Podcasts about kissinger center

William Inboden is Professor and Director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, and Peterson Senior Fellow with the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.  He joins Adam in a discussion centering around his latest book“The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan in the White House and the World.”Inboden's masterly book provides a definitive account of  Reagan's strategic approach to diplomacy, his nuanced statecraft, and the impact of his decisions on the global stage. This compelling book is a must read especially for its analysis of Reagan's policies of peace through strength. An examination of Reagan's military buildup and tough rhetoric towards the Soviet Union are central to Reagan's legacy, but Inboden goes beyond the surface to explore how Reagan the “cowboy” became Reagan the diplomat,  and emerged as arguably the most consequential 20th century president next to FDR.Thanks for helping us save democracy one episode at a time! Join the Dirty Moderate Nation on Substack! Tell us what you think on Twitter! Check out our YouTube channel! Are you registered to VOTE?

Iskander Rehman, Ax:son Johnson Fellow at SAIS's Kissinger Center and author of Planning for Protraction: A Historically Informed Approach to Great-power War and Sino-US Competition, joins the show to talk about how future wars might be more a test of national endurance than expected. ▪️ Times      •    01:56 Introduction      •    04:01 Sharp and short wars     •    09:07 After the first salvo     •    12:33 Geography as a predictor     •    15:21 Will nuclear deterrence work?     •    21:16 “An informationized local war”     •    25:13 What matters in protracted wars     •    28:59 Innovation and adaptation     •    33:51 The role of national leadership in protracted conflict     •    38:49 Sino-U.S. competition      •    44:50 Absorbing massive casualties     •    48:06 Polybius Follow along  on Instagram Find a transcript of today's episode on our School of War Substack  

Iskander Rehman, Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Kissinger Center at Johns Hopkins SAIS and contributor to New Makers of Modern Strategy, joins the show to talk about French grand strategy during the 16th and 17th century rivalry between the Bourbons and Habsburg Spain.  ▪️ Times      •    02:41 Introduction      •    04:35 A nagging curiosity       •    06:59 Sully at the start      •    13:27 The genesis of a struggle     •    21:19 French internal cohesion      •    26:51 Naval power     •    29:28 Religious factions and Richelieu     •    32:14 The 30 Years War and France     •    36:22 The fruits of disorder     •    41:44 Defender of the faith     •    44:41 Mazarin      •    49:48 Hegemonic France     •    53:56 Rapid-fire lessons Follow along on Instagram

How can the lessons of history be applied to the present? What are the benefits of taking the long view?  In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by the scholars Robert Crowcroft, editor of Applied History and Contemporary Policymaking: School of Statecraft, Phillip Bobbitt of the University of Texas, Iskander Rehman, an Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and Gill Bennett, former Chief Historian of the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Image: The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. Credit: Artimages / Alamy Stock Photo.

How can the lessons of history be applied to the present? What are the benefits of taking the long view? In this episode of Worldview, Adam Boulton is joined by the scholars Robert Crowcroft, editor of Applied History and Contemporary Policymaking: School of Statecraft, Phillip Bobbitt of the University of Texas, Iskander Rehman, an Ax:son Johnson Fellow at the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and Gill Bennett, former Chief Historian of the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Image: The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull. Credit: Artimages / Alamy Stock Photo.

This episode is the second part of a conversation between four people who knew the late Robert Jervis well: Francis Gavin of the Kissinger Center and chair of the editorial board of the Texas National Security Review; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl; Mira Rapp-Hooper, a member of the National Security Council staff, where she is responsible for an array of Indo-Pacific issues; and Derek Chollet, the counselor of the State Department. Do not miss the first episode! The views expressed here, of course, are personal and not those of the U.S. government.

