In the Arena

In recent months, the Biden Administration has sustained and deepened the U.S. relationship with its most important ally in the Hemisphere, the Republic of Colombia. Just last month, Secretary Blinken chose Colombia as his first trip to South America as Secretary of State. To further the conversation on this issue, the McCain Institute seeks to convene experts to discuss related to the United States' hemispheric security partnerships and how they address some of the most pressing challenges of our time – a rising China, increasing international authoritarianism, the global plague of disinformation, etc. This event is the fourth of a new public conversation series between Dr. Mark T. Esper, the John McCain Distinguished Fellow and former U.S. Secretary of Defense, and experts on various issues related to challenges and threats to U.S. national security.

Head of The Philanthropy Centre, Asia for J.P. Morgan Private Bank and McCain Global Leader Program Advisory Council Member Jean Sung joins McCain Global Leader Program Manager Scott Nemeth for a discussion about fostering future leaders around the world.

This Authors & Insights event features Council on Foreign Relations Distinguished Fellow Martin Indyk and Foreign Policy columnist Elise Labott. They discuss Indyk's new book “Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy,” a look at how America's foremost statesman reshaped America's foreign policy for generations to come.

National Engagement Director for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and a member of the McCain Global Leader Program Advisory Council Michelle Bekkering joins McCain Global Leader Program Manager Scott Nemeth for a discussion about the launch of the new McCain Institute program, and her own personal leadership journey.

McCain Institute Next Generation Leader and member of the McCain Global Leader Program Alumni Advisory Council Zaw Tu Hkawng joins McCain Global Leader Program Manager Scott Nemeth for a discussion about the launch of the new McCain Institute program, and his experience fighting for democracy in his home country of Myanmar.

Former Australian Minister of Defense and current Minister of Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme Linda Reynolds joined former U.S. Secretary of Defense and current John S. McCain Distinguished Fellow Mark Esper for the third installment of Conversations with Secretary Esper. Their discussion centered around the America and Australia's efforts in the Indo-Pacific and the future of the region. The topics included the recent AUKUS Agreement, President Biden and Prime Minister Morrison's first meeting, and the legacy of Senator McCain and his family both in Australia and the wider region.

Senior Program Manager at the National Democratic Institute and a member of the McCain Global Leader Program Advisory Council Victoria Welborn joins McCain Global Leader Program Manager Scott Nemeth for a discussion about the launch of the new McCain Institute program, and why it is more important than ever to develop and train the next generation of character-driven leaders.

Join the McCain Institute for International Leadership for its next installment of its book talk virtual series. This event features President George H.W. Bush's Chief of Staff Jean Becker and White House Correspondent for Gray Television and McCain Institute Media Fellow Jon Decker. . They discuss Becker's newest book, “The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story George H.W. Bush's Post-Presidency,” a vibrant behind-the-scenes look into the ups and downs of heading up the office of a former president by one of the people who knew him best.

Deputy Director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University Seamus Hughes joined McCain Institute Senior Director of the Preventing Targeted Violence Program Brette Steele for a conversation about his book “Homegrown: ISIS in America.” This was a unique discussion between two experts in violent extremism and targeted violence. The talk hit many topics including the overall problem of homegrown violent extremism, the problems facing prosecutors and law enforcement officials in going after all types of support of terrorist organizations, the differences between levels of support for terrorist organizations, the state and future of deradicalization programs, and the similarities between recruiting tactics of foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS and of hate groups based here in the United States.

Following President Biden's first overseas trip to Europe in early June, many are hoping that it represents the United States' returning to a more traditional approach to its transatlantic alliances where Britain plays a key role. To continue the critical work of Senator McCain on this issue, the McCain Institute seeks to convene experts for a series of conversations related to the future of NATO and how it positions itself to tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time – a rising China, increasing international authoritarianism, the global plague of disinformation, etc. This event is the second of a public conversation series between Dr. Mark T. Esper, the John McCain distinguished fellow and former U.S. secretary of defense, and experts on various issues related to challenges and threats to U.S. national security.

Author, journalist and humanitarian Tara Kangarlou joined Gray Television White House Correspondent and McCain Institute media fellow Jon Decker for a discussion of her book “The Heartbeat of Iran: Real Voices of a Country and Its People” in the in the latest installment of the McCain Institute's Authors & Insights Book Talk Series.

