Good afternoon. Everyone seated . All right, can everyone hear me okay . All right, good afternoon, thank you so much, sean, for the introduction. If youre like me youre fascinated by all of the panelists that are here today that have such incredible perspectives on the world and where their jobs have taken them, my goal today and my hope for you is that we are able to take a transcribe trip around the world through their experiences, able to understand the world and which may be pretty complicated and americas role in that, where do we go from here, so lets just sort of do an overview of where we are today. I work in the news world so if you guys think youre being bombarded by headlines, welcome. [laughter] but we have a lot going on, right . I was in venezuela where i covered the conflict there, not easy to see or understand much less explain, we have conflicts in syria, we have conflicts in yemen, and here is whats heartbreaking, we had nearly 70 million displaced people in the world today, perspective, thats the most since world war ii. Think about that for a minute. 70 Million People displaced. There are ups and downs, thats the way of life, the way of the world, we also have a dramatic Economic Growth in progress in the world of health today, 17 million lives have been saved by americas global hiv aids program, the u. S. President emergency plan for aids, a lot going on. We can all agree on that, right . Theres a lot going on today in the world, so i want to make sure that we take a moment to talk to our panelists, try to make sense of this. I will ask a few questions, we can talk amongst ourselves and then we will have some questions from the audience after the fact, so i will go one by one and i will start with the congresswoman. [laughter] lets go to china for a minute. Its certainly something that when we talk about the influence in the world you will always hear china when i was living in mexico city just a few months ago i felt like we had a lot of diplomats in mexico constantly trying to fill a void if you will, so my question is, china has pledged a trillion dollars on belt and Road Initiative, thats going to be massive, completely outdoes the marshal plan, what does that mean, what do you make of that . Well, first, let me say hello to everybody, i think that the state and local level is where real things happen, good for you, keep doing real things. I also was thinking about the fact that when i served in congress for 9 terms, thats 100 years, when i served in congress for 100 years, global issues were very low on the radar screen. When you asked people what do they care about it was the economy, stupid, not that that doesnt matter and not that that was affected by global issues but they thought, the one Foreign Policy issue that motivated folks in my district which was quite well informed in the sort of Aerospace Center of southern california, foreign aid is too big, 50 of the federal budget. Guess what, its less than 1 but they were very energized about that. Im happy that youre here, im learning about things, the other issue that motivated people was china and it was universal misunderstanding of china i would say, back in the day, both Political Parties in congress have demonized china for years and even now i would say the policy of the administration is more negative than it needs to be, let me explain what i see, you asked me about china and Road Initiative. I think we spent most of our time since 9 11 which was catastrophic event focused on counterterrorism and we missed a couple of movies one of which was chinas rise and scholars at Wilson Center say china has risen, i think that im looking at steve nodding and hes so smart so if hes nodding i might be close. [laughter] china has risen and a couple of things to say about that, one it really is a strategic competitor which is our defense now says, we care about strategic competitors, russia and china, theyre not the same thing but we care, thats one, but two, it has a totally different economic model and we somehow thought it would adopt our model but oops, it didnt and the belt and Road Initiative toward which they are devoting huge resources as part of their economic and i suppose their security strategy, they are Building Infrastructure around the world in europe, in africa, in latin america, everywhere, i was in a small caribbean nation and the infrastructure, the little mom and pop Grocery Stores are being built by china now and thats part of belt and Road Initiative. A defining aspect of the security and Economic Policy and we dont understand it and we dont have the focus and tools yet to respond to it. So, if let me follow up on that. If we dont understand it and we dont have the tools, how do we compete . Well, we better understand it and get the tools. I mean, we compete with china. Lets not think that were a third world nation. Were not a third world nation. We have done extremely well, but the new trade war that were engaged in with china may be partially a response to that, but i think its not. I think its a response to a way to see trade deficits. I would dispute the way we see trade deficits. I think it misses, you know, the surplus we have in services, but in any rate, i think we should respond to it in a much more nuanced way. As china expands influence around the world, i think its not the right time for the u. S. To retreat around the world and i see us doing that and i think we can lead in a variety of ways and we have led to establish the liberal world order after world war ii and we are not leading now in protecting that order. All right, to you. I know you spearheaded a report about a fragile state where it said, by 2030, two billion people will live and one of the things you focused on are the threats posed by the fragile states. Im going to take a bit of the question here. Help us understand that and what are the tools that are needed to deal with that . Sure. Thank you, and i will join jane in welcoming everybody and congratulating u. S. Global Leadership Coalition for once again, having this kind of extraordinary event. So fragility, let me start with a definition, its defined as when a state and its people have a broken relationship, and basically, the state is either unwilling or unable to take care of the citizens and what you get are communities or states that are usually very