Honored to host an extraordinary conversation with the former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin at The Milken Institute's Global Conference

Event | May 5, 2026

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, now CEO of Clarion Strategies, and one of the most consequential figures in modern American defense and foreign policy, joined David Dwek for a candid discussion on global risk, the evolving geopolitical landscape, and the implications of recent events in Iran for the future of the defense economy.

Co-hosted by Eden Global Partners and Eldridge Industries during the Milken Institute's 28th Annual Global Conference, the evening served as a powerful reminder that context, trusted relationships, and long-term thinking remain essential to navigating an increasingly complex world.

Secretary Austin brought a rare depth of perspective and strategic clarity to our discussion. As I reflect on the exchange, three themes stand out as particularly relevant for investors and leaders navigating today's environment:

Space as Critical Infrastructure

Secretary Austin was unequivocal on the strategic importance of space - not as a frontier, but as foundation. Communications, navigation, intelligence, and the coordination of virtually every modern military and civilian system now depends on space-based infrastructure. As competition in this domain intensifies, protecting and expanding that infrastructure is no longer a long-term consideration - it is an immediate national security imperative with significant implications for both defense policy and private investment.

Private Capital as a Structural Requirement

The next generation of defense capability will not be built by government alone. Secretary Austin was clear that the United States needs both its traditional prime contractors, the established industrial base that underwrites large-scale production and systems integration and the new wave of innovative defense technology companies developing autonomous systems, cyber platforms, and space infrastructure. But neither can reach their potential without sustained, patient private capital. These are complex, long-horizon ventures poorly served by short-term investors. In this environment, private capital has become a structural requirement - not a complement to government funding, but a necessity.

Conviction Under Uncertainty

Secretary Austin spoke with clarity on the nature of leadership in a world of permanent uncertainty, a clarity that comes only from having navigated genuine, high-stakes crises with incomplete information. Uncertainty, he made plain, is not a condition to be resolved, it is the condition. The question is never whether it can be eliminated, but whether the leadership, institutional capacity, and conviction exist to act through it. What separates consequential leaders is not access to better information, but the discipline to sustain a course when the path is least clear. For investors and institutions alike, that posture is as applicable to managing capital as it is to managing through crisis.

Grateful to Clarion Strategies and to everyone who joined us for an exceptional evening.