News Release
December 2003

Moravian College to host homeland security conference – December 3

Institute for Defense Analyses conference for key officials to discuss homeland security

(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) — Key officials of the homeland security community from national, state, and local offices—including Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, and Keith Martin, Pennsylvania’s director of homeland security—will gather for a daylong conference on homeland security at Moravian College on Wednesday, December 3, 2003. The conference will be conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses, a Washington-based research and development center that provides direct guidance to the Secretary of Defense and his office.

According to the Institute, the conference will seek to review the nature and impact of threats to homeland security, and to consider effective responses to those threats, by bringing together those who must address the homeland security challenge at all governmental levels. In addition to representatives from the various elements of the official homeland security community, leaders from the political, economic and educational sectors will take part in the conference. Through interaction of such multiple “layers of defense”—and by hosting the event in the Lehigh Valley—the Institute hopes to derive a distinctive, real-world perspective to homeland security problems.

The conference will be organized around six interactive workshops aimed at stimulating lively and productive discussions. The workshops will focus on six major topics with respect to homeland security: the nature of the challenge; its political, military, and economic impact; vision and strategy; creation of integrated relationships; U.S. strengths and limitations; and public commitment.

Wednesday’s conference is not the first event conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses in the Lehigh Valley. In May 2002, the Institute held a similarly-organized conference on National Security Policy in the 21st Century, “New Powers vs. Old Strengths,” on the Moravian College campus.

Moravian president Dr. Ervin J. Rokke emphasized the significance and location of the event. “We are delighted that our region has been selected for this unique conference,” he said, and “Moravian College is equally proud to serve as its host. It’s a rare opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of —and exercise influence on—our nation’s homeland defense policy from ‘outside the beltway’.”