The Growth of the National Security State

Speakers

Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg was a company commander in the Marine Corps. In 1959 he joined the RAND Corporation as an analyst. In 1964 he was recruited to serve in the Pentagon under Robert McNamara. He precipitated a national political crisis when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret government study about Vietnam. Kissinger called him “the most dangerous man in America.” He is the author of Secrets and The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner.  He is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and the Olof Palme Prize for his “profound humanism and exceptional moral courage.” He was an outspoken supporter of other whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden, Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning. He died at the age of 92 in June 2023.

Richard Falk

Richard Falk is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton. He is the co-convener of SHAPE, Save Humanity and Planet Earth. He is the recipient of the UNESCO Peace Education Prize. He served as special rapporteur for the United Nations from 2008-2014 on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories. He is the author of numerous books including The Great Terror War, Unlocking the Middle East, Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope and Chaos and Counterrevolution: After The Arab Spring. He is the co-author of Protecting Human Rights in Occupied Palestine.