A Hoover History Working Group Seminar with Nicholas Mulder. Mulder’s first book, The Economic Weapon, is a history of the interwar origins of economic sanctions, arguing that sanctions were a potent but unstable and unpredictable political tool whose importance to the crisis of the 1930s and 1940s is greater than usually assumed. Based on wartime blockade practices, sanctions offered a novel way to prevent war. The practice became embedded in the League of Nations and national state policy, and spurred new economic interventions, as well as anti-liberal bids for autarky. ABOUT THE SPEAKER Nicholas Mulder is assistant professor of history at Cornell University, as well as a Milstein Faculty Fellow. His research focuses on Europe’s political, economic, and intellectual history, with particular attention to the era of the world wars between 1914 and 1945. Most recently, he has also emerged as one of the leading commentators on the use of sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Click here to read Nicholas Mulder’s Wall Street Journal article, “Don’t Expect Sanctions to Win the Ukraine War.” ABOUT THE PROGRAM This talk is part of the History Working Group Seminar Series. A central piece of the History Working Group is the seminar series, which is hosted in partnership with the Hoover Library & Archives. The seminar series was launched in the fall of 2019, and thus far has included six talks from Hoover research fellows, visiting scholars, and Stanford faculty. The seminars provide outside experts with an opportunity to present their research and receive feedback on their work. While the lunch seminars have grown in reputation, they have been purposefully kept small in order to ensure that the discussion retains a good seminar atmosphere.

The Hoover Institution and The Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) host In the Nation’s Service: The Life and Times of George P. Shultz - A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice and Philip Taubman on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 from 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM PT. ABOUT THE BOOK The definitive biography of a distinguished public servant, who as US Secretary of Labor, Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of State, was pivotal in steering the great powers toward the end of the Cold War. Deftly solving critical but intractable national and global problems was the leitmotif of George Pratt Shultz's life. No one at the highest levels of the United States government did it better or with greater consequence in the last half of the 20th century, often against withering resistance. His quiet, effective leadership altered the arc of history. While political, social, and cultural dynamics have changed profoundly since Shultz served at the commanding heights of American power in the 1970s and 1980s, his legacy and the lessons of his career have even greater meaning now that the Shultz brand of conservatism has been almost erased in the modern Republican Party. This book, from longtime New York Times Washington reporter Philip Taubman, restores the modest Shultz to his central place in American history. Taubman reveals Shultz's gift for forging relationships with people and then harnessing the rapport to address national and international challenges, under his motto "trust is the coin of the realm"—as well as his difficulty standing up for his principles, motivated by a powerful sense of loyalty that often trapped him in inaction. Based on exclusive access to Shultz's personal papers, housed in a sealed archive at the Hoover Institution, In the Nation's Service offers a remarkable insider account of the behind-the-scenes struggles of the statesman who played a pivotal role in unwinding the Cold War. ABOUT THE SPEAKERS Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and its Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy. She is also a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm.  From 2005 to 2009, Rice served as the sixty-sixth secretary of state of the United States, the second woman and first African American woman to hold the post. Rice also served as assistant to the president for National Security Affairs for President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, the first woman to hold this position. Philip Taubman is a lecturer at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation. Before joining CISAC, Mr. Taubman worked at the New York Times as a reporter and editor for nearly 30 years, specializing in national security issues and serving as Moscow bureau chief and Washington bureau chief. He is the author of The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb (2012) and Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage (2003). He is a Stanford graduate.

December 20, 2022 Hoover Institution | Stanford University Join the Hoover Book Club for engaging discussions with leading authors on the hottest policy issues of the day. Hoover scholars explore the latest books that delve into some of the most vexing policy issues facing the United States and the world. Find out what makes these authors tick and how they think we should approach our most difficult challenges.  In our latest installment, watch a discussion between Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism and Russ Roberts, the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow and author of Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 10AM PT/1:00PM ET.