Many of those who follow War on the Rocks and the Texas National Security Review mourned the passing of Robert Jervis, the towering scholar of international relations who defined a field and mentored generations of scholars and policymakers. Four of his close friends, colleagues, and protégés sat down to remember his legacy, his intellectual contributions, and his kindness. It is a fascinating discussion that touches on a variety of important issues related to international security. This episode, which is the first of two parts, is hosted by Francis Gavin of the Kissinger Center and chair of the editorial board of the Texas National Security Review. He is joined by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl; Mira Rapp-Hooper, a member of the staff of the National Security Council, where she is responsible for an array of Indo-Pacific issues; and Derek Chollet, the counselor of the State Department. The views expressed here, of course, are personal and not those of the U.S. government.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we hear from Professor Jane Vaynman, author of "Better Monitoring and Better Spying: The Impact of Emerging Technology on Arms Control," which appears in Vol. 4/Iss. 4 of the Texas National Security Review, a special issue dedicated to the memory and legacy of Janne Nolan. Vaynman explores how advances in the technology of drones, small satellites, artificial intelligence, and additive manufacturing may impact the future of arms control agreements and verification.  This article was the winner of the Janne Nolan prize competition, sponsored by the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies as part of the Future Strategy Forum. 

Ms. Rachel Tecott spoke with the winners of the Kissinger Center's Janne Nolan Prize competition, Dr. Jane Vaynman, Dr. John Emery, and Ms. Saher Naumaan at the 2021 Future Strategy Forum. The panel discussed their winning essays that covered topics ranging from emerging technology to political-military war gaming, and surveillance issues in the modern era.

Ms. Rachel Tecott spoke with the winners of the Kissinger Center's Janne Nolan Prize competition, Dr. Jane Vaynman, Dr. John Emery, and Ms. Saher Naumaan at the 2021 Future Strategy Forum. The panel discussed their winning essays that covered topics ranging from emerging technology to political-military war gaming, and surveillance issues in the modern era.

Thursday, April 15, 2021 Hoover Institution, Stanford University   The Hoover Institution hosts The United States, China, and Taiwan—A Strategy to Prevent War on Thursday, April 15 from 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. PT. On behalf of its projects on China’s Global Sharp Power and on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, and its National Security Task Force, the Hoover Institution invites you to The United States, China, and Taiwan—A Strategy to Prevent War. Robert Blackwill and Philip Zelikow introduce their recent report on the growing danger of war between China and the United States over Taiwan and propose a new US strategy to prevent it. Following their presentation, Hoover Institution fellows General James Mattis (ret.) and Admiral James Ellis (ret.) will offer remarks. The program will conclude with audience questions. Featuring Robert D. Blackwill, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations, and Philip D. Zelikow, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and White Burkett Miller Professor of History and J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance, Miller Center, University of Virginia. Followed by remarks from Admiral James O. Ellis Jr. (ret), Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, and General James Mattis (ret), Davies Family Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution. Moderated by Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Robert D. Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Diller–von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His current work focuses on US foreign policy writ large as well as on China, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and geoeconomics. As deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush, Blackwill was responsible for governmentwide policy planning to help develop and coordinate the mid- and long-term direction of US foreign policy. He also served as presidential envoy to Iraq. Blackwill went to the National Security Council after serving as the US ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003. He is the recipient of the 2007 Bridge-Builder Award for his role in transforming US-India relations. In 2016 he became the first US ambassador to India since John Kenneth Galbraith to receive the Padma Bhushan Award from the government of India for distinguished service of a high order. Philip Zelikow is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and the White Burkett Miller Professor of History and J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the Miller Center, both University of Virginia, where he has also served as dean of the graduate school and director of the Miller Center. His scholarly work has focused on critical episodes in American and world history. He was a trial and appellate lawyer and then a career diplomat before taking academic positions at Harvard, then Virginia. Before and during his academic career, he has served at all levels of American government. His federal service during five administrations has included positions in the White House, State Department, and the Pentagon. His last full-time government position was as counselor of the Department of State, a deputy to Secretary Condoleezza Rice. Mr. Zelikow is one of the few individuals ever to serve on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board under presidents of both major parties, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He has also been a member of the Defense Policy Board for Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and a member of the board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2020, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy. James O. Ellis Jr. is an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, focusing on energy and national security policies. In 2004, Admiral Ellis completed his 39-year US Navy career as commander of US Strategic Command. His service included carrier-based tours with three fighter squadrons and command of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. He has two graduate engineering degrees, is a graduate of the Navy Nuclear Power Training Program, and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. From 2005 to 2012, he led the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, during the Fukushima response. General James Mattis, US Marine Corps (ret.), is the Hoover Institution's Davies Family Distinguished Fellow, after having served as the nation’s 26th Secretary of Defense. He served for over 40 years in the US Marine Corps as an infantry officer, plus duty in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as NATO supreme allied commander, and as commander of US Central Command, directing 250,000 US and allied troops in combat across the Middle East and South Asia. Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He chairs the Hoover Institution's projects on China’s Global Sharp Power and on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region. He has authored or edited more than fifty books on democracy, including his recent Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency. During 2017–18, he cochaired, with Orville Schell, a Hoover Institution–Asia Society working group, which produced the report China’s Influence and American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance.