fragmented, there are a lot of grievances, a sense of injustice, and this is the common denominator that runs through some of the greatest threats that we face. Whether its countries that are consumed by civil war, countries that are the largest sources of refugees or migrants. Countries that are most susceptible to pandemics like ebola, that have the largest number of violent extremist incidents and the u. S. Congress asked the u. S. Institute of peace, a national nonpartisan independent institute to take a look at how can the u. S. Do a better job of addressing the conditions of fragility that have enabled violent extremism to spread since 9 11. Since 9 11, weve spend 6 trillion and the number of incidents have just exponentially increased around the world. So we need a different strategy and the idea is to have more of a preventive approach that looks at the conditions that enable extremists to take root. And one of our task force members, the general came and briefed the group, but the recommendations are basically that the u. S. Needs to focus more on the upstream, more on the prevention, not only waiting until crisis and extremism has broken out and i think thats true whether youre looking at conflict or pandemics or violent extremism. Its how do we organize ourselves to prevent these kinds of occurrences more effectively. As somebody whos spent several decades, working in the humanitarian and developmental world, i can tell you that we have increased over the decades the amount of humanitarian assistance that goes to victims of conflict. 20 years ago, 20 of our global humanitarian assistance went to victims of Natural Disaster, now thats flipped and 80 goes to victims of conflict. So, it used to be 80 to Natural Disaster and now to conflict. So, the task force recommended three big things that enabled us to be more effective and the first is to have a Clear Strategy across the u. S. Government that enables people to share objectives and time lines to work on a more preventive approach to fragility. Understanding that it takes generations. We need to understand that and we need to partner with local leaders. Change happens locally. And we need to do so in concert with our International Partners. The second is all the ways that we can unleash our development and our diplomacy actors to be able to work more flexibly, to work over longer time horizons and the third is a fund that enables us to partner with our International Partners and create a compact model where we have an agreement with the fragile state on how to proceed forward with their context. There is a bill that actually just passed in the house, that takes those recommendations forward, cold a global fragility act and a bill thats now moving through the senate. Its difficult to sell prevention, its really hard, but we know whether its our own personal health care or looking at the world stage, that prevention is essential and we need to get better at it, and we need to enable our Development Actors and our diplomates to be more agile as they pursue a prevention strategy. Speaking of that, over to you. As ive been on the board and traveled with the caravans through mexico and you see women, children and men, families, making their way through mexico to get to our border, you understand theyre coming from the northern triangle, that is guatamala, el salvador as well as honduras. How do you get to the root cause, the prevention method that shes speaking of in the northern triangle from the u. S. . Well, i think we, first of all, we have to stage it in some sense, that is to say, i think we have to find a way to, in the shortterm, help mexico, help those countries harden their northern border and help mexico harden their southern border and establish some order so you dont have these kind of undisciplined caravans coming up, and knocking on the door in large numbers and creating what has been, maybe it didnt start out, has now become a crisis on the border. In the short one, we have to address that. But we have to do it in a way that leaves some space for the longer run solutions. So, to cut off aid and assistance to Central America, to free up money, to harden the border, is a classic case of letting the shortrun solution defeat the longerrun solution. Because it is the fragile state problem. It is a crisis in governance, its in governance that lost the confidence of their people and cannot offer their people a prospect for a secure and prosperous future to give them incentive to stay home. Theyre desperate and theyre leaving. We have to deal with the migration in the short run, but we need to invest in working with those governments, those who are willing, those that have a plan to address the governance issues so they can begin to offer hope to their people so they will stay home and work with the government to build their own future in their own home. So, its one of these cases, youve got to have a shortrun strategy and a longrun strategy. Youve got to make sure your shortrun does not defeat your longrun strategy and perpetuate the problem. Let me follow up on that. I was with the october, the caravan that was moving north in october in mexico when the administration announced that it was looking at cutting foreign aid and i asked the migrants themselves, what does this mean to you if they cut aid . And many of them, it may surprise you, responded saying, it doesnt matter to me. Were not getting it anyway. And so you hear them saying that and yet, i make a phone call to a bunch of the ngos and they will tell you, were seeing the difference. We are making a difference in these communities. How do you bridge that gap . I think it is really exactly what nancy talked about, which is the people have lost confidence in their government and if money goes to the government, they have no confidence, it actually ends up helping them. Its that compact, if you will, or the social contract between government and the population thats broken and thats whats got to be restored. Its hard work, it takes a long time, we are learning in the process, weve been at this kind of thing for about 16, 17 years, there are some i think so this that work, there are some things that dont work, but what we know you have to start with is local governments that are committed to provide uncorrupt governance to their people that meets their needs, delivers