The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security

A Lecture by Professor William Perry, Former US Secretary of Defense

9 - 10 am, 19th June 2009, Committee Room 9, House of Commons

To attend, please RSVP to: jonathan.rider@transatlanticsecurity.org


The All Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic and International Security is pleased to invite you to a discussion with Professor William Perry, former US Secretary of Defense.

In the post-Cold War era, the threat of traditional state-on-state conflict is very low. Today, high-speed internet communication, terrorism, insurgent fighters and suicide bombers have changed the face of the modern battlefield. This demands a new approach. The way in which the US and UK forces are adapting to these modern challenges in Afghanistan, for example, provides a basis for new strategic thinking. Robert Gates, the current US Defense Secretary, is leading the way in modernising and re-evaluating the role of modern military forces.

Furthermore, as China, Russia and India emerge as regional superpowers, western governments are slowly framing their response to the challenges and opportunities that a potential reshaping of international spheres of influence and power provides. Although we have abandoned the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, there are also several potential flashpoints in the course of this transition, one of the most important of which is the issue of nuclear non-proliferation, particularly with relation to Iran and North Korea.

Former US Defense Secretary, William Perry, whose experiences in Washington, and current work at Stanford University provide a unique perspective on military deployment, defence and governance will look to address changing international trends on these issues in his lecture. Professor Perry is currently working on The Preventive Defence Project at Stanford University. The project aims to contribute to the forestalling of developments that could threaten the US. Part of this work focuses on the creation and maintenance of productive relations with China and Russia and addressing the issue of weapons of mass destruction. The project also looks at the government's structural capacity to deal with the new security environment.

Biography


Professor William Perry is currently the Michael and Barbara Berberian Professor at Stanford University, with a joint appointment at FSI and the School of Engineering. He is a senior fellow at FSI and serves as co-director of the Preventive Defense Project, a research collaboration of Stanford and Harvard Universities. He is an expert in U.S. foreign policy, national security and arms control.

Perry was the 19th Secretary of Defense for the United States, serving from February 1994 to January 1997. He previously served as Deputy Secretary of Defense (1993-1994) and as Under Secretary of Defense for research and engineering (1977-1981). From 1946 to 1947, Perry was an enlisted man in the Army Corps of Engineers, and served in the Army of Occupation in Japan. He joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1948 and was a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves from 1950 to 1955.

He has received decorations from the governments of Albania, Bahrain, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, Poland, Slovenia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. He received a BS and MS from Stanford University and a PhD from Penn State, all in mathematics.


APPG Officers


Chair
Mrs Gisela Stuart MP

Vice Chairs
Mr Patrick Mercer MP
Mr Paul Keetch MP

Treasurer
Mr David Ruffley MP

Secretary
Mr Derek Twigg MP