Officials at National Bank of Commerce of Mississippi held their annual Issues Forum Thursday, Oct. 25, at the Wise Center Auditorium from 8 a.m. until noon, with Gen. Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser for presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford, as the keynote speaker. “It’s a great honor for the bank to host this event each year as we strive to bring to our area recognized national speakers that are both interesting and thought-provoking,” Lewis Mallory Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of NBC Capital Corp., said.
Mallory said the bank was privileged to have Scowcroft speak at the forum.
“He brought a wealth of experience and expertise in foreign policy and national security affairs garnered during some of the most momentous times in our nation’s history,” Mallory said.
Scowcroft served as military assistant to President Richard Nixon and as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs to presidents Ford and Nixon. His unmatched range of experience gives him a unique insight into the workings of the world of international politics.
From 1974 to 1977, Scowcroft advised President Ford as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam, opened relations with China, and embarked on a series of arms control and security negotiations with the Soviet Union.
In 1989, Scowcroft returned to the White House to be at President Bush’s side as he presided over the end of the Cold War, the freeing of Eastern Europe, the unification of Germany, the mounting of Operation Desert Storm, which reversed Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and negotiations with President Gorbachev and Yeltsin in two historic nuclear arms control agreements.
With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was Scowcroft who coined the term and began laying the foundation for the “New World Order.”
Scowcroft is founder and president of The Forum for International Policy, a non-partisan, non-profit organization providing independent perspectives and opinions on major foreign policy issues, based on a commitment to active, thoughtful American global leadership. He is also president of The Scowcroft Group, a consulting firm assisting corporations engaged in international expansion and investment.
In between his assignments at the center of U.S. foreign policy, Scowcroft remained actively engaged in national security affairs. He has chaired or served on a number of policy advisory councils dealing with Arms Control, Strategic Forces, Defense Management and the Iran-Contra affair.
He is currently a Trustee of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the George C. Marshall Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Atlantic Council of the United States. General Scowcroft was born in Ogden, Utah.
He received his undergraduate degree and commission into the Army Air Forces from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, his master’s and doctorate degrees in international relations from Columbia University.
“We chose General Scowcroft because of his extensive experience with U.S. Foreign Policy and National Security,” Mallory said. “His presentation addressed both timely and critical issues as our country continues its fight against terrorism.”
NBC has presented their Issues Forum for the past 18 years, and invites nationally known speakers such as General Scowcroft to address topics that are of particular interest to the business and community leaders in this area.
Bryna Martin, Marketing Coordinator for NBC in Starkville, said the bank strives to present topics of great insight according to the requests of the area.
“We do surveys from time to time about what people want to hear, and we try to bring speakers to address their top priorities, the number one being education,” Martin said.
Other speakers for the 2001 NBC Issues Forum include experts on the American economy, the state economy, and the critical issue of education.