Category: Event

The Strategic Defense Initiative in Retrospect

Event, Uncategorized

The Strategic Defense Initiative in Retrospect:

The Past, Present, and Future of Missile Defense

April 28, 2023 | 10AM

Elliott School of International Affairs | City View Room (7th Floor)

On March 23, 1983, US President Ronald Reagan officially announced the Strategic Defense Initiative and a new type of “Star Wars” launched into the national discourse. Forty years later, please join the Space Policy Institute and RAND as they mark this anniversary with an extensive examination of missile defense. Featuring a keynote lecture from Assistant Secretary of State Mallory Stewart, this conference will convene three expert panels to explore the past, present, and future of missile defense.

The event recording is now available.

Also check out the conference notes, with key highlights.

 

ABOUT THE AGENDA

10:00AM, Welcoming Remarks

  • Alyssa Ayres, Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University

10:15AM, Keynote Lecture

  • Mallory Stewart, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance (AVC)

11:00AM, Reflections on SDI

  • Dana Johnson, Director, International Outreach & Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Research & Engineering)
  • Asif Siddiqi, Professor, Fordham University
  • Anthony Eames, Director of Scholarly Initiatives, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
  • Stanley Orman, Former Minister in British Embassy Washington, Deputy Director of AWRE, Aldermaston, and Director General of UK SDI Participation Organization
  • Moderated by Professor Aaron Bateman, George Washington University

12:00PM, Lunch

1:00PM, Missile Defense at Present

  • Laura Grego, Senior Scientist and Research Director, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
  • James Bonomo, Senior Physical Scientist, RAND
  • Mark Lewis, Executive Director, National Defense Industrial Association
  • Sanne Verschuren, Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for International Studies, Sciences Po
  • Moderated by Professor Scott Pace, Director, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University

2:00PM, Coffee Break

2:15PM, The Future of Missile Defense

  • Jeffrey Lewis, Professor, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
  • Sarah Miniero, Principal, Potomac Advocates
  • Dean Cheng, Senior Advisor, China Program, United States Institute of Peace
  • Tom Karako, Senior Fellow, International Security Program and Director, Missile Defense Project, CSIS
  • Moderated by Professor Aaron Bateman, George Washington University

3:15PM, Closing Remarks

ABOUT ACCESSING THE EVENT

This event will be held in the City View Room on the 7th floor of the Elliott School of International Affairs at 1957 E ST NW, Washington, DC. It will also be broadcast via Zoom. Please register if you’d like to attend the event in-person or via Zoom. Your registration confirmation and ticket will contain the Zoom link you’ll use to join the event.

Space and Cybersecurity

Event, Uncategorized

Space and Cybersecurity

April 25, 2023 | 1PM-2:30PM

Elliott School of International Affairs | Room 505 (5th Floor)

The Space Policy Institute and Institue for International Science and Technology Policy are pleased to present a panel discussion focusing on the nexus of space and cybersecurity.

The event recording is now available.

 

AGENDA

1:00PM: Keynote Remarks

  • Scott Pace, Director, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University

1:10PM: Panel Discussion

  • Gil Baram, Affiliate of Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation
  • Melissa Griffith, Senior Lecturer in Technology and National Security at Johns Hopkins University
  • Neil Sherwin-Peddie, Head of Space Security and Enterprise Security at BAE Systems Digital Intelligence, former Deputy Head of Information Assurance at the U.K. Foreign Office
  • Moderated by Aaron Bateman, Assistant Professor, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University

This will be a hybrid event. You’re welcome to join us in-person at 1957 E ST NW or online via Zoom. Please register to receive more information on how to access the event.

The event is open to the public and media and it will be recorded.

Light snacks will be provided.

China and Strategic Stability in Space: Pathways to Peace in an Era of US-China Strategic Competition

Event

Register Here

In recent years, U.S.-China competition has intensified in outer space. U.S.-China competition above the Earth echoes many of the same tensions we see down here but carries unique risks. Nuclear entanglement, direct-ascent anti-satellite testing and the deployment of large and very large satellite constellations are among the most urgent drivers of instability.  Amid the current strains in the overall U.S.-China relationship, coordinating action on these issues will be far from easy to achieve.  Nevertheless, there is a path forward that can lead us toward a more stable and peaceful space environment.