Nuclear Weapons are the most destructive invention ever created in human society but they only have been used twice in armed conflict. The global threat of these weapons has only deepened in the following decades as more advanced weapons, aggressive strategies, and new nuclear powers emerged. We explore how the Cold War initially shaped the policies regarding Nuclear Weapons as well as the Nuclear era after the Cold War. To help explain we interview Dr. Francis Gavin who is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In 2013, he was appointed the first Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies and Professor of Political Science at MIT. Before joining MIT, he was the Tom Slick Professor of International Affairs and the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas. He has written numerous books including Nuclear Statecraft: History and Strategy in America's Atomic Age and Nuclear Weapons and American Grand Strategy.

We are witnessing massive policy responses of historic proportions. The fiscal and monetary reaction to the COVID-19 shut down of economies around the world has been unprecedented in its size and speed. How effective will it be and who stands to benefit from the stimulus? Who is at most risk of being left behind? We have measured answers from a major player in resolving the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago. John Lipsky, who was the First Deputy Managing Director at the IMF from 2006-2011 during the height of the crisis joins us with his in-depth analysis of the policy response then and now and perspective on current risks. He raises serious concerns about the economic health of southern Europe, Italy in particular and emerging market countries as well. It’s a heads up for the international exposure of our portfolios. John Lipsky Former Acting Managing Director, International Monetary Fund Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies: - Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs - Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Institute WEALTHTRACK #1643 published April 24, 2020 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wealthtrack/support

In this podcast, Ambassador Robert Blackwill sits down with NCUSCR President Steve Orlins to discuss his recent report, "Implementing Grand Strategy Toward China: Twenty-Two U.S. Policy Prescriptions," published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in January, 2020. Ambassador Blackwill shares how his report has been received by both critics and proponents of engagement with China, and expands on his analysis of China's increasingly assertive international presence. On February 13, 2020, Ambassador Blackwill presented his report during a program at the National Committee. The full video can be found at www.ncuscr.video/ambblackwill. Ambassador Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Ambassador Blackwill was deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush; he also served as presidential envoy to Iraq. Dr. Blackwill went to the National Security Council (NSC) after serving as the U.S. ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003

In this podcast, Ambassador Robert Blackwill sits down with NCUSCR President Steve Orlins to discuss his recent report, "Implementing Grand Strategy Toward China: Twenty-Two U.S. Policy Prescriptions," published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in January 2020. Ambassador Blackwill shares how his report has been received by both critics and proponents of engagement with China, and expands on his analysis of China's increasingly assertive international presence.   On February 13, 2020, Ambassador Blackwill presented his report during a program at the National Committee. The full video can be found at www.ncuscr.video/ambblackwill.   Ambassador Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.   Ambassador Blackwill was deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush; he also served as presidential envoy to Iraq. Dr. Blackwill joined the National Security Council after serving as the U.S. ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003.

Over the past few years, China has lost some of the key constituents that have supported constructive U.S.-China relations in recent decades, from the business sector to the academic field. As China has grown stronger economically, politically, and militarily, its increasingly muscular foreign policy has given many Americans pause. On February 13, the National Committee held a program with Ambassador Robert Blackwill during which he discussed how the United States should respond, as per the twenty-two policy prescriptions that form his proposed "Grand Strategy Toward China." The program was based on Blackwill's report of the same name, published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in January 2020. Robert Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR and the Diller–von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Ambassador Blackwill was deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush; he also served as presidential envoy to Iraq. Dr. Blackwill joined to the National Security Council (NSC) after serving as the U.S. ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003.