Join the McCain Institute for International Leadeship as it premieres a new series of one-on-one conversations with Former Secretary of Defense and the Army and John McCain Distinguished Fellow Mark T. Esper. In this first intstallment, Sec. Esper sits down with Former Prime Minister & Foreign Minster of Sweden and Co-Chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations Carl Bildt as they discuss President Joe Biden's trip to Europe.

Episode HighlightsChris Brose on the term “Kill Chain”“The term Kill Chain is a term that everyone in the military who works with and around the United States military is familiar with, but I think many outside of that world have never heard of. Really sort of succinctly, what it means is it is a process of understanding, decision making, and action. At a broader level, what I was trying to do for more of a general audience was unpack this concept that is so familiar and so sort of integral and central to the United States military, and all militaries. Which again is this process of a kind of chain of events that has to happen in order for a military to compete effectively. Whether that's competing in actual warfare, or in military competitions that don't involve the use of violence. It is a process that is inherently sequential. A process of understanding what is happening in your environment, in your world, and your area of responsibility making decisions about what to do, how to compete effectively, how to deploy forces that you have at your disposal, and then ultimately the actions that you take to affect your will, influence events, and influence a competitor. That is a sequential process.”Chris Brose on US-China Competition“You now see rhetoric coming from the Biden administration that doesn't seem too remarkably different from a lot of the rhetoric coming from the Trump administration, with respect to great power competition, China as a pacing threat, the need to not do more of the same. But, fundamentally change the way we are building our military and programing our force for the future.”Chris Brose on Disruption in Military Technology“I think the big thing to underscore here is back to this theme of disruption. The United States has been disrupted. We are being disrupted, being disrupted by these emerging technologies that have absolutely changed our day-to-day lives in our commercial worlds and overturned sector after sector of our economy… but largely left national defense untouched. But, then we are simultaneously being disrupted by competitors, who have had very focused strategies.” 

From the 2021 Sedona Forum, Congressman Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Chairman and CEO of the Soufan Group Ali Soufan, CEO of Polaris Catherine Chen joined McCain Institute Senior Director of Combatting Human Trafficking Kristen Abrams to talk about how conspiracy theories like Qanon have harmed anti-trafficking efforts in the United States and around the world. Ernie Allen of the McCain Institute Human Trafficking Advisory Council gives the introduction. Introduction: Ernie Allen - Human Trafficking Advisory Council, McCain Institute for International Leadership Moderator: Kristen Abrams - Senior Director of Combatting Human Trafficking, McCain Institute for International Leadership Panelists: Catherine Chen - CEO, Polaris Rep. Tom Malinowski - United States Congressman, New Jersey - 07 Ali Soufan - Chairman and CEO, The Soufan Group

From the 2021 Sedona Forum, UN Human Rights Council Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, Chobani Founder & CEO Hamdi Ulukaya joined Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) to discuss how the public and private sectors can do more to help refugees and those in need around the world. Human rights activist and Founder of the Women Peace Network Wai Wai Nu gives the introduction.

From the 2021 Sedona Forum, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and former Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Vladimir Milov joined CEO of Hermitage Capital Management Bill Browder to discuss all things Russia and Vladimir Putin. They talked about how the US and the West at large should deal with his authoritarian tendencies and adventurist foreign policy. Former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. (ret.) H.R. McMaster gives the introduction. Introduction: Gen. H.R. McMaster, USA (Ret.) - Former U.S. National Security Advisor, United States Army Moderator: Bill Browder - CEO, Hermitage Capital Management Panelists: Rep. Adam Kinzinger - United States Congressman, Illinois - 16 Sen. Bob Menendez - United States Senator, New Jersey Vladimir Milov - Former Deputy Minister of Energy, Russia

McCain Institute Board of Trustees Chair Cindy McCain joined McCain Institute Executive Chairman Ambassador Josette Sheeran for a discussion of her new book “Stronger: Courage, Hope, & Humor in My Life with John McCain,” in the in the latest installment of the McCain Institute’s Authors & Insights Book Talk Series. 

