Every year, you’ll find global movers and shakers on security and defence gathering on Canada’s east coast. The Halifax International Security Forum invites world leaders, military brass, academics, think-tank denizens and journalists to confront pressing international issues. Canada is usually in the room, and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is a constant presence. He delivers an opening speech and even leads a 5K run early on the conference’s final day.
Macleans.ca will livestream every on-the-record session; on the full agenda below, we’ve marked which sessions are off the record—and only audible to those in the room. Peruse the three days of sessions and tune in whenever you’d like. All times Atlantic. You’ll hear about Brexit, NATO, climate change, China’s place in the world, and Vladimir Putin’s Russia—all of it in the context of the coming Donald Trump presidency.
The agenda
Friday, Nov. 18
15:00-15:30 | INTRODUCTION
Peter Van Praagh, President, Halifax International Security Forum
OPENING
SPEECH
The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan, Canada’s Minister of National Defence
15:30-16:15 | The West Block, hosted by Tom Clark
Produced for Global News
- The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, Canada
- Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow, The Future of Diplomacy Project, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces
MODERATOR: Tom Clark, Chief Political Correspondent, Global News
16:45-17:00 | Britain’s Place in the World
The Right Hon. Sir Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom
17:00-18:00 | Make Democracy Great Again
- Shlomo Avineri, Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
- The Hon. Ömer Çelik, Minister for European Union Affairs, Turkey
- The Right Hon. Sir Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom
MODERATOR: Jonathan Tepperman, Managing Editor, Foreign Affairs
19:30-21:30 | GALA DINNER
Presentation of the Builder Award
Senator Tim Kaine, Senator from Virginia, United States Senate
21:45 | NIGHT OWLS
Middle East Mess: Who Should Clean It Up? Who Can? (Off the record)
- Farea Al-Muslimi, Non Resident Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- H.E. Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government
- Ralf Brauksiepe, Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Defense, Germany
- Lotfi Maktouf, Founder and President, Almadanya
MODERATOR: Janice Stein, Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management and Founding Director, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto
Russia: Putin’ the Bloc Back Together (Off the record)
- The Hon. Hannes Hanso, Minister of Defence, Estonia
- General Petr Pavel, Chairman of the Military Committee, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Bohdan Yaremenko, Chairman of the Board, Maidan of Foreign Affairs
MODERATOR: Josh Rogin, Columnist, Washington Post
Sea, Cyber, Space: The Long Game in Asia (Off the record)
- The Hon. Seung Joo Baek, Member of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea
- Ram Madhav, National General Secretary, BJP, and Director, India Foundation
- Tsuyoshi Sunohara, Secretary-General for US-Japan Project, Japan Center for Economic Research
MODERATOR: Randy Scheunemann, President, Orion Strategies
Saturday, Nov. 19
8:30-9:45 | The Superpower’s Enduring Priorities: Trade, Justice and the American Way
- Rosa Brooks, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Georgetown University Law Center
- Admiral Harry Harris, Commander, United States Pacific Command
- Josef Joffe, Publisher-Editor, Die Zeit
MODERATOR: Gideon Rose, Editor, Foreign Affairs
10:15-11:30 | Great Continent, Great Responsibility: Finding China’s Role
- Professor Matake Kamiya, Professor of International Relations, National Defense Academy of Japan, and Adjunct Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs
- Ram Madhav, National General Secretary, BJP, and Director, India Foundation
- Senator Dan Sullivan, Senator from Alaska, United States Senate
MODERATOR: Michael Auslin, Author, The End of the Asian Century
12:00-13:15 | Because Syria: I’m Your Friendly Neighborhood Terrorist
- General John Allen (Ret.), Co-Director, Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, The Brookings Institution
- The Hon. Ömer Çelik, Minister for European Union Affairs, Turkey
- The Hon. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Defence, France
- Senator John McCain, Senator from Arizona, United States Senate
MODERATOR: Yalda Hakim, Presenter, Impact, and Correspondent, BBC World News
14:30-15:00 | HALIFAX CHAT
SPEAKER: Sen. John McCain, Senator from Arizona, United States Senate
MODERATOR: Robin Shepherd, Senior Advisor, Halifax International Security Forum
15:00-16:15 | NATO: Necessary
- Rose Gottemoeller, Deputy Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of Croatia
- The Hon. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Senator from New Hampshire, United States Senate
MODERATOR: Robin Shepherd, Senior Advisor, Halifax International Security Forum
16:45-17:45 | Climate Security, Energy Security and the Politics of Slow Moving Threats
- Senator Chris Coons, Senator from Delaware, United States Senate
- Ralf Fücks, President, Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Germany
- General Joseph Lengyel, Chief, United States National Guard Bureau
- General Tom Middendorp, Chief of Defence, Netherlands
- Masashi Nishihara, President, Research Institute for Peace and Security
- Taylor Wilson, Nuclear Physicist, University of Nevada, Reno
MODERATOR: Jeanne Meserve, Senior Fellow, Homeland Security Policy Institute, George Washington University
19:30-21:30 | DINNER SESSIONS (Off the record)
Beneath the Waves: Submarine Surge
- Admiral Yoji Koda (Ret.), Vice Admiral, Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force
- Admiral Nirmal Verma, Chief of Naval Operations Distinguished International Fellow, United States Naval War College
HOSTED BY: Peter MacKay, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Toronto and Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Department of Justice
Can Liberal Institutions Survive Democracy?
