On the Record

Ray Takeyh, Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle East Studies, and Craig McNamara, founder of Sierra Orchards and son of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, discuss the legacy of Robert McNamara and the Vietnam War.

With the planet warming at an alarming pace, there are currently three main approaches to managing risks from the changing climate: reducing emissions, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and adapting to build resilience and minimize the effects of the increase in temperature. CFR senior fellow Stewart Patrick discusses on a potential fourth approach, known as solar geoengineering, that reflects sunlight back into space to reduce rising temperatures on Earth. Drawing on findings and recommendations from a recent Council Special Report Reflecting Sunlight to Reduce Climate Risk: Priorities for Research and International Cooperation, Patrick also discusses the need for strong international cooperation to determine the feasibility and potential consequences of sunlight reflection, to ensure collective decision making regarding any deployment of such techniques, and to manage the geopolitical risks of this untested enterprise.

A panel of journalists who have recently spent time covering the war in Ukraine discusses the situation on the ground there and in the surrounding region, and policy considerations for the United States and NATO allies.

Our panelists discussed the Biden administration’s ongoing negotiations to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) following the Trump administration’s 2018 withdrawal, and the role of other actors in the negotiation process, including Russia and Israel.

Our panelists discussed the current situation in and regarding Ukraine, the goals of NATO, Russia, and Ukraine, and alternative futures.

U.S. Representative Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, discusses the future of U.S. foreign policy and defense priorities, congressional initiatives designed to strengthen U.S. national security, and the implications of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion.

Welcome to a new series that spotlights individuals within the Stephen M. Kellen Term Member Program. Drawing on the enormous amount of talent and expertise within the Council’s Term Member Program, this series features a term member in conversation with a fellow term member discussing their career path, how they got to where they are, the challenges they have faced along the way, and the current work they are doing. We hope this regular series will provide an opportunity for Council term members to better engage and learn from one another, draw upon shared experiences within the group, and connect across geographies.

This installment in this series features third-year term member Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, senior advisor in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and major in the U.S. Army Reserve, in conversation with second-year term member Brian Mateo, associate dean of civic engagement for Bard College. For those of you who do not know her yet, Asha is a distinguished national security expert whose career includes serving as the Kuwait desk officer at U.S. Army Central, working on security cooperation with the Office of Military Cooperation and the Kuwait Ministry of Defense, and senior key leadership engagement officer for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Kuwait. During the Obama administration, Asha served at the U.S. Mission at the United Nations working peacekeeping operations in Africa. In 2020, Asha ran as a Democratic candidate for Congress in New York District 17. In addition to her work in government, she is a founder of Diversity in National Security Network, board member of Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation, and international strategy fellow with Schmidt Futures.