Bolstering National and Global Resilience in the Face of 21st Century Mayhem

Weaknesses in our critical infrastructure, systems, and networks to disasters – both natural and man-made – threaten our communities, companies, and countries in new ways. States with resources face extreme challenges while fragile states face compound threats to build resiliency in order to protect people, polities, and economies.

Join us for an urgent discussion that will tackle the controversial issues that we face as we seek to create a more secure and resilient world, hosted by Northeastern University’s College of Social Sciences and Humanities, World Affairs Council and Global Washington.

Dr. Stephen Flynn, one of the world’s leading experts on critical infrastructure resilience, will present new approaches to reducing damages, ways to adapt to more frequent and consequential hazards, and how to overcome barriers to make greater societal resilience a reality.

Dr. Mai’a K. Davis Cross, an expert on European politics, will address the big question of environmental sustainability by looking at the EU’s role as the global leader in its support for climate policy in the Global South, as well as the emerging security concerns in this sector.

A panel of Pacific Northwest regional experts, including Ann Lesperance, Director of the Northwest Regional Technology Center at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Jonathan Scanlon, Senior Advocacy Advisor for Oxfam America, will respond to these presentations with local insight and challenges to engage the audience in a dialogue about what must happen to ensure the region’s place as a secure and resilient leader. Panelists will also address measures to increase resiliency in developing countries that are the most vulnerable to these growing pressures.

Agenda:

3:30-4:00 PM - Registration and Networking

4:00-5:30 PM - Speaker presentations, regional panel response and Q&A.

5:30-6:30 PM - Reception with refreshments and appetizers hosted by CSSH

Speakers:

Dr. Stephen E. Flynn, professor of political science at Northeastern University, director of Northeastern’s Center for Resilience Studies and co-director of the George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security.

From 2013-15, Dr. Flynn led a two-year multi-university study funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and drafted the final report on “Bolstering Critical Infrastructure Resilience after Superstorm Sandy: Lessons for New York and the Nation.” Flynn has been appointed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson to serve as a member of the Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Council (HSSTAC). Before arriving at Northeastern in 2011, he served as president of the Center for National Policy and spent a decade as a senior fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Mai’a K. Davis Cross, Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Affairs at Northeastern University

Dr. Davis Cross is an expert on European politics, especially foreign and security policy, epistemic communities, crises, diplomacy, and public diplomacy. She holds a PhD in politics from Princeton University and a BA in government from Harvard University. She is the author of Security Integration in Europe: How Knowledge-based Networks are Transforming the European Union (University of Michigan Press, 2011), which is the 2012 winner of the Best Book Prize from the University Association of Contemporary European Studies.

Jonathan Scanlon, Senior Advocacy Advisor, Oxfam America

Jonathan works with Oxfam supporters across the country to advocate for federal policies aimed at ending poverty and injustice around the world. Jon is a former Presidential Management Fellow with extensive policy experience. He served as a U.S. delegate to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, a West Africa desk officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri. His experience in the nongovernment sector includes working as a policy analyst for CARE USA. At CARE, Jon’s projects included leading the development and implementation of the organization’s influenza advocacy campaign.

Ann Lesperance, Director of the Northwest Regional Technology Center for Homeland Security, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Ms. Lesperance has more than 30 years of experience as a researcher and project manager in domestic and international fields including environmental and public health analysis, disaster management, and recovery from natural and man-made events. Ms. Lesperance works extensively with federal, state, and local emergency managers and public safety officials on technical and policy issues with an emphasis on terrorist activities, biological events, port security, and critical infrastructure protection. Ms. Lesperance advocates a bottoms-up approach to public safety and disaster management, focusing first on the local level then linking the state and federal levels to ensure meaningful preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience actions are defined.