Join USIP for a discussion on strategic competition between the United States and China in space. The conversation will feature the lead author of a forthcoming USIP report on the topic, as well as space scholars and experts from the U.S. government, as they explore how best tackle these complex challenges.

Speakers

Bruce MacDonald
Adjunct Professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Lead Author, “China and Strategic Instability in Space: Pathways to Peace in an Era of U.S.-China Strategic Competition”

Carla Freeman
Senior Expert, U.S. Institute of Peace; Report Author, “China and Strategic Instability in Space: Pathways to Peace in an Era of U.S.-China Strategic Competition”

Bhavya Lal
Associate Administrator for Technology, Policy, and Strategy, NASA

Victoria Samson
Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation

Scott Pace, moderator
Director, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University

Register Here

The Long March rocket, carrying the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, Nov. 29, 2022. You Li/The New York Times

ISTP 50th Anniversary Event

Event
Graphic announcing the 50th anniversary 1970-2020 of the International Science and Technology Policy Program at GW's Elliott School. Celebrating five decades of excellence.

On March 30, 2022, the Elliott School’s International Science and Technology Policy (ISTP) program will celebrate its 50-year history with a full-day event. Featuring distinguished alumni and S&T experts, the event will examine the ISTP program’s legacy while exploring the future of S&T, across the globe.

March 30, 2022, Morning, City View Room (7th Floor):

History and Legacy

Introduction – 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM

Alyssa Ayres, Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs

Panel 1—10:15AM-11:30AM:

The International Science and Technology Policy Program Through the Years

Featuring Professors John Logsdon, Scott Pace, and Nicholas Vonortas.

Panel 2—11:30AM-12:30PM:

International Science and Technology Policy Program Alumni Insights

Featuring a four-person panel of distinguished program alumni, including:

Jennifer Bond, Former National Science Foundation

Michele Garfinkel, European Molecular Biology Organization

Richard Leshner, BryceTech

Evan Michelson, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

March 30, 2022, Afternoon, City View Room (7th Floor):

International S&T Present and Future

Panel—2:00PM-3:30 PM:

International S&T Policy Today and Where is it Going?

Featuring a four-person panel of international S&T experts, including:

Dana Johnson, Director, International Outreach and Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

Kei Koizumi, Principal Deputy Director for Policy, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Bhavya Lal, Associate Administrator, NASA

Al Teich, former Director of Science & Policy Programs at AAAS

Keynote Address—4:00PM-5:00PM:

Featuring William B. Bonvillian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Wrap-up Discussion—5:00 PM – 5:15 PM:

Moderated by Prof. Nick Vonortas, Director, Institute for International Science and Technology Policy

Reception—5:15PM-7:00PM:

Light food and drinks will be provided.

This is a hybrid event that is open to the general public and media. The discussion will be recorded.

View part 1 of the event “History and Legacy“

View part 2 of the event “International S&T Present and Future“

ESA Agenda 2025

Event
Picture of European Space Agency Director General Dr. Josef Aschbacher speaking. The image announces the Wednesday, November 30, 2:30pm event "ESA Agenda 2025" sponsored by the Space Policy Institute at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

About the Event

The European Space Agency (ESA) Director General, Dr. Dr. Josef Aschbacher, has set high ambitions for space in Europe. ESA has a huge role to play. It requires cooperation with the European Union, space industry, and the scientific community as well as the co-creation of a new vision for Europe in space.

ESA Agenda 2025 outlines the challenges ahead for maintaining and growing Europe’s role in the space economy, both in the near and longer term. This means working with the European Union and space industry companies of all sizes. It requires inspiring and encouraging educators, entrepreneurs, the next generation of space scientists and engineers, and all the professionals needed to make great space missions. It also means developing programmes and missions that ESA member states can be proud of–new flagship missions in cooperation with European Union member states, and ESA-led missions to expand our knowledge and to protect Earth and its orbit.

