JOIN US FOR THIS IMPORTANT ALL-DAY CONFERENCE
October 18th, 2026
October 18th, 2026
We can't help but acknowledge war when it is kinetic—bombs, missiles, militaries. But the conflicts confronting America and the West are also being waged through ideological subversion, foreign influence, institutional capture, demographic pressure, information warfare, economic power, education and political warfare.
Just because it doesn't look like war doesn't mean we're not in one.
World War III: Status Update brings together leading experts to examine these different fronts: where we stand, how they intersect, and what America must do to prevail.
The urgency of the midterm elections and the rapidly changing national-security landscape have prompted us to convene another all-day conference examining the status of World War III.
In 2023 and 2024, AFA held six conferences under the banner World War III: The Early Years. Now we return to assess what has changed—and where the threats are growing. We will examine the major challenges confronting us both at home and abroad, including the Middle East and Islam; China and its influence within the United States; the Red-Green Axis and the ways in which these ideological movements work together; changing demographics; and the influence of foreign nations throughout American institutions.
The conference will be held on October 18 in Los Angeles, from 10:00 AM–5:00 PM. Details are still being finalized, but confirmed speakers already include:
Gordon Chang, Capt. James Fanell, Frank Gaffney, Mark Krikorian, Trevor Loudon, Peter McIlvenna, and Bradley Thayer—with many more to come.
We will explore with an A-Team of experts not only the myriad threats we're facing, but also what we must do to prevail in World War III.
JOIN US for this IMPORTANT NATIONAL SECURITY BRIEFING that will address the most existential threats we are facing today.
***NOTE: SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR MILITARY, active and veteran - contact us! ***
You will come away from this event INFORMED on the threats to our freedoms; EMPOWERED to be a representative of TRUTH in a world atrociously full of lies; and EMBOLDENED to speak, act, vote, in support of truth and freedom.
Registration: 9-10AM
Program begins at 10AM
Buffet lunch will be served at 1:00PM
Program concludes at 5PM
Informal reception to follow with conference speakers
Tickets:
Tickets include buffet lunch and no-host reception following the event.
General admission: $95
VIP tickets: $150 and include preferred seating, a copy of Dr, Thayer's book America's 100 Years' War, an AFA notebook and two complimentary drinks for the reception.
We are also offering a Speaker-Sponsor Dinner the night of October 17th. This is an exclusive dinner with conference speakers. Dinner tickets are $1,000, and any level of sponsorship also includes tickets to the dinner.
Sponsorships: We are offering three levels of sponsorship opportunities to help us bring this event to as broad an audience as possible. Sponsors of $1000 or more will be included in an exclusive dinner with conference speakers the night before the conference, as well as other sponsorship benefits.
Location
Torrance, CA
Specific location announced shortly
Specific location announced shortly
Date & Time
Conference:
Sunday, 18 October, 2026,
9AM - 5PM
Exclusive Sponsor Dinner
Saturday, 17 October, 7PM
Sunday, 18 October, 2026,
9AM - 5PM
Exclusive Sponsor Dinner
Saturday, 17 October, 7PM
CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
One of the most potent aspects of an AFA conference is being able to spend time with our speakers and interact with them, face to face. The dynamism that comes from shared space is something we have always treasured and we are eager to offer this again!
Aside from being together for the conference, we also offer the opportunity to talk with the speakers at the post-conference reception, and of course the dinner the night before is a unique chance for an intimate dinner with our speakers.
Dinner tickets purchased separately.
Aside from being together for the conference, we also offer the opportunity to talk with the speakers at the post-conference reception, and of course the dinner the night before is a unique chance for an intimate dinner with our speakers.
Dinner tickets purchased separately.