From the 2021 Sedona Forum, Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper joined Washington Post Global Opinions Columnist Josh Rogin to discuss U.S. – China relations. They also talked about China’s human rights abuses, economic competition, and how the Biden Administration is approaching China and the region as a whole. Author and Head of Strategy for Anduril Industries Chris Brose gives the introduction. Introduction: Chris Brose - Head of Strategy, Anduril Industries Moderator: Josh Rogin - Columnist, Global Opinions, Washington Post Panelists: Sec. Mark Esper - 27th U.S. Secretary of Defense, 23rd U.S. Secretary of the Army Rep. Stephanie Murphy - United States Congresswoman, Florida - 07 Sen. Dan Sullivan - United States Senator, Alaska

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSON CHINA’S “VACCINE DIPLOMACY”“In other words, [the CCP] putting their political interests above their strategic interest and above the health and welfare of billions of human beings tells you all you need to know about what’s going on inside the top leadership of the CCP. I think that’s like a long way of saying that, you know, the coronavirus pandemic brought to the fore, a lot of the problems that a lot of people were already having with the Chinese government’s behavior outside of its borders, and it forced people in every country to confront those problems in a way – in a new way – but more than that, it turned people in democracies, especially in democracies against the Chinese leadership forcing their leadership in democracies to respond to that.”CCP VS. AMERICAN VALUES“We have to speak clearly and be clear eyed about the Chinese Communist Party’s assault on those values, and assault on those interests, and then join with like-minded countries to come up with a comprehensive response.”

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSHon. Julie Bishop on the Power of America’s Alliances“I’ve often said that while the United States, of course is militarily unparalleled in the world and economically the largest and strongest economy in the world, I think its greatest strength in foreign policy most certainly lies with its network of alliances and its deep engagement with nations around the world and that can’t be replicated, and it’s a massive strength that the United States has and we of course hope the Biden administration will continue to appreciate that, recognize it and use it for the global good.”Dr. Henry Kissinger on Julie Bishop“I am delighted to welcome Julie Bishop to our 2021 Kissinger Fellowship, and I look forward to her important contributions to the McCain Institute’s work on combatting human trafficking and her timely work on the strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific.”Ambassador Green on Dr. Kissinger’s Lasting Impact“Dr. Kissinger is a remarkable figure historically, but more importantly, he’s a remarkable figure today and he continues, I think, to lay out for all of us the challenges and opportunities, in not just American foreign policy, but foreign policy writ large.”

Episode HighlightsRep. Bass on Our Interconnected World“All of our lives changed dramatically last year, on the entire planet. Why? Because the planet earth is very small with communications and travel the way it is. And our health, our wellbeing, our prosperity, is completely linked to people around the world. And using COVID is the perfect example of how we’re all linked. This virus, we will not overcome this virus until we overcome it as a planet. So for example, there’s vaccines that are available now. I’m very excited about that. But we’re also learning about new strains. Until you stamp COVID out in the world, you can’t just stamp it out in the United States because the new strains will continue to mutate. So, using what we’re going through now is a perfect example to explain why we are completely connected and our health, wellbeing, and prosperity is connected and depends on the health, prosperity, and wellbeing of other countries as well.”Rep. Bass on the Responsibility of Living in a Democracy“It is definitely when there’s things that you complain about in government, it really is everyone’s responsibility, and part of our American culture is we vote and then we go home. I would just ask you, as an elected official, vote and stay involved with your elected officials please. Because it’s our collective responsibility to make sure that our system works.”

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSOn James Baker’s Political Skillset“Fundamentally Baker applied a similar skillset, whether it was for working with the Soviets on arms control or it was working Republicans and Democrats on tax reform in 1986. As Treasury Secretary it wasn’t that he brought a big background on economics to the table, in fact he only had a single economics course at Princeton and probably didn’t do all too well at that. So really, Baker’s skillset I do think fundamentally was politics. Now that was a dirty word in his family as I’ve said so part of it was his allergy with that and I think he saw politics from his own experience as a grubby business.”Advice for Up and Coming Journalists “We’re so lucky because the world is constantly reinventing itself there’s no such thing as stupid questions. And in an age where it seems like we’re surfeited with ever amount of information, so much of it is bogus, or untrue, or partial, or misleading. I think that as much as people write and think about the crisis, which is genuine in the business model of journalism, it seems like there has never been a more important and even foundational moment for journalism in America.”Accountability and Politics and Journalism Today“Again, what I would say from the last few years, the takeaway that applies both to politics and to journalism is don’t take the present or recent past for granted. You know, what we’ve learned is that what we universalize as sort of the American way is not. And it’s up to each generation to, you know, take possession of it and to take responsibility for it. And the severing of the link that I always perceive to be the case between transparency which is what we journalists strive to offer – transparency, independent critical thinking, and some sort of accountability in our political system. To me that is the crisis that is affecting both journalism and politics. Where was the accountability?”

