In partnership with Rhodes College Presents

“NATO AT 75: THE WAY AHEAD “

SPEAKERS:

Major General William Hickman – US Army (Retired)

Hickman served 36 years in the United States Army, much of which was spent deployed to Europe and the Middle East. He commanded troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. In 2005-2006, he was a senior leader in the Train and Assist Command in Iraq. In 2007-2008, he commanded troops during the surge in Baghdad. He finished his Army service, first as the deputy commander of US Army Central in Kuwait, supporting operations across the Middle East with an emphasis on Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

His final assignment was as the Director of Strategic Plans and Policy at the Allied Command Transportation, Norfolk, Virginia. Since retiring from the US Army, Hickman has published a political science textbook, Understanding the US Military, as a co-editor. Additionally, as a Lecturer in Political Science, he co-taught a Vanderbilt undergraduate class on the Iraq War (Spring Semester 2024).

Hickman earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University and was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the ROTC program. He later earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

Yannis A. Stivachtis is Professor of Political Science and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair at Virginia Tech. He also serves as the Director of the Center for European & Transatlantic Studies (CEUTS), which is recognized by the European Commission as a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence. His research and teaching interests include the study of regional international systems in Europe and Eurasia; international/European security; and EU’s strategy, and foreign and security policy. He is the editor of the Critical European Studiesbook series (Routledge) and co-editor of the Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies. He currently serves as Senior Advisor of the Center for European and Mediterranean Affairs (CEMA) of the Athens Institute for Education & Research (ATINER, Greece); Advisory Board member of the Center for Intelligence and Security Studies (Bellevue University); and Senior Advisor of the Research Institute for European & American Studies (RIEAS, Greece). He has authored and edited several books and has published numerous journal articles and book chapters.

Prior to arriving in Virginia Tech in 2005, Professor Stivachtis served initially as Research Fellow and later on as Consultant at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) where he was involved in UNIDIR’s European Security Program that focused on the implementation of the INF and CFE treaties, as well as in the institution’sMiddle East Peace Program that investigated the possibility of cooperative security and non-offensive defense arrangements in the region as a way to achieve regional peace and stability. Later on, he served as Research Fellow at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) focusing on issues related to cooperative security and arms control. He also served as Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Studies of the Austrian Ministry of Defense and Research Fellow at the Austrian Institute of European & Security Policy.

Major General Albert C. Harvey

Mr. Harvey, of counsel, at Lewis Thomason’s Memphis office, is a senior member of the firm. He has an extensive practice in federal and state courts defending doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, and other professionals. He is involved in complex business litigation, intellectual property disputes, and securities cases. Mr. Harvey has a special interest in national security and governmental affairs and frequently lectures, teaches, and consults with clients on these matters. In addition, he has served at the state and national levels on setting ethical standards for lawyers and judges. Mr. Harvey recently retired from the United States Marine Corps Reserve with the rank of Major General.

AFFILIATIONS
• American Bar Association
• Tennessee Bar Association
• Memphis Bar Association

PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND ACTIVITIES
• Member, Irish Legal 100
• Member, American Bar Association House of Delegates
• Selected by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell as Elite Lawyer of the South
• Former law clerk to Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Larry Creson
• Former Assistant Public Defender for Shelby County
• Listed in “Who’s Who in America”
• Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers
• Named to The Best Lawyers in America®, Ethics & Professional Responsibility Law, Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
• Holds the highest rating, AV, from the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
• Former president of both the Memphis and Tennessee Bar Associations
• Former member, Board of Governors of the American Bar Association
• Served on the Committee on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (Ethics 2000) and on the council of the litigation section.
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
• Fellow and chair, Tennessee Bar Foundation
• Master of the American Inns of Court
• Member, American Board of Trial Advocacy
• Recipient, Lawyer’s Lawyer Award, Memphis Bar Association, 2008

Moderator:

Dr. Kevin Galambos

Dr Kevin Galambos is Assistant Professor of International Studies and the J.S. Seidman Research Fellow at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr Galambos completed his undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Political Science from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He recently completed his PhD in Government at the University of Texas, Austin (hook ‘em) where he was a Graduate Fellow with the Clements Center for National Security. Dr Galambos was previously a Postdoctoral Research Associate for the Aspiring Powers Initiative at the University of Arizona and has served as the Managing Editor for the academic journal Conflict Management and Peace Science. He currently teaches undergraduate courses on International Relations and Security Studies.

Dr Galambos’ research broadly looks at questions of international security, foreign policy, and war. His dissertation project, focused on military exercises, addresses questions about the conditions under which war games take place; their influence on public opinion in countries hosting exercises; and how multinational training socializes soldiers to rules of war and respect for human rights. He is interested in explaining international cooperation at the local, regional, and global levels and ramification of these events regarding alliances, arms trade, and conflict.   His research uses quantitative research designs like network analysis, Monte Carlo simulations, and formal game theory. Dr Galambos has presented his research at various conferences of the American Political Science Association, Southern Political Science Association, International Studies Association, and International Peace Science Society; and has been published in International Studies Quarterly and International Theory. A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, he is happy to be back in the Volunteer State and looks forward to collaborating with scholars and policymakers with similar research interests.