Hoover Institution: Security by the Book

The Hoover Institution hosted "Privacy & Power: A Transatlantic Dialogue in the Shadow of the NSA-Affair" on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office discussed Privacy and Power: A Transatlantic Dialogue in the Shadow of the NSA-Affair. Benjamin Wittes (Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution), Russell Miller (professor of law at Washington & Lee University School of Law) and Prof. Ralf Poscher (professor of law at University of Freiberg) discussed fundamental differences in the way that Americans and Europeans approach the issues of privacy and intelligence-gathering.

Edward Snowden’s revelations of American intelligence-gathering and surveillance activities around the world stirred widespread resentment and dramatic law and policy responses in Europe. It is clear that there is almost nothing on which Americans and Europeans differ so dramatically as the questions of privacy and security. In dozens of contributions from leading commentators, scholars, and policymakers from both sides of the Atlantic, Privacy and Power definitively documents and critically engages with those differences. The book’s opening section acknowledges that Snowden’s revelations, and the startling glimpse they give us into the implications of our new big-data era, challenge us to reconsider our old notions of privacy. The book’s second section, featuring contributions from Benjamin Wittes (Brookings) and Anne Peters (Heidelberg Max Planck Institute), distills, embodies, and frames the transatlantic debate on these issues in these succinct terms: “Germany needs to grow up” and “American needs to obey the law”. The book’s third section consists in a collection of chapters from leading American and European privacy law experts that both substantiates the transatlantic divide and exposes the diversity of views within those spheres. A fourth section features commentary from experts on the supranational and international law implicated by these issues, thereby giving the European Union privacy and data-protection regimes the central role in the debate they are due. The book’s final section concludes with a collection of cultural commentary offering profound and challenging insights into the deeper causes of the American and European differences on these issues. (Playing time: 54:34)

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office held a discussion with author of The Way of Strangers, Graeme Wood. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes, along with Samuel Tadros, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviewed Wood, who discussed his definitive, electrifying account of the strategy, psychology, and theology driving the Islamic State.

The Hoover Institution hosts a discussion on "How America Lost its Secrets" with author Edward Epstein on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:0pm EST.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion with author of How America Lost its Secrets, Edward Epstein. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes will interview Epstein, who will discuss hacker turned avenging angel Edward Snowden while revealing the vulnerabilities of our national security system.

After details of American government surveillance were published in 2013, Edward Snowden, formerly a subcontracted IT analyst for the NSA, became the center of an international controversy: Was he a hero, traitor, whistle-blower, spy? Was his theft legitimized by the nature of the information he exposed? When is it necessary for governmental transparency to give way to subterfuge? Edward Jay Epstein brings a lifetime of journalistic and investigative acumen to bear on these and other questions, delving into both how our secrets were taken and the man who took them. He makes clear that by outsourcing parts of our security apparatus, the government has made classified information far more vulnerable; how Snowden sought employment precisely where he could most easily gain access to the most sensitive classified material; and how, though he claims to have acted to serve his country, Snowden is treated as a prized intelligence asset in Moscow, his new home.

The Hoover Institution hosted "The Drone Memos" on Monday, January 9, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, held a discussion with author of The Drone Memos, Jameel Jaffer. Hoover working group member and senior fellow, Jack Goldsmith interviewed Jaffer, who led the ACLU legal team that secured the release of many of the documents and evaluated the "drone memos" in light of domestic and international law. In an introductory essay, Jaffer provides an overview of the drone campaign and an analysis of some of the legal arguments underlying it. He also offers a first-hand account of lawsuits in which the ACLU and others challenged the targeted killing policies and the secrecy that surrounded them. He argues that Americans invested power in the presidency because they trusted President Obama, and that as a result President Trump will inherit sweeping authority that is not meaningfully constrained by law.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion with award-winning author Christopher Moran as he digs deep into the tumultuous relationship between the CIA and former agents who try to go public about their careers. Hoover working group member and senior fellow, Jack Goldsmith will interview Christopher Moran on his new book, Company Confessions.

Drawing on interviews; the private correspondence of such legendary spies as Allen Dulles, William Colby, and Richard Helms; and declassified CIA files, Company Confessions examines why America's spies are so willing to share their stories, the damage inflicted when they leak the nation's secrets, and the fine line between censorship on the grounds of security and censorship for the sake of reputation.

The Hoover Institution hosted "Soldiers on the Homefront: The Domestic Role of the American Military" on Monday, November 14, 2016 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.

The Hoover Institution's National Security, and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, held a discussion on the legal dynamics that shape the domestic role of the American military. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviewed author William C. Banks on his new book, Soldiers on the Homefront. America's military is uniquely able to save lives and restore order in situations that overwhelm civilian institutions. Yet the military has also been called in for more coercive duties at home. At a time when the military's domestic footprint is expanding, how will we establish best practices for military responses to future crises?

The Hoover Institution's National Security, and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion on the unique relationship between the President and the intelligence community. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Jack Goldsmith will interview author David Priess on his new book, The President's Book of Secrets. The interview will take an in depth look into the top-secret document known as the President's Daily Brief, or "the Book" as intelligence officials like to call it.

The Hoover Institution hosts "How Everything Became War And The Military Became Everything: Tales From The Pentagon" on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm.

Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviews author Rosa Brooks on her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. The interview takes a look at the growing lack of distinction between wartime and peacetime. A limited quantity of complimentary copies will be provided.

Security by the Book is a series of interviews of key national security authors conducted in partnership with Lawfare. Visit Security by the Book's website for past podcasts.

INTERVIEW WITH SPECIAL GUEST: Stephen Budiansky

Benjamin Wittes interviews author Stephen Budiansky on his new book, Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union. The interview takes a look at the NSA's origins, its war against the Soviet Union and how the war relates to the Edward Snowden revelations.

INTERVIEW WITH SPECIAL GUEST: Fred Kaplan

Benjamin Wittes interviews author Fred Kaplan on his new book, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War. The interview takes a look at the past, present, and future of cyber war.