Meet our Next Speaker
Sean McFate
Monday, July 13, 2020
Topic: Privatization of Warfare
THIS MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
IT WILL BE RESCHEDULED FOR A LATER DATE.
Dr. Sean McFate is a foreign policy expert, author and novelist. He is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington DC think tank, and a professor of strategy at the National Defense University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Additionally, he serves as an Advisor to Oxford University’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs.
McFate’s career began as a paratrooper and officer in the U.S. Army’s 82ndAirborne Division. He served under Stan McChrystal and David Petraeus, and graduated from elite training programs, such as Jungle Warfare School in Panama. He was also a Jump Master.
McFate then became a private military contractor. Among his many experiences, he dealt with warlords in the jungle, raised armies for U.S. interest, rode with armed groups in the Sahara, conducted strategic reconnaissance for the extractive industry, transacted arms deals in Eastern Europe, and helped prevent an impending genocide in the Rwanda region circa 2004.
In the world of international business, McFate was a Vice President at TD International, a boutique political risk consulting firm with offices in Washington, Houston, Singapore and Zurich. Additionally, he was a manager at DynCorp International, a consultant at BearingPoint (now Deloitte Consulting), and an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton.
McFate’s newest book is The New Rules of War: Victory in the Age of Durable Disorder (William Morrow). Admiral Jim Stavridis (retired), the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said: ”Stunning. Sean McFate is a new Sun Tzu.” He also authored The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order (Oxford University Press) which explains how the privatization of war changes warfare. The Economist called it a “fascinating and disturbing book.”
Meetings open to members and members’ guests only. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings take place at Elk Hall, 210 Rankin Street in Rockland. Please plan on arriving by 11:30 AM for noon meetings. The speaker begins promptly at noon and lunch is served from 1 PM.
Audios of Past Presentations
Listed below are links to recent presentations. Click to listen:
- Shuja Nawaz: Problems of the Greater Middle East
- Frank Rose: Outer Space: Cooperation or Confrontation?
- Deborah Bronk: Health of the World’s Oceans Download Slides
- Paul Mayewski: Arctic Climate Change and Maine Download Slides
- Doug Silliman: Iraq after ISIS: Caught between the United States and Iran
- Courtney Radsch: Enemies of the People
- David Stoll: Guatemalan Migration
- Andrew Weber: Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction
- William Reinsch: Globalization, Inequality, and Trade Policy Slides
- Susan Purcell: Regime Change in Venezuela?
- John Shattuck: The Rise of “Illiberal Democracies” in Europe and the US
- Anne Barnard on Whither Syria and where is it taking us?
- Gregory Gause: Saudia Arabia: Reliable Ally?
- Matthew Goodwin: Brexit
- Alan Makovsky: Turkey: Our Wayward Ally
- Charles Sennott: GroundTruth in a Post-Truth World
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