The 2011 Atlantic Council Members’ Conference featured town hall sessions with General James L. Jones, Brent Scowcroft, Senator Chuck Hagel, and Denis McDonough. Prominent experts in the public and private sectors led the discussions in six “master classes” on various topics related to the conference’s main theme of Atlanticism.
This year’s conference continues the successes of the 2009 and 2010 Members’ Conferences.
TOWN HALL: Can the United States Afford to be a Superpower? Can Europe be an Effective Ally?
General Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret.),**^ Chairman, Atlantic Council International Advisory Board; former National Security Advisor
General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret.),** Chairman-Designate, Atlantic Council Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; former National Security Advisor
Moderated by George Lund,** Chairman, Torch Hill Investment Group; Vice Chairman-Designate, Atlantic Council Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security
MASTER CLASSES 1
Session A – Sidestepping NATO’s “Dim and Dismal” Future: Does Atlanticism Have a Future?
R. Nicholas Burns,** Former United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; Former United States Permanent Representative to NATO; Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Moderated by Damon Wilson, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council
Session B – Doing Business in a Volatile World: The European and US Debt Crises
Mikael Hagstroem,** Executive Vice President, SAS
Philip Lader,** Non-Executive Chairman, WPP; former Ambassador of the United States to the Court of St. James’s
Sean O’Keefe,** CEO, EADS North America
Maciej Witucki,** CEO, Polish Telecom
Moderated by Frances Burwell, Vice President and Director, Atlantic Council Program on Transatlantic Relations
MASTER CLASSES 2
Session C – The Arab Awakening: How to Avoid the Transatlantic Community Missing the Boat
Bahaa Hariri,^ Member, Atlantic Council International Advisory Board
Aziz Mekouar,* Ambassador of Morocco to the United States
Moderated by Michele Dunne, Director, Atlantic Council Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Session D – The Crisis of the West and its Impact on the Global Future
Drew Erdmann, Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company; Former Director for Iran, Iraq, and Strategic Planning, United States National Security Council
Mathew J. Burrows, Counselor, United States National Intelligence Council
Moderated by Barry Pavel, Director-Designate and Arnold Kanter Chair, Atlantic Council Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security; Director, Atlantic Council Program on International Security
TOWN HALL LUNCHEON: Is Washington Broken? The Future of American Global Leadership
A conversation with Senator Chuck Hagel,** Chairman, Atlantic Council
Moderated by Frederick Kempe,** President and CEO, Atlantic Council
MASTER CLASSES 3
Session E – Exit or Exodus: Implications of the Drawdown for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Marc Grossman, United States Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, United States Department of State
Moderated by Barbara Slavin, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council South Asia Center
Session F – Russia 2012 and Beyond: Reset or Rewind?
Alexander Vershbow,* Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, United States Department of Defense; former United States Ambassador to NATO and to the Russian Federation
Moderated by Annette Heuser,** Executive Director, Bertelsmann Foundation
TOWN HALL: Catalyzing our Allies and Partners for Global Action
A conversation with Denis McDonough, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor
Moderated by Frederick Kempe,** President and CEO, Atlantic Council
* Atlantic Council Member
** Atlantic Council Board Director
^ International Advisory Board Member