International Council Members Join in Lively Discussions of Critical Global Issues

Each spring, members of the Belfer Center’s International Council—an advisory board—convene for a day of off-the-record briefings and conversations on pressing policy challenges. At this year’s meeting, Council members enjoyed break-out sessions with Center experts, as well as opportunities to engage with current Harvard Kennedy School students.

In a spirited discussion on “Right-Sizing America’s Role in a Dangerous World,” Harvard Kennedy School Professor Stephen Walt and Belfer Center Senior Fellow Paula Dobriansky shared sometimes divergent views of what America’s role is and should be. And they kept the Council members engaged with their good-natured repartee and responses to the members’ thought-provoking questions and comments.

The Walt-Dobriansky session was one of nearly a dozen interactive panel discussions with Center scholars and experts during the two-day gathering of the Council in early May. Other equally dynamic sessions elicited debate and discussion on diplomacy, Mohammed bin Salman, grand strategy in Asia, cyber & AI, dilemmas of energy abundance, and the 2020 field of presidential candidates.

National Intelligence Director Dan Coats joined Center Director Ash Carter in opening the annual meeting with a conversation on U.S. intelligence and security.