Join the Hoover Book Club for engaging discussions with leading authors on the hottest policy issues of the day. Hoover scholars explore the latest books that delve into some of the most vexing policy issues facing the United States and the world. Find out what makes these authors tick and how they think we should approach our most difficult challenges.  In our latest installment, watch a discussion between Bill Whalen, the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Distinguished Policy Fellow in Journalism and Adele Hayutin who is an Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow and author of the Hoover Press Book New Landscapes of Population Change: A Demographic World Tour on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 10AM PT/1:00PM ET.

The modern university was born in Germany. In the twentieth century, the United States leapfrogged Germany to become the global leader in higher education. Will China challenge its position in the twenty-first? Empires of Ideas looks to the past two hundred years for answers, chronicling two revolutions in higher education: the birth of the research university and its integration with the liberal education model. William C. Kirby examines the successes of leading universities―The University of Berlin and the Free University of Berlin in Germany; Harvard, Duke, and the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States―to determine how they rose to prominence and what threats they currently face. Kirby draws illuminating comparisons to the trajectories of three Chinese contenders: Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, and the University of Hong Kong, which aim to be world-class institutions that can compete with the best the United States and Europe have to offer. But Chinese institutions also face obstacles. Kirby analyzes the challenges that Chinese academic leaders must confront: reinvesting in undergraduate teaching, developing new models of funding, and navigating a political system that may undermine a true commitment to free inquiry and academic excellence.

In his presentation, Dino Knudsen talks about how elite networks such as the Trilateral Commission relates to global and national governance, including how the Commission influenced the White House and the State Department in the 1970s.

