Former Secretary of State John Kerry will headline the Forum at Newport 2024
On Thursday, Sept. 5, the Honorable John Kerry, 68th U.S. Secretary of State, will be the keynote speaker for the Forum at Newport 2024, a half-day conference on the geo-strategic and national security challenges and opportunities posed by climate change. The public event is presented by the Pell Center and the U.S. Naval War College and will be held in the O’Hare Academic Building, from 1:30-6 p.m.
National security leaders have long recognized that the environment plays a major role in complex scenarios. Decreased rainfall can lead to drought, for example, which in turn, can lead to hunger and even famine. When the right mix of triggers is present, these forces can lead to political violence, civil war and international conflict. At this remarkable half-day conference, a dynamic array of public leaders, scholars and experts will unpack the direct connection between changes in the Earth’s climate and the national security challenges and opportunities facing the U.S.
In addition to Kerry, the event will feature U.S. Senator Jack Reed (RI); U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI); Carlos Del Toro, U.S. Secretary of the Navy; Dr. Thomas Barnett, author of America’s New Map: Restoring Our Global Leadership in an Era of Climate Change and Demographic Collapse”; and Sherri Goodman, author of Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership, and the Fight for Global Security.”
“Climate change challenges the environmental equilibrium of the planet on which so much of human existence depends, the ability of millions to have enough to eat and enough to drink, and the stability of entire regions,” said Dr. Jim Ludes, vice president for strategic initiatives and executive director of the Pell Center. “Climate-induced resource competition will make conflict more likely within and between states, it will alter the geography of energy and conflict and it will threaten lives, property, economies and even ways-of-life around the planet. At their heart, these are questions of national security.”
The Forum at Newport 2024 is the second event in a new series designed to increase cooperation and scholarship between the two higher education institutions located on Aquidneck Island.