Episode HighlightsWhat Illiberalism Looks Like"I think all of us grew up on the idea, I don't know, from watching movies, you know, that there's such thing as democracy, and then there's a coup d'etat lead by, I don't know, a colonel and a tank and then, you know, they come over and they shoot up the Presidential Palace and then we have dictatorship. And that somehow, you know, you have one or you have the other and there's nothing in between. One of the things that's become really clear over the last decade is that there are some forms of politics that are in between. So, we have seen, for example, what it looks like in Hungary to have a Prime Minister, who once he took power, began to subtly, and sometimes unsubtly, alter the political system to make it very difficult for him to lose another election. And we saw the same thing in Poland, very similar, a little bit clumsier actually."Why Authoritarian States Have Elections"One of the effects of, I mean it's probably the long tail of 1989, one of the effects of the collapse of communism and the democratic revolutions that followed in so many places, was that it somehow seemed unacceptable to just say you were a dictator. And, the forms and the, kind of, language of democracy has been used in many places, even sort of farcically, but it does get used as a way of supporting dictatorships. I mean actually, the most interesting example of this is of course Russia, which has elections, it has media, it has a public conversation, you know, it has candidates, you know, but of course, it really is rigged, and Putin can't lose. But Putin nevertheless feels the need to have these forums and have this language, as a kind of, a way of legitimizing himself and legitimizing his power. And, you're right, that the lip service that's paid to democracy and democratic ideals is an illustration, I think still, of the power of those ideals. People do care about those things and they do, people do want to live in a state where they play some role and they do want to have some say in how they're ruled, and I think, even most of the world's dictators now understand that and they look to somehow incorporate that or use that as a way of maintaining their status."Why Is Anne Optimistic?"So I am, although many people disagree with this, I am very optimistic about young people and the generation of people in their 20s who are just entering, you know, the world and the job market and public life now. It seems to me that we now have-- that there are a lot of people now who are interested in public service and who want to, who understand that there are deep problems and want to be committed to solving them. I only say this because I hear from them a lot, people write to me, you know for advice, or I've had students in classes that I've taught and I feel that there's a lot of talent and energy and interest in fixing public life in a way that I don't even think my generation had. We had this idea that there was nothing really in particular that we needed to do for democracy, it was just gonna happen and you just needed to vote every few years. And I have this feeling that there are a lot of creative and entrepreneurial younger people around now, more so than there were in the past. And I also have a lot of faith in the kind of civil society sector, in you know the new and energized democracy groups in the United States- I'm part of some of them, some are public some are not- who have really dedicated themselves to thinking about the problems and fixing them. There's a lot of talent and philanthropic energy going into these problems and that makes me really optimistic."

