ABOUT US

The Howard Baker Forum was founded by former Senator Howard Baker in Washington, D.C. to provide a platform for examining specific, immediate, critical issues affecting the nation’s progress at home and its relations abroad. Under the leadership of its President, Scott Campbell, the Forum organizes a variety of programs and research projects to examine and illuminate public policy challenges facing the nation today. The Howard Baker Forum is a public and international affairs affiliate of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz, P.C.

OUR PROGRAMS

US-Japan Roundtable

The United States-Japan Roundtable enhances cooperation between the two countries and improve public understanding of nuclear energy.

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Global Data Governance

The global data governance program works to develop a framework and examine various pathways for the establishment of a global data governance system.

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Virtual Working Group on SMRs

In preparation for the Annual Washington Conference, The Howard Baker Forum and the Atlantic Council will host two working group sessions that will focus on the current status of civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and Japan, as well as opportunities for nuclear innovation. 

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Report on Japan’s Nuclear Fleet

The Howard Baker Forum is helping to fund a report, in partnership with the Atlantic Council and others, on the geopolitical implications of Japan accelerating the decommissioning of part of its nuclear fleet. The report is expected to be published December 2020.

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Autonomous Vehicles

Programming and analysis on the dramatic changes in American life–in its economy and its society-resulting from the emergence of autonomous vehicles.

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Global Salon Dinners

The cyber salon dinners work to explore the challenges presented by a rapidly evolving international digital landscape.

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The Indo-Pacific Centre

Howard Baker Forum started the Indo-Pacific Centre in February of 2021 in conjunction with DXC Technology and the Global Law Alliance. The Indo-Pacific Centre sets out to monitor, assess, and report on the evolving cyber threat environment and the specific national and corporate counter strategies at play in the Indo-Pacific. For more information, please see here.

RECENT & UPCOMING EVENTS

AUGUST 2021

US-Japan Roundtable Members Meeting – Japan’s Climate and Energy Security Strategy 2050  (Workshop Part II)

JULY 2021

US-Japan Roundtable Members Meeting – The Role of Nuclear Energy in Achieving Net Zero in the United States (Workshop Part I)

JUNE 2021

Cyber Crime & Security: The State of Play in the Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific Centre hosts a webinar on cyber security- the second in the series with partners the Howard Baker Forum and DXC Technology.

JUNE 2021

US-Japan Roundtable Members Meeting – Grid Resilience in the U.S. and Japan

The Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and Howard Baker Forum hosted a conversation examining the Texas power failure, energy shortages in Japan, and opportunities to mitigate future crises amidst growing extreme weather events.

DECEMBER 2020

The Annual US-Japan Roundtable Virtual Washington Conference – Mapping Pathways to Net Zero and Energy Security

A Three Night Event Co-Hosted with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center

NOVEMBER 2020

US-Japan Roundtable Members Meeting – The 2020 Presidential and Congressional Election: What the Results Mean for Energy, Climate, and National Security Policy and for the US-Japan Strategic Relationship

Webinar

NOVEMBER 2020

The Howard Baker Forum and Atlantic Council Energy Security Session – Discussion by Authors of Report on The Pressing National Security Reasons for an Earlier Restart of the Japanese Nuclear Reactor Fleet

Webinar

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

US-Japan Roundtable Members Meeting – US Nuclear and Energy/Climate Change Policies in Light of the US Presidential Election

Webinar

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020

The Second Data Governance Expert Roundtable

Webinar

OCTOBER 2020

The Second Virtual Working Group Session with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center on opportunities for government support for civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and Japan.

Webinar

JULY  16, 2020

The First Virtual Working Group Session with the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center on opportunities for government support for civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and Japan.

Webinar

OCTOBER 3, 2019

Data Governance Expert Roundtable

The Howard Baker Conference Room
901 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20001

DECEMBER 18, 2019

US-Japan Roundtable 12th Annual Washington Conference

The Atlantic Council
1030 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

President Trump’s Executive Order on Bulk Power Systems

On May 1st, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on securing the United States bulk-power system. The President views the unrestricted foreign supply of bulk-power system electric equipment as a national security threat to the U.S. energy system. The executive order bans the use of equipment for the power grid that was manufactured by a company under the control of a foreign adversary, or the buying of any equipment that poses a national security threat.

The order also established a task force to protect the power grid from attacks and share risk management information to prevent interference. Members of the task force will include the secretaries of Commerce, Defense and Homeland Security, as well as the Director of National Intelligence.

The order establishes the Secretary of Energy as the official tasked with identifying equipment currently in use in the bulk power system that poses a risk and working to take out and replace that equipment. The secretary is also in charge of creating a list of “pre-qualified” vendors that are deemed safe to work with.

DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) tweeted in response to the Executive Order:

“Malicious actors have sought to leverage unauthorized access to the bulk power system against the U.S. for over a decade. At the direction of @SecBrouillette, CESER stands ready to work with its partners to secure the private and federal procurement of critical BPS components.”

Key statements of the order include:

  • Foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in the United States bulk-power system, which provides the electricity that supports our national defense, vital emergency services, critical infrastructure, economy, and way of life
  • The bulk-power system is a target of those seeking to commit malicious acts against the United States and its people, including malicious cyber activities.
  • A successful attack on our bulk-power system would present significant risks to our economy, human health and safety, and would render the United States less capable of acting in defense of itself and its allies.
  • Unrestricted acquisition or use in the United States of bulk-power system electric equipment designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries augments the ability of foreign adversaries to create and exploit vulnerabilities in bulk-power system electric equipment, with potentially catastrophic effects.
  • The unrestricted foreign supply of bulk-power system electric equipment constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.
  • Although maintaining an open investment climate in bulk-power system electric equipment, and in the United States economy more generally, is important for the overall growth and prosperity of the United States, such openness must be balanced with the need to protect our Nation against a critical national security threat.

The full Executive Order can be found here.

The US Nuclear Fuel Working Group and Its Strategy to Restore American Nuclear Energy Leadership

The US Nuclear Fuel Working Group was established in July of 2019 because the Trump Administration believes that America is losing its competitive global position as the world leader in nuclear energy and technology to state-owned enterprises, including Russia and China, and other competitor nations also aggressively moving to surpass the United States.

In April, the working group established the “Strategy to Restore American Nuclear Energy Leadership.”

The strategy recommends:

• Taking immediate and bold action to strengthen the uranium mining and conversion industries and restore the viability of the entire front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

• Utilizing American technological innovation and advanced civil nuclear RD&D investments to consolidate technical advances and strengthen American leadership in the next generation of civil nuclear technologies.

• Ensuring that there will be a healthy and growing nuclear energy sector to which uranium miners, fuel cycle providers, and reactor vendors can sell their products and services.

• Taking a whole-of-government approach to supporting the U.S. nuclear energy industry in exporting civil nuclear technology in competition with state-owned enterprises.

DOE’s press release for the strategy can be found here.

The full report can be found here.

US Nuclear-Power Leadership and the Chinese and Russian Challenge

The Howard Baker Forum participated in the creation of an issue brief titled “US Nuclear-Power Leadership and the Chinese and Russian Challenge.” Dr. Bob Ichord, Jr. a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center authored the issue brief and “argues that US nuclear engagement abroad supports its military and commercial interests, and will do the same for China and Russia in increasingly impactful ways.”

For the full report, please see here.