Press | 2023

Former Clements Center Undergraduate Fellow Nicholas Romanow, now an Ensign in the U.S. Navy, has a new piece on Proceedings, in which he considers the current push to declassify more information using the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an example of some of the possible pros and cons.

“Conspiracy theories, by their very nature, are not easily debunked. It is hard to prove definitively that something did not happen. Conspiracies involving politics can be especially murky. Rough-and-tumble presidential campaigns often do feature dirty tricks for electoral advantage, but false accusations of such skullduggery are arguably even more routine.”

We have updated the list of Fall 2023 courses that will apply for the Undergraduate Certificate in Security Studies and the Graduate Portfolio in Security Studies

Part two of Will Inboden’s interview with Uncommon Knowledge is available!

Clements Executive Director Will Inboden coauthored a Fox News opinion piece discussing how Reagan’s “six assurances” can serve as a guide for current U.S.-China relations.

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ann Ganzer of the State Department’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation recently visited the Clements Center. In this episode ofHorns of a Dilemma, Ganzer sits down with Clements Associate Director Paul Edgar to discuss many of the issues she discussed with students.

In this week’s episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Marine Corps Gen. (Ret.) Robert Neller joins University of Texas, Austin Professor Paul Pope to discuss the recent force structure and doctrine changes in the Marine Corps, intended to create a force ready to fight a war with China.

“…defense-industrial cooperation can often be a precursor to deeper security cooperation overall…” Check out Clements Center Alum Jada Fraser’s analysis of how AUKUS may affect Australia-South Korea relations.

When it comes to China’s dominance in rare-earth mining, “The issue has become a global problem with consequences too significant to neglect. Without question, the most serious implications of controlling REEs concern national security.”

“…almost everyone (including myself) has been wrong in some way or at some time about the Iraq War.” Clements Director Will Inboden wrote a WORLD opinion piece reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

In this week’s episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, addresses the challenging questions of how to allocate defense spending to meet American strategic interests around the globe.

“The next six months will be pretty pivotal…” Clements Executive Director Will Inboden was quoted in a Newsweek article, “2024 Republican Hopefuls Attack Biden On Ukraine At Pivotal Moment For Kyiv.” 

Will Inboden appeared on the American POTUS podcast to discuss his book, “The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink” and how Reagan helped end the Cold War peacefully. You can listen at the link in our bio!

Clements Executive Director Will Inboden appeared on Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson for a detailed two-part discussion of Ronald Reagan’s strategy and tactics in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion.In this first installment, they cover Reagan’s first term in which he deals with the public’s perception of his intelligence, a large and popular…

Napoleon once said that leaders are “dealers in hope.” While such a label might seem to fit Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky, it fits more awkwardly on Russian President Vladimir Putin. How has the leadership of these two men shaped the onset and current progress of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Would the invasion have happened at all, or if had happened would it have progressed differently under different leadership? These are the fundamental questions addressed in this week’s Horns of a Dilemma. Texas National Security Review Executive Editor Doyle Hodges is joined by Brown University Professor (and member of the TNSR Editorial Board) Rose McDermott to discuss political psychology, leadership, and the war in Ukraine.

Juan Zarata of the FINCast podcast sat down to discuss “Hand Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama” with three of the books contributors.

On the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Clements Center for National Security hosted former Vice President Mike Pence for a speech commemorating the somber occasion. Pence called for additional support for Ukraine in front of a crowd of UT-Austin students and faculty, including several refugees from Ukraine, and members of the press.

Tevi Troy reviewed Will Inboden’s, “The Peacemaker” for City Journal. He notes that: “The Reagan foreign policy deserves a detailed history, and Inboden was the right person to write it.”

In this week’s Horns of a Dilemma, Daniel Runde of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, speaks about his new book, TheAmerican Imperative: Reclaiming Global Leadership Through Soft Power.  

Clements Associate Director Paul Edgar joined Rebecca Burgess on the Law and Liberty podcast to discuss the strategy, alliance, and leadership lessons left behind by King Idrimi of Alalakh.

“China would perceive diminished American resolve in Ukraine as weakness and a strategic opening to exploit, perhaps by attacking Taiwan.”

Clements Center alum Jada Fraser writes on Korea Pro that the increasing Chinese threat to Taiwan will likely impact the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance directly and offers that there are three issues affecting OPCON transfer that should be considered when looking toward a possible conflict.

The turnover between U.S. presidential administrations can be a time of uncertainty and vulnerability. In this week’s episode of Horns of a Dilemma, we hear from former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, who discusses the forthcoming volume, “Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama.”

Geoffrey Kabaservice reviewed Will Inboden’s “The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink” for the @washingtonpost. He notes that Inboden “…combines historical insight with a practitioner’s wisdom, particularly in his gimlet-eyed assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of Reagan’s principal foreign policy advisers.” and “…doesn’t whitewash Reagan’s shortcomings.” 

“Reagan’s fixation on a U.S. victory over the Soviets was a necessity at the time. But contrary to what Americans often imagine, history never ends, and old solutions beget new strategic challenges.” Dan Blumenthal reviewed Will Inboden’s “The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink” for National Review.