This past weekend, pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong won what the New York Times characterized as a “stunning victory” in local elections.   Not only did a record number of voters turnout, something widely seen as a referendum on the ongoing anti-Beijing protests, but pro-democracy forces won 389 of 452 parliamentary seats. That's more than triple their previous total. Meanwhile, pro-Beijing forces saw their total seats collapse, from more than 300 to just 58.  Now the obvious question is: How will Xi Jinping and his Communist cadres respond to this unmistakable show of support for the protestors that have given them so much trouble for so long?  The most likely answer is “not well.” Beijing's proxies in Hong Kong have already stepped up their use of force against protestors. A week ago, police stormed the campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, using water cannons, tear gas, and beanbag rounds against what it dubbed “coldblooded rioters.”   After, the police superintendent made it clear that using “real bullets” was not off the table.  These election results make those “real bullets” even more likely.   Here's why. Despite everything we hear about China's ascendancy, China is a lot weaker than it appears, especially economically. China's economic growth has already slowed to “its slowest pace in nearly three decades of modern record-keeping.” And all indicators suggest that the slowdown will only continue. As one commentator put it, “Its labor force is shrinking, and the country is already full of roads, rails and factories, limiting potential new investment.”  The shrinking labor force, which has even forced the Chinese government to reduce the size of its military, is largely due to three decades of China's disastrous “one-child policy.” And, given the dramatic gender imbalance caused by the policy, the consequences of this very bad idea will continue for generations to come. Additionally, many scholars are suggesting China's economic boom wasn't as miraculous as everyone once assumed. In fact, China now faces what Dinny McMahon (formerly of the Kissinger Center on China) has dubbed a “Great Wall of Debt.” All of this is very bad news for the Communist Party, who's source of legitimacy, as we've talked about before on BreakPoint, has been economic growth. For the past forty years, the Chinese people have been asked to trade certain freedoms for increasing prosperity. That trade-off has preserved a measure of social order, but it's a fragile balance that is sure to collapse if that prosperity goes away. It's no coincidence that Xi Jinping's cult of personality and crackdown on religious freedom took off around the same time that China's economy began to slow.  At the same time, a renewed call to Chinese nationalism has not only effectively distracted the population from the country's growing economic worries, it's become the useful and effective pretext for discrediting Hong Kong protestors over in the mainland. And, of course, the state-run Chinese media is tirelessly advancing the narrative that the protesters are tools of western nations who only seek to weaken China and prevent it from taking its rightful place on the world stage.  All of this makes a more forceful intervention by China in Hong Kong almost inevitable. Beijing will not sit idly by as its authority is challenged.   So, what can we do? The most obvious answer is “pray.” As I've told you, so much of the Christian activity in China flows through Hong Kong. In a sense, any assault on Hong Kong is part of the larger war on Chinese Christianity.   We should also insist that the fate of Hong Kong's democratic movement become a priority in our foreign policy. I realize how difficult that seems especially given our current trade war, but there can be no “business as usual” with a regime that threatens real bullets against people demanding legitimate freedoms.    

The Assad regime has been in power in Syria since 1970. For many analysts, the Syrian state could not exist without the regime, and the regime could not exist without the leadership of the Assad family. However, there still is a debate whether an alternative power to the Assad family could run the Syrian state, in a hypothetical transition period from Bashar al-Assad's rule. Alexander Bick, Research Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Faysal Itani, a nonresident senior fellow with the Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, and Kaleigh Thomas, the Research Associate for the Middle East Security Program at CNAS, join Nicholas Heras to discuss.

Ambassador Susan Rice joined the CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power program and the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs for a keynote discussion at the Future Strategy Forum conference on April 2, 2019. She sat down with Dr. Kath Hicks for a conversation on her career path and her insights on the current and future use of statecraft in the world.

Ambassador Susan Rice joined the CSIS Smart Women, Smart Power program and the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs for a keynote discussion at the Future Strategy Forum conference on April 2, 2019. She sat down with Dr. Kath Hicks for a conversation on her career path and her insights on the current and future use of statecraft in the world.

