"Dueling Visions of America's Role in the World" by John Hillen
On January 10, 2021, 1:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern US Time, The Honorable John Hillen presented an engaging and incisive talk entitled "Dueling Visions of America's Role in the World."
ABSTRACT: In examining the different visions of the two recent Presidential candidates in the 2020 US election, one can discern much more than some contrasting campaign policy positions. Perhaps more enlightening is an examination of the two dominant weltanschauungs shaping American foreign policy that are represented in the candidate’s views. This paper examines those views and the recent history of how new Presidencies and administrations shape their foreign policy views and are shaped by events.
BIOGRAPHY: The Honorable John Hillen, DPhil, is the James C. Wheat professor of leadership in the Wilson Center for Public Leadership at historic Hampden-Sydney College. He is a former Assistant Secretary of State, decorated combat veteran, award winning CEO, and author of a number of critically acclaimed books in different fields. His work has been published in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other major journals and newspapers. He is a longtime trustee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia and is a past trustee of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate at the Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs in 2005 and served in that role during the 2nd George W. Bush administration. An accomplished business leader, he has been the COO or CEO of several companies in both New York and Washington DC, and took one of his companies public in one of the few successful IPO’s in the American economy in 2009. He has been named one of the 100 most influential business leaders in the Washington DC area. He has also served as a Professor at George Mason University, where he twice won the outstanding professor award in the MBA program. His latest book, a business leadership book, was named one of the top 30 business books of 2018. He holds degrees from Duke University, King’s College London, Oxford, and Cornell and in 2020 was inducted by the US Army into its national ROTC hall of fame.
John Hillen, "Dueling Visions: America's Role in the World and the 2020 Election," Foreign Policy Research Institute, October 20, 2020.