Click here to read the official Summit Report from the GNSI Tampa Summit: The Current Rise of the Great Powers - The Struggle for Influence in the Middle East, Central and South Asia.
Day 1 (US CENTRAL COMMAND CENTRAL AND SOUTH ASIA DMI CONFERENCE)
On March 7-9, the first ever GNSI Tampa Summit convened at the in Tampa. The GNSI Tampa Summit is a new platform created by the Global and National Security Institute to bring together the best strategists, analysts, academics and policy influencers.
The signature event of the GNSI Tampa Summit is the Great Power Competition Conference 鈥� a semi annual series of conferences focused on the strategic competition between
the United States, Russia and China, specifically in the Central Region, and the many
varied issues that challenge U.S. and our allies.
The Central Region is the Area of Responsibility (AOR) for the United States Central
Command (USCENTCOM), headquartered on MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, 91社区. The
region consists of 21 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, as well as Central
and South Asia.
The first Summit also featured the 2023 U.S. Central Command Central and South Asia Directors of Military Intelligence Conference, which annually brings together members of leadership from USCENTCOM with intelligence leaders from some of the countries in the Central Region.
That DMI Conference kicked off the Summit on March 7, as high-ranking intelligence leaders from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were in attendance.
, Director of Intelligence at USCENTCOM, opened and closed the DMI conference, which focused almost exclusively on Russia鈥檚 role and future activities in the AOR. GNSI Executive Director and former commander of USCENTCOM, General (Ret) Frank McKenzie, spoke briefly on the importance of the Central Region and cautioned against deemphasizing the region in relation to other priorities in the USA鈥檚 overall global strategies. The keynote address was given by , former senior defense official/attach茅 in Moscow and now a Global Fellow at the .
A global intelligence address was delivered by , Deputy Director for Global Integration at the
Two discussion panels examined critical intelligence issues in the region, from both the perspective of the United States as well as the countries located in the region:
Panel 1: The War in Ukraine - Russian Hybrid Warfare, Lessons Learned and the Future
of the Russian Way of War
Panel 2: Strategic Competition 鈥� Russia鈥檚 Future Strategy and Friction Points
Each of the foreign delegates also spoke at the conference, presenting their ideas and strategies, while sharing their experiences with the growing influence of Russia in their countries.
This was the first year that USCENTCOM had coordinated the annual DMI Conference with
the GPC Conference and the GNSI Tampa Summit.
GNSI Senior Director, Jim Cardoso, said that putting the two events together made a lot of sense and it was a big success
for both sides:
鈥淚t was a natural fit to bring together the Great Power Competition conference with
the DMI conference, under the umbrella of the GNSI Tampa Summit series. GNSI鈥檚 vision
is to bring together coordinated networks to address complex and emerging issues.
GPC鈥檚 ability to convene the finest thinkers and practitioners from academia, government,
and industry, combined with DMI鈥檚 connection to key U.S. partners in the Central and
South Asia region, created an unmatched forum that yielded actionable contributions
to today鈥檚 national security solutions.鈥�
DAY 2 (FIRST DAY OF GREAT POWER COMPETITION CONFERENCE)
The second day of the GNSI Tampa Summit kicked off its Signature Event 鈥� the 7th Great Power Competition Conference: The Current Rise of the Great Powers 鈥� The Struggle for Influence in the Middle East, Central and South Asia. GPC7 focused primarily on the long campaign of influence being executed by China in the Central Region.
Conference host and founder, Dr. Adib Farhadi, Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at USF, welcomed a large audience in the Marshall Center鈥檚 Oval Theater, as well as a large contingent of virtual attendees.
kicked off the day鈥檚 event with video remarks, noting that the global rise of China鈥檚 influence is a major concern for the U.S. Congress and applauded the conference for bringing together so many people from different industries to focus on a critical issue of national and global importance.
Following that, 91社区 President, Rhea Law, delighted in the growth of the GPC Conference and the addition of GNSI.
Acting Director of the , delivered a valuable perspective, based upon research NESA has done, noting that
the majority of Gulf States in the Central Region believe Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine
was justified. But the biggest threat in the Region, Lamm said is China.
.
The keynote address for Day 1 belonged to the Executive Director of the , General (Ret) Frank McKenzie. He took over duties to lead GNSI last June, after retiring earlier in the year following a 42 year career in the United State Marine Corps.
McKenzie updated the audience on the progress of GNSI, noting:
鈥� Establishment of the GNSI Tampa Summit
鈥� Creating the first Board of Advisors for GNSI, including:
鈥� Chairman: Rick Knop, leading investment banker and investor in the government/defense industry
鈥� Frank Cilluffo, Director of Auburn University鈥檚 McCrary Institute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure
Security
鈥� Chris Galvin, Co-Founder and Chairman of Gore Ceek Asset Management, LLC and former Chairman and
CEO of Motorola
鈥� General James L. Jones, USMC (Ret), president of Jones Group International, former National Security Advisor to President
Obama and former Commander, USEUCOM and Supreme Allied Commander
鈥� Cathy Lanier, Senior VP of Security for the National Football League and former Chief of Police
in Washington, D.C.
