PCFR New Member Breakfast

The much anticipated PCFR "New Member Breakfast" will be held virtually this spring. Join fellow new members and meet PCFR’s leadership for coffee and good conversation on Friday, April 23^rd at 8:00 am on Zoom.

Please RSVP by April 16 with the unique code you were sent to receive your welcome gift in the mail.

We can’t wait to meet you.

REGISTER HERE

Registration

Free for PCFR Members

Schedule

Friday, April 23, 2021

8:00 am-9:00 am MST

Venue

Zoom Meeting

The link for this webinar will be included in your registration confirmation email.

International State of the State

with Governor Doug Ducey

The Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations invites you to join our 16^th Annual International State of the State, featuring Governor Doug Ducey. 

For the first time, the International State of the State will be broadcast live through web-conference, furthering PCFR’s commitment to provide unprecedented access to world leaders, thinkers, and doers. Register to hear Governor Ducey give his annual update followed by a fireside chat moderated by former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.

Join to watch Arizona’s premier international update live on April 27^th from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm MST. 

Registration

FREE for PCFR Members

$20 for Non-Members

Interesting in become a PCFR member? Join before April 26 and receive free admission to ISOS here.

REGISTER HERE

Schedule

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

1:00 pm-2:00 pm MST

4:00 pm-5:00 pm EST

Venue

Live Broadcast via Zoom

The link for this virtual event will be included in your registration confirmation email.

Speaker

Governor Doug Ducey

State of Arizona

Elected in 2014, and re-elected in 2018, Governor Ducey has applied his experience from a successful career in business to bring much-needed change to Arizona government.

Upon taking office, the governor inherited a $1 billion budget deficit. He quickly took action and balanced the budget in his first year — without raising taxes. Today, the state budget is balanced with a one billion dollar surplus and a record one billion dollars in its Rainy Day Fund. Business is thriving and more people are moving to Arizona than almost anywhere in the country.

Committed to investing in public education, Governor Ducey led an historic and bipartisan effort to invest $3.5 billion into K-12 schools in his first year, injecting more dollars into Arizona’s classrooms. With a focus on teacher pay, the governor also successfully championed the passage of legislation to increase teacher pay 20 percent by 2020.

Governor Ducey has cut regulations and simplified taxes every year to stimulate job creation and economic growth. He remains committed to making Arizona a land of “Opportunity for All” and has pledged to work every day to make that vision a reality.

Governor Ducey was born in Toledo, Ohio. He moved to Arizona in 1982 to attend Arizona State University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. He and his wife, Angela, live in Paradise Valley with their three sons, Jack, Joe and Sam. He is Arizona’s 23rd governor.

Moderator

Senator Jon Kyl

Former U.S. Senator, State of Arizona

Jon Kyl currently serves as Senior of Counsel at Covington and Burling. LLP. He is also a Distinguished Fellow in Public Service in Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, a Distinguished Scholar of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and a director of ASU’s Kyl Center for Water Policy.

Previously, Senator Kyl served eighteen years in the U.S. Senate, and before that, eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected unanimously by his colleagues in 2008 to serve as Republican Whip, the second-highest position in the Senate Republican leadership, a position he held until his retirement in 2013. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee from 1995-2013, and also served on the Finance Committee.

On September 5, 2018, Senator Kyl was appointed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to fill the seat of the late Senator John McCain. He served on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. He concluded his service in the Senate on December 31, 2018.

Before his public service, Senator Kyl practiced law at Jennings, Strouss & Salmon in Phoenix. In 1985, he served as chairman of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

Born in Oakland, Nebraska, Senator Kyl received both his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Arizona. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was editor-in-chief of the Arizona Law Review. He and his wife Caryll have two children, Kristine Kyl Gavin and John Kyl, and four grandchildren.

