National Security Challenges
Facing the US in 2023
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Breakfast – 0800-0900
Program – 0900-1000
$30 for members, $35 for guests
LOCATION: Reno Elks (597 Kumle Lane, Reno)
Presentation By
Keith Hansen and Rae Huffstutler
(NSF Program Committee and former US Intelligence Community leaders)
Welcome back NSF!!!! After a very successful in-person Anniversary celebration in November at the Reno Elks Lodge we are returning to in-person and hybrid events starting in January. We look forward to seeing local NSF stalwarts return to our breakfast meetings. We will also be providing a Zoom option for those who are not in the area. While we are working out hybrid program logistics, please send me an email if you would like to join an upcoming program via Zoom ([email protected]).
“We are now in the early years of a decisive decade for America and the world. The terms of geopolitical competition between the major powers will be set. The window of opportunity to deal with shared threats, like climate change, will narrow drastically. The actions we take now will shape whether this period is known as an age of conflict and discord or the beginning of a more stable and prosperous future.” (President Biden in the National Security Strategy, October 2022)
NSF experts Keith Hansen and Rae Huffstutler will reprise their very popular January NSF program reviewing the latest threats to the United States and Administration and Defense strategies for countering them. They will begin the program with an overview of the national security challenges facing the US from state actors including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran and destabilizing forces that threaten global security including the War in Ukraine, energy supplies and prices, climate change, and pandemics.
They will then briefly review the first major national security documents of the Biden-Harris Administration that outline what is needed for the US to counter these threats. These documents include the United States National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy, Nuclear Posture Review and Missile Defense Review (all released in October 2022). Keith and Rae are most adept at sifting through pages of political speak to distill key points and observations about how well the US is positioned (or not) to deal with a rapidly changing geopolitical threat environment.
To help you stay informed about the rapidly changing and very dangerous situation in Ukraine please check out our Ukraine War resource blog page on the NSF website where we are posting timely information and thought pieces from different perspectives. You can also watch videos of all of programs at our website: NSF website I encourage you to send topic requests, and questions, to me at: [email protected]
Links to share:
- Biden-Harris Administration National Security Strategy (released Oct 2022): https://media.defense.gov/2022/Oct/27/2003103845/-1/-1/1/2022-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY-NPR-MDR.PDF#page=33
- National Defense Strategy: https://www.defense.gov/National-Defense-Strategy/
- Unclassified Versions of 2022 National Defense Strategy, 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, and 2022 Missile Defense Review (released as a single document in Oct 2022): https://media.defense.gov/2022/Oct/27/2003103845/-1/-1/1/2022-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY-NPR-MDR.PDF#page=33
Keith Hansen has extensive experience in the defense and intelligence communities as a US Navy officer for 30 years and as a National Intelligence Officer (NIO) for Strategic Programs and Nuclear Proliferation. Hansen was deeply involved in negotiations on the disarmament of nuclear weapons, as well as on a comprehensive ban on nuclear testing. He and his wife live in Incline Village. He is the author of The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: An Insider’s Perspective; coauthor of Spy Satellites and Other Intelligence Technologies that Changed History; and coauthor of Preventing Catastrophe: The Use and Misuse of Intelligence in Efforts to Halt the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Professor Hansen has a BA in History from Stanford University; an MA in International Affairs/Soviet Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; an MA in Russian History from Stanford University; and an MS in Management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business—Sloan Program.
Rae Huffstutler has a distinguished career in the Intelligence Community. He served as the Executive Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center, and as the Director of Soviet Research at the Agency. Among his many accolades are twice being awarded the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal and in April 2003 he was inducted into the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Hall of Fame for his contributions to imagery collection and intelligence. Rae received a BA in economics and an MA in international economics from the University of California, Berkeley. Rae is an active member and regular contributor and presenter of the National Security Forum. He lives during the snowless months, in lovely Incline Village.
The National Security Forum is a non-partisan, educational, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering civil discourse and informed discussion about timely and important national security topics. We bring expert speakers from around the U.S. to talk about national and international security, domestic and foreign terrorism, economic and financial threats, the safety of our food and water supply, energy policy, electrical grid stability, and a variety of other topics that affect all Americans. The National Security Forum partners with the Washoe County School District to host an annual Youth Security Forum to encourage future generations national security leaders.
To support NSF continuing to bring national security programs to our community and our local students please join NSF as a member or Friend of the Forum at: https://nationalsecurityforum.org/membership/about-our-membership/