services and offers them some hope. If you can find those kinds of governments, partner with them, develop a plan for improving governments, governance and then support and enable that plan, you can lay the foundation for restoring the social compact, giving people some hope, giving them some incentive to stay home, thats where we need to get. When you say some things dont work, what doesnt work . Well, you know, one of the things that we know that doesnt work is, if you if you give money to deal with other interests we have, which might be proliferation, it might be terrorism, there are a number. Without regard to the commitment of the government to other things on the longterm, youre building in a sense a longterm problem. Ill give you an example. If you talk to terrorists, one of the things going over, local Security Forces that abuse their own people. So if we are cooperating with a government and providing assistance to their Security Forces and are not also working with those Security Forces about how to do community policing, how to deal with communities in a way that builds support for the Security Services rather than turns the Security Forces into an adversary, were building on sand. We are in the short run, think were providing security and in the long run, were laying the foundation for extremism. Thats the kind of thing we have. And that goes into whats in the fragility bill which is having a shared understanding among our defense and is he we can add on the agenda. If i can add one more thing, two things, one of the things in the business community, a lot of you are in the business community, there was a conference sponsored by mike pence and john kelly about the Homeland Security and it was about and with some others, it was not just strengthening the governments in the northern triangle, but improving a climate so there would be Business Investment. Why Business Investment . Because that creates jobs and its true that if there is a Strong Economy and people are working, that, again, reduces the push factor. So thats one point. The other point, and i think this is way long overdue. Im sure everyone on this panel agrees. We need to do comprehensive Immigration Reform in this country so we have a revised, modernized asylum system and we also keep the doors open on a realistic basis to those who lawfully want to come here, not just seeking asylum. If we close, you know, roll up the barricades and close off this country, i think we lose the creativity and the diversity that have made us a great country. [applaus [applause]. Lets go to the middle east for a second. General, thank you for being with us. Secretary of defense bob gates once said we cannot kill or capture our way to victory. We dont see isis right now on the battlefield the way we once did. And yet, nine Million People have been yet returned to their homes. We see soldiers still scattered around everywhere in the middle east and the group recently claimed responsibility for the Violent Attacks in sri lanka in april. So, knowing what you know, what are the tools that we can have . National security tools that you have identified that we need to keep in mind to keep this country safe . Thank you for the question. And ill join my fellow panelists saying thank you to the hosts of the Coalition Conference for inviting me to be here and im particularly glad talking with a bunch of people who did not live in washington d. C. Youre probably more reasonable than most of the people i talk to in this town. The. [laughter] hes right, right. [laughte [laughter]. The tools that im going to elaborate on and ill try to do this briefly, i doubt will surprise anyone, but let me stipulate upfront that we tend and we have tended, particularly since 9 11, as a government to rely primarily on one set of tools and not on another set. The one we have focused on for very good reasons, and im not trying to suggest that the focus that we put on these tools was misplaced, but it was on the use of Law Enforcement intelligence and military power to deal with the fact we were attacked so horrifically on 9 11. And then of course, when isis arose in 2014, we have another very significant terrorist threat that we and the rest of the world had to deal with. So we have developed extraordinary abilities to use our intelligence, our Law Enforcement and our military instruments to use physical force against terrorists. And it has saved thousands of lives, and its prevented another 9 11 attack on our own soil. It has done a great deal of good, but as you already suggested, it has not reduced either the scale or the scope of terrorism around the world. In fact, for those of you that may have possibly noted this in october, a new National Counterterrorism strategy was approved by the Administration Last october and in the opening sentences of the new strategy, it makes it a very important acknowledgment that despite all of our efforts as americans, im not talking about the rest of the world so much as im talking about americans here, despite all of our best efforts since 9 11, the problem of terrorism around the world is more widespread and more complex than when we began. So if we have proved anything in the last 18 years, these military Law Enforcement intelligence instruments to undergird the use of force against terrorists is necessary, but its strategically inefficient sorry would not be telling you there are more terrorists today than when we began 18 years ago. So what are the other tools to bring an end to my response to your question, they are all the things that prevent the creation of new terrorists. Until and unless, in my judgment, and then for the last three years, ive been the senior strategist for counterterrorism, in my judgment, the only way that were going to prevent the not only the continuing growth of terrorism, but actually turn the tide back to where over the years we have fewer and fewer terrorists in the world, is to do what i would argue any Preventive Medicine or Public Health official would tell you. The best way to deal with an infectious, contagious disease is to prevent the emergence of the disease to begin with, but the tools we use to do these things, none of them will be surprising. Their efforts to contest a radical violent ideology, deal with extremist use of the internet, change the conditions that make it seductive