Modern War Institute

Women in Security — Brig. Gen. Jennifer Buckner, Brig. Gen. Michelle Schmidt, Dr. Michele Malvesti, and Ms. Jen Easterly
2018-04-06 12:50 - 13:45 (America/New_York) | Washington Hall 5006
Join the Modern War Institute for a panel discussion with four senior leaders with proven excellence in leading organizations and managing complex global problems.

Brig. Gen. Jennifer Buckner, USMA ’90, currently leads Joint Task Force ARES at US Cyber Command. She commanded the Army’s first cyber brigade and served as the first chief of the Army’s cyber branch at the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence.
Brig. Gen. Michelle A. Schmidt, USMA ’92, currently serves as the director of intelligence for the United States Special Operations Command. She has served in a number of positions including company commander, squadron commander, G-2 for the 82​nd​ Airborne Division, and intelligence brigade commander of Joint Special Operations Command.
Dr. Michele L. Malvesti currently serves as professor of practice in international security studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She also serves on numerous boards, including on the director’s advisory board for the National Counterterrorism Center. Dr. Malvesti worked on the National Security Council staff for over five years as the senior director for combating terrorism strategy.
Ms. Jen Easterly currently serves as a managing director at Morgan Stanley and the head of the firm’s cybersecurity fusion center. Previously, she served as the special assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Jen is a distinguished graduate of USMA and retired from the US Army after over twenty years of service in intelligence and cyber operations.

The Challenges in the Pacific Region — Gen. Robert Brown
2018-04-05 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5300
Gen. Robert Brown assumed command of United States Army Pacific Command (USARPAC) on April 30, 2016. Gen. Brown will discuss ongoing US Army efforts in the USARPAC area of responsibility, challenges we face in the region’s complex operating environments, and his views on how state and nonstate actors are impacting the region. Prior to assuming command of USARPAC, Gen. Brown served as the commanding general of the US Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. During his service, Gen. Brown has served twelve years with units focused on the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, including as commanding general of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, deputy commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division, training and exercise director J7 of US Pacific Command, executive assistant to the US Pacific Command commander, plans officer at USARPAC, and commander of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

The Wedemeyer Strategic Lecture Series: Gen. Raymond "Tony" Thomas, Commander of US Special Operations Command
2018-03-29 12:50 - 13:45
The Wedemeyer Strategic Lecture Series honors the intellectual and strategic legacy of Gen. Albert Wedemeyer (USMA ’19), one of America’s most significant and under-recognized military strategists, by bringing to West Point subject matter experts on the role of the individual leader in complex operations. These experts will give lectures and lead round table discussions for cadets, staff, and faculty in performance psychology, in-extremis leadership, and strategic engagement.
This event features Gen. Raymond “Tony” Thomas, commander of US Special Operations Command. Prior to assuming command of USSOCOM, Gen. Thomas served as commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Fort Bragg, N.C. Gen. Thomas’s other assignments as a general officer include: associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency; commanding general, NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan; deputy commanding general, JSOC; deputy director for special operations, the Joint Staff in the Pentagon; assistant division commander, 1st Armored Division in Iraq; and assistant commanding general, JSOC.
Prior to being promoted to brigadier general, Gen. Thomas also served as the JSOC chief of staff and director of operations. His other formative and key, joint, and special operations assignments include: commander, Joint Task Force – Bravo, Soto Cano, Honduras; commander, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Savannah, Ga.; and commander, B Squadron, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment – Delta, Fort Bragg, N.C.
He is a graduate of the US Army War College, Carlisle, Penn., and the Naval Command and Staff College, Newport, R.I.
Gen. Thomas is a native of Philadelphia, Pa. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant upon graduation in 1980.

The Army's Role in Innovation — Dr. Rosa Brooks
2018-03-27 12:50 - 13:45 | Bartlett Hall 454
From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Rosa Brooks served as Counselor to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy. During her time at the Defense Department, Brooks also founded the Office for Rule of Law and International Humanitarian Policy, and also led a major overhaul of the Defense Department’s strategic communication and information operations efforts. Her mose recent book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, was published in 2016. She is also the author, with Jane Stromseth and David Wippman, of Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law after Military Interventions.

Lost in Translation: How the Military Can Communicate Better — Alan Alda
2018-02-27 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5300
Alan Alda, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running television show M*A*S*H, discusses how military leaders can communicate in a way that people will actually understand. Military officers are often placed in situations where their ability to communicate can be a matter of life and death. Alan has dedicated himself to the science of communications and describes much of his work in this new book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?

My Development as an Infantry Leader — Capt. Shaye Haver
2018-02-22 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Capt. Shaye Lynne Haver was one of the two first women to graduate from the US Army’s Ranger School in August 2015. Capt. Haver graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 2012 and commissioned as an aviation officer. In May 2016, she began the Maneuver Captain’s Career Course at Fort Benning, Georgia and was selected as a voluntary transfer into the infantry. She is currently serving in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division awaiting an infantry rifle company command.

