By Matt Fulkerson, The Shorthorn staff
Before his Maverick Speakers Series lecture Tuesday, retired Adm. James Stavridis spoke with The Shorthorn about ways students can prepare for roles in the world of 21st century open source security.
Stavridis is a retired Navy admiral who served as the Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and led military operations in Latin America as the commander of U.S. Southern Command.
The Shorthorn: In your memoir, you refer to your career path in the military as being the “accidental.” What lessons do you think students can take away from your experience in their own college and career paths?James Stavridis: I think first is that there is no such thing as having a predetermined, absolute goal that you’re going to achieve. Life is full of accidents, and that’s where the title of [The Accidental Admiral] comes from. The key is being flexible and being able to adapt and also to know you’re going to make mistakes and you’ll have failures and how do you come back from those things. So in that sense, I think for all of us, our careers are bit accidental. The corollary to that I think is, don’t take yourself too seriously. Recognize that you will have challenges as well as successes. Take them in stride, keep your sense of humor and pace yourself.
TS: How do you see students participating in new types of roles that benefit your idea of open source security?JS: I think first, students should think at least a bit about service, about the idea of being a part of something larger than themselves. I had a career in the military, but there are many ways to serve. You can serve in education, you can serve in business, you can serve in athletics, you can serve in any number of different venues. I think that the more we collaborate in careers and lives of service, the more we help create security. Secondly, I think the study of languages is very important. So for students, I would say, learn a second language. Here in the United States, obviously it’s extremely functional to learn Spanish as a second language. Push yourself for a third language. To know another language is to know another life, and it’s a means of connection that is easier when you’re young and you can learn those languages. Thirdly, consider the international world. We’re very focused here in the United States on our own nation, but I think over time, that connectivity for the United States with the larger world will be increasingly important. So, whatever your career path, whatever your aspirations, recognize that the United States is only one nation of 200 in the world and there are ways for us to connect in this international world. Fourth and finally, I would say for all the students, recognize that education is a lifelong process. Even as you graduate with your wonderful degree from UT Arlington, be thinking about: Should I go to graduate school? What kind of courses can I take online to continue to get better at my profession? How do I put education on a lifelong continuum? I think if students are doing those kinds of things, they’re part of the creation of what I call open source security.
TS: You’ve spoken before about the idea of “open source security.” How do you define that idea?JS: Open source security is fundamentally this: The belief that you cannot create security by building walls. You have to build bridges in order to connect. So, the bridges we need to create to build security in the 21st Century are international, working with international partners. Secondly, interagency, in other words cooperation among the agents of government. Thirdly, private/public, coordination and cooperation between the public and private sector. And then fourthly, I think you need a strong narrative, strategic communications program that allows you to take good ideas and communicate them, so that people can buy into it. If you do those things, you don’t hide behind walls. You really create an open source approach to the creation of security.
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