After a robust display of American Democracy, we convened a panel of experts for Straight Talk Live Part 2, including Institute Board of Trustees Member and former Sen. McCain Presidential Campaign Manager Rick Davis, former campaign manager for President Obama David Plouffe and former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter, alongside standout journalists Maggie Haberman of the New York Times and host of Showtime's "The Circus" Alex Wagner to breakdown the results of the 2020 U.S. election.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSImpact of Sen. McCain’s Father Had on McCain“I know when we talked… in prison about when he refused amnesty, he refused because one, he knew that his father’s position, the Vietnamese would use his father’s position as a way to demoralize the other POWs, you know, you’re stuck here… but the Admiral’s kid, we let him go of course. And America is a class conscious society and all that stuff but also he said that, ‘I didn’t take it because I thought my father would be disappointed in me.’ And when they beat him for three days after that and forced him to make a propaganda statement, he told me that the thing that worried him the most, you know, they recorded it, and he knew his father would hear it. And that’s was a shame.”McCain’s Normalization of Relations with Vietnam Work“The normalization was probably one of the memories I revered the most of working with him. Because it was such an honest, honorable, decent thing for him to do. He felt really sincerely that he had gotten over Vietnam as soon as he left the country, and he couldn't understand and didn’t want his country to fail to get over it. And he thought this was necessary to that. And the Vietnamese had agreed to cooperate with us on finding, resolving all these MIA cases and had gotten out of Cambodia, as we had requested. And then had, per McCain-specific request, had released South Vietnamese military and political people they were still holding in re-education camps. He said, ‘They kept their end of the bargain; we must keep ours. Let’s start normalization.’”McCain’s Commitment to Human Rights“Experiencing the best and worst of humanity in the same experience as he did, when I write abou – he had these dualities and the most interesting was that he was like a romantic and a cynic, you know, which usually, they don’t fit comfortably together, but they did with him. He was a cynic about the world but a romantic about his causes, and he never gave up hope – never. He wrote in our last book together, not this one….but you mentioned Belarus, but the Belarusians who are, for year after year after year, I see the same guys, they won’t let me in, you know, so they have to come to Riga or one of the Baltics to meet with me, and so you think they’d be discouraged, they’d lose hope, you know, but the thing he admired most about them was that they just persisted and he felt that the privilege or the pride of being an American elected official was that you were part of a project to prove that self-government was the only moral government and that everyone is entitled to it. That was his great cause.”Political Polarization in America Today“It was really in the statement that he wanted released after his death; that was the message there: that we have so much more in common, we have shared responsibilities than we do disagreements. We’ve been entrusted with this sacred thing, this project to prove, that self-government is the only moral government, he was very concerned by it. And it's gotten worse, obviously, since he passed away, we could really use his example and his words right now. I think almost every day, I can feel his absence in our politics, and it’s a real shame.”McCain as an Example of Leadership“I think, you know, it takes guts to be like him. But there are people on both sides of the aisle, I think, who would aspire to that reputation. But you gotta go out and earn it, and it takes guts, and it’s not without risk. He wouldn't have begrudged people taking necessary precautions to hold on to their jobs – you can’t affect the public good if you can’t stay in office, but to see an obvious wrong and not object to it, to let your party get driven to something that becomes unrecognizable to you and not speak up against that, he wouldn’t appreciate that.”

Episode HighlightsThe Education of a Future Speaker of the House“And then when I was in high school I read these novels, I read Ayn Rand novels which a lot of high school kids do. And what that did was it triggered my interest in economics. By no means do I subscribe to objectivism and all of those urban legends out there kind of accuse me of this, but you get that in politics. I went to Catholic school and I’m a devout Catholic, but Rand and those novels interested me in the study of economics and I went to college to study economics and political science and political philosophy. And I really got into studying the Austrians; Mises, Hayek, the Chicago school guys like Steigler and Friedman and all the rest. So I really became focused on economics and Rand got me interested in economics.”Paul Ryan's First Congressional Campaign “I got the young thing thrown at me. I was young, 28 by the time the campaign ended rolling around and I got the young thing thrown at me. And I call this political jiu jitsu you run at your perceived weakness and turn it into a strength. Basically I had a strategy to do that. And I ran against a woman who was the Kenosha City Council President who was fairly wealthy who had just barely lost to Mark Newman the prior campaign. So everybody basically marked me for dead and thought she was going to waltz right into the seat because she almost beat the incumbent by within 6-8 tenths of a point, less than a percentage point. She had a lot of money and a lot of name ID and she was the President of the biggest town in the district, Kenosha, and I was this kid from Janesville this small town in the district and it ended up working out pretty well.”A Surprise Announcement “My whole family had to go with me, so how do we extricate my whole family during the day with all of these trackers out front. So Janna and the kids while I was at this funeral go to my chief of staff’s house separately and the trackers weren’t paying attention to that. My chief of staff had this old custom StarCraft van with tinted windows on it, a Clark Griswold kind of thing. My kids didn’t know anything about this, we didn’t tell our kids anything, they were young we were worried they’d talk. My wife was in on it obviously, along with my chief of staff’s wife they had the kids in the van, and they park a block away at the end of these woods. I come back with my chief of staff and the stringer is following me, I got into my house, we had gotten my sister in law, who looks just like my wife, to fly in get inside the house, she looks like my wife to be there. So I’m there Janna and the kids are in the van on the street at the end of these woods. I put camo on, I’m a big bowhunter I have a lot of camo, and I sneak out through my backyard because they can see sort of into the backyard, sneak out through these trees through the woods into the van and then we go to Waukegan, Ill., which is a Chicago suburb, where they have a plane to take me to North Carolina and then drive into Virginia.”