and tempting to are someone to take. Initially the path to radicalization and ultimately the mobilization of violence far less attractive than it is today. Were not going to do that through the use of force. Were not going to do that through arresting people. There are a set of tools that in my judgment, we need to invest far more heavily in and thats for the future. Do you think that we understand extremism and radicalization . In my judgment, we do not understand it as well as we should. There is, as an example, a very widely held belief in government circles, that the principal driver and in many cases, the initial cause for someone to become a terrorist is a violent radical ideology. Over many years, weve now collected enough biographical information about terrorists that we now know that it violent radical ideology plays a role and often only introduced to a person just before they conduct an act of violence. For most of their journeys, as i explained earlier, radicalization and they become much more vulnerable to violence. That violent ideology doesnt play much of a roll. What does play a role. We dont know, but i doubt they would surprise anybody in this room. Mental health problems. A history of trauma in an individuals personal history. Some sort of grievance against their community, their family, their ethic group, their government. Its a complex cocktail. This part of the journey to terrorism i do not think we understand as well as we should. I heard someone in the audience going, yes, yes. All right. Lets go well take a second round here. Former congresswoman harman, i want to go to you. You have said that Climate Change is a Top National Security issue. Im currently on the 2020 campaign trail and i certainly hear a lot of candidates talking about it. The pentagon has called it a threat multiplier. Lets just go to the basic here. Why do you believe Climate Change is a National Security threat . Well, i think its pretty obvious now if it wasnt before, that extreme climate leads to drought, which leads to climate refugees leaving places. Catastrophic climate events like hurricanes, typhoons and tsunamis. Weve seen them and theyre on our 24 7 Television Sets and they cause huge damage, including in the midwest of america, where the base of somebodys support is, and denying the science of Climate Change, it seems to me, makes absolutely no sense. Understanding the science of Climate Change and understanding the effects on our security and Environmental Policies makes all the sense in the world and then coming up with effective strategies, which we havent yet, which are, you know, fairly ambitious and bold, is what the goal is. I you know, just a couple more points. Climate change is not confined to nation states. We ought to get it that even if the u. S. Does all of this perfectly, were still going to be invaded by toxic air and problems from other places and also, whatever perfectly is impossible, if other places are contributing to the problem. So working with the world is a goal. And whats interesting is, last point, that the coalitions that we can make are useful in every other respect for other issues. China obviously cares about climate. If you go to beijing, how many of you have been to beijing . Look at this welltraveled crowd. How many of you have been to beijing when theyve had one of their air, climate emergencies . Well, guess what, they have to and they are trying they have to try to do what they can to clean up air quality in beijing by taking drastic measures against transportation sources and coal processing and a variety of other things. So, they have to. And so we have common cause with china on this issue. And we should make the most of it, not withdraw from a Global Climate agreement where we were in partnership with them, and so, you know, my bottom line is it took a while for us and for congress to Pay Attention and i remember being in the hearty little group that says, the Defense Department has to and the Intelligence Community has to include climate as one of the indicators of failed states and terrorism, and a whole bunch of people said, no, thats crazy, you cant do that. Well, we did it, we actually did it and now they do it and were learning a lot more. So in terms of global engagement, lets take a look at the economic aspect of this because thats absolutely a factor here, from terrorists to trade. When you think about it, one in five jobs here in the u. S. Is tied to global trade, so, my question to you, steve, what should the u. S. Be doing to make sure that we are keeping the global interest, the Global Economic interest in mind and strengthening that . I think its a piece of a larger problem. I mean, if you step back with the pressure on the International System that weve had for 70 years of rising great power competition, theres struggle now between authoritarians and democrats, we have probably as challenging a situation as weve had since the end of the cold war and in my judgment were not particularly well positioned to deal with it. And it really starts at home. One, we need to have an economy that is an inclusive economy that produces inclusive Economic Growth. Weve not had that. We have to fix that problem. Secondly, we need to fix our own politics. You know, jane talked about immigration. Look, the truth is, weve known for 20 years how to fix the immigration system. Youve got to harden the border. Youve got to have a Guest Worker Program and youve got to have a path for legalization for people that are here. Its not that hard, but and i would say similarly, we know a lot of what we need to do about Climate Change, but our political system is not producing a problem solving mindsetment we a were not paying attention to business. As a consequence, people are losing confidence in our democratic and economic institutions at home and we have a brand problem internationally because we dont look so good internationally, compared to china, for example. So, part of what we need to do is to fix our self at home. Get our politics working. Send people to washington who are committed to working across the aisle to solve these problems and tell them if they dont next year, theyre out. [applause]. If we do that, if we start reconnecting with the American People, restoring faith of the American People in our institutions, in our economic institutions, in