Cold War 2.0? Power and Prudence: Lessons of the Cold War for the 21st Century

On Thursday, April 24^th and Friday, April 25^th, the Clements Center for National Security, the UT-Austin Department of History, and the America in the World Consortium hosted a conference that examined the history of the Cold War and its lessons for the nation’s future, titled “Cold War 2.0? Power and Prudence: Lessons of the Cold War for the 21st Century.” The conference was in Bass Lecture Hall at the LBJ School for Public Affairs.

As great power competition intensifies, many scholars and policymakers are revisiting the Cold War for lessons applicable to today’s geopolitical challenges. This conference explored historical insights on military strategy, diplomacy, economic policy, and ideological competition, providing a framework for better understanding contemporary challenges. Featuring leading historians and national security experts, the discussions assessed how past conflicts inform present-day decision-making, helping to shape a prudent and effective approach to U.S. global leadership in the 21st century.

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Agenda:

Thursday, April 24

SESSION I:

4:00 pm   •   Registration

4:25 pm   •   Welcome

4:30 pm – 5:30 pm   •   Keynote: Drawing Analogies, Extrapolating Lessons: Reflections on the Cold War

• Melvyn Leffler, Edward Stettinius Emeritus Professor of American History, University of Virginia

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm   •   Military Power: Lessons from the Cold War

• Tommy Jamison, Assistant Professor, Naval Postgraduate School
• Simon Miles, Associate Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
• Stephen Wertheim, Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Moderator: Eliot Cohen, Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategic Studies CSIS; Professor Emeritus, Johns Hopkins University

Friday, April 25

SESSION II:

9:15 am   •   Registration

9:45 am – 11:00 am   •   Defining Vital Interests, Resolving Priorities, and Assessing Tradeoffs: Geostrategy, Economics, Human Rights, Democracy Promotion, and Development

• Barbara Keys, Professor, Department of History, Durham University
• Charlie Laderman, Senior Lecturer in International History, War Studies Department, Kings College London; Associate Professor of Humanities, Hamilton Center, University of Florida
• Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
• Moderator: Mark Lawrence, Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and Ideas, University of Texas at Austin

11:00 am – 12:00 pm   •   Economic Systems and Their Implications

• Daniel Sargent, Associate Professor, University of California, Berkeley
• Joseph Torigian, Research Fellow, Stanford’s Hoover History Lab; Associate Professor, American University
• Moderator: Bob Zoellick, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center, Harvard University; Former President, World Bank Group

SESSION III:

12:00 pm – 12:30 pm   •   Lunch

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm   •   Keynote: The Soul of “The West” in the 20^th and 21^st Century

• Michael Kimmage, Professor of History, Catholic University

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm   •   Negotiating with Adversaries, Negotiating with Allies: Diplomacy in the Cold War

• Jeremy Friedman, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School
• Robert Hutchings, Professor, Princeton University; Professor Emeritus, University of Texas; Former Special Adviser to the Secretary of State
• Thomas Schwartz, Distinguished Professor of History, Professor of Political Science and European Studies, Vanderbilt University
• Annika A. Culver, Professor of East Asian History, Florida State University; Scholar, U.S.-Japan Network for the Future
• Moderator: Jeannie Leavitt, Distinguished National Security Fellow, Clements Center for National Security

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm   •   The Cold War in and through U.S. Domestic Politics

• Darren Dochuk, Andrew V. Tackes College Professor of History, University of Notre Dame
• Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History, Trinity University
• Moderator: Kate Weaver, Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs; Executive Director of Operations, Innovations for Peace and Development, UT-Austin

4:00 pm   •   Conference adjourns