The Aspen Institute Announces 2012 Aspen Security Forum

Speakers to include Admirals William McRaven and James Stavridis

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program announces the 2012 Aspen Security Forum, its third annual forum on homeland security and counterterrorism. More than 80 top-level current and former government officials, industry leaders, noted print and broadcast journalists, and leading thinkers will discuss and debate the key issues in homeland security and counterterrorism. The forum will take place July 25–28 at the Institute's signature Aspen Meadows campus in Aspen, Colorado. The New York Times and CNN are this year's forum media partners.

"The question that will loom large at this year's forum — with bin Laden dead, Al Qaeda on the ropes, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan either ended or ending and the prospect of a new war with Iran, and policymakers' attention increasingly shifting to Asia — is what does all of this mean for 'homeland security,'" said Clark Ervin, director of the Aspen Institute's Homeland Security Program.

Confirmed speakers for the 2012 forum include Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Admiral James Stavridis; Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Admiral William McRaven and his predecessor, Admiral Eric T. Olson; National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen and his predecessor, Michael Leiter; Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan General Douglas E. Lute; Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute; Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman; the Ambassadors of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq to the United States; the European Union's Counterterrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove; Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration John Pistole; Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce; former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff; former National Security Adviser Steve Hadley; former Deputy Secretary of State and Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte; former Director of National Intelligence and NSA Director Admiral Mike McConnell; former Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair; former CIA and NSA Director General Michael Hayden; former FBI and CIA Director William Webster; former CIA Acting and Deputy Director John McLaughlin; former Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad; and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.

Forum moderators include CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Jill Dougherty; the AP's Kimberly Dozier; The Wall Street Journal's Siobhan Gorman; Fox News' Catherine Herridge; The Washington Post's David Ignatius; Newsweek's Dan Klaidman; CBS' Steve Kroft from "60 Minutes"; ABC News' Terry Moran; The New York Times' David Sanger; NPR's Dina Temple-Raston; and NBC News' Pete Williams.

Additionally, the Golden Globe-award-winning Showtime series, "Homeland," will be screened. A panel with "Homeland" Executive Producer Alex Cary, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, and Director of Intelligence Analysis at the New York Police Department Mitch Silber will discuss terrorism and other national security challenges and how these challenges are portrayed in Hollywood, with CNN's Suzanne Kelly as moderator.

Daily video highlights from the Security Forum will be posted at www.aspensecurityforum.org, and event updates will be featured at www.twitter.com/aspeninstitute and www.facebook.com/aspeninstitute. The event hashtag is #ASF2012.

For a complete list of currently confirmed speakers, registration information, and sponsorship details, please visit www.aspensecurityforum.org. Sponsors for the 2012 Aspen Security Forum to date are AGT International, HFRX, The Robert R. McCormick Foundation, and Target.

A limited number of press passes are available. For more information and to register, please visit: http://aspensecurityforum.org/press.

About The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute's Homeland Security Program works to heighten public awareness as to the nation's continued vulnerability to terrorism, and to persuade the nation to take the necessary steps to close the gap between how secure we should be and how secure we actually are. For more information, please visit www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/homeland-security.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org. 

SOURCE The Aspen Institute