Episode HighlightsOn "The Core of the Fight"“I think the core of the fight is that we have to compete effectively to ensure that our free and open societies remain secure, are prosperous, and can extend our influence effectively. I think we have to recognize that we have to compete and reenter a recent competition, Michael, that we vacated because of over optimism in the 1990s, and maybe too much pessimism and even resignation in the 2000s. And we are at a fundamental level, in a competition to create our free and open societies and closed authoritarian systems.”On the Western Alliance“It’s bad. But the situation and its prospects are not as bad as we think. I think there’s a growing realization, Michael, that we in the free world are all in this together. I mean when you look at the aggression of Chinas' communist party, this wolf warrior diplomacy. Theres nothing like the prospect of death to focus the mind. I think that in the west, within Europe and between Europe and the United States, the transatlantic relationship including now the United Kingdom, the separate from the EU, but still culturally and in terms of principles and values, connected to the continent. I think we recognize now that we are in a competition, that's the first step. And we have to cooperate together to build a better future for generations to come and I think there’s a growing realization as we’re in this crisis of COVID, the recession associated with it, and a crisis of confidence as well.”On Preparation and the Pandemic“This the difference between planning and implementation and execution. I mean a plan, you can have a beautiful plan, but if you can't implement it, it’s not going to be effective...But you know, we understood, I think, what it would take. We being the US gov across multiple administrations, starting with George W. Bush, who had tremendous foresight on this by the way. This is the power of history. He read a historical account of the 1918-1919 Pandemic, and this is after 911, he convened his national security team and said ‘hey I think we have a big potential problem here. We need to really get after this.'"

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSON HER ROLE AS CHAIR OF THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTE“I do think that democracy is difficult, there’s no question. We are proving that, and other countries are, but it doesn’t in any way devalue the fact that people do want to be able to live in a country where they have something to say. And I do love doing the National Democratic Institute work, which is always in demand in many ways, and more complicated. One of the things I’ve been saying more and more is: ‘democracy has to deliver’. And there’s always the question about how political and economic powers play together. I know in graduate school you argue that all the time and ultimately I say they have to go together because people want to vote and eat.”ON HER INSPIRATIONS“I’m often asked who are the people I admire the most. I used to have three of them, I only have two at this point, and you’ll understand in a minute, who is: people who forgave their jailers and were able to move on. Aung San Suu Kyi used to be one of them but her behavior now has taken her off my list. It’s Mandela and Václav Havel and really being able to understand what needed to be done to move his country people forward and never lost his humility or his realistic approach to what could be done, and writing about the power of the powerless, and really understanding what could be done for his country, and he was a moral leader. And I was so delighted when his bust was put in the capital, and I was there and it really was a very, very moving event.”FRIENDSHIP WITH SENATOR MCCAIN“Well I have to say, I say this even when I’m not sitting with you and looking at two McCain cups, he is one of the people that I admire greatly for his service to our country, both in the military and then on The Hill, and our friendship. I think we had a genuine friendship and I miss it. I think of the various things that we did- I’d love taking people to my hometown and Prague is a truly beautiful city- and we went there to observe the election in the Summer of 1990 and we went to the headquarters of Charter 77 which was kind of the organization, we also were in the streets a lot and were able to see the genuine joy of people to finally be a free country, and to have a remarkable leader like Václav Havel, and to have people think that it was a remarkable country, and you could just feel it, and the pleasure of them going to vote. But it really was more than moving to go to the headquarters with John and then sing “’We Shall Overcome.'”