our political institutions, they will then join with us to provide the Global Leadership that is required if were going to deal with these problems. If we are going to have inclusive global Economic Growth. If we are going to have a trading system that is fair and produces the kind of Economic Growth it can. Thats where weve got to start. Weve got to fix it at home and then weve got to lead internationally and fix the economic issues, the political issues and the rest. And the ps for that is the state and local governments work. Its the federal government thats broken. Theres much more bipartisanship at the state and local level. You know this, and a number of states are moving ahead on the climate issue as an example. My state of california surely is. And thats a patch work of this state does this and this state does that. Wouldnt it be better if the country could act on a bipartisan basis and maybe adopt the best practices of some of the states. That would be a way to go. Lets go to global pandemics, ill come to you, nancy for that. Around the world weve seen outbreaks from ebola, to zika, to chikungunya. What do we make sure that thats not showing up here . And how do we take the global approach on issues of outbreak . What were seeing is where you have pandemics run away where they proliferate and turn into Global Threats are the same states that are the most fragile and what steve just laid out for a domestic and International Goals is enabling communities, states, the International System to be more resilient in the face of shock, whether its a climate shock, an economic shock, a consulate that needs to be managed so it doesnt become violent or a pandemic. And its no mystery that the democratic republic of congo is experiencing this terrible epidemic right now, as did west africa. These are very fragile regions that have been plagued by conflict for years, and ive heard secretary azar speak a little about this, that breakdown is trust between the communities and the government have contributed about the inability to get in and create greater responses because ebola is a pretty wimpy virus at the end of the day, if you dont have contact you wont catch it. Its the airborne that we need to be concerned about. So, what can and what should we do . First of all, we really need to think hard about these fragility issues. The terrible governance that causes these countries to fall into crisis over and over again. Because our investments in health and education and agriculture are stronger, last longer, when theyre in on a system where it will not fall into conflict. I would also note that the u. S. Has been an essential leader in mobilizing responses during the west africa ebola crisis when it jumped into urban areas and started proliferating and going across internationally. He it was the u. S. That mobilized the rest of the world. We play that kind of leadership role. We need to be prepared to continue with that role. Whether its mobilizing other countries and militaries and ensuring that the u. N. System is working at full capacity. We also put critical investment into the development of two vaccines and protecting the Health Workers on the front lines of the crisis. And we also put enormous amounts of investment into strengthening Global Health systems. So we saw as ebola jumped into uganda, uganda was able to set up a screening system that caught the cases and most likely will keep it from spreading just like in the 2014 west africa outbreak, as it jumped into lagos in nigeria, which could have been a terrible disaster. They caught it because of the investments that the u. S. Had made in screening capacities, tracing capacities, a Health System that worked. So it underscores how inextricably were all linked together and that the essential leadership role of the United States and the way that we can play that preventive agenda. I think it would be worse in the drc if some of the vaccines and Health Investments had not been made and it will not get better as long as the conflict rages in drc. Because they have recurring outbreaks. Were in a way lucky that its confined to this conflict rural area, but if it jumps into capitals, thats when it gets really serious and thats when you need the u. S. To mobilize the global response. I dont want it oversimplify any of the issues as the Lieutenant General said. These are complex problems that maybe dont have one simple solution, but what stood out to me, a little bit of what you said was trust. We need to get trust. How do we do that in the u. S. And around the world . That seems like a big task, but its at the root of so many of the issues, what would the suggestion be that we could do more or less of to gain that trust . Its the trust of the community with its leadership, with the people and its government and thats whats often missing in a lot of these environments. And often, that means that theres some way for people to participate or for their voice to be heard and let me give you one simple example that came up when we were doing the task force, two communities near each other in the southern interior of tunisia. Both of them had preachers who are more radical come in to their local mosques. One septemb sent dozens and doz fighters into the community. And one sent one fighter. The difference was the one that sent one fighter had a very Strong Civil Society community. They had labor unions, they had ways in which people engaged in the civic fabric of their lives and that enabled them to be resilient to the ideology when it came into their community, whereas the other community did not. Theres a lot we dont know about how these things happen, but we do know how some of these examples tell us that trust, that participation in the economy, in the political systems, make a big difference. Can i raise one word . I know you need to go to the audience, and that is what its a dirty word in washington, its called bipartisan and just imagine if the parties worked with each other to put the country first, than working against each other to get reelected. Just imagine this. Right now the priority is on making sure you win your primary, which means youre focused on your own party and the challenges within your party and not focused on working with the other side because then youre bipartisan and that has bad outcome. So i think the trust nancy is