April Reading Group

Call Sign Chaos

by James Mattis

Friday, April 30, 2021

7:30 - 9:00 am MST

Venue

Online Zoom Meeting

Save the Dates

View Upcoming Reading Group Meetings Here

The Future of the U.S. - Mexico Bilateral Relationship

In January 2020, the U.S.-Mexico Foundation and the Wilson Center's Mexico Institute brought together 12 former Ambassadors from the bilateral relationship to engage in intensive and strategic dialogue concerning the future of U.S.-Mexico relations. This discussion is reflected in the report titled "Convocation: A Vision for a Stronger U.S.-Mexico Partnership" (read more here).

Please join the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations and the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for a talk on the key findings from the Convocation report with Martha Bárcena Coqui, former Mexico Ambassador to the U.S. (2019-2021), Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernandez, former Mexico Ambassador to the U.S (2019-2021) and Christpher Landau, former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (2019-2021). Our presenters will also discuss the implications of the future of the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship for Arizona. Arizona has strong economic and cultural ties with Mexico. Just in 2019, 35% of all Arizona imports came from Mexico, and 34% of all exports went to Mexico. Arizona jobs related to trade connected to Mexico make up 27%. Enrique Perret of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation will moderate the discussion.

REGISTER HERE

Registration

FREE for PCFR Members

$10 for Non-Members

Schedule

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm MST

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT

Venue

Zoom Meeting

The link for this webinar will be included in your registration confirmation email.

Panelists

Amb. Martha Bárcena Coqui

Former Ambassador of Mexico to the United States

Martha Bárcena served ambassador of Mexico to the United States from 2019 to 2021. She joined the Mexican Foreign Service in 1979, and has been the Consul in Barcelona (1989-1990); Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, non-resident to the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Iceland from December 2004 to April 2013; Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, non-resident to Georgia and the Republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan from May 2013 to March 2017; and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations Agencies based in Rome from April 2017 to December 2018.

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bárcena has been Technical Secretary of the III LAC-EU Summit (2003-2004); Adviser to the Undersecretary for Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the United Nations, specialized in international security and peacekeeping operations (2000-2003); Deputy Director of the Planning and Prospective Division (1998-2000) and Advisor to the Executive Director of the Mexican Institute of International Cooperation, as well as the Director in Chief of Multilateral Affairs, and the Director-General of Cultural Affairs and Historical Diplomatic Acquis (1986- 1989). She was also Head of the Department of Migrant Workers and Border Cooperation in the General Directorate for North America.

Ambassador Bárcena has been Mexico’s delegate to the UN, the OAS, UNESCO, FAO, WFP, IFAD, and ICAO, as well as head of Delegation in sessions of the Forum on Migration and Development. She has participated in multiple international conferences, including the G-20 and the World Humanitarian Summit.

Ambassador Bárcena has a degree in Communication Sciences, graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City, and a degree in Philosophy, summa cum laude, from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Studies (Diplomatic School, Spain) and has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy specializing in Political Philosophy (Universidad Iberoamericana).

Amb. Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernandez

Former Ambassador of Mexico to the United States

Ambassador Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernandez was appointed Ambassador of Mexico to the United States from 2017 to 2018. Gutiérrez Fernandez served as Managing Director of the North American Development Bank (NADB) headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, where his professional activity was focused on infrastructure development and financing along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In 2009 and 2010, he served as Deputy Secretary for Governance and Homeland Security. He served as Under Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (State Department) from 2006 to 2009 and as Under Secretary for North America from 2003 to 2006. Gutierrez has also held federal government positions as Under Secretary of Governance in the Secretaría de Gobernación (Interior Ministry), Secretaría de Economía (Commerce Department), Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público (Treasury Department), the Office of the President, and Banobras (Mexico’s national public works bank).

Ambassador Gutiérrez holds both a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Political Science from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Amb. Christopher Landau

Former Ambassador of the United States to Mexico

Christopher Landau served as United States Ambassador to Mexico from 2019-2021. He was born in Madrid, Spain, and attended the American School of Asunción, Paraguay, for five years. Landau is a Director of the Diplomacy Center Foundation, which supports the United States Diplomacy Center at the United States Department of State.

