The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and the Guam-U.S.-Asia Security Alliance (GUASA) cordially invite you to a public, lunch briefing on Capitol Hill on:
The U.S. Rebalance to Asia:
A Status Report
Featuring Keynote Remarks by:
Senator John McCain
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
Kelly E. Magsamen
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs
U.S. Department of Defense
**Remarks will be Off-the-Record**
Representative Matthew Salmon
Chairman, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Representative Madeleine Z. Bordallo
Delegate from the U.S. Territory of Guam
Panel Discussions on:
Strategic Issues in Maritime Asia
Dr. Patrick M. Cronin
Senior Advisor and Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Security Program
Center for a New American Security
Shawn Brimley
Executive Vice President and Director of Studies
Center for a New American Security
Dr. Ely Ratner
Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Asia-Pacific Security Program
Center for a New American Security
Bryan McGrath
Deputy Director, Center for American Seapower
Hudson Institute
Dr. Thomas Mahnken
Director of the Advanced Strategy Program
Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
U.S. Presence, Force Posture, and the Role of the Marianas
Dr. Jerry Hendrix
Senior Fellow and Director, Defense Strategies and Assessments Program
Center for a New American Security
Dr. Thomas Bickford
Asia Analyst, China Studies Division
Center for Naval Analyses
Shirley Kan
Formerly of the Congressional Research Service (CRS)
Paul Giarra
President of Global Strategies & Transformation
Juan Carlos Benitez
Principal of Guam-US-Asia Security Alliance
12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
2172 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.
SEE Speaker and panelist bios are below.
Building on the Secretary of Defense’s recent Asia-Pacific tour, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Asia-Pacific Security Program and the Guam-US-Asia Security Alliance (GUASA) are pleased to announce a special public briefing on U.S. strategy and policy for the Asia-Pacific region. The briefing will provide stand-alone remarks by members of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Congress.
In addition, two panels will offer brief analyses of key strategy, regional force posture, and other relevant issues. The first panel, “Strategic Issues in Maritime Asia,” will cover a breadth of topics including China’s reclamation in the South China Sea, countering maritime coercion, the role of allies and partners, the U.S. Navy’s new report on Chinese maritime power, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Third Offset Strategy. The second panel, “U.S. Presence, Force Posture, and the Role of the Marianas,” will provide an update on U.S. regional military presence, the strategic purpose of U.S. presence and forces, the role of U.S. territory in engaging allies and partners, and the issues facing the planned buildup in the Marianas.
The panels will also highlight the recently completed CNAS report on cost-imposition strategies in maritime Asia and a newly completed GUASA report on contributions of the Marianas to U.S. rebalance policy.
Tentative Agenda:
12pm Lunch
12:30pm Panel 1: Strategic Issues in Maritime Asia
1:30pm Keynote Remarks by Kelley Magsamen
1:50pm Keynote Remarks by Senator John McCain
2:05pm Keynote Remarks by Representative Matthew Salmon
2:30pm Keynote Remarks by Representative Madeleine Bordallo
2:50pm Panel 2: U.S. Presence, Force Posture, and the Role of the Marianas
3:50pm Closing Remarks
Please join us on Thursday, April 16 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. Lunch will be served. Additional speakers may join the program and updates will follow.
RSVP:
Please RSVP to Hannah Suh at hsuh@cnas.org or 202-292-4194.
Dr. Patrick Cronin
Senior Advisor and Senior Director,
Asia-Pacific Security Program
Center for a New American Security
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.
Guam-US-Asia Security Alliance (GUASA) is a Guam-based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit, non-partisan membership corporation, comprised of people and organizations concerned with the security of all who live in the Western Pacific and along the Pacific Rim.
Speaker and panelist bios:
KELLY E. MAGSAMEN
Kelly Magsamen is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs with responsibility for defense and security policy in the Asia and Pacific region.
Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Ms. Magsamen served on the National Security Staff (NSS) in various positions, most immediately as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Staff from 2012-2014. During her years at NSS, she also served as Director for Iran from 2008-2011, and then as Director and Senior Advisor for Middle East Reform in the wake of the Arab Spring from 2011-2012.
Ms. Magsamen began her government career as a Presidential Management Fellow and civil servant at the State Department, focusing on Iraq assistance issues, and later served as Special Assistant and Chief of Staff to the Counselor to the Department of State, devoting much of her time to Afghanistan policy. In addition to her government experience, she has also worked in private sector consulting, focusing on the Middle East. Ms. Magsamen received her Bachelors degree in International Relations from American University, and her Masters degree in Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN
John McCain entered the Naval Academy in June of 1954. He served in the United States Navy until 1981. His military honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the First District of Arizona in 1982. After two terms in the House, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1986. He was the Republican Party’s nominee for president in the 2008 election. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and also serves on the Senate’s committees for Indian Affairs and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTHEW SALMON
Representative Matt Salmon (AZ-5) graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and an MPA from Brigham Young University. In 1990, Mr. Salmon was elected to the Arizona State Senate, where he served from 1991 until 1995. During this time, he served as Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Rules Committee. In 1994, Representative Salmon was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served three terms. In 2000, he remained faithful to a self-imposed term limit pledge and retired his seat.
