Food Systems and National Security
Since her service as Under Secretary of Agriculture, Dr. Jahn as focused on developing the concept of food systems in the context of national security. Food systems are the highly complex, complicated flows of materials and energy that bring food to every person every day, where interruptions, even short interruptions, could cause and have caused violent responses in the homeland or abroad. In the NDAA 18, Dr. Jahn supported Congress in crafting statutory language that mandates that the Secretary of Defense prepare a report on vulnerabilities in the global food system that are relevant to the US Department of Defense. Dr. Jahn will describe her work on material and virtual threats to the food system that could result in DoD mobilization or otherwise negatively impact preparedness or security of the warfighter, and current efforts toward systems that would detect thresholds of concern for emergent threats and unconventional attack vectors that could use the food system in a crippling first strike.
About this Lecture
Lectures of Opportunity offer U.S. Naval War College (NWC) students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to learn more about national and international socio-political subjects that may be of relevance to the NWC community.