Landau earned his Bachelor of Arts in history, summa cum laude, from Harvard College in 1985, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year, and received the Sophia Freund Prize for the highest grade point average in his graduating class. He wrote his senior thesis, which was awarded the Hoopes Prize, on United States relations with the leftist government of Venezuela in the mid 1940s. He received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1989, where he was articles co-chair of the Harvard Law Review and won the Sears Prize for the highest grade point average in his second year.

After graduating from law school, Landau clerked for then-Judge Clarence Thomas of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He later clerked for Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1990 and 1991 terms, respectively.

In 1993, Landau joined Kirkland & Ellis as an associate, and became a partner in 1995. He was chairman of the firm’s appellate practice until he left after 25 years to join Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in 2018. He has argued nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including two on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and has briefed and argued appeals in all of the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

From 1994-1995, Landau was an adjunct professor of administrative law at the Georgetown University Law Center. In 2017, the Chief Justice of the United States appointed him to the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. He is a Trustee of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society, and Chair of the Society’s Programs Committee.

Moderator

Enrique Perret

Director of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation

Enrique Perret is the Director of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation (USMF) since December 2018.

Enrique has a history of deep commitment to the US-Mexico bilateral relationship. He is a former government professional with a strong track record of leading government engagement and business development strategies between Mexico and the U.S. Before joining the USMF, Enrique most recently served as a Director for North America at ProMexico, Mexico's trade promotion agency, where he worked for more than ten years in several positions.

Enrique also has a strong commitment to civil society endeavors and has served in leadership roles on a number of nonprofit boards including, serving as Chair of the Board of Enseña por Mexico, Teach for All’s Mexican affiliate, an organization dedicated to leadership development and promoting a better education for all.

Other previous responsibilities in the Mexican government include being the Technical Secretary for Competitiveness, and Chief of Staff to the President of the CNBV (Banking and Securities Commission).

Enrique holds a Bachelor Degree in International Commerce from Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and a Master Degree in Economics and Government from Universidad Anáhuac. He also has completed executive courses at Harvard University, Wharton School and SMU.

About the U.S.-Mexico Foundation:

The U.S.-Mexico Foundation (USMF) is a binational non-profit organization that is dedicated to fostering bilateral cooperation and understanding between the United States and Mexico. We started operations in 2009 with seed funds from the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, Carnegie Corporation and the Business Foundation in Mexico (Fundemex).

USMF executes its mission in two different ways: operating programs and promoting constructive dialogue on key topics of binational interest.

Advancing Global Partnerships:

A Dialogue Between Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib

The Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations and Phoenix Sister Cities are pleased to present a program with the Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib and Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego. Through this global conversation, the Mayors will explore common issues and priorities for their respective cities, including sustainability and Smart Cities, inclusivity and equity, and economic development.

Mayors Hřib and Gallego lead large and growing cities; one the capital of a nation in the heart of Europe; the other the capital of the fastest growing city in the American West. In 2019, Mayor Hřib was the first member of the Pirate Party in Europe to be elected mayor of a large 1st tier city. Also in 2019, Mayor Gallego was the youngest mayor elected to run a large 1st tier city in the United States.

The Pirate Party was founded in Sweden in 2006. It spread throughout Europe, coming to the Czech Republic in 2009. There are now 22 members of the Pirate Party in the Czech Chamber of Deputies and 3 members in the Czech Senate. Currently, the Czech Pirate Party – in coalition with The Mayors and Independents Party – is leading in the polls for the upcoming general election which will take place in October this year. 

REGISTER HERE

Registration

FREE for PCFR Members

$10 for Non-Members

Schedule

Thursday, May 13, 2021

10:00 am - 11:00 am Phoenix

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Prague

Venue

Zoom Meeting

The link for this webinar will be included in your registration confirmation email.

Speakers

Mayor Kate Gallego

City of Phoenix

Kate Gallego has a vision for Phoenix: she sees it as a place that is vibrant and growing, and one where every person is treated with dignity and respect.

