Digital Challenges to the International System
May 31, 2018
Giuliana Auinger, Director, KPMG Global Strategy Group
Francis Gavin, Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs
Sean Kanuck, Director of Cyber, Space and Future Conflict, International Institute for Strategic Studies
Dan Kelly, Senior Security Research, Area 1 Security
Sabrina Lin, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
John Lipsky, Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute
Vali Nasr, Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS
James Rickards, Editor, Strategic Intelligence
Thomas Rid, Johns Hopkins SAIS Professor of Strategic Studies
Johns Hopkins SAIS Foresight, a new annual event series based in Asia and bringing together leaders in business, technology, finance, and academia to explore pressing global issues, debuted in Hong Kong May 31. The event was co-hosted by Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Alumni, guests, and professionals in technology, international finance, and cyber security enjoyed networking and panel discussions on the theme of "Digital Challenges to the International System."
Asia Society Hong Kong's Executive Director S. Alice Mong and Board of Trustees Chairman Ronnie Chan provided welcoming remarks and thanked the school for partnering with the society to establish the new forum.
Johns Hopkins SAIS Dean Vali Nasr opened the forum with an overview of the school and its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. In highlighting the evening's agenda, Nasr emphasized the importance of information security in financial markets and in industries led by multinational companies.
Francis Gavin of the school's Henry A. Kissinger Center shared insights from his celebrated works on the history of international monetary policy and the challenges and achievements of monetary cooperation among global powers.
The first panel, moderated by KPMG's Giuliana Auinger, explored the new landscape of cyber threats to national and global security. Dan Kelly, Sean Kanuck, and Professor Thomas Rid discussed practices used by cyber security experts to protect private and government interests from malicious actors.
The keynote address on "The US Dollar and the International Financial System in the Digital Age" was delivered by Johns Hopkins University alumnus and best-selling author James Rickards. Rickards provided insights from his decades of Wall Street expertise on currency values and the potential for crypto currencies to displace the US dollar as the dominant reserve currency.
The second panel featured former managing director of the International Monetary Fund John Lipsky with Sabrina Lin of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology joining Rickards for an off-the-record discussion of economic trends.
Following the latter panel, attendees and speakers networked together at a reception offering sweeping views of the Hong Kong skyline.