- Walter Russell Mead, Professor, Bard College and Editor-at-Large, The American Interest
HOSTED BY: Robin Shepherd, Senior Advisor, Halifax International Security Forum
Catastrophe in South Sudan
- Daniel Bekele, Executive Director, Africa Division, Human Rights Watch
- J. Peter Pham, Director, Africa Center, Atlantic Council
HOSTED BY: Heather Hurlburt, Director, New Models of Policy Advocacy Project, New America Foundation
Colombia’s Peace: Latin Lessons for All
- María Victoria Llorente, Executive Director, Fundación Ideas para la Paz
- Antonio Rodiles, Director, State of SATS
HOSTED BY: Christopher Sabatini, Executive Director, Global Americans and Lecturer of International and Public Policy, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
Defense, Development, Diplomacy: Difficult
- James H. Baker, Director, Office of Net Assessment, United States Office of the Secretary of Defense
- Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen, Chief of Defence, Norwegian Armed Forces
- Jürgen Hardt, Member of the German Bundestag, Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation, Foreign Policy Spokesman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, Federal Foreign Office
HOSTED BY: John Glenn, Policy Director, US Global Leadership Coalition
Drugs: America’s Addiction, Mexico’s Affliction
- Mauricio Meschoulam, Researcher and International Analyst, Mexico Research Center for Peace/Universidad Iberoamericana
HOSTED BY: Luis Rubio, Chairman, Center of Research for Development
The End of Secrecy: The End of Diplomacy?
- Dawisson Belém Lopes, Professor of International and Comparative Politics, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- Sławomir Dębski, Director, Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Tolu Ogunlesi, Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Digital and New Media, Government of Nigeria
HOSTED BY: Rosa Brooks, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, Georgetown University Law Center
Energy as a Weapon: An Idea Whose Time Has Passed?
- Ilya Ponomarev, Former Member of Parliament, State Duma
- Laurent Ruseckas, Senior Advisor, Eurasian Gas, IHS Energy
HOSTED BY: Ian Brodie, Associate Director, Centre for Military, Strategic and Security Studies, University of Calgary
India: Last BRIC in the Wall
- Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation
HOSTED BY: Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations
ISIS in Africa
- Mohamed Ali, Executive Director, Iftiin Foundation
- General Lamine Cissé, Former Chief of Defense Staff, Former Minister of Interior, Former UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), President of the Board, Partners
West Africa-Senegal, Senegalese Armed Forces - Japheth Omojuwa, Columnist, The Punch Newspaper, Leadership Newspaper and Naij.com
HOSTED BY: François Lafond, President, Blue Networks and Opportunities
London Calling, Europe Falling
- Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones DCMG, Chairman, Cyber Security Advisory Panel to the Bank of England, House of Lords
- Fabrice Pothier, Senior Associate, Rasmussen Global
HOSTED BY: Bruce Weinrod, Senior Counsel, Global Impact
Maidan, Crimea and the Obstacles to Democracy in Ukraine
- Michael Bociurkiw, Former Spokesperson, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine
- The Hon. Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
- Sir Andrew Wood, Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
- Bohdan Yaremenko, Chairman of the Board, Maidan of Foreign Affairs
HOSTED BY: David J. Kramer, Senior Director for Human Rights and Democracy, The McCain Institute for International Leadership
Old Enemies, New Friends?: Realignment in the Middle East
- James Appathurai, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Isabelle Lasserre, Associate Editor, Le Figaro
- Dov Zakheim, Senior Advisor, Center for Strategic and International Studies
HOSTED BY: Paul Salem, Vice President for Policy and Research, Middle East Institute
Power Corrupts, Corruption Corrodes
- Leila Alieva, Academic Visitor, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
- Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, Chairman, Stimson Center
- Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong, Central Tibetan Administration
- Mayor David Smolansky, Mayor, El Hatillo Municipality, Venezuela
HOSTED BY: Dixon Osburn, Executive Director, Center for Justice and Accountability
Reconciliation or Escalation: The Korean Conundrum
