Notre Dame International Security Center

Title: Dispelling the Terrorist Safe Haven Myth: Why Americans are Safer than They Think

Speaker: Risa Brooks

Host: Dan Lindley

Recorded: February 26, 2019

An interview with Assistant Professor Joseph Parent by Andrew Jarocki

Summary:

Can America retrench? In this edition of Students Talk Security, student Andrew Jarocki sits down with international relations expert Joseph Parent to discuss if recent headline news from various hotspots around the world should cause a change in American grand strategy. From Saudi Arabia to Venezuela, Professor Parent and Andrew discuss (and sometimes argue) over where and when America should still be involved.

Biography:

Joseph Parent is a well-regarded writer and lecturer on international affairs, Parent received his Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Parent, who came to Notre Dame after teaching at Miami, is currently Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center. He teaches international relations theory, security studies, grand strategy, and foreign policy. Some Parent Trivia: A Notre Dame fan since way back when, he attended the football game against Boston College during which the final scene from the movie Rudy was filmed! He is the published author or co-author of American Conspiracy Theories, Uniting States, and most recently, Twilight of the Titans

An interview with Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto by Joseph Simone

Summary:

In this episode of ‘Student Talk Security’, Prof. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto will compare U.S. foreign policy of the past and present, discuss security threats today and other times in history, and explain how current U.S. policy is affecting the Hispanic community.

Biography:

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is an esteemed member of the University of Notre Dame History Department. Born in London to a Spanish father and an English mother, Prof. Fernandez-Armesto completed his undergraduate and doctoral education at the University of Oxford. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 2009 after previously holding positions at the University of Oxford and Tufts University. Prof. Fernandez-Armesto has authored over twenty books, contributed numerous times to news sources such as the New York Times and BBC, and has received many awards including the Grand Cross of the Order of Alfonso X the Wise.

Recorded November 10, 2018

Adm. Christopher Grady is a native of Newport, Rhode Island. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and was commissioned an ensign through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program. Grady is a distinguished graduate of Georgetown University where he earned a Master of Arts in National Security Studies while concurrently participating as a fellow in Foreign Service at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is also a distinguished graduate of the National War College earning a Master of Science in National Security Affairs.

He assumed command of U.S. Fleet Forces Command/U.S. Naval Forces Northern Command on May 4, 2018.

In his most recent assignment, he was the commander, U.S. 6th Fleet and the commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, while simultaneously serving as the deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa.

Additional flag assignments include director of the Maritime Operations Center (N2/3/5/7), Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1/Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group where he deployed for nearly 10 months to the Western Pacific and the Arabian Gulf conducting combat operations in support of Operation Inherent Resolve; and commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

At sea, Grady’s initial tour was aboard USS Moosbrugger (DD 980) as combat information center officer and antisubmarine warfare officer. As a department head, he served as weapons control officer and combat systems officer aboard USS Princeton (CG 59). He was commanding officer of Mine Countermeasures Rotational Crew Echo aboard USS Chief (MCM 14), and deployed to the Arabian Gulf in command of USS Ardent (MCM 12). Grady then commanded USS Cole (DDG 67), deploying as part of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces Mediterranean. As commander, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 22, he deployed to the Arabian Gulf as sea combat commander for the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Ashore, Grady first served on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and then as naval aide to the chief of naval operations. He also served on the staff of the chief of naval operations as assistant branch head, Europe and Eurasia Politico-Military Affairs Branch (OPNAV N524). He then served as executive assistant to the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs. Next, he served as the deputy executive secretary of the National Security Council in the White House. He then went on to serve as the executive assistant to the chief of naval operations.

His personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with four gold stars, Meritorious Service Medal with four gold stars, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with three gold stars, and the Combat "V", and Joint Service Achievement Medal. Grady is a joint specialty officer.

