Smart Women, Smart Power

On the first episode of the PONI Pathbreakers series, host Beverly Kirk spoke with Erin Dumbacher, senior program officer for the Scientific and Technical Affairs program at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and Suzanne Spaulding, senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at CSIS. They discussed cyber deterrence and nuclear security, and their career experiences in a rapidly changing field. You can learn more about Erin’s work at NTI here and Suzanne’s work at CSIS here.

Valerie Jarrett, board chair of When We All Vote; co-chair of The United State of Women; and senior advisor to former president Barack Obama, spoke with Beverly Kirk about the centennial of the 19th Amendment, the importance of political participation, especially among young voters, and the changing tides of gender equity in America. This conversation is part of the Smart Women, Smart Power speaker series sponsored by Citi.

Host Beverly Kirk chats with British Army veteran Angela Owen, founder of Women in Defence UK, about the importance of female representation and gender balance in Britain’s defense community, how her organization is engaging individuals and challenging businesses to achieve these goals, and how the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting the British armed forces and defense sector. 

CSIS senior scholars Dr. Alice Hunt Friend and Shannon Culbertson discuss lessons learned as government officials dealing with the 2012 Benghazi attacks and the 2016 attempted coup in Turkey.

CSIS senior adviser Suzanne Spaulding hosted the discussion on how the pandemic and global responses will impact democracy, privacy, and trust in government across the world. The panelists were Ms. Camille Stewart Esq. (New America), Dr. Lainie Rutkow (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) and Dr. Susanna Campbell (American University). Watch the full event here.

Host Beverly Kirk moderated the discussion on how and why this pandemic might change how the United States approaches its foreign policy, relations with allies and competitors. The panelists were Dr. Jennifer Bouey (RAND), Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper (Stephen A. Schwarzman Senior Fellow for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations), and Dr. Kori Schake (American Enterprise Institute). Watch the full event here.

Host Beverly Kirk moderated a virtual Smart Women, Smart Power event with Jen Klein and Rakeen Mabud of TIME’S UP and Rachel Vogelstein of the Council on Foreign Relations. The group discussed how women are disproportionately affected by Covid-19, and how response efforts and policies need to incorporate a whole of society approach. This event was sponsored by Citi.

CSIS senior fellow Alice Hunt Friend hosted the 2020 Future Strategy Forum discussion on Covid-19's impact on military readiness, ongoing operations, and civil-military relations, including the use of the military in domestic crises. The panelists were Dr. Risa Brooks (Marquette University), Ms. Pam Campos-Palma (former U.S. Air Force), Ms. Mackenzie Eaglen (American Enterprise Institute), and Dr. Mara Karlin (Johns Hopkins University SAIS and Brookings Institution). Watch the full event here.

The Honorable Michèle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, joined CSIS’s Hon. Kathleen Hicks, PhD for a virtual keynote discussion during the 2020 Future Strategy Forum. The pair discussed the security issues surrounding Covid-19 from China and North Korea to disinformation campaigns.

CSIS's Melissa Dalton, Counterpart International's Mehreen Farooq, and Laura Rosenberger of the German Marshall Fund discuss the need for the U.S., Canada, and their allies to develop a more coherent strategy for security partners in conflict situations. The CSIS project on Capacity Building in Hybrid Environments is made possible by the generous support of Canada’s Ministry of Defence.