The Importance of Alliances
In-person, Members-only Briefing, Co-hosted with EACCNY
Thursday, April 3, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
Network 20/20 and European American Chamber of Commerce in New York (EACCNY) would like to invite you to join us on Thursday, April 3, from 12:00 – 2:30 PM ET for a lunch discussion with Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, retired United States Army Officer – former Commanding General, United States Army Europe; Heather A. Conley, former President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and James D. Rosener, Partner of Troutman Pepper Locke and President of the EACCNY; on a conversation about how a second Trump presidency and a questioning of major alliance such as NATO might have ripple effects into other geopolitical relationships.
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Please register for this event through the website of the European American Chamber of Commerce below
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SPEAKERS:
Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges
Lieutenant General (Retired) Ben Hodges, the former Commanding General of US Army Europe, is now Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. Prior to joining Human Rights First, he held the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). General Hodges serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics, he consults for several companies on Europe, NATO, and the European Union, and he is co-author of the book Future War and the Defence of Europe, published by Oxford University Press.
A native of Quincy, Florida, General Hodges graduated from the United States Military Academy in May 1980 and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the US Army.
After his first assignment as a Lieutenant in Garlstedt, Germany, he commanded Infantry units at the Company, Battalion, and Brigade levels in the 101st Airborne Division, including the First Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2003-2004). His other operational assignments include Chief of Operations for Multi-National Corps-Iraq in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (2005-2006) and Director of Operations, Regional Command South in Kandahar, Afghanistan (2009-2010).
General Hodges has also served in a variety of Joint and Army Staff positions to include Chief of Plans, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea; Aide-de-Camp to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe; Chief of Staff, XVIII Airborne Corps; Director of the Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell on the Joint Staff; Chief of Legislative Liaison for the United States Army; and Commander, NATO Allied Land Command 2012-2014 in İzmir, Turkey. His last military assignment was as Commanding General, United States Army Europe in Wiesbaden, Germany from 2014 to 2017.
He retired from the U.S. Army in January 2018 and lives today with his wife in Frankfurt, Germany.
Heather A. Conley
Heather A. Conley is the former President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). Previously, she spent twelve years at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where she most recently served as Senior Vice-President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and as Director of the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program. At CSIS, she developed the acclaimed The Kremlin Playbook series, a dedicated research effort that examined the doctrine and methodology of Russian economic behaviour and its methodology across Europe. She also is a recognised expert on the Arctic region, focusing on the Russian Arctic, climate transformation and US policy toward the region.
She previously served as Executive Director of the Office of the Chairman of the Board at the American National Red Cross. From 2001 to 2005, she was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibilities for US bilateral relations with the countries of Northern and Central Europe. She co-led the US interagency effort to enlarge NATO and secure Senate ratification of an Amended NATO Treaty She also created a High-Level US Dialogue with the eight Nordic and Baltic states, the Enhanced Partnership in Europe (e-PINE). She began her career in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the US Department of State and since then she has received two State Department Meritorious Honor Awards.
She received her BA in International Studies from West Virginia Wesleyan College and her MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
James D. Rosener
James Rosener focuses his practice on domestic and international transactions and corporate finance. He advises private equity funds and corporations pursuing growth in the U.S. and throughout the world, including Europe, Latin America, and Asia. His clients are involved in a variety of sectors and subsectors such as fintech, software, software-enabled services, health care and life sciences, business services, industrial, and manufacturing.
Jim structures and negotiates major transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, platform and follow-on acquisitions; distressed buyouts, corporate carve-outs, and restructurings. He represents U.S.-based companies in transactions throughout the world, and is particularly experienced in the United Kingdom, Europe, India, and China. Companies based in Europe, India, South America, and Asia rely on Jim’s guidance through mergers and acquisitions, financing, and licensing transactions with domestic implications. He also works with management-led groups in the acquisition of businesses from divesting corporations.
Jim also advises corporations and financial institutions on all aspects of domestic and international public offerings and other capital markets transactions. He represents domestic and foreign issuers in public offerings in U.S. and foreign listings, venture and mezzanine capital raising, and traditional bank financing transactions. His clients also include issuers and bondholder groups in debt restructuring, recapitalization, and work-outs. Jim regularly serves as international legal counsel to issuers and underwriters on off-shore public offerings in India, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
Jim is a leader in the international business and legal communities, and a well-known advocate for expanding cross-border economic ties. He is the founder and president of the European American Chamber of Commerce in New York and co-founder of its Paris-based chapter. He has served as president of the Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Commission of the Union Internationale des Avocats/International Association of Lawyers (UIA) since 2016.
Jim has decades of experience as a member of the board of directors of numerous companies, including several with international operations. He is president and a board member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, and is active in the Association for Corporate Growth, whose New York chapter named Jim “Lawyer of the Year” in 2015.
Long active in charitable and community matters, Jim is also founder and chairman of the board of the American Battle Monuments Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to augment and expand the work of the American Battle Monuments Commission, an independent U.S. agency that operates 26 cemeteries and 29 memorials, monuments, and markers in 16 countries commemorating the U.S. armed forces.
Jim is a fellow of The Pepper Center for Public Service. The Pepper Center draws on the talents of the firm’s retired partners and senior attorneys to wrestle with tough problems facing our communities. Through the center, these attorneys study, analyze, and work to resolve problems that affect the lives of people in our communities.
THIS SESSION IS FREE FOR NETWORK 20/20’s MEMBERS and DONORS
Please register for this event through the website of the European American Chamber of Commerce below
NOT YET A NETWORK 20/20 MEMBER?
Apply today to enjoy all exclusive briefings with high-profile speakers
*Image Credit: Free Maylaysia Today
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