Origins of the Palestine Mandate
The ongoing struggle over the area encompassing the Palestine Mandate created after the First World War is fueled by rival histories of the origins of the Mandate. This lecture delivered by Adam Garfinkle to FPRI’s Butcher History Institute in October attempts to set the historical record straight. Adam Garfinkle is Editor of The American Interest and a former speechwriter in the State Department.
https://www.fpri.org/articles/2014/11/origins-palestine-mandate.
Henry Kissinger Looks Back on the Cold War
Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger talks about many aspects of the Cold War with Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass in a wide-ranging interview. Kissinger discusses Stalin, the Berlin Airlift, detente, the opening to China, Vietnam, and many other topics.
http://www.cfr.org/united-states/henry-kissinger-looks-back-cold-war/p33741.
Disrupting ISIL’s Money Trail
David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, spoke at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in October about the U.S. and allied strategy to disrupt and undermine ISIL’s financial foundation.
http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/10/23/disrupting-isil-s-money-trail/hs2x
The Weakness of the West
The Right Honourable Dr. Liam Fox MP, Former Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the author of Rising Tides: Facing the Challenges of a New Era, spoke at the Heritage Foundation in September about the West’s apparent inability to formulate and implement a grand strategy to address the challenges posed by Russia in Eastern Europe and ISIL and Islamic terrorism throughout the world.
http://www.heritage.org/events/2014/09/liam-fox
Putin and Russian Power in the World: The Stalin Legacy
On December 1, Stephen Kotkin, Birkelund Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University, spoke at the Brookings Institution about the historical connection between Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s foreign policies and the legacy of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2014/12/01 putin and russian power stalin/20141201_putin_russia_stalin_transcript.pdf.
Charting the Navy’s Future in a Changing Maritime Domainâ
In November, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations, delivered an address to the Brookings Institution explaining the U.S. Navy’s role in the larger U.S. re-balance or pivot to the Asia-Pacific region. http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2014/11/04 greenert navy/20141104_admiral_greenert_navy_transcript.pdf.
The Case for Conservative Realism
Senator Rand Paul delivered a speech in New York in October at the Center for the National Interest’s Annual Dinner. Senator Paul, a possible candidate for the presidency in 2016, suggested core principles that should guide U.S. foreign policy, including the abandonment of nation-building and a focus on concrete strategic interests.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/rand-paul-the-case-conservative-realism-11544?page=show.
Reforming Peacekeeping in a Time of Conflict
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power spoke at the American Enterprise Institute about the important role that international peacekeeping efforts play in promoting stability and protecting U.S. national security. She called for reforms in UN peacekeeping efforts to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/141107-AEI-Samantha-Power.pdf.
Economics and Security in U.S. Foreign Policy
In October, former Ambassador Robert Zoellick addressed students at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island about the relationship between economics and U.S. national security. Economic power, he said, must be the foundation of U.S. foreign policy and national security policy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8V54qV3HUE&feature=youtu.be&list=UU9F18RmdfYvYjbMmRyFUdXw