Panel II: Opportunities, Dangers and Strategy

Event Details

ERIC EDELMAN was U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2005-2009, and Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs from 2001-2003. Edelman received the Secretary of Defense’s award for Distinguished Civilian Service and is a two-time recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award. In 2009, Edelman was awarded the Secretary of Defense award for Distinguished Public Service. He is currently a distinguished fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).

WALTER SLOCOMBE was Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 1994-2001. He was Senior Advisor for National Defense in the Coalition Provisional Authority for Iraq in 2003. In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed him to the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. He is a four-time recipient of the Defense Department's Award for Distinguished Public Service. He currently practices law with the Washington firm of Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, and is Secretary of the Atlantic Council of the United States. 

PHILIP ZELIKOW is White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia. He is co-editor, with Ernest May, of Dealing with Dictators: Dilemmas of U.S. Diplomacy and Intelligence Analysis, 1945-1990.  Zelikow was Director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs (1998-2005) and led three national bipartisan commissions, including the 9/11 Commission. His most recent government service was as the Counselor of the Department of State, a deputy to Secretary Rice. Zelikow is a member of the advisory panel for global development of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.