Our Speakers... so far
Our roster of exceptional speakers includes:
Gordon Chang
AUTHOR, expert on CHINA AND THE CCP, DISTINGUISHED SENIOR FELLOW AT the gaTESTONE INSTITUTE
Gordon G. Chang is a leading author and commentator on China, the Chinese Communist Party, and U.S.-China relations. He is the author of Plan Red: China’s Project to Destroy America, The Coming Collapse of China, and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World. Chang lived and worked in China and Hong Kong for nearly two decades, practicing law in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and has briefed the National Intelligence Council, CIA, State Department, and Pentagon. A frequent media commentator, Chang speaks widely on China’s ambitions, global strategy, and threats to American national security
He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute and has briefed the National Intelligence Council, CIA, State Department, and Pentagon. A frequent media commentator, Chang speaks widely on China’s ambitions, global strategy, and threats to American national security
Captain James E. Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Retired Naval Officer, Military expert, author
Captain James E. Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.), is a leading expert on China’s military and maritime ambitions. During his nearly 30-year career as a naval intelligence officer, he served as Director of Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, senior intelligence officer for China at the Office of Naval Intelligence, and in senior intelligence positions with the U.S. Seventh Fleet and USS Kitty Hawk carrier strike group.
A former National Security Affairs Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Fanell is a Government Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and co-author, with Dr. Bradley Thayer, of Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure.
A former National Security Affairs Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Fanell is a Government Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and co-author, with Dr. Bradley Thayer, of Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure.
Frank Gaffney
PRESIDENT, institute for the american future
VICE Chair, Committee on the present danger: China
VICE Chair, Committee on the present danger: China
Frank J. Gaffney is a national security expert, former Reagan administration defense official, and founder of the Center for Security Policy, which he led for more than three decades. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy and later as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy.
Gaffney has devoted much of his subsequent work to national security threats including Islamist movements, Sharia, political warfare, and the Chinese Communist Party. He is President of the Institute for the American Future and hosts Securing America, a daily television program and podcast.
He is also on AFA's Board of Advisors, and is a frequent contributor to AFA events.
Gaffney has devoted much of his subsequent work to national security threats including Islamist movements, Sharia, political warfare, and the Chinese Communist Party. He is President of the Institute for the American Future and hosts Securing America, a daily television program and podcast.
He is also on AFA's Board of Advisors, and is a frequent contributor to AFA events.
Mark Krikorian
executive director, Center for immigration studies
Mark Krikorian is Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization focused on U.S. immigration policy. A nationally recognized immigration expert, he has written and testified extensively on border security, illegal immigration, assimilation, demographics, guest-worker programs, and the relationship between immigration policy and the national interest.
Krikorian is the author of The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal and How Obama Is Transforming America Through Immigration. His work has appeared in numerous national publications, and he is a frequent commentator on television, radio, and podcasts discussing immigration, sovereignty, enforcement, and American national identity.
Krikorian is the author of The New Case Against Immigration, Both Legal and Illegal and How Obama Is Transforming America Through Immigration. His work has appeared in numerous national publications, and he is a frequent commentator on television, radio, and podcasts discussing immigration, sovereignty, enforcement, and American national identity.
Trevor Loudon
researcher, author, filmmaker
Trevor Loudon is a New Zealand author, filmmaker, researcher, and American Freedom Alliance Fellow who has spent more than three decades investigating communist, Marxist, and radical political movements and their influence on Western institutions. He is the author of The Enemies Within, White House Reds, and the ongoing House Un-Americans series, and was behind the 2016 documentary The Enemies Within. A widely traveled public speaker, Loudon has addressed hundreds of audiences across the United States including countless appearances hosted by AFA. His work focuses particularly on political subversion, ideological networks, national security, and the continuing influence of communist movements in America and throughout the West.
Trevor is also the 2019 honoree of our American Freedom Award.
Trevor is also the 2019 honoree of our American Freedom Award.
Peter Mcilvenna
Host, Hearts of Oak podcast, commentator, journalist
Peter McIlvenna is an American Freedom Alliance Fellow, British political commentator, and co-founder and host of Hearts of Oak, a UK-based platform focused on free speech and the defense of Western civilization. He has served as Chief of Staff to Lord Pearson of Rannoch in the House of Lords, as a senior researcher for UKIP’s London Assembly members, and as UKIP’s National Campaign Manager.