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTSON BEING PERSONALLY SANCTIONED BY CHINA“Well you know it doesn’t really, right now it hasn’t affected me personally the way the people in Hong Kong have been affected because it was related to the crackdown it was related to the US sanctioning various officials in China over a number of things that China is doing. It obviously did highlight the fact that of what’s happened to the relationship. We could worry that they may be hacking us at some point or trying to crack into our internet but overall you know it doesn’t affect us, I wasn’t going to China anyway.” ON THE STATE OF GLOBAL DEMOCRACY“There’s no doubt that democracy is in crisis, and we’ve talked about that for a long time. Larry Diamond has used the word recession to describe what’s happened. And to be perfectly frank it shouldn’t be surprising to us.” ON SENATOR MCCAIN’S SUPPORT FOR THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY“Well you know McCain along with some Republicans when he joined the Congress was not convinced that this was a great idea. But we were on an observing delegation together, and I just started working for NED under Amb. Jeane Kirkpatrick and it was love at first sight after that voyage. In the mid 80s with Lorne Craner as his staff, he became a core supporter of NED. And his support only grew, you know McCain was a great great patriot and the book that he wrote before he passed away, The Restless Wave, I mean there has never been a more powerful expression of commitment to the core values of our country. And he was trying to restore that, we have to turn to those values.”

As a professor, author, international democracy organization chair,  U.N. ambassador – not to mention America’s 64th secretary of state and highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government at that time – Madeleine Albright has played a role in nearly every major foreign policy debate of our time. Along the way, she’s learned lessons, gained […] The post Authors & Insights: Foreign Policy Crossroads: Where We Are & How We Got Here appeared first on McCain Institute.

About The Episode Carl Gershman, founding leader of the National Endowment for Democracy, brings you right up to date on the current state of democracy in the U.S., and around the world, to include some bright spots. Guest hosted by Paul Fagan, McCain Institute program director for Human Rights & Democracy. Episode Highlights On Being […] The post Will We Answer the Call to Defend Democracy? appeared first on McCain Institute.

In the first edition of the McCain Institute’s Authors & Insights event series, former World Bank President Robert Zoellick joined Ambassador Mark Green to discuss his newest book, “America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy.” Having served as deputy secretary of state and U.S. trade representative throughout his career, Zoellick […] The post A Diagnosis of America’s Foreign Policy appeared first on McCain Institute.

In the first edition of the McCain Institute’s Authors & Insights event series, former World Bank President Robert Zoellick joined Ambassador Mark Green to discuss his newest book, “America in the World: A History of U.S. Diplomacy and Foreign Policy.” Having served as deputy secretary of state and U.S. trade representative throughout his career, Zoellick […] The post A Diagnosis of America’s Foreign Policy appeared first on McCain Institute.

ABOUT THE EPISODE In this two-part episode, two ambassadors weigh in on the how and “so what” of the U.S. and Vietnam putting aside their post-war differences to normalize diplomatic relations 25 years ago on July 11. In Part One, Ted Osius, United States ambassador to Vietnam from 2014 to 2017, shares what it was […] The post Part II: Partnership ventured, what’s been gained? 25 years of US-Vietnam normalized relations appeared first on McCain Institute.

ABOUT THE EPISODE In this two-part episode, two ambassadors weigh in on the how and “so what” of the U.S. and Vietnam putting aside their post-war differences to normalize diplomatic relations 25 years ago on July 11. In Part One, Ted Osius, United States ambassador to Vietnam from 2014 to 2017, shares what it was […] The post Part II: Partnership ventured, what’s been gained? 25 years of US-Vietnam normalized relations appeared first on McCain Institute.

ABOUT THE EPISODE In this two-part episode, two ambassadors weigh in on the how and “so what” of the U.S. and Vietnam putting aside their post-war differences to normalize diplomatic relations 25 years ago on July 11. In Part One, Ted Osius, United States ambassador to Vietnam from 2014 to 2017, shares what it was […] The post Partnership ventured, what’s been gained? 25 years of US-Vietnam normalized relations appeared first on McCain Institute.

ABOUT THE EPISODE In this two-part episode, two ambassadors weigh in on the how and “so what” of the U.S. and Vietnam putting aside their post-war differences to normalize diplomatic relations 25 years ago on July 11. In Part One, Ted Osius, United States ambassador to Vietnam from 2014 to 2017, shares what it was […] The post Partnership ventured, what’s been gained? 25 years of US-Vietnam normalized relations appeared first on McCain Institute.

ABOUT THE EPISODE Senator John McCain suffered much of what the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and Other Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – adopted June 26, 1987 – bans as a prisoner of war and victim of torture. Ten years later, this date was established as the annual International Day in Support of Victims […] The post Is Torture Ever Justified? appeared first on McCain Institute.

