A group of faculty, staff members and students filled the Morris University Center Hickory-Hackberry Room last week to hear Dr. Ervin Rokke talk about “America’s Evolving Threats: A new look for the 21st Century.”
Rokke, a U.S. Air Force General, currently is a senior scholar in residence at the United States Air Force Academy Center for Character and Leadership Development. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and later earned a master’s and a doctorate in international relations from Harvard University.
During his talk at SIUE, he described the current state of world affairs being handed over to the millennial generation by his generation as “messy.” He explained that America’s future security will depend on new ways of thinking within the civilian and military establishments. He said linear thinking will no longer work as a way to devise strategies for future diplomatic and non-diplomatic solutions.
“Simply counting tanks, airplanes and battleships as has been done in the past will not do,” Rokke said. “Neither will it do for the United States to attend only to the history or political practices of its adversaries, while ignoring the potential role of social media.”
Rokke referred to the image of the Tienamen Square faceoff between a Chinese military tank and a single student protestor, noting the true power of the future will rest in the power of the people.
Ron Schaefer, director of SIUE’s Center for International Programs, said he was pleased to see so many students from different departments of the University in the audience.
“Dr. Rokke’s emphasis on transdisciplinary academic experiences, especially those that engage arts and science, even when they appear at odds, was extremely important for our students to hear,” he said. “As the future unfolds, all of us will need to stretch our disciplinary boundaries in the pursuit of knowledge.”
During his 35-year military career, Rokke engaged in numerous high-profile assignments. He served as the defense attaché in the former Soviet Union, the director of intelligence for the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, air attaché at the American Embassy in London, the National Security Agency’s association director for support to military operations, the Air Force assistant chief of staff for intelligence at the Pentagon, an intelligence officer with U.S. Forces Japan and more.