Heard at Heritage

In his new book, Age of Iron, leading authority on Republican foreign policy, Colin Dueck, describes the shifting coalitions over the past century among foreign policy factions within the Republican Party and shows how President Trump upended them starting in 2015-16. Professor Dueck offers a balanced summary and assessment of Trump’s foreign policy approach, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. He also describes the current interaction of conservative public opinion and presidential foreign policy leadership in the broader context of political populism. Finally, he makes the case for a forward-leaning realism, based upon the understanding that the U.S. is entering a protracted period of geopolitical competition with other major powers. The result is a book that captures the past, present, and, possibly, future of foreign policy in the United States. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength has both good and bad news for America’s national defense. This year saw the first ‘very strong’ score awarded to the Army for its readiness levels, with 78% of its brigades assessed as ready. The Navy has made some improvements in readiness as well, but its current fleet of 290 ships is well below the recommended 400. Similarly, the Air Force’s readiness has improved, but a lack of pilots and flying time has hindered its ability to project the kind of air power necessary for great power competition. And lastly, the Marine Corps has risen from ‘weak’ to ‘marginal’ in this year’s edition. This unique report assesses the strength of each of the U.S. military services, the status of the threats we face, and the favorability of the environment in which the U.S. and its allies must be prepared to operate. Since the initial publication of the Index, the military has struggled in building its size and capability for operations—brought about by harmful budget caps, underinvestment in research and development, and decades of sustained engagement in the Middle East. Join us for the debut of the 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength. Senator Joni Ernst, a key member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will provide keynote remarks. Dakota Wood, Senior Fellow for defense programs will provide a special presentation on the important findings of this edition of the Index, along with a panel discussion from noted national security experts who will discuss where we stand, and what we need to protect our national interests in a world where U.S. military superiority is not assured. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interpol is a valuable partner in the fight against transnational crime and terrorism. But autocratic governments around the world have realized that they can manipulate Interpol’s system of alerts — especially its famous Red Notice — to harass journalists, political opponents, and businesspeople. This is part of the wider phenomenon of transnational repression, in which the long arm of international organizations and law is perverted for repressive purposes.The bipartisan TRAP Act — the Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention Act — introduced in the Senate and the House by the leaders of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, seeks to put the U.S. in the forefront of the fight against Interpol abuse. Please join us at The Heritage Foundation as a distinguished panel assesses the problem of Interpol abuse and the TRAP Act’s potential to prevent it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many Americans feel like their religious freedom is under attack. They see the culture changing around them, and they fear that their beliefs will soon be marginalized as a form of bigotry. Others think these fears are overblown and say Christians should stop complaining about imaginary persecution.In his new book Free to Believe, religious freedom attorney Luke Goodrich challenges both sides of this debate, offering a fresh perspective on the most controversial religious freedom conflicts today. With keen insights on conflicts over abortion, sexual orientation, gender identity, Islam, and the public square, Goodrich argues that threats to religious freedom are real – but they might not be quite what you think.Join us for a refreshing conversation on why religious freedom matters, how it is threatened, and how to protect it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Jesse Helms Lecture Series highlights foreign policies that Senator Helms championed throughout his years in office. Senator Helms was an ardent supporter of America’s veterans and took particular pride in making sure that every former service member could rely on his assistance and intervention to make sure that they received the best possible care. Secretary Wilkie knows Senator Helm’s commitment to this issue better than anyone having served as Counsel to the Senator.Please join us as Secretary Wilkie discusses the progress he has made in reforming the Department of Veterans Affairs to make sure that the brave men and women who serve in America’s armed forces who sacrifice so much for our safety and security receive the care and benefits they have earned.For more information about the Jesse Helms Center, please visit online at www.jessehelmscenter.org. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of the people to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures.” But as the digital world advances, corporations, including big tech and the government, know more and more about us than ever before, straining traditional notions of privacy. What do corporations and big tech know about us, how do they use that information? What is the relationship between big tech and the government, and how does that threaten your privacy? And what are the implications of the Supreme Court’s Carpenter decision, which held that cell phone users have 4th Amendment rights in their historical cell-site location records? Join us for a discussion with three experts as they discuss the rise of the surveillance state and the threats to privacy by corporations and the government. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2018 National Defense Strategy directs the military services to prepare for an era of great power competition which implies deterring and prevailing in large-scale conventional conflict made more complex by new technologies such as cyber, unmanned systems, hypervelocity weapons, and artificial intelligence. This is a sharply different world than what the military has known for nearly 30 years since the end of the Cold War. Military operations since then have been against enemies lacking air power, navies, armored forces, or artillery and who have had no capability to challenge the U.S. military’s ability to deploy and employ at will.To what extent has America’s freedom to operate effectively unopposed, combined with our strategic victory in the Cold War that ended without a shot, blinded America to what “great power competition” implies for our military and for our country?In a powerful new essay for The Heritage Foundation’s 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength, Dr. Tom Ehrhard explains how America’s past victories have skewed its perception of the reality of strategic competition, and have left the American public overconfident and complacent when considering the needs for national defense. Ehrhard unsparingly diagnoses the “pathologies” and provides recommendations for treatment.Join us for a unique opportunity to engage on this important subject, and to get a sneak peak at a section of the upcoming 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength, to be released on October 30, 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States is currently engaged in a competition with the Chinese government unlike any other that we have witnessed before. This is a competition between the American system-which is governed by freedom and the rule of law-and a totalitarian dictatorship that is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. These are two different visions for the future; one will succeed, and one will fail.It is possible for America to respond to the Chinese Communist Party's efforts, but doing so will require new thinking, many big changes, and many hard choices for our leaders in government and private sector.Newt Gingrich's Trump vs. China: Facing America's Greatest Threat will serve as a rallying cry for the American people and a plan of action for our leaders in government and the private sector. Written in a language that every American can understand but still rich in detail and accurate in fact, Trump vs. China will expose the Chinese Communist Party's multi-pronged threat against the United States and what we must do as a country to survive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies is honored to announce that Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones will deliver our twelfth Joseph Story Distinguished Lecture.The namesake of the lecture – the eminent jurist Joseph Story – became the youngest Associate Justice ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court when he was appointed by President James Madison in 1812. Story made a significant mark on American law in his thirty-three years on the bench, but his greatest contribution to jurisprudence is his renowned Commentaries on the Constitution, in which he set forth a philosophy of judicial restraint. This lecture series celebrates his legacy.Previous Joseph Story Lectures have been delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, Judge Robert H. Bork, Professor John Harrison, Judge A. Raymond Randolph, Judge Alice M. Batchelder, Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain, Judge Janice Rogers Brown, Judge Carlos T. Bea, and Senator Orrin G. Hatch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This panel will delve into the ever-growing challenges with border security referencing a soon-to-come report on Border Metrics by the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Senior Heritage Legal Fellows will also discuss what the states can do at the subnational level to enforce immigration laws and assist the federal government in fighting the illegal immigrant problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.