Good afternoon. Welcome to the center for strategic and international studies. My name is threat heather conley, and we could not be more more delighted to welcome secretary of state for defense Michael Fallon here to the u. S. I was explaining that the news cycle is so quiet, so slow the last few days, we were so glad he could come here and help elevate our discussion but, he comes at an incredibly important time. Certainly on the heels of several days of incredible news not only securityrelated issues, whether that was the north korean launch of an icbm but also as we watch unfold the historic meeting between President Trump and president putin today. Secretary fallon thankfully is a frequent visitor to csis. He was here two years ago in march and the topic of the discussion was in defense of a rulesbased order, how that transatlantic relationship can be used. And i think now in todays discussion, we will again look at the defense of the rulesbased order and he see where we go from here. Secretary fallon assumed secretary of defense, his position, on july 15th, 2014. Two days later, a Russian Missile shot down mh1. That was his first few days on the job. Three years later, two elections later, one referendum later, secretary fallon youve had a extraordinary tenure already in your three years. We are delighted that you are here with us. We have so much to discuss. We look forward to your comments. Colleagues please joining me, thanking and welcoming secretary fallon to csis. [applause] head they heather, thank u and good afternoon. Great to be back in the United States and speaking at this worldrenowned center whose ideas have influenced generations of defense thinkers on both sides of the pond. This is my first opportunity to visit the United States after our recent election and let me reassure you, that postelection the government remains strong and we remain committed to delivering stronger defense. Now there are some who have taken a look at britain in the past few month after an unpredictable election, im not sure there is another kind of election these days, have looked at the negotiations over brexit, have seen the series of appalling terrorist incidents in manchester and london, and wondered whether britain is getting distracted in anyway from our International Role . That wouldnt be the first time critics have been wrong. I remember that first visit as defense secretary back in 2015. That was before rather than after the general election of that year. Yet some of the concerns expressed were all too familiar. They said we werent committed to the 2 . They noted parliaments refusal to endorse strikes against assads chemical weapons. They said we wouldnt be committing to two aircraft carriers. Though said we wouldnt act in the face of trouble. It is worth reminding ourselves just what happened next. First, we did invest. Later that year in 2015 we conducted an ambitious strategic defense and security review committing to continue to meet natos 2 target. Since then, not only have we done what we said we would do, we also chosen to grow our Defense Budget year on year by at least 0. 5 ahead of inflation. Nato figures published last week confirmed we are spending, we are spending more than 2 and we are also meeting the target to spend 20 of that on new equipment. Were using that growing budget to purchase, to develop, and to build a raft of highend kit from p8 aircraft and drones to apache helicopters and armored vehicles. From fifth generation f35 fighters to two aircraft carriers, the most powerful ships ever built in britain. And we were delighted that two weeks ago to witness Queen Elizabeth embark for the first time on her sea trials. Our Carrier Strike plans, to your continuing support, we have over 120 air crew and pilots training here on 10 f35 aircraft, those Carrier Strike plans are already becoming a reality. Were building, following a successful vote in parliament, we are building new generation of Nuclear Ballistic submarines to maintain our ultimate nuclear deterrent. And we are adapting to an age of information warfare, investing in equipment, with a sensors and receptors to handle a superapabundance of information, transforming our military structures to cope with the virtual environment, bringing our signals and Intelligence Corps together under a shared command to collate, analyze, disseminate cyber information more efficiently and effectively and training up a new generation of Cyber Warriors to strengthen our networks and tackle our vulnerabilities. My second point today is that were doing more than investing. We are also acting. When i spoke here in march 2015, that was still under the shadow of that 2013 syria vote against taking military action to deal with the use of chemical weapons. Yet by the end of 15 the new parliament voted overwhelmingly to extend the airstrikes we were conducting in iraq to syria itself and today were performing a pivotal role in the 71member counter daesh coalition. Attacking daesh positions with our aircraft, training local forces. The we trained over 50,000 iraqi and peshmerga troops, using our offensive Cyber Capabilities to disrupt daesh activity in both iraq and in syria and overall contribution of airstrikes second only to that of the United States. It is striking to think when i took office just three years ago, daesh were closing in on the gates to baghdad. Today they are close to defeat in their last city of mosul. But the counterdaesh campaign is far from the United Kingdoms only operation. We have been going global. Were not just in the middle east. We continue in jeanpierre garnier where we committed to committed in garner garn committed to