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Duration: 1:18:06

About the Speaker:

Admiral Mike Mullen is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking officer in the U.S. Armed Forces and the President's principal military advisor. As such, he advises the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council. Since taking office as Chairman in October of 2007, Adm. Mullen has focused his efforts on three main priorities: 1) defending vital national interests in the Middle East; 2) resetting, revitalizing and reconstituting the Armed Forces; and 3) properly balancing global risk. He has placed significant emphasis on the expansion of counter-insurgency warfare training and resources and was an early advocate for a greater focus on operations in Afghanistan. He now considers that war the U.S. military's "main effort."

Prior to this duty, Adm. Mullen served as the 28th Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), the Navy's top uniformed leader and representative to the JCS.

From August 2003 to October 2004, Adm. Mullen served as the Navy's 32nd Vice Chief of Naval Operations. During the first half of 2005, he served as Commander of NATO's Joint Force Command Naples and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, leading the Alliance's peacekeeping operations in the Balkans and its training mission in Iraq.

Adm. Mullen obtained a Master of Science degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA and also graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Admiral Mullen was born and raised in Los Angeles.


About the Lecture:

Established in 1980, the Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture on the Conditions of Peace celebrates the memory of Bernard Brodie as an eminent scholar and teacher. This lecture series provides a special forum for dignitaries and scholars of politics, strategy, warfare, and peace to present their views to the UCLA community and the public.