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Halifax International Security Forum Releases 2016 Topical Agenda
October 11, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC–Halifax International Security Forum, North America’s leading foreign affairs and defense conference, announces the release of its topical agenda for this year’s gathering in Halifax, Nova Scotia, November 18-20.

For the agenda click here.

The Halifax International Security Forum’s annual agenda has earned a global reputation for identifying and addressing the issues that security officials must confront today and into the future. As far back as 2013, the plenary session “Free Radicals With Return Tickets” addressed the urgent issue of Western youth joining radical terrorist organizations in increasing numbers and the potential for attacks in our own cities. The international community is still dealing with this threat.

This year’s agenda aims to be equally prescient.

“Brexit, populism in continental Europe, the rise of Donald Trump in the United States, and the recent referendum in Colombia turning down the peace deal demonstrate a real disconnect between elites and the public across the democratic world,” said Peter Van Praagh, President of Halifax International Security Forum. “If local politics forces democracies to look inward, will we be capable of meeting the global security threats ahead? We must have a conversation at Halifax that leads to a better understanding of the challenges in our own democracies so we are fully equipped to continue to look outward.”

Halifax International Security Forum will be hosted by the Hon. Harjit Sajjan, Canada’s Minister of National Defence. It brings together individuals who are on the ground facing consequential local threats, writers who challenge and influence the world’s thinking on security, and global decision-makers who make the tough choices.

Halifax International Security Forum is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC. The Forum is made possible by the generous support from its partners, including the Government of Canada, and the Halifax Canada Club.

2016 DRAFT TOPICAL AGENDA

Plenary Sessions (On-the-Record)

Make Democracy Great Again
The Superpower’s Enduring Priorities: Trade, Justice and the American Way
Great Continent, Great Responsibility: Finding China’s Role
Because Syria: I’m Your Friendly Neighborhood Terrorist
NATO: Necessary
Climate Security, Energy Security and the Politics of Slow Moving Threats
Spies Love Us: Protecting Information in the Age of Openness
Return of the Nation State

Small Group Sessions (Off-the-Record)

Are We All Being Served?: Women and the Importance of Being Inclusive
Beneath the Waves: Submarine Surge
Can Liberal Institutions Survive Democracy?
Catastrophe in South Sudan
Colombia’s Peace: Latin Lessons for All
Defense, Development, Diplomacy: Difficult
Democracy Lost: When Allies Go Astray
Drugs: America’s Addiction, Mexico’s Affliction
The End of Secrecy: The End of Diplomacy?
Energy as a Weapon: An Idea Whose Time has Passed?
India: Last BRIC in the Wall
ISIS in Africa
London Calling, Europe Falling
Maidan, Crimea, and the Obstacles to Democracy in Ukraine
Middle East Mess: Who Should Clean It Up? Who Can?
The New Battlefield: Where Is It?
Old Enemies, New Friends?: Realignment in the Middle East
Operation: Peace
Power Corrupts, Corruption Corrodes
Reconciliation or Escalation: The Korean Conundrum
Refugees Passing Borders, Nations Passing the Buck
Russia: Putin’ the Bloc Back Together
Sea, Cyber, Space: The Long Game in Asia
Securing Afghanistan, Losing Pakistan
Terror: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Top Cop: Fulfilling the UN’s Eternal Promise
TPP: Toward a New Liberal Order in Asia
Turkey’s Failed Coup and the Consequences for the Rest of the World

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