Fpri Events

Robert S. Litwak is vice president for scholars and director of international security studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He is also a consultant to the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Litwak served on the National Security Council staff as director for nonproliferation in the first Clinton administration. He was an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and has held visiting fellowships at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Oxford University. He is the author of Deterring Nuclear Terrorism, Iran’s Nuclear Chess: After the Deal, Outlier States: American Strategies to Contain, Engage, or Change Regimes, and the forthcoming Preventing North Korea’s Nuclear Breakout. Dr. Litwak is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and received a doctorate in international relations from the London School of Economi

Jeremy Black addresses the turmoil in Europe -- from Brexit to the rise of nationalist parties to Russian machinations in Ukraine. One of our most popular lecturers, Jeremy is the author of over 100 books on military and diplomatic history.

In this talk, Admiral Titley will explore the direct and indirect ways that climate change erodes U.S. national security and how the U.S. military plans to mitigate the risks associated with climate change. A professor of meteorology and founding director of the Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk at Penn State, Titley is a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Climate and Security. Prior to joining Penn State, Titley was chief operating officer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the chief oceanographer of the U.S. Navy, in which he served for 32 years. He initiated and led the U.S. Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change.

Clint Watts, an FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow, is a widely-consulted expert on radicalization, counter-radicalization, and the use of social media by terrorists and other criminal elements. A former FBI Special Agent, Watts is a regular on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, and has recently testified on Capitol Hill about the terrorist attacks in Europe and ISIS’ recruitment efforts. His essays and blogs appear regularly in Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, and Geopoliticus: The FPRI Blog.

On 23 June, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. The majority for “Brexit” (52% to 48%) surprised observers on both sides, and exposed geographical and generational divides in British society. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain, while Wales and England, voted to leave; voters over 60 voted overwhelmingly to leave, while voters under 35 voted as strongly to remain. The referendum also highlighted deep divisions within Britain’s ruling Conservative Party. Prime Minister David Cameron had hoped that simply holding the referendum would appease Tory Euroskeptics, but was so surprised by the vote for Brexit that he immediately announced his intention to resign. The opposition Labour Party proved equally divided, and only the stoutly Euroskeptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) celebrated the vote. Theresa May eventually emerged as the new Prime Minister, only the second woman to hold that position, and now faces the challenge of managing a delicate diplomatic dance which will inc

On May 20, Taiwan inaugurated a new president, Tsai Ing-wen, who has been described as the most powerful woman in the Chinese-speaking world. It was a historic election not just because Taiwan elected its first female president but because the opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party, won both the presidency and a majority in the Legislative Yuan. What does the new administration intend for Taiwan's future and for the future of cross-strait relations, how will China respond, and what role is there for the US to play to promote regional security?

In this briefing, FPRI Senior Fellow Paul Springer assessed the cyber capabilities of the United States and its peer competitors within the cyber domain, and contrast cyber war with cyber terrorism, cyber crime, cyber espionage, while offering insight into the likely future uses of capabilities particularly in the context of interstate conflict.

How do an Iraqi comic, an Algerian military recruitment video, and a musical sketch from the American TV show "Schoolhouse Rock" illuminate the defining challenge of Arab politics for a generation to come? From radicalism to reform, from post-colonial states to newly-minted caliphates – the Middle East’s contentious identity politics have both raised new challenges and revealed new opportunities. Using video footage from the region rarely seen outside the Middle East, Braude illuminates little-known but potentially significant developments that may give hope to a troubled region. Braude is a senior advisor to the Al Mesbar Center for Research and Studies, a reformist think tank in the UAE. He broadcasts weekly on Moroccan National Radio, and writes regularly for Arabic-language periodicals.

Japan remains the world’s third-largest economy, but its political clout has not matched its economic status. At the same time, China’s rapid militarization and growing political aspirations, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and heightening economic rivalries and growing nationalism in East Asia are reshaping the landscape of the Asia-Pacific. Japan’s security and economic policy choices will play a key role in shaping the future of the world’s most populous region. What is Japan’s likely trajectory? How will it impact the region? And what are the implications for the United States? To address these questions, we feature Shihoko Goto, a fellow of the Mansfield Foundation/Japan Foundation U.S.-Japan Network for the Future. Prior to joining the Wilson Center, she spent over ten years as a journalist writing about the international political economy with an emphasis on Asian markets. She is a former correspondent for Dow Jones News Service and United Press International based in Tokyo and Washington.

Amid growing evidence that the world is experiencing a resurgence of authoritarianism, FPRI Senior Fellow Michael Boyle argues that the challenge is actually two-fold: there is the challenge to democracy in individual countries but there is also a larger challenge to the international order largely built by the United States after the end of the Second World War. In a sobering essay in the current issue of Survival, published by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies, Boyle asks how should the United States respond to the emergence of an illiberal order? And how can it be “a more effective geopolitical competitor in the less hospitable, more violent world to come”?Michael Boyle is a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and an Associate Professor of Political Science at La Salle University. He was a lecturer in international relations at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he was also a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Viol

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, hear a gripping account by John Maurer of the decisions that led to war and grapple with the changing strategic environment between the summer of 1940 and December 1941. Maurer holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He is the author or editor of books examining the outbreak of the First World War, military interventions in the developing world, naval arms control between the two world wars, and a study about Winston Churchill’s views on British foreign policy and grand strategy. At the Naval War College, he teaches a popular elective course on Churchill and grand strategy. He has received both the U.S. Navy’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award and Superior Civilian Service Award.