鈥� Kirstjen Nielsen, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security under President Trump and his former
White House Deputy Chief of Staff
&苍产蝉辫;鈥� Lieutenant General Vince Stewart, USMC (Ret), founder and CEO of Stewart Global Solutions and former Director of the Defense Intelligence
Agency
鈥� Chip Walter, Manager Director of Marlinspike Disruptive Technology Fund 1 and 30 year veteran
of the U.S. Navy and federal government
鈥� Creation of a new event series, GNSI Policy Dialogues, which will focus on vital, but non-traditional global and national security threats
and issues; the first event will be 鈥淗unger as a Weapon鈥� on May 24
鈥� Laying the foundation for the GNSI Education Programs, including a 1-year Masters
program and a strategic focus on Professional Military Education
McKenzie reiterated something he had said in the previous conference in December:
the security threats facing the U.S. right now are the most the dangerous he鈥檚 seen
in his lifetime. He also said that he is convinced that a tactical nuclear weapon
could be used in the next major war:
The former commander of USCENTCOM also took time for .
The morning session concluded with the Summit's first discussion panel: Understanding
China鈥檚 Grand Strategy.
鈥� : Director of Strategic Multilayer Assessment, Joint Staff, Pentagon
鈥� , Commander U.S. Special Operations Command Central
鈥� , Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins
School of Advanced International Studies
鈥� , Director of Asia Studies, American Enterprise Institute
鈥� , Professor of Political Science, University of Miami
The afternoon session for Day 1 began with an engaging speech from , Director of Intelligence for the Joint Staff (J2). He spoke frequently about a newly
published intelligence document called the 鈥淛oint Concept for Competing.鈥� Henry deemed
China鈥檚 long-term strategy to be one of indirect competition, not direct confrontation:
The afternoon session concluded with another panel discussion, this one focused heavily on China鈥檚 effort to gain influence , as Lt. General Henry warned, without fighting: China鈥檚 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Geoeconomics and Geopolitical Implications for U.S. National Security.
鈥� Quinton DuBose, Moderator: Strategic Competition Program, J2, U.S. Central Command
鈥� , Director, Strategy, Plans and Policy, U.S. Central Command
鈥� , Professor of International Security Studies, National War College
鈥� Goldberger Fellow with the Washington Institute's Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation
Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East
鈥� , Professor of Political Science, University of New Hampshire
DAY 3 (SECOND DAY OF GREAT POWER COMPETITION CONFERENCE)
Day 2 of GPC7 began with opening remarks from two local 91社区 Congresswomen, , representing District 14, and , representing District 15. Both Representatives spoke of their support for the Summit and GPC7, as well as their focus on their work in Washington, D.C. in combatting the rise of Chinese national and global influence.
Dr. Eric Eisenberg, newly named Senior Vice President for University Community Partnerships at USF, praised
Castor and Lee, for setting aside potential political differences to support something
of mutual importance and benefit. Eisenberg also noted that in his new role, he has
an opportunity to continue to build bridges between USF and the communities it serves.
Dr. Eisenberg鈥檚 opening remarks were followed by the day鈥檚 Plenary Speaker, Major General David Doyle, Chief of Staff at USCENTCOM, who said China鈥檚 incremental malign and military influence
will destabilize the region if we allow it. He added that such activities happen every
day in the region and many of China鈥檚 partners live to regret the decision to ally
themselves with Beijing.
The morning session concluded with the third panel discussion of the conference: China鈥檚
Shaping of International Norms and Regional Security Environment. .
鈥� , Moderator, Senior Fellow, Institute for the Study of War
鈥� , Deputy Director of China Studies, National Intelligence University
鈥� , Senior Fellow, Foundation for the Defense of Democracy
鈥� , Senior Research Fellow, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
鈥� , Special Competitive Studies Project, U.S. Naval Institute
Dr. Randy Larsen, Associate Dean of Research and Scholarship at USF, finished off the morning by speaking
to the complexity of the problems the conference was trying to examine and cut a path
forward as China continues to expand its influence:
The day and conference wrapped up with three afternoon Breakout Sessions. Two were
by invitation only but an explosive session was open to the public: TikTok is Now #1 on the U.S. Most Wanted List: Why the Push is on to Ban China鈥檚 Most
Dangerous Startup from Government, Military and Academic Devices. Tom Waters, Assistant Director of Start Ups with USF Research and Innovation, presented
chilling evidence of what TikTok (amongst others) is doing with data from its hundreds
of millions of users:
Watch the .
SAVE THE DATES: Our next event, the first of our Policy Dialogues series, will take place on May 24 at the Patel Center for Global Solutions at USF. 鈥淗unger Is A Weapon鈥� will explore how food insecurity and hunger are used by state and non-state entities as weapons of control, manipulation and suppression. Global hunger is a generator of social, economic and political instability and a threat to global and national security.
The next GNSI Tampa Summit is scheduled to take place at the Marshall Center on September 27-29. The topic for the 8th GPC Conference will be: UAV鈥檚 and the Path Forward. Check the website for updates.