Press

The Clements Center honors Henry Kissinger for his contributions to national security, diplomacy, and U.S. history. He served as a devoted public servant, leading scholar and practitioner of foreign affairs, and a helpful confidant to administrations of both parties. Over the course of a long career, he shaped and participated in a variety of momentous…

Sheena Greitens moderated a panel discussion about the Russo-Ukrainian war and broader challenges to European security. The conversation featured Gen. Vince Brooks, U.S. Army ( Ret.), former Commander, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/United States Forces Korea; Susan Colbourn, associate director of the Program in American Grand Strategy, Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University;…

Amb. Clint Williamson, Lead Coordinator of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA) for Ukraine, spoke about the Russian military’s war crimes in Ukraine and the efforts to investigate and prosecute Russian war criminals. The conversation began with an overview of the war and then shifted to the way in which investigators can collect evidence for…

David A. Merkel, managing director of Summit International Advisors, LLC, spoke about the Sino-Soviet split during the Cold War, the two sides’ conflicting interests, and what that means for great power competition. The conversation also explored U.S. policy options in Central Asia and options for further engagement in the region.

Dr. Paul Edgar, the executive director of the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin, sat down with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson to discuss energy and national security. The conversation focused on energy security, its relevance for U.S. national security, and how a more effective energy policy would allow…

Applications are now open for the 2024 Summer Seminar in History and Statecraft! Policymakers frequently attempt to draw on historical knowledge to gain perspective on contemporary national security issues. Meanwhile, historians and other scholars frequently comment on present-day decision-making problems and sometimes aspire to influence policy debates. Yet policymakers and scholars generally occupy separate intellectual…

On this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Professor Stephen Slick, Dr. Paul Edgar, and Ms. Simone Ledeen spoke about Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7th in Israel. The conversation began with a discussion about terrorism, human cruelty and Hamas’ wanton killing of civilians in the attack. The three panelists then discussed different facets of the…

“It contests democracy… not by arguing that this focus is misplaced, but that American conceptions of democracy are ‘fake.’ It’s a fascinating choice for a ruling party that is only about seven percent of China’s population, but one that may get traction in places that have clashed with the United States or other Western powers…

Last week, the Clements Center for National Security, the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, the Intelligence Studies Project and the America in the World Consortium brought together Stephen Slick, Paul Edgar, Simone Ledeen and Adam Klein for a conversation on the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, the likely Israeli response, and the broader…

Slick noted that given the scale and variety of the Hamas attacks, “it is highly unlikely that the planning, training and positioning of this number of fighters would have escaped Israel’s collection systems. It’s more likely that relevant information was not processed or evaluated correctly or recognized as an indicator of hostilities.”