As the only Member of Congress fluent in Mandarin, along with his position on the International Relations Committee, Representative Salmon led multiple U.S. delegations to China, one of
which secured the release of political prisoner Song Yongyi. After the passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act and the expansion of government regulation during an economic crisis, he again answered the call to serve. In 2012 and 2014, Arizonans re-elected him to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Representative Salmon was appointed by his peers to serve on the house Committee on Foreign Affairs and serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. He also serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
REPRESENTATIVE MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO
A lifetime public servant, in 2003 Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo became the first woman to represent Guam in the U.S. House of Representatives. Ms. Bordallo brings to Congress over forty years of experience in public service in the executive and legislative branches of
the Government of Guam and numerous non-governmental organizations. The 114th Congress is Ms. Bordallo’s seventh term. Ms. Bordallo will continue to serve on the House Armed Services
Committee and the House Committee on Natural Resources. She was reappointed the Ranking Democrat of the Subcommittee on Readiness in the House Armed Services Committee for the 114th Congress, and is also a member of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces.
In the House Committee on Natural Resources, Ms. Bordallo sits on the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, and Alaskan Affairs as well as the Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. In addition to her committee responsibilities, Ms. Bordallo will serve as the vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and the co-chair of the Congressional China Caucus and the Congressional Long Range Strike Caucus.
Congresswoman Bordallo began her public career with local radio and television broadcaster KUAM in 1954. Her involvement in the community has also been extensive, with Bordallo founding the Guam Council of Women's Clubs, the Guam Symphony Society, Y Inetnon Famalao’an (Women for Service), and the Marianas Association for Persons with Disabilities. She was also a past President of the Federation of Asia Pacific Women's Associations (FAWA).
Ms. Bordallo was introduced to public service through her husband Ricky, who served as Governor of Guam from 1975-1978 and 1983-1986. As First Lady, she was a strong advocate of promoting the indigenous Chamorro culture and the arts, both of which are lifelong passions. Between her husband's two terms as governor, Ms. Bordallo became the first woman from the Democratic Party to serve as a Guam Senator. She was a member of the 16th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd Guam Legislatures. After Governor Bordallo passed away in 1990, Ms. Bordallo decided to continue her husband’s legacy. She ran for governor in 1990 and won the nomination of the Democratic Party. Although she was not successful in 1990, in 1994, Ms. Bordallo teamed up with then-Senator Carl Gutierrez and was elected as Guam’s first woman Lieutenant Governor as part of the Gutierrez-Bordallo gubernatorial ticket. She served two consecutive terms as Lieutenant Governor during which she championed the cause of island beautification as a way to enhance Guam's tourism based economy.
JUAN CARLOS BENITEZ
Juan Carlos Benitez is a Principal on the Conference Team Committee of the Guam-U.S.-Asia Security Alliance (GUASA) and is also an attorney and lobbyist based in Guam. Mr. Benitez is also known as a key player and fundraiser in the Republican Party and a leader in the Republican Hispanic community. A native of Puerto Rico and first-hand participant in U.S. territory management, he was formerly the lead U.S. lobbyist for the government of Guam. He served as one of the leading international relations specialists at Cassidy & Associates. With his depth of knowledge and broad network of contacts, Mr. Benitez has became a tremendous strategic partner for his clients in designing and implementing successful lobbying strategies to further their needs in Washington and Guam.
Prior to Cassidy, Mr. Benitez served the Bush Administration, as Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices after being nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2001. As Special Counsel, Mr. Benitez was the highest-ranking Hispanic presidential appointee at the Justice Department. Mr. Benitez also practiced governmental affairs as Of Counsel to the law firm of Long Aldridge and Norman, where he was part of the Immigration and Labor practice group as well as an integral member of the Government Affair practice group. As Legislative Director for the Office of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Mr. Benitez was responsible for the development and implementation of Puerto Rico's congressional and executive lobbying strategy. Mr. Benitez was also the representative for the Governor before U.S. Congress and all U.S. federal government agencies. Thanks to Mr. Benitez's leadership the Government of Puerto Rico was able to increase the amount of Federal funds it received from Congress to the highest amount it had ever received.
