Countering Global Security threats. This is an hour and ten minutes. Please be seated. Welcome back to the afternoon session of ftds National Security forum. My name is juan sa rotty, chairman of ftds center on sanctions and illicit finance. If you were here this morning, i was privileged to sit down with director pompeo for what i thought was a really interesting conversation. I hope you did as well. Bear in mind that we are not just the people in this room, great, good looking crowd, by the way, but were being live streamed, so we need to be on our best behavior. I have the distinct honor and privilege of introducing this afternoons session. And, first of all, kudos to fdd and cliff may and the whole team for assembling this discussion with two of the most important, if not the most important figures in National Security, certainly with now the National Security advisor, h. R. Mcmaster, with us this amp. Is so a real oven and privilege, i think, for all of us to have general mcmaster with us today. Ive been asked to introduce general mcmaster as well as mark dubielewicz who will conduct the interview. Mark, as you know, is the ceo for the foundation of defense of democracys, one of the great minds in the world of National Security and in particular on iran policy, the use of sanctions, the use of financial pressure and power in our National Security. No doubt hes going to do a great job with the interview. But let me introduce general mcmaster for those of you who dont know him. He, of course, is the 26th assistant to the president for National Security affairs. He is the president s National Security adviser. General mcmaster has led a life of service to this country in the army and in the military, graduating from west point in 1984, taking command of various units and commands in iraq, afghanistan, in the United States on behalf of the army and the u. S. Military. General mcmaster is one of the great warriorscholars of our day. And i think its a great privilege that he sits where he does, next to the oval office and at the side of the president. As you know, hes the author of the dereliction of duty can which is one of the great studies on militarypolitical relations during the johnson period. He holds a ph. D. In military history and is, again, one of the great scholars of National Security. Finally, just a point of privilege. I noted my relationship with director pompeo earlier today. I have a personal relationship with general mcmaster. Ive been privileged to know him his entire career. And this is not just a great public servant, not just a great patriot, not just an incredible warriorscholar, but hes a great man. Hes a great father, great husband, and ive been privileged to call him a great friend. And so i think all of us as americans regardless of where you are politically, regardless of where you stand on National Security issues should be incredibly proud that we have somebody of h. R. s caliber and character in the position of National Security adviser, especially at a time of so many challenges. So with that, allow me to introduce Lieutenant General h. R. Mcmaster, our National Security adviser, and mark dubielewicz, for the afternoon discussion. Thank you. [applause] hey, thank you, juan, for that alltookind introduction. Im a huge admirer of juans as well and the groundbreaking work he did on countering threat and terrorist financing. And hes been a friend, mentor, example for me for, as hes mentioned, across my entire professional life. And its just a real privilege to be here alongside him. I heard he said that he loves mike pompeo. Maybe a little bit jealous, you know . [laughter] i love juan zarate more. I love mark dubielewicz, and i love fdd. [laughter] it is a real privilege to be with all of you, and i want to thank you for hosting this event and giving me the opportunity to be part of this discussion and also to say just a few words up front about one of the president s most recent decisions which is to approve a comprehensive strategy for the problem set associated with iran. And i want to thank fdd for the work its done over the years on so many Critical Issues including the early work, on the threat posed by radical islamist ideology, and more recently the threat from adversaries who use the internet to wage Economic Warfare against the United States. We have drawn heavilily on the scholarship and analysis of fdd and other think tanks and academic institutions as well as we developed integrated strategies over the past months. Of course, theres no shortage of topics to discuss, and i look forward to the discussion with mark on a broad range of topics. But i thought id outline a few of them in general terms and then talk about the iran strategy. First, we face the challenge of revisionist powers who are subverting the postworld war ii cold war, postcold war political, economic and Security Order that the United States helped to create and lead, an order that has prevent great power conflict for over 70 years and expanded a free and Prosperous Community of democratic states. Second, we face a challenge from rogue regimes, rogue regimes that flout international norms, pursue weapons of mass destruction and export terror to extend their influence and extort concessions from responsible nations. Third, we face barbaric, nonstate actors who perpetuate ignorance, foment hatred and use that hatred as justification for mass murder and unspeakable brutality against innocents. And they do this under a cloak of an irreligious, wicked ideology. These disparate