ABOUT THE EPISODE Senator John McCain suffered much of what the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and Other Cruel or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – adopted June 26, 1987 – bans as a prisoner of war and victim of torture. Ten years later, this date was established as the annual International Day in Support of Victims […] The post Is Torture Ever Justified? appeared first on McCain Institute.

About the episode Mike Gallagher is a 2nd term U.S. Congressman representing the Green Bay area of Wisconsin.  He’s a former Marine Officer and decorated Iraq War veteran who has become a leading voice in foreign policy, on China in particular.  He’s a Princeton graduate with a doctorate in international relations from Georgetown. He joins […] The post A new proposal to stand with Hong Kong’s democracy activists: A conversation with Rep. Mike Gallagher appeared first on McCain Institute.

About the episode Mike Gallagher is a 2nd term U.S. Congressman representing the Green Bay area of Wisconsin.  He’s a former Marine Officer and decorated Iraq War veteran who has become a leading voice in foreign policy, on China in particular.  He’s a Princeton graduate with a doctorate in international relations from Georgetown. He joins […] The post A new proposal to stand with Hong Kong’s democracy activists: A conversation with Rep. Mike Gallagher appeared first on McCain Institute.

A Bond special, not with James but Bruce, hear how this top tech exec turned non-profit CEO advances mitigating incivility & polarization as the solution to fighting the coronavirus and seeking common ground to heal our democracy. For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes or Soundcloud. The post Is Common Ground even shakier in the Age of the Coronavirus? appeared first on McCain Institute.

A Bond special, not with James but Bruce, hear how this top tech exec turned non-profit CEO advances mitigating incivility & polarization as the solution to fighting the coronavirus and seeking common ground to heal our democracy. For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes or Soundcloud. The post In The Arena – Episode 46: Bruce Bond appeared first on McCain Institute.

Successfully Fighting COVID-19: Health Minister of Latvia and McCain Institute Next Generation Leader Ilze Vinkele shares her leadership approach to stemming the pandemic in this eastern European country with a population the size of Nebraska, but suffering far fewer cases and fatalities. Note: This episode was recorded on April 24. Ilze is also a McCain […] The post This Country Is Getting Their COVID Response Right appeared first on McCain Institute.

Successfully Fighting COVID-19: Health Minister of Latvia and McCain Institute Next Generation Leader Ilze Vinkele shares her leadership approach to stemming the pandemic in this eastern European country with a population the size of Nebraska, but suffering far fewer cases and fatalities. Note: This episode was recorded on April 24. Ilze is also a McCain […] The post In The Arena – Episode 45: Successfully Fighting COVID-19: Health Minister of Latvia Ilze Vinkele appeared first on McCain Institute.

In The Arena teamed up with three other leading podcasts from the Democracy Group Network for this special episode tracing the coronavirus’ effect on civic engagement, human rights and global response. For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes or Soundcloud. The post In The Arena – Special Episode: The Democracy Group appeared first on McCain Institute.

In The Arena teamed up with three other leading podcasts from the Democracy Group Network for this special episode tracing the coronavirus’ effect on civic engagement, human rights and global response. For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes or Soundcloud. The post In The Arena – Special Episode: The Democracy Group appeared first on McCain Institute.

Peter Copeland, heralded former Washington bureau chief and global correspondent, opens up about what it takes to produce quality journalism.  [recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic] For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes or Soundcloud. The post Freedom pressed as a Global Correspondent and Bureau Chief appeared first on McCain Institute.

Peter Copeland, heralded former Washington bureau chief and global correspondent, opens up about what it takes to produce quality journalism.  [recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic] For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes or Soundcloud. The post In The Arena – Episode 44: Peter Copeland appeared first on McCain Institute.

Colonel Chris Karns, Director of Public Affairs for U.S. Africa Command, provides a mission update and explains how more engagement (not less) is key for U.S. national security and the progress of our African partners. For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud or YouTube. The post What Are The U.S. Military’s Goals and Capabilities in Africa? appeared first on McCain Institute.

Colonel Chris Karns, Director of Public Affairs for U.S. Africa Command, provides a mission update and explains how more engagement (not less) is key for U.S. national security and the progress of our African partners. For more candid conversations on the “In The Arena” podcast, please subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud or YouTube. The post In The Arena – Episode 43: Col. Chris Karns, Director of U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs appeared first on McCain Institute.