Implementation of Agenda 2025 underpins the programme proposal that will be submitted to the ESA Council at the Ministerial level meetings scheduled to gather in Paris on 22-23 November. Such a gathering happens every three years. The meetings are when Ministers in charge of space in ESA Member States agree to implement new programmes and commit to funding of on-going and new programmes for the next three years.

Following the 2022 meetings, Dr. Aschbacher will present his agenda 2025 and discuss the outcome of the last ESA Council meeting at Ministerial level.

This will be a hybrid event. Guests are welcome to join us in-person at the Elliott School of International Affairs or online via Zoom. Please register for more information on how to access the event. If you’d like to attend in-person, we encourage you to register early, as in-person seating is limited.

This event is open to the public and media and will be recorded.

About the Speaker

Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, graduating with a Master’s degree and a PhD in natural sciences. He has had an accomplished international career in space, combining more than 35 years’ work experience at ESA, the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of Innsbruck.

As Chief Executive Officer of ESA, Dr Aschbacher is responsible for the definition, implementation and development of Europe’s space infrastructure and activities, which include launchers, satellites performing Earth observation, navigation, telecommunication and space science, together with robotic exploration and ESA astronauts working on the International Space Station. He is responsible for an annual budget of €7 billion and a workforce of 5500 distributed across several establishments, principally in Europe.

When taking up office as ESA Director General, Dr Aschbacher published a new strategy for space in Europe, called ‘Agenda 2025’, aimed at accelerating significantly the use of space in Europe through major new initiatives and programmes.

From 2016–21, he was ESA Director for Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESA’s ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Italy. He has been a key leader of the European Copernicus programme, which has grown beyond all expectations and is now considered to be one of the most ambitious and successful Earth observation programmes in the world.

He worked in various functions within ESA from 2001 onwards both in Paris and Frascati. From 1994–2000, he worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, in his latest position serving as Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Space Applications Institute. From 1991–93 he was stationed as ESA Representative in Southeast Asia, where he developed projects in the Asian region while, at the same time, working in a full-time academic teaching capacity as Associate Professor at AIT Bangkok.

In 2021, Dr Aschbacher became ‘Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana’, the highest recognition accorded to non-Italian nationals.

View the event recording.

SPI Hosts Reception for U.S.-Africa Space Forum and U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit

Event, News

SPI and Planet hosted a reception in honor of the U.S.-Africa Space Forum and the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.

The event provided an opportunity for attendees to discuss how the United States and African countries can collaborate in the space sector to drive change throughout the continent. The reception featured opening remarks from Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council,

Space-based capabilities such as communications, remote sensing, weather monitoring, and navigation are critical to the economic and social development of Africa. Space technologies can provide modern communications and monitoring services to billions of underserved populations. They can strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of local infrastructures for transportation, construction, agriculture, forestry, and water management. Space is vital not only to economic growth in Africa and African entrepreneurs, but also to conserving and protecting natural resources such as fisheries and forests against illegal exploitation.

View of Africa from Space
Chirag Parikh, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council; Mário Augusto da Silva Oliveira, Minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication, Republic of Angola; Zolana Rui João, General Director of GGPE (Angolan Space Office); Dr. Scott Pace, SPI Director

Original Sin: Power, Technology and War in Outer Space – Dr. Bleddyn Bowen’s New Book

Event

Reserve a Spot Here

Thu, November 17, 2022, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EST

Elliott School of International Affairs (and online) 1957 E Street Northwest Room 505 (5th Floor) Washington, DC 20052

About the Book

Space technology was developed to enhance the killing power of the state. The Moon landings and the launch of the Space Shuttle were mere sideshows, drawing public attention away from the real goal: military and economic control of space as a source of power on Earth. Today, as Bleddyn E. Bowen vividly recounts, thousands of satellites work silently in the background to provide essential military, intelligence and economic capabilities. No major power can do without them. Beyond Washington, Moscow and Beijing, truly global technologies have evolved, from the ground floor of the nuclear missile revolution to today’s orbital battlefield, shaping the wars to come. World powers including India, Japan and Europe are fully realizing the strategic benefits of commanding Earth’s ‘cosmic coastline’, as a stage for war, development and prestige.