actors often appear on the same battlegrounds. They often operate in parallel, but at times they cooperate when their interests align. For example, russia and iran aid, abet and sustain the murderous assad regime in syria. That axis perpetuates a sectarian civil war that strengthens islamist terrorists who portray themselves as patrons and protectors of parties in that conflict. Iran, in turn, uses that same conflict and conflicts in iraq and yemen to pursue hegemonic aims and threaten israel and saudi arabia and others with their terrorist and militia proxies. Yet as urgent threats like these to u. S. And interNational Security have increased, our strategic competency has actually diminished. I think weve been prone in recent years the what we might describe as an almost narcissistic approach to National Security. Strategies are frequently based on what we would prefer rather than what the situation demands. In recent years we have allowed incomplete plans, disconnected from the problems they were meant to address to masquerade as strategies. So what complex challenges like the three i just highlighted briefly to National Security and complex challenges like those that are manifest in syria demand are real, integrated strategies to direct the purposeful employment of all instruments of power . So as we establish first order principles for president trumps National Security strategy, importance of using every element of National Power diplomatic, informational, military, economic, Law Enforcement, intelligence in an integrated way is at the top of that list. The president s new strategy toward iran is a good example. Instead of focusing almost exclusively on jcpoa, the new strategy or the Iran Nuclear Deal the new strategy considers the full range of irans destabilizing behavior and malign activities including its material and Financial Support for terrorism and extremism, its complicity in the assad regimes atrocities against the Syrian People, its unrelating hostility unrelenting hostility to israel, its repeated threats to freedom of navigation, especially strategically in the persian gulf, its Cyber Attacks against the u. S. , israel and americas allies and partners in the gulf, its greaves human rights grievous human rights abuses and its arbitrary detention of foreigners including u. S. Citizens on specious and false grounds. As the president made clear in his speech on october 13th, our strategy integrates all elements of National Power and is oriented on neutralizing the government of irans destabilizing influence and constraining its aggression, particularly its support for terrorism and militants. Second, revitalizing our traditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarks against iranian subversion and to restore a more stable balance of power in the region. And this is an area where the president s leadership has paid off tremendously, as youve seen with growing together of mutual understanding, much closer relationships and common understanding of problems and common action with our traditional allies and partners in the region. Third, denying the Iranian Regime and especially the Islamic Revolutionary guards corps funding for its activities. This is where juans work is extremely important. And opposing activities that extort the wealth of the iranian people. And countering threats to the United States and our allies from Ballistic Missiles and other asymmetric weapons. What we must do is we must rally, rally the International Community to condemn the irgcs gross violations of human rights and its unjust detention of american citizens and other foreigners. And last, we must deny iran all paths to a Nuclear Weapon. So this is the Strategic Direction that the president has given us. Our next challenge is to execute. And as i mentioned, rally all of our friends to the cause. As the secretary of state said to csic yesterday, states that use terror as an instrument of policy will only see their International Reputation and standing diminish. It is the obligation not choice of every civilized nation to combat the scourge of terrorism. So as we develop the strategy, we began work wherever we could with our partners and allies. Now were mobilizing every element of National Power and efforts of our key partners to achieve our objectives. Where new resources or authorities are required, we will seek them. Where organizations must be reconfigured and retooled, we will change them. And we will proceed to work hard, hand p in hand with our allies hand in hand with our allies and partners and with members of congress to defend america and advance our vital interests. But we need your help. We need fdds help, and we need the help of all of you here. We need organizations like fdd to continue their scholarship on the threats that we face. And we need our media, our press, investigative reporters to look hard at countries like iran and north korea and help inform the world about how these rogue regimes skirt sanctions, flout international norms, brutalize their own people and menace their neighbors. With the knowledge that you and others help bring to light about these threats, america can act with confidence. That confidence comes not only from knowledge of threats, but as we all know, it comes from knowledge of who we are as a nation, what we stand for, what we value. That confidence is essential to generating the will and the commitment to prevail in the competitions we face. And it is part of regaining that strategic competence. Thank you, and i really look forward to