increasing troupe numbers. Improving resilience of Afghan Forces strengthening the african air force. Training the next generation of afghan officers. Were in africa too, training somalians to fight alshabaab. Were assisting sudan in midst of a appalling humanitarian crisis. In total, this afternoon, we have more than 10,000 british servicemen and women deployed or in bases involved in some 25 operations around the globe. Britain delivered, britain is delivering and we will continue to do so. But my third point is we will do so in partnership. We are stronger of course when we work together. And the fact is today that our nations are facing a wave of multiple, concurrent, diverse, Global Threats from islamist extremism, from north korea testing missiles as weve seen, firing off missiles. From russia more aggressive as weve seen in ukraine and syria. From iran sponsoring terror, from the insidious spread of misinformation and Cyber Attacks these are challenges that demand an international response. So as we deliver on our domestic vote to leave the european framework that is the European Union, we see brexit as an opportunity, not to step back from your european defense, but to step up, to strengthen euroatlantic security. In particular, we are strengthening our bonds within nato, the cornerstone of our defense. Continuing to deter in the light of russian aggression. We are leading natos enhanced forward presence in estonia with 800 british troops. We are working alongside the United States in our forward presence in poland this year, britain leads the alliances very high readiness, joint task force. This year i have dispatched raf typhoons to romania for Southern Area policing, to police the skies over the black sea. This month Royal Navy Ships take over for a year, half of natos Maritime Missions in the mediterranean, black sea and the the aguillen. Were in nato right behind the United States to call for all members to start paying their way. Your president was absolutely correct to say that european nationsed into to do more to shoulder need to do more to shoulder their burden. Since britain and United States stood together to demand action at the wales summit, 24 of the 29 member nations have now raised their game and the alliance has cumulatively increased its defense spending by around 46 billion. But money isnt the only nato issue. Forged in a monachrome world of the cold war, nato must transform itself into a far more agile situation. Secretary mattis are working together for faster decision making, better prioritization, and less bureaucracy in the way that nato works. We also want to see nato adopting a 360degree approach, producing a coherent force capable of meaningful action, with modern integrated approach to defense and to deterrents. Playing enhanced role in the fight against international terror. Now our global influence as a country doesnt just come from nato. It comes also from a wealth of bilateral alliances. Last week we took a significant step forward by expanding the ukled joint Expeditionary Force to include sweden and finland. That gives us a ninenation armed force of likeminded Northern European countries able to deploy a force of 10,000 personnel. Augmenting ability to respond to threats in the north sea and the north atlantic but also giving us the adaptability and agility to deploy very quickly to humanitarian tasks. To rescue citizens from crisis hot spots. To conduct more minor military missions. We recently used our purchase of your p8s to do more trilaterally with the United States and norway. Last week i signed an agreement with secretary mattis and our norwegian colleague to enable closer cooperation on the training and logistics an support of those p8s that need to address the changed security environment and increase Russian Submarine activity in the north atlantic. Flying in each others plans, training on each others ships, collaborating on everything from Nuclear Capabilities including sharing of common missile compartments and intelligence to autonomy. We have the prospect now of United States f35 fighters flying from the decks of our aircraft carriers at our planes in turn flying from yours. Back in 2015 the United States helped support our strategic defense review and today its your turn to your own National Defense strategy i would like to share just one conclusion drawn from that experience of working together on our defense review. And that is the need for a stronger modern deterrence. Last year saw the passing of the nobel prizewinning economist thomas schelling, a Great American who helped codify our current notions of deterrence. Were you with us today he would doubtless remind us that deterrence is about much more than the hydrogen bomb. Its about ensuring our adversaries always know that the cost of an attack will be far greater than any potential reward. In the cold war that met armies long the boards of the iron curtain whilst building up a nuclear arsenals. Yet in an age of gray zone conflict with proxy nonconventional threats sometimes anonymous, often in morpheus adding to the conventional and Nuclear Dangers threatening to undermine the rulesbased International Order of which our security depends, our deterrence must necessarily evolve. Agility will be critical. What demand constant Strategic Planning to prepare for a broader range of threats that will require perpetual persistence to continually countering cyber intrusion, to rebut the malicious misinformation of our adversaries with a faster truth. It will seek new innovations in disruptive capabilities whether big data or autonomous systems, to stay ahead of the curve. Above all it will be about the arms