Yet, as new contenders spend more and more on outer space, there is scope for cautious optimism about the future of the Space Age—if we can recognize, rather than hide, its original sin.

About the Author

Dr. Bleddyn Bowen is an expert in space policy and international relations in outer space. He has published research on strategic thinking and outer space, UK and EU space policy, UK and US military space doctrines, and the politics of orbital debris. Based on the classic works of military theory, his research challenges prevailing thought in military and civilian space communities and offers practical policy relevant insights for the space sector at the intersection of politics, military power, security, and technology.

Building on his expertise in the politics of outer space and the impact of space technologies on warfare, national security, and international relations, Dr. Bowen has published several journal articles and a monograph on the military, security, and political dimensions of outer space. His expertise encompasses military and intelligence space activities, governance issues in outer space, space arms control, and the international political dimensions of space exploration.

Reserve a Spot Here

YouTube Recording of Event
Cover of Original Sin
Author Dr. Bleddyn Bowen

Pushing the Frontiers of Science with Black Holes with Dr. Feryal Ozel

Event

Reserve a Spot Here

Wed, November 16, 2022, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EST

Elliott School of International Affairs (and online) 

1957 E Street Northwest Lindner Commons (Room 602, 6th Floor) Washington, DC 20052

About the Event

Black holes are the most bizarre and extreme objects in the Universe, defying our understanding of known physical laws. Exploring this frontier has been a quest of astrophysics for decades. The Event Horizon Telescope project recently captured direct images of black holes and their environments with an Earth-sized telescope, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This effort required breakthroughs in instruments, computer models, and global organization. Dr. Ozel will describe this journey into the unknown, sharing the path to the development of the project and the resulting scientific advances.

About the Speaker

Dr. Feryal Ozel is Chair and Professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech. Prior to this role, she was a Professor of Astronomy and Physics and Associate Dean for research at the University of Arizona. Dr. Ozel received her BS summa cum laude in physics and applied mathematics from Columbia University, her MS from the Niels Bohr Institute and her PhD from Harvard University in astrophysics in 2002. She was a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow and Member at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton until 2004.

Dr. Ozel is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was elected to the Science Academy of Turkey. In recognition of her work, Dr. Ozel was awarded the Maria Goeppert Mayer award from the American Physical Society, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University, a Miller Institute Visiting Professorship from UC Berkeley, and, with the EHT collaboration, the Breakthrough Prize, the Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society, a Diamond Achievement award from the National Science Foundation, and recognized with the distinction of Breakthrough of the Year by Science. She was co-chair of NASA’s Next Generation Mission Concept Study for the Lynx X-ray Observatory and has served for three years as chair of NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Committee. As a founding member of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, she served on the EHT Science Council since 2016 and was lead of the Modeling Working Group for three years.

Reserve a Spot Here

YouTube Recording of Event
Images of Black Holes
Speaker Dr. Feryal Ozel

GW Wins Best Oral Advocate at Space Law Moot Court in Paris

Event, News

Third year GW Law student Evan Matsuda was selected as Best Oral Advocate at the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court World Championship in Paris, France. Evan and his teammate, third year Jonathan Clark, were finalists in the competition, finishing second.

The team was coached by Professor Henry Hertzfeld, Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs in the Space Policy Institute at the Elliott School of International Affairs. This is the fifth time Professor Hertzfeld has coached a team to the World Championship.

Both Tom McMurry, NASA Deputy General Counsel, and another international lawyer were present at the event and did a practice moot with the team before the Final Round. They were very impressed and promised an event at NASA to celebrate the great performance.

Congratulations to all!

“The bench was extremely hot and began asking tough questions even before anyone could get a full sentence out. Our team did exceptionally well.”

Professor Hertzfeld
1957 E St NW, Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20052 Email: SPI@gwu.edu Phone: (202) 994-1592
Viewing Message: 1 of 1.
 Notice

This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. Visit GW’s Website Privacy Notice to learn more about how GW uses cookies.