talking about, which may have been achieved by the mosque, you know, outside our country, could be achieved inside our country, in communities everywhere if bipartisan game a hallowed value again. Just imagine. Just imagine. All right. Were going to go ahead and take questions from the audience. We have a few microphones set up and you can just walk right over. I will ask you to try and keep the answer not the answer, the questions short so we can get through as many of them as possible and you can get what you need from these experts here. We will go ahead and start on this side, yes, maam. Thank you very much and thank you so much to the he is teamed panelists for this really compelling discussion. Im with the International Rescue committee and were working on the front lines of the crisis in fragile states around the world. Presently were in 37 countries and were growing unfortunately. Weve seen a lot of great messaging from usaid and our experts in d. C. Around the reasons why we need to expand our investment in international development. But were also seeing this Administration Using back challenges to block that, for example, one of our programs in the congo is on Health System strengthening, but weve been advised to not work with the government because of a back channel for this administration to block using the tips, the trafficking of persons, how can we make sure that White House Administration isnt using block to the back channels of the strategies . Who want to take that one . The finger is pointed over here. You know, you cant the administration in terms of the president has a view about military power and the military instrument and of its importance. In some sense he has not learned the lesson that general na nagata talked about, that the military is not going to solve on a permanent basis. There are those in the administration to do get it and understand it and there are people in the congress who understand it and get it. And one of the things that nancy talked about the task force report, preventing extremism in the fragile states in the middle east and in the horn of africa. We have briefed it far and wide, within the administration on the hill. What i think has surprised us is how much support it has gotten in sort of middle levels in the administration, and in the congress, in two bills that are moving forward, putting this into operation as policy of the United States. So, i think, you know, in these difficult times, you know, youve got to focus on the key issues. Youve got to come up with solutions and youve got to work with those who are willing to work with you to bring those solutions forward. And thats what we have to do and then secondly, i think the other thing thats important is the American People do get a voice. And i think the American People do get it after 17 years since 9 11, that the military instrument is not enough, and i would hope the American People would send that message to both the administration and those who represent them in congress that we need these other instruments and i think that congress is listening. Efforts that the administration is at and liz can talk in great detail about that, the evidence that the administration has done to cut the nonmilitary elements of the National Security tool kit have been defeated consistently in the congress. I think thats because the congress is listening to the American People and the American People get it. So, dont give up hope. Keep working away, working with those who will work with you. Over time we will win this argument. Well win this argument. [applaus [applause]. Id just like to add my voice to what steve just talked about. Since im still on active duty cant comment on existing military policies. Ive served in this town under three dinner administrati different administrations and seen policies change. Sometimes they change because policy makers just change their minds, but it happens just as frequently when people in the civil society. People in the congress, people in the International Community make a persuasive case. It doesnt always work, it doesnt work for everything, but this is so important. My advice is to deep trying. There is no guarantee you will succeed. If you dont try, i guarantee there will be no change. Its a fight worth fighting. The gentleman in the middle. Im the director of the Culture Center and originally from iraq and i live in lincoln, nebraska. I wonder what can we do as a faithbased organization or an organization from another country, to get the attention or to grab the attention of u. S. Government about the warning signs of the rising of another terrorist group or outbreak of another disease . For example, in 2014 when we saw that the flag of isis we knew we were in trouble and nobody listened. So whats the strategy here . Thank you so much. You want to take that . Whats the strategy to get the attention when they know things are coming like the outbreaks and these flags, et cetera. You have to keep trying. As i said in my earlier answer, prevention is a hard sell. We are hardwired to be reactive. Were very generous as a country and as a people in reacting after a crisis, with humanitarian assistance, with military action, but we have to be we have to get better at the prevention strategy, whether its preventing violent extremism or preventing weather, Climate Change impacts from devastating countries more severely. So youve got to keep trying, its everything from talking to your members of congress, to putting information out there and just keep trying. I think were at the point again in iraq where we need to raise the alarm bells that isis is still very much a present danger and it requires continued use engagements to to help the ericies address the problems that could arise if left unchecked. And to add, point to our moderator, our very effective moderator, we had 24 7 media and social media in this country and this world and getting these stories on media and social media, not just coverage of one person in the world, will increase awareness of real problems, but also showing the story of when prevention works. Thats the biggest missing part of the story telling. Right. Can i add one thing is this this is going to sound like its this is going to sound like advice that i remember teachers when i was very small giving me back then and i didnt listen back