Heard at Heritage

The U.S.-Taiwan relationship is increasingly important in the face of a more aggressive China. While U.S. relations with Taiwan are strong and have, in fact, improved in some respects, economic cooperation remains underdeveloped. For years, The Heritage Foundation has called for increased economic cooperation and broader dialogue to address areas of private sector cooperation. Join us as we explore the potential of these initiatives and others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announced the formation of a Commission on Unalienable Rights in July 2019 and charged the members to meet with a broad group of experts and write a report to advise the Secretary with advice on how to pursue and champion “human rights grounded in our nation’s founding principles and the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” The Commission published its draft report last month and it has received both acclaim and criticism. Please join Commission member Peter Berkowitz and human rights expert Aaron Rhodes to discuss the report and why it elicited such varied reactions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

School Resource Officers play an important role in keeping students safe, even serving as role models in their local communities. However, since George Floyd's tragic death, protesters and policymakers have been calling for reform to, and in some cases the defunding of, police departments around the country. The Minneapolis Board of Education and others have severed their contracts with local police, yet removing School Resource Officers from local schools is a risky proposition. Join us as our panel delivers a wake-up call on this critical issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the re-arrival of great power competition, there has never been a greater need to modernize Army capabilities. As a result of a preoccupation with wars in the Middle East, caps imposed by the Budget Control Act, and false starts in programs, Army equipment has lost its dominance. Army leaders have now set new priorities with modernizing precision fires at the top of the list. An impressive number of programs have been initiated: a new precision missile, a hypersonic missile, extended range artillery and advanced munitions. Good progress is being made.During this session we will explore how the programs stand today, how the Army plans to employ these systems in a joint warfight, and claims that development of long-range strike capabilities encroaches on other services' roles. We will look at the future funding needs and balance those against the anticipated resource environment. You won’t want to miss this engaging and provocative session. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s back-to-school season, but millions of K-12 students are not going back—not to classrooms anyway. This semester finds parents anxious that children are falling behind and schools scrambling to keep students and teachers safe if and when their buildings open. To top it all off, a national teacher union has endorsed strikes if schools reopen, and special interest groups are demanding more federal spending for pandemic-related concerns. Policymakers and parents need solutions when unions put politics ahead of children, and every child deserves the chance to succeed this school year.Join us for an informative panel of education practitioners who have fought back against union interference before and helped teachers find better options for representation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

COVID-19 has subjected Americans to unprecedented challenges in 2020. Liberal activists have wasted no time in using the coronavirus as a pretext to achieve a long sought goal: converting America’s elections to all mail voting and other radical changes to our election systems. They're investing millions of dollars and employing hundreds of lawyers nationwide to upend the election statutes in state after state.The stakes in the presidential elections have never been higher, making the integrity of the voting process all the more critical. It's also not implausible for the race to come down to one state or even one county, leaving little room for error.Join The Heritage Foundation and The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation for a virtual webinar on what is happening across the country and how conservatives can help support the fight for a fair and honest election in 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As China continues its rise, the actions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have implications across the globe and the need for transparency is increasingly important. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCP has often withheld, obfuscated, and falsified data for its own purposes. This year, The Heritage Foundation launched a transparency initiative to facilitate a global campaign to maximize public exposure of the CCP’s behavior. In this timely event, representatives from the GMFUS’ Hamilton 2.0 Dashboard, William & Mary’s AidData, and The Stimson Center’s Mekong Infrastructure Tracker discuss how these critical transparency projects are shining a spotlight on CCP’s actions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The future of U.S. homeland missile defense is in a state of uncertainty. The United States has 44 ground-based interceptors and a global network of sensors and radars to defend the homeland from a limited missile attack. However, as the missile threat from U.S. adversaries grows and these systems age, the Administration has labored to define a clear path forward. Following the abrupt cancellation of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle, the new plan includes programs such as development of a Next Generation Interceptor, a homeland defense “underlay,” and a space sensor layer. In the emerging 2021 defense authorization and appropriations bills, Congress has provided multiple perspectives on these subjects.What is the proper course of action on these key areas of our national defense? Can we be confident that the current fleet of aging ground-based interceptors will last until their replacements are ready? Is the Administration moving quickly enough to enhance U.S. missile sensing capability? Join us to hear experts give their candid assessments on the current state of homeland missile defense. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. and North Korea have both indicated a willingness to hold another summit meeting while downplaying its likelihood. Pyongyang rejects working-level meetings that would lay the necessary groundwork for a detailed agreement, although Secretary of State Michael Pompeo commented that bilateral communication has occurred.Rampant speculation continues, however, of an abrupt summit to sign a minimalist denuclearization accord or a symbolic peace treaty or North Korea carrying out its threats of a major provocation such as a nuclear or ICBM test.How should the U.S. interpret recent high-level messaging from North Korea? What are regime objectives and how would they seek to achieve them? How will South Korean President Moon Jae-in seek to repair inter-Korean relations? Would North Korea resume nuclear or ICBM testing or would President Trump agree to another summit before the November election?Join us for a discussion on these and other topics with a senior former North Korean diplomat and a panel of distinguished experts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Partnering organizations include: Alliance Defending Freedom, California Family Council, Family Policy Alliance, Family Research Council, Family Watch International, and Massachusetts Family Institute Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.