VANDERBILT University's Institute of National Security said earlier today it has "no plans to change plans" for its scheduled fifth annual Asness Summit on Modern Conflict & Emerging Threats on the VU campus.

Provided those Summit plans by the Institute of National Security remain unchanged, U.S. Air Force General Dan Caine, who is chairman of U.S. Department of War's Joint Chiefs of Staff, will on April 23 address the Asness Summit as keynote speaker.

Caine's keynote role was first announced by the Institute well ahead of the Feb. 28 explosion of sustained warfare by U.S. and Israeli forces, allied against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The New York Times and other global media reported that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others, today signaled no certain endpoint to fighting still unfolding in Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East.

With timing that might prove fateful, the theme of next month's summit was also set some time ago: "The Shadow of War, The Illusion of Peace: National Security in the Age of Asymmetry."

The Institute's no-change-in-plans status report came this morning, in response to a VNC query Sunday afternoon that read as follows:

"Given that the Asness Summit scheduled [April 23-24] has previously confirmed participation of prominent military and civilian speakers who are and-or could be deeply involved in both U.S. prosecution of combat vs Iran in Iran or elsewhere, as well as being involved in defense of U.S. territories and installations... IS Vanderbilt planning or contemplating postponing or significantly altering the Summit?"

Caine is one of nearly two-dozen very prominent speakers and panelists thus far confirmed for the April 23-24 Summit, with further updates soon likely, a VU INS spokesperson told VNC this morning.

The Summit Moderator is to be Niloofar Razi Howe JD, a special a advisor to VU Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, and senior operating partner of Energy Impact Partners. As a child, Howe fled Iran with her family shortly before the 1979 revolution.

The Institute of National Security at VU is led by its founding director, U.S. Army General Paul Nakasone (Ret.), who is also a Vanderbilt distinguished research professor of engineering science and management and a special advisor to Chancellor Diermeier.

Nakasone is also a former director of the National Security Agency and a former commander of U.S. Cyber Command.

Previous coverage of the Institute of National Security here. VNC

.last updated 1833 2 March 2026