- The Hon. Toshiro Iijima, Ambassador in charge of Policy Planning and International Security Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
- Seongmin Lee, Student, Columbia University
- Rear Admiral Sungbae Park, Director General of Foreign Intelligence, Korea Defense Intelligence Agency
HOSTED BY: Dean Fealk, Partner and Group Chair, DLA Piper
Securing Afghanistan, Losing Pakistan
- Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Director and Senior Fellow, South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute
- Ambassador Said Jawad, The Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chief Executive of Afghanistan
HOSTED BY: Jerrold Green, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Council on International Policy
Terror: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
- H.E. Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Minister, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government
- Richard Fadden, Former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Canada
- The Hon. Moshe Ya’alon, Former Minister of Defense, Israel
HOSTED BY: Eliot Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Top Cop: Fulfilling the UN’s Eternal Promise
- The Hon. Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Defence, France
- The Hon. Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, Canada
HOSTED BY: Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Associate, Democracy and Rule of Law Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Turkey’s Failed Coup and the Consequences for the Rest of the World
- The Hon. Ömer Çelik, Minister for European Union Affairs, Turkey
- Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia and the Arctic and Director, Europe Programs, Center for Strategic and International Studies
HOSTED BY: Leslie Campbell, Senior Associate and Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa Programs, National Democratic Institute
Sunday, Nov. 20
9:00-10:15 | BREAKFAST SESSIONS:
Are We All Being Served?: Women and the Importance of Being Inclusive (Off the record)
- Minister Rona Ambrose, Leader of the Opposition, House of Commons, Canada
- Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdistan Regional Government Representative in the United States, Kurdistan Regional Government
- Jacqueline O’Neill, Director, The Institute for Inclusive Security
- General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces
MODERATOR: Ira Trivedi, Author
The New Battlefield: Where Is It? (Off the record)
- General Herbert McMaster, Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center and Deputy Commanding General, Futures, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
- General Denis Mercier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Minister Tomasz Szatkowski, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of National Defence of Poland
MODERATOR: Ambassador Kurt Volker, Executive Director, The McCain Institute for International Leadership
Refugees Passing Borders, Nations Passing the Buck (Off the record)
- Ms. Christine Beerli, Vice President, International Committee of the Red Cross, Switzerland
- Mark Hetfield, President and CEO, HIAS, United States
- The Hon. Zoran Jolevski, Minister of Defense, The Republic of Macedonia
MODERATOR: Constanze Stelzenmüller, Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
10:30-11:45 | Spies Love Us: Protecting Information in the Age of Openness
- Greta Bossenmaier, Chief, Communications Security Establishment, Canada
- Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones DCMG, Chairman, Cyber Security Advisory Panel to the Bank of England, House of Lords
- Admiral Michael Rogers, United States Navy and Commander, United States Cyber Command and Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service
- General Amos Yadlin (Ret.), Executive Director, Institute for National Security Studies
MODERATOR: Steve Clemons, Washington Editor-at-Large, The Atlantic
12:15-13:30 | Return of the Nation State
- H.E. Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir, Head of Foreign Relations Department, Kurdistan Regional Government
- Eliot Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
- H.E. Mikhail Kasyanov, Former Prime Minister of Russia, Political Leader of People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS), People’s Freedom Party of Russia
- The Hon. Moshe Ya’alon, Former Minister of Defense, Israel
MODERATOR: Kathleen Koch, Author, Journalist, and Founder, LeadersLink