Why We Never Think Alone: Explaining "the Knowledge Illusion’"
2018-02-12 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5300
Dr. Steven Sloman of Brown University and Philip Fernbach discuss how the key to our intelligence and knowledge actually lies in our surroundings and the community we interact with. This is critical for military thinking and learning at the tactical level, given that young officers’ knowledge and expertise are coming not from within us but from their immediate surroundings.

A Free and Open Indo-Pacific Region: Japan's Grand Strategy
2018-02-05 12:50 - 13:45 | Bartlett Hall 454
Join the International Affairs Forum and Modern War Institute for a guest lecture with Mr. Nobukatsu Kanehara.
Mr. Nobukatsu Kanehara entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 1981, upon graduation from the University of Tokyo. Since 2012, Mr. Kanehara has served as Deputy Director of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, Director-General of the International Legal Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat. In 2014, Mr. Kanehara became the inaugural Deputy Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat.
Mr. Kanehara is the author of Senryaku Gaiko Genron: A Grand Strategy of Japan for the 21st Century (2011), and has taught at the Faculty of Law and the Graduate School of Law, Waseda University.

President Trump’s "America First" National Security Strategy — Dr. Nadia Schadlow
2018-02-02 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Dr. Nadia Schadlow is Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Strategy on the National Security Council. Most recently, Dr. Schadlow assisted in writing President Trump’s National Security Strategy. In February 2017, Nadia published her most recent book War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success into Political Victory. Before joining the National Security Council, she was a senior program officer at the Smith Richardson Foundation, where she identified strategic issues that warrant further attention from the US policy community and managed and developed programs and projects related to these issues. Her articles have appeared in Parameters, The American Interest, The Wall Street Journal, Philanthropy, and several edited volumes.

Defeating ISIS in Mosul — Col. Pat Work
2018-01-24 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Col. James “Pat” Work is the commander of Falcon Brigade, 2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division. Col. Work and his brigade, by advising and assisting the Iraqi Army, spearheaded the clearing of Mosul against an extremely capable and dug-in adversary. In August 2017, the Falcons and the Iraqi Army successfully defeated ISIS in Mosul, crippling the terrorist group’s operations in Iraq.

How We Build Warriors Willing to Fight – Matt Larsen, Founder of Modern Army Combatives
2017-12-06 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Matt Larsen is a former US Marine and Army Ranger, and was the creator of the Modern Army Combatives Program. In this MWI Speaker Series event, he will discuss the evolution of hand-to-hand combat in the Army and explain why combatives training is not just about learning how to fight, but also about instilling a warrior’s spirit in each soldier.

Media and the Military – Journalist and Bestselling Author Sean Naylor
2017-11-28 12:50 - 13:50 | Washington Hall 5300
Sean Naylor is the author of multiple books, including Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2015 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. Come and hear an acclaimed war journalist discuss how the roles of the military and the media intersect on the modern battlefield.

Syria's War: Hell on Earth – Sebastian Junger
2017-11-16 19:30 - 22:00 | Robinson Auditorium
Sebastian Junger is a critically acclaimed author and filmmaker. His bestselling books include The Perfect Storm, War, and Tribe, and his debut film, Restrepo, was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Please join MWI for a screening of his new documentary, Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS, followed by a discussion with Junger.

The Defense of COP Keating: Andrew Bundermann and Maj. Stoney Portis
2017-11-16 12:50 - 13:45 | Ike Hall Auditorium
The Battle of Kamdesh was one of the bloodiest days of the Afghanistan War. Fifty-four soldiers from B/3-61 CAV defended Combat Outpost Keating against 300 enemy and were nearly overrun. The attack on October 3, 2009 left nine US soldiers dead. Stoney Portis was the commander of “Black Knight” Troop, stationed at COP Keating. Andrew Bundermann, the troop’s executive officer, served as the ground force commander during the attack. Join MWI at this event and hear the two guests discuss how the troop’s soldiers defended the COP and how the characteristics of the defense are applied on the modern battlefield.

Leadership in the Current Operating Environment: Lt. Gen. Scott Miller
2017-11-15 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Lt. Gen. Scott Miller is currently the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He has commanded at every rank from captain to lieutenant general, to include combat tours in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as support for contingency operations in Bosnia and Latin America. Prior to his arrival at JSOC, Lt. Gen. Miller was the commander of the United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence.

War Council — America’s Unknown Wars in Africa
2017-11-13 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Around 400 US special operations forces are training Somali troops in their fight against the militant group al-Shabaab. About 800 other US servicemembers are based in Niger, where four Green Berets were killed in October. Join MWI for an interdisciplinary panel discussion on the expanding US military role in Africa. Panel participants: Mr. John Melkon, CSCMO; MAJ Ben Griffin, History; MAJ Alex Deep, SOSH; Dr. Jason Warner, Combating Terrorism Center; CPT Enoch Obeng, DSS.

