Heard at Heritage

The genius of Western civilization is its unique synthesis of reason and faith. But today that synthesis is under attack—from the East by radical Islam (faith without reason) and from within the West itself by aggressive secularism (reason without faith). The stakes are incalculably high.We can all see that faith without reason is benighted at best, fanatical and violent at worst. But too many forget that reason, stripped of faith, is subject to its own pathologies. A supposedly autonomous reason easily sinks into fanaticism, stifling dissent as bigoted and irrational and devouring the humane civilization fostered by the integration of reason and faith. The blood-soaked history of the twentieth century attests to the totalitarian forces unleashed by corrupted reason.But Samuel Gregg does more than lament the intellectual and spiritual ruin caused by the divorce of reason and faith. He shows that each of these foundational principles corrects the other’s excesses and enhances our comprehension of the truth in a continuous renewal of civilization. By recovering this balance, we can avoid a suicidal winner-take-all conflict between reason and faith and a future that will respect neither. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Heritage Foundation is honored to host Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) for our signature event on U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific. Heritage’s annual B.C. Lee Lecture on international affairs was endowed by the Samsung Group in honor of its founder, the late B.C. Lee, to focus on the U.S. relationship with the Indo-Pacific. Senator Sullivan continues the B.C. Lee tradition of speakers representing leading voices in America’s Asia policy. Previous lectures have been delivered by Henry Kissinger, Jesse Helms, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Joseph Lieberman, Ed Royce, Robert Zoellick, John McCain, and many others. We look forward to hearing Senator Sullivan’s views on Indo-Pacific policy in what is a very challenging time for American interests. Please join us for another enlightening event in this series. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vice President Pence discusses the way forward on President Trump’s trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Undermining the courts’ independence was among the actions by King George III that was cited to justify America’s separation from Great Britain. Alexander Hamilton wrote that an independent judiciary is “peculiarly essential” for our system of government. In 1937, a heavily Democratic Congress rejected President Franklin Roosevelt’s plan to restructure the judiciary in response to “reactionary” decisions. An independent judiciary has helped to safeguard liberty in our country, while remaining illusory in other countries. Yet today, certain political forces threaten to “pack” the Supreme Court or “restructure” the judiciary in response to what they call “politicized” decisions. These threats are becoming more direct, even finding their way into legal briefs filed with the very courts from which change is demanded. This event will focus on the meaning and importance of judicial independence and current threats to what the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist called one of the “crown jewels” of our system of government. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As highlighted in a recent Heritage Foundation paper, Chinese influence in the international system has been rising for over a decade and there is growing bi-partisan concern about how that influence will affect U.S. interests. China seeks to use its expanding influence within the U.N., not because it supports the founding principles of the U.N., but in order to shift the values, programs, and policies of the U.N. in ways that benefit Chinese priorities and ideology. This shift would harm U.S. interests and undermine the system of values and practices established in the postwar era. The U.S. cannot reverse this trend entirely, but it must take strategic steps to ensure that Chinese influence is reasonably contained and its leadership is restricted and channeled in the U.N. and other international organizations in ways that do not directly undermine U.S. interests. Please join us as the panelists discuss strategies for the U.S. going forward. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Eberstadt is a Senior Research Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute in Washington, D.C., and author of the new book Primal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics. Her other books include It’s Dangerous to Believe, How the West Really Lost God, and Adam and Eve after the Pill.Mrs. Eberstadt’s writing has appeared in many magazines and journals including TIME, the Wall Street Journal, National Review, First Things, and The Weekly Standard. Her 2010 novel The Loser Letters, about a young woman in rehab struggling with atheism, was adapted for stage, and premiered at Catholic University in fall 2017. Seton Hall University awarded her an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 2014. During the Reagan administration, she was speechwriter to Secretary of State George Shultz, and a special assistant to Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick at the United Nations. Her work can be found on her website, maryeberstadt.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brazil’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Ernesto Araújo is pleased to join The Heritage Foundation to deliver his first public address in Washington on Brazil’s new international strategy and President Jair Bolsonaro’s blueprint to restore the country towards a path of prosperity, safety and dignity for all Brazilians. Ambassador Araújo’s speech and the following conversation comes as Brazil and the United States launch a renewed strategic dialogue and at a moment when the two largest democracies of the Western hemisphere reach a historic level of cooperation and trust. He will share the Brazilian government’s current views on regional and global trends and his vision for the future of the U.S.-Brazil relationship. As Foreign Minister, Araújo has advocated for Brazil to establish stronger ties with international partners that prize the principles of individual freedom, personal responsibility, and human dignity. At home, he has been a supporter of consolidating the current alliance between Brazil’s classical liberals and conservatives and has been responsible for broadening the conversation on the role that values and faith have in society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the years he served on and eventually chaired the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Jason Chaffetz gained crucial insight into the inner workings of D.C. Things were bad then, but during the Trump administration, liberals have reached a new level of hysteria and misconduct.In Power Grab, Chaffetz pulls back the curtain on the world of hypocrisy, political intrigue, and procedural malfeasance that is Washington D.C. With stories you won't read anywhere else, he shows how the left weaves false narratives, drums up investigations in search of a crime, and refuses to direct congressional oversight towards its appropriate target: the government. Democrats weaponize nonprofit advocacy groups and monetize partisan anger to line the pockets of their political allies. They use “voter enrollment” as a smokescreen to hide their plans to destabilize free elections and seek to politicize federal agencies like the Federal Election Commission, the IRS, and the Department of Justice.It shouldn’t be this way. Democrats have abandoned the wisdom set forth in the Constitution for short-term political wins. Power Grab shows the lengths to which Democrats will go to maintain their grip on power, and how the only thing that will stop them is a return to our founding principles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to a recent Pew Research Poll, 61% of Americans believe that higher education is headed in the wrong direction. With Americans $1.6 trillion in student loan debt, over 5 million loan borrowers in default, and increasing calls for “free” college, the source of American frustration with institutions of higher education is hardly a mystery. Please join us for a fireside chat between Sen. Rick Scott of Florida and Heritage Action’s Tim Chapman to discuss a path forward for conservative higher education solutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The U.S. Army has embarked on an ambitious campaign to modernize and transform. They have created a new Futures Command, formed cross-functional teams, and introduced new modernization priorities. Most importantly, they have elevated modernization as an overall strategic priority for the Army, commanding attention from the senior leaders. This is needed and well-conceived. However, prior Army modernization efforts - even those begun with great promise - have gone on to mixed results. How then to best increase the odds of success and ensure the preeminence of the Army for the foreseeable future?In a new Heritage Foundation Special Report, Rebuilding America’s Military Project: The United States Army, author Thomas Spoehr provides an overview of prior Army modernization efforts and over 25 recommendations on how the Army can avoid mistakes of the past. These include the avoidance of “groupthink,” the reordering of modernization priorities, talent management, and specific recommendations on equipment. Discussion of the Army’s new Multi-Domain Concept, Army manpower, and force posture also feature prominently in the report.Join Spoehr and veteran defense reporter Jen Judson for an overview of the report and the opportunity to explore the surrounding issues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.