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2022 National Security Symposium

Next Generation National Security

June 23, 2022

Registration is now closed. We will take walk-ins at the door.

 

The 2022 National Security Symposium is sponsored by the Federalist Society's International & National Security Law Practice Group and the National Security Institute at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School.  This year's theme is "Next Generation National Security." 

The day-long Symposium consists of panels on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. Lunch will be served. For those who are unable to attend in person, the panels will be livestreamed.  CLE credit will be offered for the panels (please note it is not available for those who attend virtually).

Please do not register to watch the livestream.  These counts are for food and beverage purposes only. Please email [email protected] if you need to change your registration status.

 

Location:

Roof Terrace

America's Square

300 New Jersey Ave NW

Washington, DC 20001

*Access to the Roof Terrace is provided through the American's Square atrium lobby.

 

Parking/Metro Information:

Parking garage entrance: 311 First St NW ($26 for the day)
Closest metro stops: Judiciary Square and Union Station (both on the Red Line)

Cost:

  • Conference (with no CLE) - Free
  • Conference with CLE - $50

 

Schedule:

Opening Remarks
10:00 am – 10:15 am

Panel I: Cryptocurrency and National Security
10:15 am - 11:45 am

Lunch 
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm

Panel II: Artificial Intelligence: Implications for National Security
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

 

Please follow the instructions below to ensure that you receive CLE credit.

ANYONE SEEKING CLE MUST:

▪ Be registered for the 2022 National Security Symposium with CLE. There is a $50 registration fee for attendees seeking CLE credit.

▪ Attend in person.

▪ Sign in electronically upon arrival at the symposium using the available QR code and fill in your information. This must be done as you arrive, as a digital timestamp is required. The link will be active 30 minutes before the start of the first panel.

▪ Sign out at the end of the day using the available QR code. Several states require that attendees sign out, as a digital timestamp is required. Cards with QR codes for accessing CLE materials will be available at the symposium. CLE materials may also be accessed for each panel via Google Drive by pressing the button below.

CLE MATERIALS

 

AFTER THE SYMPOSIUM:

Links for the electronic Certificate of Attendance (COA) response form and evaluation form will be emailed only to paid registrants who have signed in using the electronic sign-in sheet for the event. If you do not receive this email within three days of the symposium, please contact our office at the email address below.

IF THESE STEPS ARE NOT FOLLOWED, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE CLE CREDIT FOR THIS EVENT. CONTACT [email protected] WITH ANY CLE QUESTIONS.

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9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Registration
America's Square
300 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001

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10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Opening Remarks
Roof Terrace
America's Square
300 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001

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10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
Panel I: Cryptocurrency and National Security
Topics: Cryptocurrency
Roof Terrace
America's Square
300 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001

Event Video

Description

Cryptocurrencies have in many ways seized the public imagination.  And there are many potential benefits to digital assets - for example, they may help to  reduce the global wealth gap, and can provide people, regardless of socioeconomic status, control over their own money and allow them to work around governmental control in authoritarian regimes in a way that promotes individual freedom.  At the same time, cryptocurrencies have the potential to facilitate efforts of bad actors - hackers, ransomware, terrorist financing, drug crime — and may prove easier to "launder" than cash, and easier to hide bad actors from authorities in light of the different nature of information available about beneficial owners on the blockchain as compared to the information that regulated financial institutions must collect and maintain about their customers.  If cryptocurrencies make it easier to monetize criminal activity, the rise of digital currencies could lead to an increase in the overall level and effectiveness of criminal activity, especially activities like hacking and ransomware that can be conducted remotely and relatively anonymously.   Cryptocurrencies could weaken U.S. national security in other ways, such as by lessening the importance of the U.S. dollar in international financial transactions.  

This very timely panel will consider the various threats and potential benefits that digital currencies may pose, and will discuss whether and how the U.S. might develop policies on digital assets that both protect and encourage freedom and payment security while maintaining our safety from bad actors, and thwarting the schemes and initiatives of bad actors.  Our panel also will consider the potential impact of digital currencies on government sponsored currencies such as the U.S. dollar and the U.S. dollar’s role in the international payments system.

Featuring:

  • Gus Coldebella, Partner, True Ventures 
  • William Hughes, Senior Counsel and Director of Global Regulatory Matters, Consensys Software
  • Dr. Oonagh McDonald, Senior Adviser, Crito Capital
  • Hon. Juan Zarate, Global Co-Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer, K2 Integrity; NSI Advisory Board Member
  • Moderator: Eric Kadel, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Speakers

12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Lunch
Roof Terrace
America's Square
300 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001

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1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Panel II: Artificial Intelligence: Implications for National Security
Roof Terrace
America's Square
300 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001

Event Video

Description

This panel will address the national security ramifications of the scaling artificial intelligence (AI) developments.  As AI innovations scale up, their impact on our national security will be profound.  That impact will manifest itself through our global competitiveness, military capabilities, and other ways.  How will AI affect the military capabilities of the Free World?  What about the cyber infrastructures worldwide?  Effect on labor demand in the market and the economic consequences on employment?  How is the private sector seeking to leverage the changes in AI?  And to guard against some of the more nefarious ones?  What role does the government, preemptively and reactively, play in all this?  Our esteemed panelists, speaking from their multifaceted backgrounds and experiences, will discuss these implications. 

Featuring:

  • Prof. Claire Finkelstein, Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy; Director, Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, Penn Law 
  • Ramon Marks, Senior Partner (Ret.), Arnold & Porter LLP
  • Admiral Mark Montgomery, Senior Director of CCTI and Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
  • Prof. Jeremy A. Rabkin, Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
  • Moderator: Prof. Jamil N. Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director, National Security Institute; Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the National Security Law & Policy Program, Antonin Scalia Law School,George Mason University

Speakers

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