On April 3, the
Brookings Institution's 21st Century Defense Initiative will host Admiral
Michael G. Mullen, chief of naval operations, for a discussion of the U.S.
Navy's efforts to draft a new maritime strategy and prepare for the
challenges of the twenty- first century.
In his almost forty years of service, Adm. Mullen has witnessed the
transformation of U.S. naval forces, and has in recent years been its
principal agent of change. He once said, "Without mastery of the sea --
without sea power -- we cannot protect trade, we cannot help those in
peril, we cannot provide relief from natural disaster, and we cannot
intercede when whole societies are torn asunder by slavery, weapons of mass
destruction, drugs, and piracy."
Carlos Pascual, vice president and director of Brookings's Foreign
Policy Studies program, will provide introductory remarks and moderate the
discussion.