then so maybe you wont listen to me now, but specific to the problems of isis arising in 2014, the whole world claimed to be surprised. It should have been the least surprising thing on the planet because none of the conditions that led to the creation of its original version, which was al qaeda iraq, had fundamentally changed. What the International Community engaged in, many nations engaged, many populations, including populationings in this very region engagement, we all engage in wishful thinking. And i remember teachers telling me dont encage in wishful thinking, into what you know to be true. If you see any government engaging in wishingful thinking, call it out because it usually doesnt end well. Right. [applause] over here. Im rob rowen chairman of the World Affairs council upstate carolina. I have a quick thing, if you want trust in the world, stop tweeting diplomacy, real d diploma diplomacy. Talking about Climate Change, i know the military has made lots of decisions about the issues based to that. Dealing with loss of possible land where were going to have mass migrations that will affect specific command, bangladesh, ports, things like that, why isnt the military more actively involved in talking . Because you guys have so much credibility across the board. It seems like that would be a great way to bring this out. Thats a good question. I can only give you a partial answers because, obviously, given my counterterrorism background im a Career Special forces officer by change so Climate Change is not one of my areas of expertise, but the i think the answer is found in the fact that in every administration theres a National Security strategy and then subsequent to that, theres a National Defense strategy thats specific to the department of defense. I doubt it will surprise you that even in the last few years, as has already been mentioned, where Climate Change has become a more prominent feature of how we plan and prepare and train inside the u. S. Military, its not priority number one. Its not priority number two. Rather, unsurprisingly the new National Security strategy and National Defense strategy make peer competitors and our continuing difficulties with terrorism as the preeminent priorities. So the answer even though its a general answer because its not something i study, is the problem of Climate Change is much farther down on the priority list. Thats the answer. Yes, sir. Yes, thank you. Im with an equity group in new york and virginia. Education wasnt brought up as much in this panel which surprised me. That touches a lot, between International Students to advancement, to entrepreneurship. I was curious and i know two of the organizations up there from Wilson Center and the other organization, you know, talked about that a lot. Could you discuss that a little bit as to education from a global perspective . Key critical, all kinds of date that that illustrates how, when people, particularly girls, are educated, that they contribute to a more peaceful. More successful country and economy. I think we have a particular crisis right now with the 70 Million People who are out of their homes because of violent conflict, getting them education because as these displacements become more and more prolonged, their inability to access education creates a spiral of difficulty. Its absolutely key and i would also say that we need to think about it when we provide assistance in a country, as part of the overall analysis, about whats missing, whats needed, how can we help that country and its people move forward on to a more peaceful, stable, pathway. Yes, sir. Keith martin, consortium of Global Health. You know if youre in a hole stop digging. I have two proposals id like to submit for your comments. The first in Central America, we know that guns have flooded Central America, theres only one gun shop in mexico so the question i have for you is, you know, how can we start the egress of weapons flooding from the United States into Central America and mexico . Thats complete destroying the situation, the conditions on the ground resulting in the migration were seeing today. The second point, we know that debates about 7 of oda for governments, but thats not the issue, crekleptocrats are stealg 1. 3 trillion a year, ten times thats part here in geneva and canada and the u. K. So my question to you is how can we engage in better targeted sanctions against those clepkleptocrats that are thieving their countries blind and targeting sanctions against those individuals for their behavior in a more constructive way. Well start with the first question, the guns in mexico which i will remind everyone when then secretary tillis visited mexico. That was mexicos argument. A lot of talk of whats going up about you theres also stuff coming down and there needs to be some accountability for that. Ill start with you, what can be done to tackle that . Well, i think theres awareness of the problem. The effort to tackle it has failed. Theres a lobbying effort in this country in case you missed it and they have been vocal about no restrictions on exports, but it is true, no question, that we contribute in a variety of ways. Were also the pull factor for drugs into this country from Central America and mexico, and if we could fix the push factor we need a sensible border policy, which is tough on folks. And the corruption element is a big part of it. The coyotes and others who profit off the poor defenseless people with violence in their countries and not only caused by governments, but also caused by gangs are despicable and we have tools that we need better to prosecute them. The coyotes being the smugglers. On the second one, were better on target sanctioned that hid individuals and better on that and we also need to support citizenled efforts to address kleptocracy and corruption in places like guatemala where citizens organize to create a commission, we need to support that not withdraw our support. Yes, sir. My name is dick sweat, i had the honor of serving with jane. Hi, dick good to see you. I served as ambassador in the great country of denmark, but most importantly to my question, i now, i am doing what i was trained originally to do and thats as an architect building new communities in africa and in particular, im working in sudan. Ive been in sudan for the last nine years and ive seen the