A frequent international speaker and media commentator, McIlvenna focuses particularly on Islamization, free speech, Britain’s cultural and political transformation, and the lessons the United Kingdom’s experience holds for the United States. He is also a widely published political commentator
A frequent international speaker and media commentator, McIlvenna focuses particularly on Islamization, free speech, Britain’s cultural and political transformation, and the lessons the United Kingdom’s experience holds for the United States. He is also a widely published political commentator
Dr. Bradley Thayer
EXPERT ON COMMUNISM, author, Regular CONTRIBUtOR on WARROOM
Dr. Bradley A. Thayer is an American Freedom Alliance Fellow, national security scholar, and founding member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China. His research examines communism, Marxism-Leninism, the Chinese Communist Party, political warfare, and U.S. grand strategy.
Dr. Thayer previously served as a Special Government Employee with the Department of Homeland Security and has held fellowships at Oxford University and Harvard’s Belfer Center. Thayer has testified before Congress on CCP political warfare and is the author or co-author of numerous books on national security and China. His newest book, America’s Hundred Years’ War: How to Win Against Communism, was published in August 2026.
Dr. Thayer has been a valued contributor at numerous AFA events and conferences, as well as a regular contributor on Steve Bannon's War Room.
Dr. Thayer previously served as a Special Government Employee with the Department of Homeland Security and has held fellowships at Oxford University and Harvard’s Belfer Center. Thayer has testified before Congress on CCP political warfare and is the author or co-author of numerous books on national security and China. His newest book, America’s Hundred Years’ War: How to Win Against Communism, was published in August 2026.
Dr. Thayer has been a valued contributor at numerous AFA events and conferences, as well as a regular contributor on Steve Bannon's War Room.
Still to come
foreign invasion of institutions
Political warfare
Political warfare
We are still finalizing additional speakers! Stand by for updates!
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Just because it doesn't look like war doesn't mean we're not in one.
When we think "war" we think of the kinetic kind, the violent kind, the bombing and shooting kind.
But to those who seek to take us down, war comes in many forms, under many guises.
The Chinese refer to this as "unrestricted warfare," tactics that include basically any means up to and including the "kinetic" kind. Jihad, too, comes in countless forms, civilizational, electoral, economic among them.
This conference will reveal these various fronts where war is waged against us by totalitarian ideologues for whom Western Civilization and America more specifically are in the way of the global conquest they seek.
Get informed and be part of the Home Front before it's too late.
Don't miss this IMPORTANT opportunity to spend a day with like-minded people, all passionate and concerned about where this nation is headed, the wide range of threats we're facing, and how vulnerable we are to national security threats. But in addition to hearing about our vulnerabilities and where we stand, you'll also be EMPOWERED and EMBOLDENED to speak up, speak out, and be part of the team that is victorious in World War III.
But to those who seek to take us down, war comes in many forms, under many guises.
The Chinese refer to this as "unrestricted warfare," tactics that include basically any means up to and including the "kinetic" kind. Jihad, too, comes in countless forms, civilizational, electoral, economic among them.
This conference will reveal these various fronts where war is waged against us by totalitarian ideologues for whom Western Civilization and America more specifically are in the way of the global conquest they seek.
Get informed and be part of the Home Front before it's too late.
Don't miss this IMPORTANT opportunity to spend a day with like-minded people, all passionate and concerned about where this nation is headed, the wide range of threats we're facing, and how vulnerable we are to national security threats. But in addition to hearing about our vulnerabilities and where we stand, you'll also be EMPOWERED and EMBOLDENED to speak up, speak out, and be part of the team that is victorious in World War III.
This is the first of a series of the
WORLD WAR III: STATUS UPDATE
CONFERENCES
ONLY with an informed, educated populace can a nation be successfully self-governing, and it is the purpose of this conference to ensure that the American public be informed with the truth.
COUNTDOWN to the CONFERENCE
Location to be announced shortly
for discounted rooms, please email us
[email protected]
[email protected]
Registration includes a buffet lunch and an
informal no-host reception at the conclusion of the conference.
VIP/Sponsor tickets include two complimentary drinks at the reception.
Schedule
Sunday, 18 October
9:00 AM
Registration
Coffee is served
10:00 AM
\FULL PROGRAM COMING SOON
Additional speakers and presentations are being confirmed. Please check back for the complete conference schedule.
Additional speakers and presentations are being confirmed. Please check back for the complete conference schedule.
5:00 PM
Conference Concludes
Informal, no-host reception to follow