Who are the American Foreign Fighters Combating ISIS? – Dr. Joseph Young and Dr. Ben Connable
2017-11-09 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Why do some people go abroad to engage in other people’s wars? Some studies attempt to discern why individuals choose to fight in distant lands or seek to count how many do so. The term “foreign fighter” has been used nearly exclusively in recent research to describe transnational fighters who join with Islamist organizations, or more generally for individuals fighting with resistance groups against a state. However, little research has been done on the many transnational fighters who travel to fight against resistance groups or against Islamist organizations. In this event, Dr. Joseph Young, an associate professor at American University’s School of International Service, and Dr. Ben Connable, a senior political scientist at RAND, will discuss the transnational fighters who battle against the Islamic State, focusing on Americans who engage in such activities.

Is War with China Inevitable? – Dr. Graham Allison
2017-11-02 12:50 - 13:45 | Robinson Auditorium
Dr. Graham Allison is the author of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap? and is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. In this MWI Speaker Series event he will address a critical question: As China’s rise challenges the United States in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, can the two countries avoid a war that neither wants?

The North Korea Problem – Dr. Victor Cha
2017-10-17 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
In this MWI Speaker Series event, Dr. Victor Cha will discuss the security challenges the United States and its regional allies face on the Korean peninsula. Dr. Cha is director of Asian Studies and holds the D.S. Song Chair in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. In 2009, he was named as Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. He served three years as the Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, responsible primarily for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand, and Pacific island nation affairs.

"Legion of Brothers" – Film Screening and Panel Discussion
2017-10-13 19:00 - 21:30 | Arnold Auditorium
Legion of Brothers is a 2017 documentary that tells the story of two Special Forces detachments that were among the first US forces sent to Afghanistan after 9/11. ODA 595, commanded by Mark Nutsch fought alongside the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in the country’s north, while ODA 574, commanded by Jason Amerine, fought its way toward Kandahar in the south, accompanied by future Afghan president Hamid Karzai. The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Amerine and Nutsch, along with his wife, Amy Nutsch.

The 2008 Russia-Georgia War: An MWI Contemporary Battlefield Assessment
2017-10-10 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
During the summer of 2017, a group of USMA cadets and faculty traveled to the Republic of Georgia to study that country’s 2008 war with Russia. Over nearly two weeks, the group interviewed military and political officials, spoke to participants in the conflict, and traveled to the boundary with the Georgian territory that remains occupied by Russian troops. Findings from the research trip—including lessons from the conflict on topics including cyber operations, hybrid warfare, and more—will be shared during this MWI event.

Facing the Zombies of Military Procurement – Max Brooks
2017-10-06 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Max Brooks is the New York Times bestselling author of The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z, and The Harlem Hellfighters. An entertaining and thought-provoking speaker, he uses fiction to examine the real-world challenges the military faces.

Intelligence Analysis in the Age of the Algorithm: Dr. Nicholas Krohley
2017-09-21 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
As we enter deeper into the age of big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, technological advances are transforming the way we analyze security threats. But rather than replace the need for human analytical capabilities, Dr. Nicholas Krohley argues that these new technologies demand greater focus on human expertise to overcome the limitations of purely quantitative analysis

US Response to Challenges to the Western Order: Military Innovation and Power Projection – Dr. Stephen Rosen
2017-09-18 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
Dr. Stephen Rosen is the Beton Michael Kaneb Professor of National Security and Military Affairs at Harvard University. He was previously the civilian assistant to the Director, Net Assessments in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Director of Political-Military Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council, and a professor in the Strategic Department at the Naval War College.

War Council — Fire and Fury? How to Deal with the North Korean Challenge
2017-08-25 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
With renewed and heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea in the wake of recent ballistic missile tests, participants in this MWI War Council panel will discuss the risks associated with the crisis, along with opportunities to reduce tensions. Panel participants: COL Bryan Gibby, History; Dr. Scott Silverstone, SOSH; LTC Chris Jacobs, Law; MAJ Nathaniel Davis, DSS.

Capturing Saddam: Former Interrogator Eric Maddox
2017-08-24 12:50 - 13:45 | Ike Hall Auditorium
Eric Maddox, known for his direct role in the capture of Saddam Hussein, is the featured guest in this MWI Speaker Series event. In 2003, Maddox interrogated the detainee who provided the information that led to the capture of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in hiding for months since the US-led invasion. He will discuss the search for Saddam, his role in it, and lessons on persistence and leadership.

Russia's New Generation Warfare: Brig. Gen. Peter L. Jones
2017-05-19 15:05 - 16:00 | Washington Hall 5006
In this MWI Speaker Series event, Brig. Gen. Peter L. Jones will discuss Russia’s “New Generation Warfare” doctrine, its impact on the operating environment, and what it means for the US Army training to fight and win tomorrow’s wars. Brig. Gen. Jones is currently the commandant of the Infantry School at the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Ft. Benning, GA.

Leadership in the Current Operating Environment: JSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Scott Miller
2017-04-28 12:50 - 13:45 | Washington Hall 5006
This event will be classified SECRET//NOFORN
Lt. Gen. Scott Miller is currently the commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He has commanded at every rank from captain to lieutenant general, to include combat tours in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as support for contingency operations in Bosnia and Latin America. Prior to his arrival at JSOC, Lt. Gen. Miller was the commander of the United States Army Maneuver Center of Excellence and Fort Benning, Georgia.