Title: The Insular Advantage: Geography and the Durability of American Alliances

Speaker: Josh Shifrinson

Host: Rose Kelanic

Recorded: November 6, 2018

America's Longest War: Prospects of Peace in Afghanistan

An interview with Ambassador David Robinson by Fabiola Shipley

Summary:

In this episode of ‘Student Talk Security’, Ambassador David Robinson will discuss recent developments in Afghanistan, the politics of the upcoming peace talks and the potential for lasting peace in the wake of America’s longest war.

Biography:

Ambassador Robinson was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations and Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization on January 4, 2016. He is a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor. Throughout his Foreign Service career, Ambassador Robinson has worked in conflict zones and unstable environments, specializing in refugee and migration issues.

Previously, Ambassador Robinson served as the Principal Deputy High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was responsible for implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2013 to 2014, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration from 2009 to 2013, and the Special Coordinator for Venezuela in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2008 to 2009.

Ambassador Robinson also served as the United States Ambassador to Guyana from 2006 to 2008, as Deputy Chief of Mission in the United States Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia and in Asunción, Paraguay at different times. Earlier he had assignments in posts in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Iceland. Ambassador Robinson received a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, an M.S. from the National War College, and a Master of Divinity from Christ the King Seminary.

Internet Security in China and US

An interview with Professor Michel Hockx by James Luk

Summary:

This podcast is a timely discussion of Internet Security in China and the US during National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Cybersecurity is of increasing prevalence in today’s world, this podcast will examine the topic of erecting boundaries and borders within cyberspace.

Biography:

Professor Michel Hockx is a professor of Chinese Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs.

Hockx has published both in English and Chinese on topics related to modern Chinese poetry and literary culture, especially early 20th-century Chinese magazine literature and print culture and contemporary Internet literature. His latest book, Internet Literature in China, was listed by Choice magazine as one of the “Top 25 Outstanding Academic Titles of 2015.”

Prior to Notre Dame, Hockx served as the director of the China Institute at SOAS, University of London, Hockx earned his PhD from Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Title: No Such Thing as a Little War: Beliefs, Intellectual History, and Liberal Military Intervention

Speaker: Jacqueline Hazelton

Host: Rose Kelanic

Recorded: October 30, 2018

Drones: A Revolution in Airpower?

An interview with Colonel Raymond O'Mara (ret.) by Patrick O'Mara

Summary:

This podcast will address how the rise and use of drones has changed air warfare.

Biography:

Dr. Raymond O’Mara is the founder and owner of Pointblank Strategic Analysis, where he provides multidisciplinary analysis and insight at the operational and strategic levels supporting defense and national security concept development for organizations. Dr. O’Mara has extensive experience in the startup and defense aviation sectors, having served as the Director of Strategic Programs for the Humatics Corporation, where he was responsible for developing strategic relationships with key aerospace partners as well as directing defense-oriented research and development, and also the Director of Air Campaign Strategy at Aurora Flight Sciences, a position that he took following his retirement after 29 years in the United States Air Force. During his Air Force career, he completed several operational and operational test flying assignments, amassing over 2,000 hours in the F-15C aircraft, served on the USAF headquarters staff, commanded the USAF’s Air-to-Air Weapon System Evaluation Program, and served as Chair of the Strategy Department at the Air War College. Dr. O’Mara is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Air Command and Staff College, the School of Advanced Airpower Studies and the Air War College. He completed his Ph.D. at MIT in Technology, Policy, and Engineering Systems.

States, Companies, and Terrorists: Global Affairs in the 21st Century

An Interview with General Frank Taylor by Griffin Cannon

Summary:

In this episode we will examine the role of the state, as well as various non-state actors, in relation to the challenges we face moving into the 21st Century.

Biography:

General Frank Taylor is a distinguished member of the faculty of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. Earning his Bachelors and Masters degrees at Notre Dame, General Taylor began his career in the United States Air Force. After 31 years in uniform, he transitioned to positions in government, serving in various roles at the Department of State, including as the ambassador-at-large for counterterrorism directly after the attacks of September 11th, 2001.

General Taylor has also served in the Department of Homeland Security as the Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis as well as in the private sector as the vice president and chief security officer for General Electric.