transformation. Sudan now sits on the cusp of a moment of change and i have seen little action from the administration. Over the years there has been complete confusion as to how to deal with this country so i would like to hear from you how we deal with these countries who are in very fragile and very imbalanced places where we could have a tremendous important influence on taking them in the right direction. When we, in the past, in my experience with sudan, have not done the right thing, have not given the attention that the country needs and have not allowed them to bring forward the kind of governance and the kind of development that would change the whole nature of that particular country. Well, i would just say one thing, we talk a lot about how and theres a lot rightly, a lot of focus on authoritarianism, the rise of authoritariani authoritarianism, the rights of china to export that model and the rest. Freedom is not dead in the world. You look at what is happening in algeria, you look at what is happening in sudan. You look at what is happening in venezuela. You look at what is happening in moldova. In slovakia. People are trying to break free from and in hong kong. In hong kong. En you see it in sudan. Bashir is out. And the military is controlling and headed by someone heading the movement and the people are pushing back and theyre trying to free themselves from authoritarianism and build a democratic future. Theyre singing our song and we ought to be standing up for those values and principles and do what we can from the outside to support their efforts, but without discrediting their efforts because in the end of the day, people have to fight and win their own freedom. And we cannot dilute that and discredit by having the big arm of the United States reaching in. Its a very difficult balance. Sudan is a huge opportunity. I agree with you. Nancy knows more. I think were not paying the kind of attention we should and shame on us because there are a number of efforts around the globe where people are trying to be free and we ought to be helping them. Nancy, you want to say some more . I would just add that, you know, i think this is an another instance in which u. S. Leadership can be very, very useful. There was just an envoy to sudan appointed over the weekend. Our assistant secretary of state was just there. We need to make it very clear that we support this march towards a more open democratic system, not a reversion to the kind of strong arm militaristic leadership thats surfacing right now and part of that is helping the gulf region get on board with that agenda. There are a lot of resources going through khartoum, and going into the pocket of military. And these can be the spoilers as. We have a role and i think an influence if we now pursue with greater clarity and a little bit more diplomatic muscle, we have the opportunity, support and extraordinary citizenled movement. And could i just add that dick was an enormously productive member of congress and his fatherinlaw, tom lantos is a human rights icon. And dick, congratulations on using your postcongress career in such a productive fashion. [applause] and for raising sudan. Remind everyone, try to keep your questions tight so we can get through as many as possible. Yes. Thank you very much. Im from the United States im also im really concerned because talking about the as a school board my role is to stand for kids. Thats why i know, i was elected by parents because i wanted to better for the kids in school. I dont look for political. Sometimes for some things, they can do politic, but im not there. Im whats for the best of the kids. Today were here in different world. By the violence, the women, all of those things go in the congo and the governments, they are there. There is no security. Its secure for the population, already is a democracy country. One how we talk about here is the government for the people, but over there, its another government for the people, its a government for themselves because they are just they let the population suffer for the they talk about, what is it, the sickness over there in the congoments ebola. Ebola. Maam, what was your question . My question was for people cannot go help because why are they going to let the people killing the people then to help the people to treat the people, they cannot have a treatment. Thats why the population dying. There is insecurity inside the country. People cannot speak. There is no they dont have the right there is no human right. There is no womans right. There is a what is our role as americans in this country . So, what is americas role in that country . Thank you so much for your question and i think thats a great way to sum up as we wrap up. What is americas role in something . Ill take a stab at this. First of all, to answer the specific question, why do they kill people . Because its in their interest. They believe they are better off by killing people and so they kill people. I think its wrong. I think its immoral, but they think its in their interest to kill and so they kill. Thats not everywhere, its not just true in parts of the world youre talking about. Whats the role of the United States is this to be better than that. We declared ourselves, nobody gave us this tag line after world war ii. We declared after 1940, 45, wooer the leader of the free world and however imperfectly, we have tried to make that real to a degree we have made that real. If we are a better example and if were a powerful example, people will follow the example. Now, the United States is not perfect. [applause] the United States has plenty of mistakes in its history, but the degree to which people around the world believe the countries like the United States are a good example to follow, there will be less of what you are lamenting. [applause] i cant think of a better way than to wrap with that. Thank you. Please join me this thanking our panelists today. [applause] thank you. [applaus [applause] thank you, our moderator. Oh, wow, standing ovation, you guys. Now, stick with us cause we have governor granholm and senator rick santorum, it will be like another cnn panel. Theyre on the air all the time. Thank you guys so much. Tonight on the communicators, we continue our visit to ces on the hill to hear about Samsung Program which encourages stem to kids communities