About

Overview

Introduction: The Great Power Competition Conference Series

The University of South Florida (USF), in partnership with the National Defense University’s Near East and South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies and U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), hosts a semi-annual Great Power Competition Conference series to provide military and civilian policy-makers and thought leaders a broader understanding of the various national security challenges facing the United States in the 21st Century from near-peer global powers, i.e., China and Russia, as well as regional powers, such as Iran and North Korea, through a forum that brings together strategic thinkers, scholars, leaders, and subject matter experts.

PREVIOUS ConferenceS

Five conferences have been held since the series began in January 2020. Topics have included radicalization, the COVID pandemic, cybersecurity, the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks, and how U.S. national security changed in the wake of those attacks. Attendees range from scholars and students to active military personnel and federal policymakers. Read more about past events...

The Great power Competition NARRATIVE

Once a central point of competition in the 19th Century "Great Game" between the Russian and British Empires, with Afghanistan as the "pull-and-tug" buffer zone, the Greater Central and South Asia regions have once again become the theater for a great power competition for influences, resources, and interests with the new actors involving the Global Powers: the United States, China, and Russia along with the Regional Powers: Iran, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and the Central Asian and Arab countries. Read More...