Mayor Gallego is a strong advocate for smart business growth and investment – she recently helped land the city’s largest-ever business development deal, which, at $12 billion, is also the largest foreign direct investment in the state’s history. She is leading the city to global status as a leader in bioscience, scientific research and advanced medical manufacturing. Under her leadership, the city has also made dramatic advances in transit and street transportation; equitable treatment of the city’s residents; and mitigation of the effects of climate change. Throughout 2020 and 2021, an immense amount of her focus has been on leading Phoenix through the COVID-19 crisis. 

Mayor Gallego is the second elected female Mayor in Phoenix history and one of the youngest big city Mayors in the United States. In November 2020, she was returned to office with the highest number of votes ever cast for a mayoral candidate in Phoenix.

A graduate of Harvard University, she earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She was elected to the Phoenix City Council in 2013, representing south Phoenix. Prior professional pursuits include strategic planning and economic development for one of Arizona’s largest utility companies and service in state government, including the Office of the Governor.

Mayor Kate Gallego enjoys a desert hike and a good read. She is Mom to four-year-old Michael.

Mayor Zdeněk Hřib

City of Prague

Zdeněk Hřib has been the Mayor of Prague since 2018, the first Mayor both in the Czech Republic and worldwide to have been nominated by the Pirate Party.

In 2006, Zdeněk graduated in General Medicine from Charles University. During his studies, he worked as an intern at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan. After graduation, Zdeněk worked for several organizations as a healthcare IT specialist and consultant. In 2008, Zdeněk received an internship in the National Patient Safety Agency in London.

Zdeněk has been active in the Pirate Party since 2013. Zdeněk helped to formulate the Pirates Party position on some healthcare topics, such as mandatory vaccinations, anti-smoking law, ePrescriptions and patient privacy. He was also one of the authors of the Pirate Party´s election program for healthcare for the 2017 Chamber of Deputies elections and provided consultancy to candidates and deputies in the field of healthcare.

Moderator

Akram Rosheidat

Phoenix Sister Cities

Prague Committee Chair

Akram Rosheidat completed his Ph.D. at Arizona State University in 2014, and worked as an Associate Faculty teaching at the ASU School of Sustainability from 2015 to 2018. He is a practicing architect and an Owner at MRT Design LLC in Phoenix, Arizona.

After starting his university studies in Prague, Czech Republic, Akram received his Bachelor in Architecture from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and his Masters in Architecture from the University of Arizona in Tucson. His research focused on outdoor thermal comfort in hot arid environments. In both his practice and academic research, Akram's focus is on sustainable green building design and technology, energy conservation and studying systems for assessing thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. He designed LEED certified sustainable projects, and worked on USAID projects internationally.

Worldly Perspectives: PCFR Members Take Flight

A Members-Only Program

May 18, 2021

5:00pm - 6:15pm MST / 8:00pm - 9:15pm EDT

Virtual Event

How many times has your perspective on the world been influenced by fellow members of PCFR? Now is your chance to learn more in the new PCFR Worldly Perspectives Program series — featuring PCFR members who have led fascinating lives working and traveling around the world.

Each quarter, we will gather featured speakers to share their stories. Following the moderated discussion period, the conversation will continue in smaller groups. Expand your perspective and your network through PCFR Worldly Perspectives — the world’s stories told from our own backyard.

REGISTER

Featured Storytellers

Claire Sechler Merkel is the Senior Director, Arizona Programs for the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University. She served as director of friends and family and chief of staff to Mrs. Cindy McCain during the 2008 Presidential Election campaign, and worked for McCain for President 2000. Previously, she served as legislative assistant and special assistant to U.S. Senator John McCain and campaign coordinator for John McCain’s first U.S. Senate Campaign. Claire was associate director in the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs for President George H.W. Bush, senior intergovernmental officer at the U.S. Department of Labor and regional director for Eastern and Central Europe at the International Republican Institute. Prior to joining the McCain Institute for International Leadership, she lived for two years in Malmo, Sweden with her husband and children. Claire holds a degree in public policy, with distinction, from Stanford University and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She now resides in Phoenix with her husband, David, and their two children.