of persuasion. Last week i spoke at the Margaret Thatcher security conference in london. Its the wise whether or not we are witnessing the decline and fall of the west york whether our western values were up to overcoming these new and present dangers. I argued then that not only can we rise to this challenge, but that we must and that we will. Without being attacked by these adversaries, because he failed we are not because our values are redundant. On the contrary we are being attacked because we won, because we succeeded in spreading these values and beliefs across the world. And today where recovering our confidence in them. But in an age of contested interests and confrontation, always pray to doubters that our adversaries cq social media and cyber warfare and misinformation to rewrite the western narrative, to extend their influence to try to limit those freedoms that we championed. We have to learn how to remake those original arguments. Because in so doing that will make our societies far more resilient, far less susceptible to the sophistry of our failed. That requires Political Leadership and no two nations are better equipped to make the case for the west than the United States and the United Kingdom. We share the same values of democracy, of justice, of freedom, tolerance, values we fought for throughout the past century. But we didnt just fight. We also championed the cause of liberty, the free markets, the innovation that technology demands. We gave people ever greater opportunity to live wealthier, healthier, happier, for your lives. So if we get this right, if we present our case Strong Enough again, we will do more than simply build resilience in our countrys. We can reawaken the hopes of those still living under oppressive regimes. In the 1980s president reagan and Margaret Thatcher succeeded in shattering the shackles of communism. Not just because they railed against the cruel and desolate creeds that lurked behind the iron curtain but because they presented the curtain of a better life. I remember a few years back being struck by a description of what was called a beautiful moment when news of reagans evil empire speech reached siberia. The words he wrote, the brightest and most glorious of day finally a spade had been called a spade. Finally all the worlds newspeak was dead. President reagan had from that moment made it impossible for anyone in the west to continue closing their eyes to the real nature of the soviet union. So today its not enough just to speak out against the aggressive behavior of russia in ukraine or in syria. Or to urge our adversaries to act in accordance with international law. We must also give hope to people across the world of a better way of life. Secretary mattis, my friend, said in germany last week, marking the 70th anniversary of the marshall plan, he said we stand for freedom and we will Never Surrender the freedom of our people. Back in 1996 the iron lady delivered a speech in fulton missouri where of course churchill had coined the iron curtain phrase 50 years before. And she said and i quote, they are rare moments when history is open and its course changed by any means such as these. We may be just such a moment now. I suggest to you this afternoon that weve reached such a moment. Once more we look to the United States to recapture the spirit of fulton, to provide deterrence for a darker age, to remake the case for the west. And to follow the Mission Statement from this very center in sustaining american prominence and prosperity as a force for good in the world. And as you do that, i want you to rest assured that a boulder global britain, as in the great war, as in the second world war, as in the cold war, will continue standing by your side strengthening our transatlantic bonds and supporting anywhere the course of freedom. Thank you. [applause] secretary fallon, thank you. Sometimes we need a dose of inspiration, and we needed that. Thank you very, very much. In some ways i think the challenge right now in anything think is where to begin, wes subject do we jump into . I think im going to start with the subject of the day, and that is russia. President trump stated in his speech in warsaw on thursday about the bedrock nature of the article v commitment, something does not accomplish at a nato leaders meeting in brussels. You recent complete a successful nato defense ministerial. Help us understand how things are going with that one of the native italian. Nato has had a challenge of deployment, getting them forces quickly. Getting the preposition equipment. What has your experience been and the British Forces experience in estonia in preparation for the placement of the battalion defend estonia should that become necessary . We are seeing a of native Ripley Center revival of nato right back from the summit in wales in 2014. Weve seen as a set a number of nato members now begin to increase their defensemen again after years of decline and weve seen more and more of them start to commit to a date to reach the 2 target, and your president of rhetoric has been helpful in that. It has helped to encourage those other allies to be clear about the defense spending. But weve also sense that same summit seen a revival in natos streets is about deployment come exactly your point. We saw commitment then to the very heart Readiness Task force. That stood up last yupik we commanded this year. I was there on exercise with them in romania, exercise noble jump, and we saw several thousand troops from my country, your country but also from spain, from a whole series of some of the new members of nato, detachments deploying. And that is the major response for stimuli, th