International Security & Defense

We have the most solipsistic president in American history offering up the most solipsistic foreign policy ever at a time when the me-me-me generation are busy taking selfies and other pols the planet over are trying to play that self-centeredness to their advantage. Have we reached Peak Solipsism? And what does that mean for the international system. We discuss in honor of and in the context of this week’s meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York City with David Rothkopf in New York, Ambassador Nicholas Burns in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rosa Brooks in Washington, DC and Kori Schake in London, England.

Graham Allison (@GrahamTAllison), who is stepping down as the Director of the Belfer Center, a position he’s held for the past 22 years, takes a moment to talk with Aroop Mukharji (@aroopmukharji) about his new book “Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap.” Allison explains the big idea that is Thucydides’s Trap, what might spark war between America and China, and what he has in common with Queen Elizabeth II.

Former Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department and current Senior Adviser on the Iran Nuclear Negotiations, Jake Sullivan, delivered an address entitled "Headlines and Trendlines - the Obama Administration's Foreign Policy" and led a discussion with the Future of Diplomacy Faculty Director, R. Nicholas Burns, experts, students, and fellows on October 30. He examined President Obama's current foreign policy strategy and priorities as well as expectations for the remaining two years of the Obama presidency.

"As we consider our incredible range of urgent international and defense affairs — challenges with our deepest Intelligence Gathering secrets revealed, China, Russia, North Korea, Syria, Iran — all while coordinating a military exit from Afghanistan, a question: How much does Presidential Leadership matter?"

When Lee Kuan Yew speaks, who listens? Presidents, prime ministers, chief executives, and all who care about global strategy.

Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill, two leading strategic thinkers, asked Lee Kuan Yew the toughest questions that matter most to thoughtful Americans weighing the challenges of the next quarter century. The result is their new book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World – published today by MIT Press.

The actions of the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protests nearly split the Communist Party of China. Sarotte and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss internal party reactions to the event, how it affected relations between the US and China, and lessons the CCP may have learned from other Cold War-era governments.

The actions of the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protests nearly split the Communist Party of China.

Sarotte and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss internal party reactions to the event, how it affected relations between the U.S. and China, and lessons the CCP may have learned from other Cold War-era governments.