Warren Salinger came to the U.S. as a refugee from Nazi Germany in February, 1939, two months shy of his seventh birthday. Warren graduated from Goddard College with a degree in Political Science and spent most of his working life with NGO's on international development issues. As Director of the Greeley Foundation for Peace and Justice, Warren worked with former President Jimmy Carter, helping him start the Carter Center's International Negotiation Network. Improving relationships between the U.S. and the Soviet Union took Warren to the USSR and then Russia more than 80 times, including spending the entire week of the August, 1991 coup that toppled 72 years of communism, in Moscow. As a Development Director of the Unitarian Service Committee, Warren spent considerable time in Central America, especially in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, during the wars there. Warren is a seven-year veteran of USAF Intelligence (1951-58), including spending three and a half years in Germany at the height of the Cold War interviewing German POW's from the USSR.

Bus Obayomi is a digital consultant with a global risk management firm, Willis Towers Watson. He is also the President of New Zeal Consulting. Bus Obayomi has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Albany, a Master's degree in International Affairs from the City University of New York, and a Masters' degree in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University. Bus has worked as a Council Aide for New York City Council and a legislative aide for New York State legislature. Bus is a world traveler who has studied abroad in Argentina and had lived in both Africa and the U.S. He is currently involved with the local government in the Town of Gilbert, providing input on community issues. 

Maria Houle is the Program Director of the Thunderbird SHARE Fellowship, a graduate-level scholarship/mentorship program at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Maria joined SHARE in 2009 after 20 years' experience in the banking, fashion and non-profit sectors. A fourth-generation Phoenician, she has an MIM from Thunderbird, degrees in Political Science and Italian from the University of Arizona, as well as the CELTA ESL certification. She has worked and studied in eight countries, speaks several European languages at wildly different levels and has been a proud member of the PCFR since 2015.

Have your own story to share?

Reach out to Luke, PCFR Program Committee Co-chair and Board Director, to share how your perspective can benefit our membership as a whole.

Book for Discussion

The Rise of Digital Repression

by Steven Feldstein

Friday, May 21, 2021

7:30 - 9:00 am MST

Venue

Online Zoom Meeting

About the Book

The world is undergoing a profound set of digital disruptions that are changing the nature of how governments counter dissent and assert control over their countries. While increasing numbers of people rely primarily or exclusively on online platforms, authoritarian regimes have concurrently developed a formidable array of technological capabilities to constrain and repress their citizens.

In The Rise of Digital Repression, Steven Feldstein documents how the emergence of advanced digital tools bring new dimensions to political repression. Presenting new field research from Thailand, the Philippines, and Ethiopia, he investigates the goals, motivations, and drivers of these digital tactics. Feldstein further highlights how governments pursue digital strategies based on a range of factors: ongoing levels of repression, political leadership, state capacity, and technological development. The international community, he argues, is already seeing glimpses of what the frontiers of repression look like. For instance, Chinese authorities have brought together mass surveillance, censorship, DNA collection, and artificial intelligence to enforce their directives in Xinjiang. As many of these trends go global, Feldstein shows how this has major implications for democracies and civil society activists around the world.

A compelling synthesis of how anti-democratic leaders harness powerful technology to advance their political objectives, The Rise of Digital Repression concludes by laying out innovative ideas and strategies for civil society and opposition movements to respond to the digital autocratic wave.

Save the Dates

View Upcoming Reading Group Meetings Here

The Rise of Digital Repression

The world is undergoing a profound set of digital disruptions that are changing the nature of how governments counter dissent and assert control over their countries. Authoritarian regimes have developed a formidable array of technological capabilities to constrain and repress their citizens. Steven Feldstein will discuss his new book, The Rise of Digital Repression, which describes how the emergence of advanced digital tools is bringing new dimensions to how leaders stay in power. Presenting new field research from Thailand, the Philippines, and Ethiopia, he will talk about goals, motivations, and drivers of these digital tactics, and offer ideas about how democracies and civil society groups can respond.