Just back from a trip to Sulaimaniya in Iraqi Kurdistan, where he attended the “Suli Forum,” a significant annual meeting of regional and international stakeholders, as well as academic and policy experts, FPRI’s Sam Helfont was able to take the pulse of participants in conflicts and tensions in progress – between the Kurds and ISIS, the Kurds and the government of Iraq, and among the different factions of the Kurds themselves. The Kurds are perhaps the world’s largest ethnic group without its own nation-state. What does the future hold for the Kurds? For ISIS? And what can the United States do to move the region forward? Samuel Helfont is a Robert A. Fox Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania's interdisciplinary International Relations Program. In May 2015, he completed a PhD in Princeton University's Near Eastern Studies Department, where he used Iraqi state and Baa'th Party records to write a dissertation on religion and politics in Saddam Huss

In a special briefing for the World Affairs Council of Reading, FPRI's Ron Granieri delivered remarks on the state of Europe, the possibility of Brexit, and the response to the Migrant Crisis.

Why, if Russia is in decline, does Putin seem to be trumping the West? How do the latest events in Ukraine, Syria/Iraq, and Paris change the state of affairs between the US and Russia? What is Putin thinking? To answer these questions, we are pleased to feature Stephen Kotkin, a critically acclaimed historian of the Soviet Union and Russia, whose latest book, Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928, is much more than a biography, as it places Stalin in a larger geopolitical context. And it is through that same lens of geopolitics that we have asked Kotkin to assess Vladimir Putin. His essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, The Washington Post, and the Financial Times. He serves as a consultant on emerging markets and global trends for the World Pension Forum. He received his Ph.D. in history from UC/Berkeley.

A decade or more of sub-$60 oil prices will create both economic winners and losers in the Middle East and North Africa. However, accompanying political shocks have the potential of further destabilizing the entire region, including countries that are expected to gain from lower oil prices. Should the USA continue to engage in this increasingly troubled region and, if so, how? Or should the USA walk away? A retired Marine Corps Reserve colonel, Professor Gunter is the author of The Political Economy of Iraq: Restoring Balance in a Post-Conflict Society (2013), re-published in 2015 in Arabic. He was the Senior Civilian Economics Advisor for Multi-National Corps in Iraq.

Kermit Roosevelt III is the author of the legal thriller, Allegiance (Regan Arts, 2015), a historical novel published about the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II. This novel includes analysis of the classic case Korematsu v. the United States, in which the Supreme Court upheld Franklin Roosevelt’s executive order for internment, and explores the tensions between liberty and security, and between the courts and the powers of the presidency in wartime. Roosevelt’s novel lead us to discuss those same themes in the context of today’s war on terror.Kermit Roosevelt III is a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches constitutional law. He is great grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt and distant cousin of FDR. Allegiance is his second novel, following the publication of In the Shadow of Law. He is also author of The Myth of Judicial Activism.

February 24, 2016Main Line Breakfast BriefingVanessa Neumann, Senior Fellow, FPRIOnce the longest-running democracy in South America and a very important ally of the United States, Venezuela transformed under the rule of Hugo Chavez and subsequently his successor Nicholas Maduro. However, with the National Assembly Elections last December, the Venezuelan public produced an undeniable landslide for the opposition and a firm rejection of Chavismo. With the world’s largest proven oil reserves, what happens next in this country has important implications for the entire world. Will the opposition seek revenge on the Chavistas or use their powerful mandate to rebuild Venezuela’s gutted institutions? Will Maduro respond by setting up parallel institutions of government stocked with Chavistas, or go quietly into the night? To answer these questions and more, we are pleased to feature Vanessa Neumann, our “go-to” person on Venezuela.Dr. Neumann is an Associate of the University Seminar on Latin America at the School o

Drawing on his new book The al-Qaeda Franchise, Barak Mendelsohn explored al-Qaeda's branching-out strategy, whereby it introduced seven franchises spread over the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Although the introduction of these new branches helped al-Qaeda create a frightening image far beyond its actual capabilities, ultimately this strategy neither increased the al-Qaeda threat, nor enhanced the organization's political objectives. Was al-Qaeda's branching out strategy a sign of strength or a response to its decline in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks? Why has al-Qaeda formed branches in some arenas but not others? How has the rise of ISIS from an al-Qaeda branch changed the path of jihad, and what does the competition between the two movements mean for the future?

Geopolitics with GranieriFebruary 2, 2016Sam Helfont, an FPRI Robert A. Fox Fellow, has written a series of essays that explore the differences betweenIslam and Islamism, between Sunni and Shi’a Islam, and between the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and the theology of Wahhabism. Together these essays go far to correct widespread misperceptions about Islam. In this session, Ron Granieri explored with Sam Helfont what Americans think they know about Islam and what they should know.

Over the past decade and a half, al-Qaeda has adopted a branching-out strategy, introducing seven franchises spread over the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Although the introduction of these new branches helped al-Qaeda create a frightening image far beyond its actual capabilities, ultimately this strategy neither increased the al-Qaeda threat, nor enhanced the organization's political objectives. In fact, this strategy may have undermined one of al-Qaeda's primary achievements: the creation of a transnational entity based on religious, not national, affiliation. Was al-Qaeda's branching out strategy a sign of strength or a response to its decline in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks? Why has al-Qaeda formed branches in some arenas but not others? How has the rise of ISIS from an al-Qaeda branch to the dominant actor in the jihadi camp affected the parent organization’s ambitions?