UT Austin Staging Two-Day Forum On Key National Security Challenges Next President Will Face

AUSTIN, TX -- Ahead of the November presidential election, the University of Texas at Austin will host a two-day forum this week addressing key national security challenges facing the next leader of the free world.

It's a heady subject, with some formidable panelists scheduled to be on the dais: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper; former National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley; former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten; former Deputy Secretary of State James Stinberg; University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven; and other national security experts from the executive branch, the intelligence community and academia.

While now ensconced in the latter field, McRaven is no slouch as it relates to national security, having overseen the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound as commander of U.S. Special Operations Command that led to the death of the architect of the 9/11 attacks. Now a retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral, he's a recognized national authority on U.S. foreign policy and has book "Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice" is considered a fundamentally important work in the area of national security, published in numerous languages.

The locally staged forum, "Security in Transition: National Security Challenges Facing the Next President," is scheduled Thursday through Friday (Sept. 22 and Sept. 23), at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center Ballroom and LBJ Presidential Library Lady Bird Auditorium the first day and at the LBJ Presidential Library 10th floor atrium the second day.

The conference is open to the public, but seating is limited. The full list of conference participants, schedule and registration information can be found here.

The forum is an initiative of the Texas National Security Network, a signature undertaking of McRaven’s Quantum Leap project. The Texas National Security Network is led by the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security and the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law.

The Clements Center is a nonpartisan research and policy center that draws on the best insights of diplomatic and military history to train the next generation of national security leaders. The Strauss Center integrates expertise from across the university, as well as from the private and public sectors, in pursuit of practical solutions to emerging international challenges.

University officials noted this year's forum is sponsored by the Herzstein Foundation and the Moody Foundation, and also hosted by the White House Transition Project, the LBJ Presidential Library, the Center for Politics and Governance, the LBJ School of Public Affairs and Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

>>> Photo of UT System Chancellor William McRaven courtesy of the University of Texas at Austin