the conversation, mark. Thanks, everybody. [applause] great. So, first of all, general mcmaster, thank you. Thank you for being here. Your time is precious. Thank you for your service to our nation. And thank you for bringing an understanding of the nature and gravity of the iranian threat. I want to start with just a more, a broader topic of just how you develop integrated National Strategies and what they mean to you. I think youve given us some insights in your speech. When you came in as National Security adviser with a mandate to develop these strategies, tell us a little bit about your vision of strategies and in particular with respect to the iran strategy. So we began with the president s guidance who said, hey, this white house and by extension, the National Security council has become very tactical. And we are very much involved in areas of responsibility and actions and programs, initiatives that ought to be within the purview of the departments and is agencies. So he asked us, decentralize where we can. And support or the departments and agencies in executing our policies. But think, think clearly about the problems and opportunities we face as a nation. His guidance was also based in, i think, all of our understanding that the balance has shifted against the United States in recent years and decades. And and we have to, we have to understand how to compete more effectively, compete more effectively to advance and protect u. S. Interests and to shift the balance back in favor of the United States in some of these critical competitions. And and so to do that and so to do that, we have initiated and are well along in an effort to develop integrate strategies for what were calling National Security challenges. Firstorder challenges that are relevant to the protecting and advancing american interests which we define as really four fundamental interests. First is to protect the American People and protect the american homeland. Second is to advance american prosperity. Third is to achieve peace through strength. And the fourth is to advance american influence. And i would say the president s made great progress on all four of these. We could talk more about that, if youd like. But then we use these vital interests as the lens through which we view these National Security challenges. And then we craft overarching goals and objectives based on how these challenges relate, relate to the American People. This is really foundational to an americafirst Foreign Policy and National Security strategy. And what we do then is involve is the president s National Security cabinet in the framing of these problems, in describing the situation, understanding how its relevant to our vital interests, laying out overarching goals and objectives and then giving guidance from their perspective at the heads of their departments and agencies about how, how we can begin to get after this challenge in a way that advances and protects our interests, overcomes obstacles to progress and seizes on opportunities. And that guy dance then goes guidance then goes to the departmentses and agencies who refine this guidance into an integrated strategy. So youve seen this on north korea, on south asia, in the iran strategy, on the cuba finish the president s cuba strategy. Lets Start Talking about one of those major forged order challenges which is i ran. The president had a speech laying out a new strategy. And a lot of the discussion has been telescoped down and what they resident is refusing to certify on. I like to take this to a broader level. Talk about using all instruments of National Power. I want to go through various operations where iran represents a threat to the United States and our allies. What are you trying to achieve to begin with in iraq . In iraq it is easy to say and may be hard to do. We went to see in iraq is a stable iraq that is not aligned with iran. What we would like to do is continue to assist the iraqis to do with the president has told us to do which is destroy isis and to not permit another group like isis to come back by doing three fundamental things. Deny safe havens and support basis. Cut off funding and defeat the ideology. And eliminate this draw of vulnerable populations into these kind of organizations. And so, in iraq is relevant to ensuring that iraq emerges from this horrible period of conflict strong. The United States has a strong interest in a strong iraq. I would say that others were operating within iraq that are subverting iraq, iran in particular, are attempting to keep iraq perpetually weak. And thats what you might call a hezbollah model. A government that is deliberately weakened and government reliant on iran for support. While iran grows malicious and in the illegal armed groups that lay outside of the government control. Militias and terrorist groups that can be turned against the government if the government takes action against iranian interests. So this is a model that you see sadly in the beautiful country of lebanon. It is a model, i think that you see in syria where about 80 percent of those that are fighting on behalf of the regime. It is in all you see to be applied in iraq and it is something that maybe will play out in yemen as well. It is easy to say is imagine but hard to do. It takes a sophisticated sustained effort but it is a stable iraq that emerges strong. And it is not aligned with, it has a relationship with his neighbor but not aligned with iran. Would you say if the president gives a speech on friday, rolling out a comprehensive polic