Our 50th Anniversary celebrations will begin with the first in our Leaders Speak series: Defense Secretaries Harold Brown, William Perry, William S. Cohen, and Chuck Hagel, in conversation with National Committee President Steve Orlins, will reflect on their experiences and lessons learned, as well as their suggestions for the future of the U.S.-China security relationship.

Our 50^th Anniversary celebrations will begin with the first in our Leaders Speak series: Defense Secretaries Harold Brown, William Perry, William S. Cohen, and Chuck Hagel, in conversation with National Committee President Steve Orlins, will reflect on their experiences and lessons learned, as well as their suggestions for the future of the U.S.-China security relationship.

Speakers: 

Harold Brown is a counselor and trustee at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). From 1984 to 1992, he was chairman of the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies and from 1981 to 1984, he was distinguished visiting professor at the Nitze School. He is president emeritus and Life Trustee of the California Institute of Technology, trustee emeritus of the RAND Corporation, and a member of the North America Group of the Trilateral Commission.

William Perry, an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control, is the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor (emeritus) at Stanford University. He is also a senior fellow at the University’s Freeman Spogli Institute and the Hoover Institution, and was the co-director of its Center of International Security and Cooperation. He serves as director of the Preventive Defense Project.

William S. Cohen spent 31 years in U.S. public service in positions that include mayor of Bangor, Maine; member of Congress in the House of Representatives (1973-1979) and the Senate (1979-1997); and finally 20^th Secretary of Defense (1997-2001). In the Senate he served in leadership positions on the Special Committee on Aging, as well as the Armed Services and Governmental Affairs Committees. Secretary Cohen is currently chairman and chief executive officer of The Cohen Group. He also serves on the corporate board of CBS and as a board member of the US-China Business Council and US-India Business Council. In addition, he is an advisor to the mayor of the Tianjin Municipal Government and an honorary professor at Nankai University.

Chuck Hagel was the 24^th Secretary of Defense, serving from February 2013 to February 2015. He is the only Vietnam veteran and the first enlisted combat veteran to serve as secretary of defense. He also served two terms in the United States Senate (1997-2009) representing the state of Nebraska.

To attend, please register here by Thursday, January 7. If you are unable to attend please email events@ncuscr.org to cancel your registration. Those who fail to cancel their registrations by Friday, January 8, and who do not come to the event will be invoiced a $25 no-show fee.