We tend to think about 'strategic leaders' as people who were successful.... But to me, it is the content of their goals that matter. WAR ROOM welcomes Dr. Sarah Sewall, former Undersecretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights under the Obama administration and the inaugural Deputy Assistance Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement Policy. Dr. Sewell was a guest speaker at the U.S. Army War College's annual Strategy Conference, which explored Strategic Leadership in 2030. In this interview with WAR ROOM Social Media Editor Buck Haberichter, Dr. Sewell provides her perspectives on those traits that separate the great strategic leaders from others, and in the process dispels some popular misconceptions about what it means to be a great strategic leader.     Dr. Sarah Sewall is the Speyer Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar | Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs. Buck Haberichter is the Social Media Editor for WAR ROOM. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense. Image: Print showing Abraham Lincoln, standing on stage before a ground of people, delivering his address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, November 19, 1863. Image Credit: Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons (public domain) Other Releases in the 'Leader Perspectives' series: A TRANSATLANTIC PERSPECTIVE ON NATO (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)OBSERVATIONS FROM NATO’S NORTHERN FRONT (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)ALLIES ARE MORE THAN FRIENDS (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)THE CHALLENGES OF KEEPING SPACE SECURE (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)TENSIONS AND PARADOXES FACING SENIOR LEADERS (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)LEADING AND WINNING IN GREAT POWER COMPETITION (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP THROUGH THE CLASSICS (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)WHAT IT TAKES FOR COLONELS TO BE SUCCESSFUL (LEADER PERSPECTIVES)BALANCING BETWEEN CIVILIAN LIFE AND SERVICE IN THE NATIONAL GUARD“WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE” — AND OTHER CAUTIONARY TALES FOR LEADERSWHEN THE MILITARY IS NOT IN CHARGE: DEFENSE SUPPORT TO CIVIL AUTHORITIESWHAT DOES ‘SUCCESS’ MEAN AS A STRATEGIC LEADER?STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND CHANGING THE US ARMY IN EUROPETHE CHALLENGES OF SENIOR LEADER COMMUNICATIONTHE SENIOR NCO AS A STRATEGIC LEADERSTRATEGIC LEADERSHIP FROM AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVEWHAT DO THE BRITS THINK OF AMERICAN OFFICERS?PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP — GEN. ROBIN RAND, U.S. AIR FORCE GLOBAL STRIKE COMMANDGROWING AFRICAN PEACEKEEPING CAPACITY

Recently, two enterprising young scholars spearheaded a major conference that ended up being sponsored and hosted by CSIS and the Kissinger Center at SAIS. The topic was the future of force and it will hopefully be the first in a series under a program called the Future of Strategy Forum that aims to feature women doing important work in national and international security. At the end of this day long event, Usha Sahay and Ryan Evans sat down with the people responsible for making it happen -- Sara Plana, Rachel Tecott, Alex Bick, Alice Friend, and Kath Hicks. We had a fascinating conversation about how this conference came to be, the challenges of gender diversity, and -- of course -- the future of force.   Produced by Tre Hester 

American foreign policy is in a state of upheaval. The rise of Donald Trump and his "America First" platform have created more uncertainty about America's role in the world than at any time in recent decades. From the South China Sea, to the Middle East, to the Baltics and Eastern Europe, the geopolitical challenges to U.S. power and influence seem increasingly severe―and America's responses to those challenges seem increasingly unsure. Questions that once had widely accepted answers are now up for debate. What role should the United States play in the world? Can, and should, America continue to pursue an engaged an assertive strategy in global affairs?In this book, a leading scholar of grand strategy helps to make sense of the headlines and the upheaval by providing sharp yet nuanced assessments of the most critical issues in American grand strategy today. Hal Brands asks, and answers, such questions as: Has America really blundered aimlessly in the world since the end of the Cold War, or has its grand strategy actually been mostly sensible and effective? Is America in terminal decline, or can it maintain its edge in a harsher and more competitive environment? Did the Obama administration pursue a policy of disastrous retrenchment, or did it execute a shrewd grand strategy focused on maximizing U.S. power for the long term? Does Donald Trump's presidency mean that American internationalism is dead? What type of grand strategy might America pursue in the age of Trump and after? What would happen if the United States radically pulled back from the world, as many leading academics―and, at certain moments, the current president―have advocated? How much military power does America need in the current international environment?Grappling with these kinds of issues is essential to understanding the state of America's foreign relations today and what path the country might take in the years ahead. Join us to discuss American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump with author Hal Brands and Lester Munson of the BGR Group.Featuring: Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, John Hopkins School of Advanced International StudiesLester Munson, Principal, Government Affairs, BGR Group Teleforum calls are open to all dues paying members of the Federalist Society. To become a member, sign up here. As a member, you should receive email announcements of upcoming Teleforum calls which contain the conference call phone number. If you are not receiving those email announcements, please contact us at 202-822-8138.

