SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Carter Malkasian (CNA) as part of its SMA STRATCOM Academic Alliance Speaker Session.

SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Herb Lin (Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security, Hoover Institution & Senior Research Scholar, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University), as part of its SMA STRATCOM Academic Alliance Speaker Series.

SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Nicholas Wright (University College London, Georgetown University) and Dr. Peter W. Singer (New America), as part of its SMA General Speaker Series.

SMA hosted a speaker session with Sir John Sawers (Former Head of MI6), James Schoff (Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA), and Odd Arne Westad (Yale University), as part of its SMA UK MoD Strategic Advantage Speaker Series.

When deciding how to best confront China’s regional cyber capabilities, the US should first assess the state of the Indo-Pacific cyber threat and its allies’ capabilities to protect themselves, stressing resilience and communication.

SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Samuel Charap (Senior Political Scientist, RAND) and Ms. Dara Massicot (Senior Policy Researcher, RAND), as part of its SMA EUCOM Speaker Series.

SMA hosted a speaker session with Air Marshal Ian Gale (Director General Joint Force Development, UK StratCom) and Vice Admiral Stuart Munsch (Director for Joint Force Development, J7, US Joint Staff), as part of its SMA UK MoD Strategic Advantage Speaker Series.

SMA hosted a speaker session with Prof. Niall Ferguson (Milbank Family Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University & Senior Faculty Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard), as part of its SMA INSS/PRISM Speaker Series.

Iran has been increasing its gray zone activities to compete geopolitically with the US and other rivals. Mr. Eisenstadt commented that states which are not content with the geopolitical status quo, like China, Russia, and Iran, will increase their gray zone activities.

SMA hosted a speaker session as a part of its SMA CENTCOM/AFRICOM Speaker Series, entitled “The Clash of Values in the Middle East and North Africa: Islamic Fundamentalism versus Liberal Nationalism.” The speaker was Dr. Mansoor Moaddel (University of Maryland).Dr. Moaddel began his presentation with an explanation of the methodology that he used in his research, which focused on shifts in values in the Middle East and North Africa. He identified four historically significant issues that act as features of cultural warfare: 1) secular politics, 2) national identity, 3) religious tolerance, and 4) gender equality. Dr. Moaddel assessed these four factors across a variety of countries, namely Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey. He stated that secular politics act as a composite measure with four indicators: 1) separation of religion and politics, 2) desirability of a Western-type government, 3) Islamic governance, and 4) Sharia. Identity highlights the contrast between religious and national identity in Middle Eastern and North African countries. It also covers trends occurring in terms of national identity. With regards to religious tolerance, Dr. Moaddel constructed an index that posed a variety of questions aiming to measure individuals’ beliefs regarding Islam and the tolerance of other religious beliefs in Muslim-dominated regions. He constructed a similar index when examining gender equality, in which he posed five questions to individuals regarding their beliefs on equality between men and women. After conducting his research, Dr. Moaddel concluded that ideas are significantly important in bringing about a new pattern of historical development.