ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

WHY THIS SYMPOSIUM?

The United States military faces significant strategic challenges in the years and decades ahead. Among other things, it will continue to transform the force by integrating interagency capabilities into joint operations while, contemporaneously, engaging in active combat operations. The focal point of this inaugural symposium is to discuss and debate the kind of strategic leadership needed to succeed in the 21^st century strategic environment. How, from a first-principles perspective, can our national security community contribute to ongoing efforts to address the array of security challenges faced by the U.S.?

One such first-principle is the education and development of our future strategic leaders. This symposium seeks to engage leadership and stakeholders from a variety of domains, including DoD’s Senior Level Colleges (SLCs), in a robust dialog about the qualities strategic leaders will need in order to be successful.

We will also discuss how to prepare strategic leaders to both engage, and thoughtfully address, emerging national security challenges and other uncertainties in the years and decades to come.

SYMPOSIUM FORMAT

This event is by invitation only. Multiple organizations and agencies will be represented outside the SLC’s, including various government, military, academic and private sector institutions. The content of the symposium will be captured on a non-attribution basis and distributed to all attendees within 30 days. A bibliography will be included based on the suggestions of symposium attendees and others.

The symposium will be facilitated by Mr. Peter Schwartz, an internationally renowned futurist and business strategist. Assisted by Doug Randall, he will engage the audience in the contemplation of future scenarios, not just simple linear extrapolations of current trends. His facilitation will be constructed so as to enable attendees to challenge current thinking about how we educate and develop our future strategic leaders.

Some macro-level assumptions upon which the symposium is predicated include the following:

1. The U.S. is now in an era that may entail decades of ‘persistent conflict’;

2. The dynamically complex strategic environment has created a much broader set of significant national security issues that requires a new strategic design / architecture;

3. National security education is not only imperative across the federal government, but for relevant industries and state and local governments, as well.

In order to guide the discussion, some questions are postulated:

1. What are some defining characteristics of the 21^st century strategic environment?

2. What kind of strategic leadership will be required, and what do strategic leaders need to know and do? What qualities will strategic leaders need to be effective in meeting the challenges induced by the strategic environment?

3. To what extent, and in what ways, are those qualities different from those of the current generation of strategic leaders?

4. To what extent, and in what ways, are those qualities similar for military and civilian strategic leaders? To what extent, and in what ways, are they different?

5. What historical analogies are relevant here:
»The emergence of the World War II leadership that enabled to United States to prevail in two major theaters simultaneously?
»The emergence of the Cold War leadership in the late 1940s, which established policies and created institutions attuned to this new world?
»The transition from the Cold War to the post-Berlin Wall world?

6. How well are the relevant professional education systems, civilian and military, doing at developing those qualities in their graduates? Are we educating / developing / training to fight the last war?

How can we reconcile / balance divergent demands for individual advancement and short-term force structure stability, while satisfying longer-term national security interests?

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OBJECTIVES

The overarching goal of this inaugural symposium is to share, explore, and challenge long-held assumptions, policy positions, and current practices that may need reevaluation to ensure that future strategic leaders are equipped to meet the challenges of this new era.

Some objectives include the following.

1. Achieve consensus regarding the salient characteristics that define the 21^st century strategic environment;

2. Generate and refine a list of the most important qualities needed by strategic leaders in the coming years and decades of the 21^st century. Articulate both the enablers and obstacles;

3. Cultivate two to three actionable recommendations to align various stakeholder interests such that an enduring approach to national security education might result;

4. By virtue of being together at the symposium, help bridge existing communication gaps, build relationships, and create the capacity for more functional partnerships.

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TENTATIVE AGENDA

7:30 - 8:00 am           Continental Breakfast

8:00 - 10:00 am         Discussion:
                                     Identification of characteristics that will define and shape
                                     the 21^st Century strategic environment

10:00 - 10:15 am       Break

10:15 - Noon             Discussion:
                                    What kind of strategic leadership is needed to succeed
                                    in this environment?

Noon - 1:00 pm         Working Lunch

1:00 - 1:15 pm          Break

1:15 - 2:00 pm           Discussion & Wrap Up:
                                    Actionable recommendations and 'work plan' moving forward

2:00 pm                      Adjourn

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