REGISTER HERE

The Rise of Digital Repression is also the selected book for PCFR's May Reading Group on May 21, 2021. Learn more here.

Registration

FREE for PCFR Members

$10 for Non-Members

Schedule

Thursday, June 3, 2021

12:00 pm-1:00 pm MST

3:00 pm-4:00 pm EDT

Venue

Zoom Meeting

The link for this webinar will be included in your registration confirmation email.

Speaker

Steven Feldstein

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict and Governance

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program where he focuses on issues of technology and democracy, human rights, U.S. foreign policy, and Africa. Previously, he was the holder of the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs and an associate professor at Boise State University. He served in the Obama administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor with responsibility for Africa policy, international labor affairs, and international religious freedom. He also served as Director of Policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development and as Counsel on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, maintaining oversight of all foreign assistance agencies, budgets and programs. His articles and commentary have appeared in outlets such as the BBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Journal of Democracy, MIT Technology Review, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, War on the Rocks, and The Washington Post. He received his B.A. from Princeton and his J.D. from Berkeley Law. His new book, The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance, comes out in April 2021.

Moderator

Luke Wenz

Deputy National Outreach Director of the Western Region

U.S. Global Leadership Coalition

Luke Wenz serves as the Deputy National Outreach Director of the Western Region for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), a broad-based coalition of over 500 businesses, NGOs, and faith-based groups that works in Washington, D.C. and around the country to strengthen America’s civilian-led tools of development and diplomacy, alongside defense. Alongside his work with USGLC, Luke is the President of Big Stick Consulting, LLC, a government relations and public relations firm in Arizona. Earlier in his career, Luke spent time working on Capitol Hill, and served as Deputy District Director for U.S. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska and served as his Campaign Manager. Prior to his work on domestic politics, Luke has lived and worked in Amman, Jordan and Beirut, Lebanon – working in international development and studying the root causes of religiopolitical radicalization. Luke attended Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he studied political theory and the philosophy of religion. Though he travels extensively across the United States for work, Luke is based in Phoenix.

Book for Discussion

The Inevitability of Tragedy:

Henry Kissinger and His World

by Barry Gewen

Friday, June 25, 2021

7:30 - 9:00 am MST

Venue

Online Zoom Meeting

About the Book

Few public officials have provoked such intense controversy as Henry Kissinger. During his time in the Nixon and Ford administrations, he came to be admired and hated in equal measure. Notoriously, he believed that foreign affairs ought to be based primarily on the power relationships of a situation, not simply on ethics. He went so far as to argue that under certain circumstances America had to protect its national interests even if that meant repressing other countries’ attempts at democracy. For this reason, many today on both the right and left dismiss him as a latter-day Machiavelli, ignoring the breadth and complexity of his thought.

With The Inevitability of Tragedy, Barry Gewen corrects this shallow view, presenting the fascinating story of Kissinger’s development as both a strategist and an intellectual and examining his unique role in government through his ideas. This book analyzes his contentious policies in Vietnam and Chile, guided by a fresh understanding of his definition of Realism, the belief that world politics is based on an inevitable, tragic competition for power.

Crucially, Gewen places Kissinger’s pessimistic thought in a European context. He considers how Kissinger was deeply impacted by his experience as a refugee from Nazi Germany, and explores the links between his notions of power and those of his mentor, Hans Morgenthau―the father of Realism―as well as those of two other German-Jewish émigrés who shared his concerns about the weaknesses of democracy: Leo Strauss and Hannah Arendt.

The Inevitability of Tragedy offers a thoughtful perspective on the origins of Kissinger’s sober worldview and argues that a reconsideration of his career is essential at a time when American foreign policy lacks direction.

Save the Dates

View Upcoming Reading Group Meetings Here