in the areas of missile defense, nuclear security, combatting WMD, cybersecurity, and space. Creedon served as counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services for many years, beginning in 1990; assignments and focus areas included the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces as well as threat reduction and nuclear nonproliferation.During that time, she also served as Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs at the NNSA, Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy, and General Counsel for the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission. She started her career as a trial attorney at the Department of Energy. Following retirement from Federal Service in 2017, Creedon established Green Marble Group, LLC, a consulting company, and currently serves on several advisory and other boards related to national security. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution and a research professor at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. She holds a J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Evansville.

COMMISSIONER - Gloria Duffy
Dr. Gloria Duffy has been president and CEO of The Commonwealth Club since 1996. She oversees the organizational strategy, programming, publications, outreach, membership and fundraising for the nation’s largest and oldest public affairs forum. Prior to becoming president and CEO of the Club, Duffy was U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction, where she led Nunn-Lugar program negotiations and oversaw U.S. assistance for the dismantling of nuclear warheads and delivery systems in the former Soviet countries, as well as the disposal of chemical weapons and reemployment of WMD scientists on civilian research.

COMMISSIONER - Rose Gottemoeller
Professor Rose Gottemoeller is a Lecturer at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Research Fellow at the Hoover Institute. Before joining Stanford Gottemoeller was the Deputy Secretary General of NATO from 2016 to 2019, where she helped to drive forward NATO’s adaptation to new security challenges in Europe and in the fight against terrorism.  Prior to NATO, she served for nearly five years as the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. Department of State, advising the Secretary of State on arms control, nonproliferation and political-military affairs. While Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance in 2009 and 2010, she was the chief U.S. negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation. Prior to her government service, she was a senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, with joint appointments to the Nonproliferation and Russia programs. She served as the Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center from 2006 to 2008, and is currently a nonresident fellow in Carnegie's Nuclear Policy Program. At Stanford, Gottemoeller teaches and mentors students in the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy program and the CISAC Honors program; contributes to policy research and outreach activities; and convenes workshops, seminars and other events relating to her areas of expertise, including nuclear security, Russian relations, the NATO alliance, EU cooperation and non-proliferation. 

VICE CHAIR - Jon L. Kyl
Senator Jon L. Kyl served 18 years in the U.S. Senate, and before that, eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected unanimously by his colleagues in 2008 to serve as Republican Whip, a position he held until his retirement in 2013. Kyl served on the Intelligence, Judiciary, Finance and Armed Services committees among others. He was active in the Senate consideration of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, New START, and other arms limitation proposals, as well as strategic deterrence issues in numerous National Defense Authorization Acts. After retiring from the Senate, Kyl served as a member of the Board of Directors of Sandia Laboratory for three years. In 2018, he was a member of the National Defense Strategy Commission. On September 5, 2018, Kyl was appointed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to fill the seat of the late Senator John McCain through the end of 2018. 

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Speaker: Or (Ori) Rabinowitz, (PhD), a Chevening scholar, is an associate professor at the International Relations Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. During the academic year of 2022-2023 she will hold the post of visiting associate professor at Stanford’s CISAC. Her research interests include nuclear proliferation, intelligence studies, and Israeli American relations. Her book, Bargaining on Nuclear Tests was published in April 2014 by Oxford University Press. Her studies were published leading academic journals, including International Security, Journal of Strategic Studies, and International History Review, as well as op-eds and blog posts in the Washington Post, Foreign Policy and Ha’aretz. She holds a PhD degree awarded by the War Studies Department of King’s College London, an MA degree in Security Studies and an LLB degree in Law, both from Tel-Aviv University. She was awarded numerous awards and grants, including two personal research grants by the Israeli Science Foundation and in 2020 was a member of the Young Academic forum of the Israeli Academy for Sciences and Humanities.  

 All CISAC events are scheduled using the Pacific Time Zone.

About the Event: The primary objective of this seminar series is to illuminate how local governments can collaborate to deliver joint services, exhibit greater adaptability in the face of technological and organizational shifts, and introduce innovative services in line with prominent industry trends, such as predictive analytics, autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence. The seminar series will explore how governments can effectively cater to the current and future service delivery needs of their citizens, with a keen focus on digital government ecosystems and the technologies that underpin digital transformation, innovation, and implementation. By drawing upon real Estonian case studies, we aim to uncover parallels that may exist at the local level in the Bay Area, shedding light on the scalability of digital solutions.

Part 2:  Seamless Public Services & Extending the “Smart City” Concept to Small-to-Medium Sized Municipalities

The success of service digitalization hinges on trust in public institutions, robust public-private partnerships, and a commitment to continuous experimentation and learning. We will explore how these factors transform government processes, identify the primary enablers, and unravel the concept of proactive services. Additionally, implementation of the AI among government processes will be discussed.
 
We will also focus on how to make innovative solutions available for the very small, small and medium-size municipalities. We will also describe the process of identifying urban challenges and then piloting them in European cities. 

REGISTER HERE

This event is cosponsored with Stanford University Libraries