DR. THOMAS BICKFORD
Thomas J. Bickford, Ph.D. is an Asia analyst in CNA's China Security Affairs Group. At CNA, his research has focused on Chinese maritime strategy, Chinese national security policy, and China’s relations with its neighbors. His previous work includes several articles and book chapters on Chinese civil-military relations, professional military education, and internal security.
Before joining CNA, he was an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where he taught international relations and Chinese politics. He was also an associate director of the Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
Bickford holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. in international studies from the London School of Economics, and a B.A. in East Asian studies from the University of Chicago. He has also studied in Taiwan and Hong Kong and has conducted extensive field research in China.
SHAWN BRIMLEY
Shawn Brimley is Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) where he oversees the center’s research and serves on the executive leadership team. Mr. Brimley rejoined CNAS after serving in the Obama Administration from February 2009 to October 2012 most recently as Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council staff at the White House. He also served as Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the Pentagon from 2009 to 2011, where he focused on the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, overseas basing and posture, and long-range strategy development. In 2012, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and in 2010 he was awarded the Officer of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.
Mr. Brimley was a founding member of CNAS in 2007 and was the inaugural recipient of the 1Lt. Andrew Bacevich Jr. Memorial Fellowship. He has also worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Mr. Brimley has been published in a variety of venues, including the New York Times, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy. Educated at Queen’s University and George Washington University, his research interests include U.S. national security strategy and defense policy, the impact of emerging technology on U.S. strategic choices, and the evolution of America’s global diplomatic and defense posture. Mr. Brimley is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He lives in Washington with his wife Marjorie and their two children.
DR. PATRICK CRONIN
Patrick M. Cronin is a Senior Advisor and Senior Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Previously, he was the Senior Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University, where he simultaneously oversaw the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs.
Dr. Cronin has a rich and diverse background in both Asian-Pacific security and U.S. defense, foreign and development policy. Prior to leading INSS, Dr. Cronin served as the Director of Studies at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). At the IISS, he also served as Editor of the Adelphi Papers and as the Executive Director of the Armed Conflict Database. Before joining IISS, Dr. Cronin was Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
In 2001, Dr. Cronin was confirmed by the United States Senate to the third-ranking position at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While serving as Assistant Administrator for Policy and Program Coordination, Dr. Cronin also led the interagency task force that helped design the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
From 1998 until 2001, Dr. Cronin served as Director of Research at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Prior to that, he spent seven years at the National Defense University, first arriving at INSS in 1990 as a Senior Research Professor covering Asian and long-range security issues. He was the founding Executive Editor of Joint Force Quarterly, and subsequently became both Deputy Director and Director of Research at the Institute. He received the Army's Meritorious Civilian Service Award upon his departure from NDU in 1997.
He has also been a senior analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, a U.S. Naval Reserve Intelligence officer, and an analyst with the Congressional Research Service and SRI International. He was Associate Editor of Strategic Review and worked as an undergraduate at the Miami Herald and the Fort Lauderdale News.
Dr. Cronin has taught at Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program, The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and the University of Virginia’s Woodrow Wilson Department of Government.
PAUL GIARRA
Paul Giarra leads Global Strategies & Transformation, a national defense and strategic planning consultancy. He is a thought leader, a proven strategic planner, and a creative concept developer who combines substance with process. His in-depth analysis and national level strategic policy formulation; broad historical knowledge of global regions and current security politics; extensive international expertise and reputation; and technical knowledge of change mechanisms, security futures, and defense transformation underpin his extensive wargaming, writing for publication, creative development of plausible future scenarios, and concept development and experimentation. A natural collaborator and team leader, he maintains especially broad contacts throughout the security thought leadership community, in the Regional Combatant Commands, in Asia, and in NATO. He also is a qualified and experienced program manager of significant projects and staffs.
DR. JERRY HENDRIX
Jerry Hendrix is a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Defense Strategies and Assessments Program at the Center for a New American Security.
A retired Captain in the United States Navy, his staff assignments include tours with the Chief of Naval Operation’s Executive Panel (N00K), where his efforts centered on Homeland Defense, Naval Aviation, and Navy Missile Defense, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy (Force Development) where he served as Executive Secretary for the Irregular Warfare Quadrennial Defense Review cell, and the OSD Office of Net Assessment where he assisted the Director on topics related to forecasting future capabilities and alternative security environments. From 2011-2012 he served as the Director and Designated Federal Officer of the Secretary of the Navy’s Advisory Panel. In this position he assisted the Advisory Panel in their deliberations on the Department’s energy policy and its approach to the Asia Pacific region. He also contributed to the 2012 Department Posture Statement to the Congress. Following the fall, 2011 Navy Inspector General’s Report on the state of the Naval History and Heritage Command, he was verbally ordered by the Secretary to assume the position of Director of Naval History.
