On Tuesday, August 28, Professor Boris Saavedra addressed approximately two dozen students from the Peruvian Navy’s War College CEDEYAC course, touching on themes related to the global security and defense environment. In his remarks, he posited that three major forces have impacted the global security and defense environment: globalization, climate change and digital technology. These forces have accelerated changes on a global scale, shifting us from a world of cooperation and convergence to one of competition and divergence. Latin America and the Caribbean have seen these trends develop firsthand, which has had important implications for the region’s economic, political and social development.

During a lively Q&A session after the presentation, students asked questions ranging from the role that social media and climate change have in changing public policy, to the effectiveness of governmental cybersecurity systems.