FPRI Events

Existential enemies have a way of uniting a country. Could America's current state of division be related to the absence of such an enemy? In this talk, FPRI Senior Fellow Dominic Tierney takes an unorthodox look at America and the world, placing our current challenges in a larger historical perspective

In cooperation with UPenn's Center for East Asian Studies, the Foreign Policy Research Institute hosted a briefing on the situation in North Korea with Lt. General (Ret) In Bum Chun.

Chun served in the South Korean military for over 30 years, rising to several key posts, among them Deputy Chief of Staff for ROK/US Combined Forces Command, Senior Member of the United Nations Military Armistice Commission, Commander of the ROK Special Warfare Command, and Deputy Commander for the First ROK Army. He retired from the military in 2016 and is now a fellow at the Institute for Corean-American Studies (ICAS).

The Middle East is rife with conflict. States appear to be breaking down, and extremism is on the march. Amid the chaos, how is one to define the U.S. national interest, and how to secure it? Trudy Rubin, the authoritative voice of the Philadelphia Inquirer, brings her years of reporting from the region to bear on these questions and more.

The Kremlin has managed to deploy power so ruthlessly at home and abroad in part because of its surprising ability to muster economic resources. In this talk, Miller analyzes the secret to Putin’s success.

In the past, concerns raised by China's bad debt bubbles have triggered no alarms, in large part, because of its massive foreign exchange reserves and rapidly growing economy. Now, China's debts are higher than ever, while its reserves have fallen by $1 trillion and its economy slows. How could these major economic changes impact China's foreign policy choices? Are their implications already being felt today? And if so, what do they mean for China's international behavior -- will they turn the country inward or encourage it to become even more assertive?

Joining us to place these issues in the larger geopolitical perspective to assess China's future direction is Felix Chang. Chang is a Senior Fellow of FPRI and the Chief Strategy Officer of DecisionQ.

Confidence in the future of democracy has been shaken by the authoritarian resurgence of the past decade, and some now argue that it is not realistic for the US to continue to champion democracy abroad. Does Democracy Matter? provides the conclusions of eleven scholars from widely different backgrounds who ask whether and, if so, how the US should support democracy beyond its own borders. Although all of the authors agree that American strategic interests are better served in the long run by the consolidation and spread of democracy abroad, they differ sharply on how democracy support should fit into the overall US national security calculus, and on where and how, if at all, such assistance should be delivered.

On June 19, two of the book’s chapter authors will present their differing perspectives in the context of a new administration that seeks to “make America great again.” They will discuss their views on the impact that the health of democracy abroad has not only on our global position, but also on America’s security and prosperity at home.

The participants will discuss why consolidation and spread of democracy abroad is a core strategic interest for the US, and will examine whether and how it should be pursued even in the short term. One chapter author will present his views as to why “hard” security interests should virtually always take precedence over democracy concerns, at least in the short term. And the author of the book’s policy conclusions will sketch out a system of “triage” as part of his thesis that we need to develop more effective approaches to supporting democracy internationally.

This June we commemorate the Six Day War, a transformative event in the history of the Middle East that ended in Israel’s conquest of an area three-and-a-half times the size of Israel itself. Its effects were felt then and are still felt throughout the region, if not the world. In this talk, Neri Zilber considers the impact of the war on Israel’s domestic politics and how Israel’s political parties today are responding both to the consequences of the war and to the challenges Israel faces today.

Neri Zilber is a journalist and researcher on Middle Eastern politics and culture. His work has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the Washington Post, among others. In addition to reportage, Neri consults for the private sector on political and economic risk in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, and the broader Eastern Mediterranean. He was raised and educated in Israel, Singapore, Spain, and the United States.

Born as small appendages to the conventional armies of World War II, the Special Operations Forces have grown into a behemoth of 70,000 troops, including Navy SEALs, Army Special Forces, Air Force Night Stalkers, Special Operations Marines, Rangers, and Delta Force. Moyar’s book is the first comprehensive history of these special warriors and their daring missions. Moyar is author of several critically acclaimed books, among them, Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and A Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq (Yale University Press, 2009). His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and numerous other publications.

Iraq has been at the center of American foreign policy for over a quarter-century. Will it continue to dominate our attention and resources in the coming years as well? If so, how? Just as importantly, why? To answer these questions, we bring together two experts who have had some of the most unique and consequential experiences in Iraq over the past two decades.

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into World War I, we are pleased to feature Michael Neiberg on his latest book, analyzing how Americans moved from ambivalence toward the war in Europe to belligerence and beyond. He examines the social, political, and financial forces at work and the role of public opinion and popular culture, showing how all these factors contributed to the pivot toward war. His most recent books include: Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe (Basic Books, 2015); The Blood of Free Men: The Liberation of Paris, 1944 (Basic Books, 2012); and Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of War in 1914 (Harvard University Press, 2011).