“U.S. Intelligence Community Surveillance”
Robert S. Litt, General counsel to the Office of Director of National Intelligence, in a speech to the Brookings Institution on February 4, 2015, set forth the Obama administration’s efforts to reform the methods of collecting foreign intelligence in the wake of the NSA disclosures. Litt stated that the administration has adopted reforms that will enhance transparency, limit bulk collection of data, limit retention of personal data, and increase congressional oversight while providing for our national security against foreign threats.
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2015/02/04 surveillance/20150204_intelligence_surveillance_litt_transcript.pdf
“ISIS’s Influence in Social Media”
In a February 4, 2015 speech at the Heritage Foundation, Daniel Cohen of the Institute for National Security Studies, discussed ISIS’s use of social media and the internet for recruitment, propaganda, and hacking into media and government accounts, including the account of U.S. Central Command. http://www.heritage.org/events/2015/02/isis-and-social-media
“Russia’s Opposition in a Time of War and Crisis”
Ilya Ponomarev, a member of the Russian State Duma, and a leader of the pro-democracy forces in Russia, spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in late January 2015, on Russia, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, and the future of U.S.-Russian relations.
http://csis.org/event/russias-opposition-time-war-and-crisis
“National Security Strategy”
In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, and Madeleine Albright presented their views on the strategies that the United States must implement to meet current threats to our security, including the threat posed by Islamic terrorism. At the outset of the hearing, some members of the audience staged a protest against Dr. Kissinger which Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain characterized as despicable and disgusting.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?323996-1/hearing-national-security-strategy
“National Security Strategy”
On January 21, 2015, former National Security Advisers Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft offered their views on U.S. strategy to deal with current and emerging threats to our national security, including Russia’s aggression in the Crimea and Ukraine, a possible Russian seizure of Baltic capitals, and ISIS.
http://www.c-span.org/video/?323887-1/hearing-national-security-threats
“Homeland Security”
In late January 2015, former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations about border control, cyber security, congressional oversight, and other aspects of the nation’s efforts to protect the homeland from a variety of threats.
http://www.cfr.org/homeland-security/janet-napolitano-looks-back-border-control-cyber-policy-leadership-homeland-security/p36041
“U.S. National Security Strategy 2015”
On February 6, 2015, National Security Advisor Susan Rice used a speech at the Brookings Institution to announce and outline the Obama Administration’s most recent National Security Strategy for the country. She outlined the elements of the strategy, noting that the world has changed since the release of the earlier strategy five years ago. Rice summed up the strategy as “sustaining the leadership that future generations deserve.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/06/remarks-national-security-advisor-susan-rice-2015-national-security-strategy
Negotiations with Iran on Nuclear Weapons
Council on foreign Relations Senior Fellow Ray Takeyh testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 28, 2015, about current U.S. negotiations with Iran, and emphasized that the U.S. must continue efforts to persuade and ultimately prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
http://www.cfr.org/iran/iran-nuclear-negotiations-after-second-extension-they-going/p36035
“Europe: What Went Wrong”
In a recent speech at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Ronald J. Granieri, Executive Director of FPRI’s Center for the Study of America and the West, lamented the strategic distance that is growing between the U.S. and Europe, and expressed hope that the Europeans will recognize that culturally and geopolitically they still have an important role to play in the West’s future. https://www.fpri.org/articles/2015/01/europe-what-went-wrong
“America’s Coast Guard in the 21st Century”
On January 16, 2015, Admiral Paul Zukunft, Commandant of the Coast Guard, spoke at the Maritime Security Dialogue jointly hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute. Admiral Zukunft discussed the Coast Guard’s role in maritime security in the 21st century.
http://csis.org/event/americas-coast-guard-21st-century
“Confronting Political Islam: Six Lessons from the West’s Past”
On January 21, 2015, John M. Owen IV, a professor at the University of Virginia, discussed his new book at the Heritage Foundation. Owen said that the U.S. and the West must draw upon its past interactions with political Islam in shaping its current and future policy.
http://www.heritage.org/events/2015/01/confronting-political-islam-six-lessons-from-the-wests-past