About the series
The Commanders Series, generously supported by Saab, is the Atlantic Council’s flagship speakers’ forum for senior military and defense leaders. The series provides a platform to discuss current strategic issues with an impressive audience drawn from across Washington’s policy community, including think tanks, media, industry, embassies, and the US government. In 2020, the Atlantic Council hosted Chief of Staff of the US Army General James C. McConville, Commander of US Transportation Command General Stephen R. Lyons, Commanding General of the US Army Futures Command General John M. Murray, then-Chief of the National Guard Bureau General Joseph L. Lengyel, Department of the Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett, then-Chief of Staff of the US Air Force General David L. Goldfein, Chief of Space Operations General John W. Raymond, and former US National Security Advisors General James L. Jones, the Honorable Robert McFarlane, and Ambassador John R. Bolton.
Upcoming & recent events
Distinguished speakers we’ve hosted
The future Army in great-power competition: A conversation with Army Chief of Staff James McConville
In a renewed era of great-power competition, Army Chief of Staff James C. McConville joins the Atlantic Council’s Commanders Series to discusses how the Army is preparing itself for the future of geostrategic competition and military conflict.
The future of the Army in great-power competition: A conversation with SECARMY Mark Esper
In this installment of the Commanders Series, Secretary of the Army Mark Esper addresses the modernization priorities of the US Army. He discusses how the Army sees its role in a new era of great-power competition, reviewing how great-power rivals pose a challenge to the Army’s current posture in Europe and Asia.
US military strategy in the era of great-power competition: A conversation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Drawing on more than four decades of distinguished service in the US Marine Corps, General Joseph F. Dunford joins the Atlantic Council’s Commanders Series to discuss the US military priorities of today and into the 2020s. In this conversation moderated by CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, General Dunford focuses on challenges to US military superiority; US military approaches to combating long-term threats; and maintaining dominance and lethality in all domains (air, sea, land, space, and cyber).
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