American foreign policy is in a state of upheaval. The rise of Donald Trump and his "America First" platform have created more uncertainty about America's role in the world than at any time in recent decades. From the South China Sea, to the Middle East, to the Baltics and Eastern Europe, the geopolitical challenges to U.S. power and influence seem increasingly severe―and America's responses to those challenges seem increasingly unsure. Questions that once had widely accepted answers are now up for debate. What role should the United States play in the world? Can, and should, America continue to pursue an engaged an assertive strategy in global affairs?In this book, a leading scholar of grand strategy helps to make sense of the headlines and the upheaval by providing sharp yet nuanced assessments of the most critical issues in American grand strategy today. Hal Brands asks, and answers, such questions as: Has America really blundered aimlessly in the world since the end of the Cold War, or has its grand strategy actually been mostly sensible and effective? Is America in terminal decline, or can it maintain its edge in a harsher and more competitive environment? Did the Obama administration pursue a policy of disastrous retrenchment, or did it execute a shrewd grand strategy focused on maximizing U.S. power for the long term? Does Donald Trump's presidency mean that American internationalism is dead? What type of grand strategy might America pursue in the age of Trump and after? What would happen if the United States radically pulled back from the world, as many leading academics―and, at certain moments, the current president―have advocated? How much military power does America need in the current international environment?Grappling with these kinds of issues is essential to understanding the state of America's foreign relations today and what path the country might take in the years ahead. Join us to discuss American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump with author Hal Brands and Lester Munson of the BGR Group.Featuring: Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, John Hopkins School of Advanced International StudiesLester Munson, Principal, Government Affairs, BGR Group Teleforum calls are open to all dues paying members of the Federalist Society. To become a member, sign up here. As a member, you should receive email announcements of upcoming Teleforum calls which contain the conference call phone number. If you are not receiving those email announcements, please contact us at 202-822-8138.

How did President Barack Obama leave America's strategic position when he left office? How is President Donald Trump doing so far? What is the role of the historian in sorting through these questions? Hal Brands and Francis Gavin — both of the Kissinger Center at SAIS — join Ryan Evans to debate these questions and many more over beers and through the lens of Hal's new book, American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump. 

"The blob" — an unflattering nickname for the U.S. foreign policy establishment coined by a senior Obama official — gets a bad rap these days. From Obama to Trump, Washington's foreign policy elite are blamed for being too hawkish, relying on tired conventional wisdom, and generally weakening America's foreign policy position. In this episode, two members of the blob (along with a mystery guest) push back...over drinks, of course. Listen to Jim Steinberg, a former Deputy Secretary of the State Dept, and Frank Gavin, the director of the Kissinger Center at SAIS, defend the blob. Their argument? You don't know how good you have it. As a bonus, we also nerd out on George Kennan a bit. Produced by Tre Hester

What big think books on strategy in history should you add to you shelf this summer? Our editor-in-chief, Ryan Evans, sat down with two authors of two of his favorite books this year. First, he spoke to Hal Brands, author of the new book Making the Unipolar Moment: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Rise of the Post-Cold War Order (Cornell). Hal has just taken up a professorship at the Kissinger Center at the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Next, Ryan sat down with John Bew of the King's College London War Studies Department, author of Realpolitik: A History (Oxford), and interviewed him with the help of Iskander Rehman of the Brookings Institution, who reviewed John's book. (As a teaser for some of our nerdier listeners out there, I tempt Iskander and John into attacking American political science near the end.) Hal's book tells the story of how America understood (and often misunderstood) its own power from the 1970s through the end of the Cold War, taking us through the Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations. In Realpolitik, John tells the story of this often misused word from its origins in 19th century Germany all the way through the Obama administration. Both books are sweeping, engaging, original, and readable. Have a listen!