As the longest serving combatant commander in recent American history, Admiral James Stavridis draws from a wealth of personal experience to provide insight, answers and strategies to today’s pressing global affairs challenges.
James Stavridis, a retired 4-star Admiral in the U.S. Navy, served as Commander of U.S. Southern Command from 2006 – 2009 and led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander. He holds numerous honors, including nearly forty U.S. and international medals.
Recognized as one of the most powerful leaders of the 21st century and widely known for his expertise in national security, strategy, communications, tactics, and diplomacy, Stavridis has played a key role in almost every military operation in recent history. From the U.S. mission in Afghanistan to protecting Turkish citizens near the border of Syria from ballistic missile attacks, NATO operations in Libya and spearheading cyber security initiatives, Stavridis has been at the forefront of security for the U.S. and its allies.
Having experienced first-hand the many challenges we face as a society, Stavridis is an advocate for establishing strong networks, rather than walls, and the collaboration of governments, international agencies and private and public sectors to establish a secure world. His persistent efforts to promote the expansion of durable partnerships among nations to achieve mutual goals of security, prosperity and peace have been critical in establishing the U.S. military as a solid and highly effective unit of Intelligence and manpower.
After more than three decades in uniform, Stavridis now leads one of the nation’s most prestigious graduate schools of international relations as Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He continues to promote intercommunication as the pillar to peace and provides guidance and insight to the next generation of leaders.