Hendrix previously served as the Navy Fellow to the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University where he focused on the use of naval power as an instrument of coercive diplomacy. He has been awarded a Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Purdue University, Masters Degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School (National Security Affairs) and Harvard University (History) and received his doctorate from King’s College, London (War Studies). His awards include two Legion of Merit awards, and the Defense Superior Service Medal. He has twice been named the Samuel Eliot Morison Scholar by the Navy Historical Center in Washington, DC, and was also the Center’s 2005 Rear Admiral John D. Hays Fellow. He also held the Marine Corps’ General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr. Fellowship. He authored the book Theodore Roosevelt’s Naval Diplomacy and received a number of awards, including the United States Naval Institute’s Author of the Year and the Navy League’s Alfred T. Mahan Award for Literary Achievement.
SHIRLEY KAN
Shirley Kan was a Specialist in Asian Security Affairs in the Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division with the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a non-partisan agency of the U.S. Congress. At CRS from 1990 to 2015, Shirley Kan wrote policy analysis and provided other non-partisan legislative support to Congress as a Specialist in Asian Security Affairs. She has specialized in national security interests in U.S. policies concerning the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and concerning Taiwan.
Kan's writings discuss policy concerns that include the challenges of weapons nonproliferation, counter-terrorism, military-to-military contacts, the PLA’s modernization and missile buildup, U.S. security assistance for Taiwan’s self-defense, the “one China” policy for supporting U.S. interests in the Taiwan Strait, and the defense buildup on Guam. Ms. Kan participated in the Army War College’s Commandant’s National Security Program in July 2012. During the Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1995-1996, she directly supported the Defense Attaché at the Embassy in Beijing, for which she received a Department of Defense Special Achievement Award. During the summer of 1989 at the Consulate-General in Shenyang, she reported on the pro-democracy movement and political-military crisis in the PRC while serving as the Political Intern. Ms. Kan graduated cum laude from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service in 1988 and from the graduate school of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1990.
DR. THOMAS MAHNKEN
Thomas G. Mahnken is a Senior Research Professor and the Director of the Advanced Strategy Program at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, as well as the Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography and National Security at the U.S. Naval War College. From 2006 to 2009, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning. Between 1997 and 2006, he served as a Professor of Strategy at the U.S. Naval War College. From 2004 to 2006 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Merrill Center at SAIS. During the 2003-04 academic year he served as the Acting Director of the SAIS Strategic Studies Program.
He is currently serving on the staff of the Congressionally-mandated National Defense Panel and served on the staff of the Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel, Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, in the Defense Department’s Office of Net Assessment, and as a member of the Gulf War Air Power Survey. His most recent books are Strategic Studies: A Reader (Routledge, 2014) and Competitive Strategies for the 21st Century: Theory, History, and Practice (Stanford University Press, 2012). He holds a MA and Ph.D. in international affairs from SAIS and BA degrees in history and international relations (with highest honors) from the University of Southern California. He is a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.
BRYAN MCGRATH
Bryan McGrath is the founding Managing Director of The FerryBridge Group LLC (FBG), a niche consultancy specializing in naval and national security issues, including national and military strategy, strategic planning, executive communications, strategic communications and emerging technologies. He is also the Deputy Director of the Center for American Seapower at the Hudson Institute.
Prior to starting FBG, Bryan founded a national security consulting line of business for Delex Systems of Herndon, VA, where he directly supported a number of senior clients in the Navy and the Army. Additionally, he provided critical insight on Navy policy and acquisition preferences to commercial clients, including major defense contractors and small technology firms negotiating the "post-earmarks" era.
A retired Naval Officer, Bryan spent 21 years on active duty including a tour in command of USS BULKELEY (DDG 84), a guided-missile destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia. In command, he received the "Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Award for Inspirational Leadership" from the Surface Navy Association and his ship earned the USS ARIZONA Memorial Trophy signifying its selection as the Fleet's most combat-ready warship. His final duties ashore included serving as Team Lead and Primary Author of the US Navy's 2007 Maritime Strategy A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower.
Bryan earned a BA in History from the University of Virginia in 1987, and an MA in Political Science (Congressional Studies) from The Catholic University of America. He is a graduate of the Naval War College.
DR. ELY RATNER
Dr. Ely Ratner is Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS he served on the China Desk at the State Department as the lead political officer covering China’s external relations in Asia. He has also worked as an Associate Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation and as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Dr. Ratner has testified as an expert witness on Asian security affairs before the U.S. Congress and the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. His commentary and research have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Quarterly, The National Interest, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Studies Quarterly and Chinese Journal of International Politics, among others. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley and his B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