Monday, October 17, 2022 Hoover Institution | Stanford University Hoover Institution (Stanford University) – Before a full crowd of mostly students in the Hoover Institution's Hauck Auditorium, Secretary of State Antony Blinken engaged in a conversation with his predecessor Condoleezza Rice on a broad spectrum of issues impacting the security and prosperity of the United States and like-minded partners, including aggression by Russia and China against the post–Cold War security architecture, and how the free world can best grapple with challenges resulting from the rapid pace of technological innovation.  During the program, which was introduced by former secretary of defense James Mattis, Blinken reflected on the Biden administration's new national security strategy. As Blinken explained, the document underscores the importance of deterring Russian aggression, especially regarding Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine. Blinken said that although the Biden administration had hoped, in the tradition of its predecessors, for a stable and predictable relationship with Russia, President Vladimir Putin has been, and continues to be, a major disruptor in Eastern Europe and more broadly to international security. In response to a question by Secretary Rice as to why Americans should care about wars that occur in faraway lands rather than place one hundred percent focus on matters of more immediate domestic concern, Blinken said that international rules and norms would be seriously undermined if a large country could with impunity redraw borders by force and subjugate a sovereign people against their will. In upholding the liberal order, he argued that, although international institutions are far from perfect, they have been integral to helping prevent global conflict. As an example, he pointed to the UN General Assembly's overwhelming rebuke of Russia's annexations of Ukrainian territory.  "An extraordinary thing happened, 143 countries around the world stood up in opposition to the annexations, a sham referendum that Russia had used as justification," Blinken said. "That in and of itself is a powerful indicator of where the world actually is now on Russian aggression." Blinken also explained how Beijing has challenged the liberal order that emerged at the end of the Cold War, as well as the nature of the Sino-American relationship that was forged half a century ago during rapprochement. He maintained that although there are adversarial features of the relationship that need to be managed, they shouldn't overshadow areas of cooperation in which the two nations can reap benefits for the global commons. These issues include climate change and proliferation of infectious diseases. Of the former, Blinken explained that the United States is only as strong as the world's weakest link. Americans are responsible for 15 percent of global emissions. Using diplomatic tools at its disposal, the US needs to work with China and other major countries throughout the world to do their part in reducing greenhouse gases. Similarly, Blinken said, without singling out any one nation for mishandling their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world depends on a more coordinated public health response between the US and China to mitigate the deadly effects of infectious diseases, which are unconstrained by borders. Blinken is, however, concerned by the detrimental effects of Beijing's aggression toward Taiwan. A conflict over Taiwan would cause an enormous global crisis—not least because of the enormous volume of commercial maritime traffic that passes through the strait, but also because of the disruption it would cause to semiconductor production, which industries and consumers across the world rely on as an essential component for various electronic devices and computing systems. "I hope Beijing will come back to a place where it actually sees the merits in making sure that differences are peacefully resolved [and] that it doesn't try to force things through coercion, [or] even worse, through force," Blinken said. Blinken described how the United States is present in international consortiums that establish norms that govern technology. He said that for the State Department, being at the table means that US leadership, in partnership with nations with a shared commitment to peace and prosperity, can help formulate technology policies that respect privacy, protect human rights, and bolster security. To this end, he says, Foggy Bottom has been active in the US-EU Trade and Technology Council to ensure the two major economic powers are closely aligned on areas ranging from export controls and investments made by foreign actors in industries impacting national security, to the fortification of critical supply chains, including the development of semiconductors. Blinken maintains that these and other frameworks in which the US is actively involved are intended not only to increase technological competitiveness, but to do so in a manner that isn't to the detriment of any one nation, or to workforces, the natural environment, or ownership of intellectual property. "Competition, when it's fair and it's a race to the top, is good. That's what our own system is all about," Blinken said. In support of American competitiveness, Blinken also emphasized the importance of increasing America's capacity for innovation on the home front. He hailed the recent passage of the CHIPS Act, which facilitated funds for research and development as well as manufacturing to overcome the scarcity of the much-coveted semiconductor technology. He also praised investments made in green innovation under the Inflation Reduction Act. Blinken explained that this year, in a matter of six months, the State Department established a bureau of cyber and digital policy under the leadership of former tech executive Nathaniel Fick, who was present at the Hoover event today. Blinken also maintained that Washington and Silicon Valley needed to continue to engage effectively. In an appeal to his Stanford audience, Blinken said that the diplomatic community needed more talent to better understand technology and to support ways that it can be used to foster peace and prosperity. "I am here to proselytize too," Blinken said, amusingly. "We want you. We need you at the department. This is an opportunity to pursue so many of the things you've been studying, working on, or are passionate about, but to do so, for those of you that are American, for your country." In addition to the conversation with Secretary Rice, Secretary Blinken also visited SLAC, and attended a Stanford student recruitment event with Ambassador-at-Large Fick, hosted by Stanford Law School (SLS) Dean Jenny Martinez on behalf of the Cyber Policy Center, a collaboration between SLS and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. The event included approximately 100 students for a conversation about STEM career opportunities at the U.S. State Department.

The Hoover Institution hosted The Avoidable US-China War – A Conversation with Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Kevin Rudd on Thursday, October 6, 2022 from 4:30 - 5:30PM PT. A war between China and the US would be catastrophic, deadly, and destructive. Unfortunately, it is no longer unthinkable.  Join the Hoover Institution and Asia Society Northern California for a special conversation with former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd on Thursday, October 6 at 4:00pm Pacific. At his only Northern California-based event, Rudd talks with Dr. Rice who heads Hoover Institution about his new book ‘The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the U.S. and Xi Jinping’s China.’ The relationship between the US and China, the world’s two superpowers, is peculiarly volatile. It rests on a seismic fault—of cultural misunderstanding, historical grievance, and ideological incompatibility. No other nations are so quick to offend and be offended. Their militaries play a dangerous game of chicken, corporations steal intellectual property, intelligence satellites peer, and AI technicians plot. The capacity for either country to cross a fatal line grows daily.  The Avoidable War demystifies the actions of both sides, explaining and translating them for the benefit of the other. Geopolitical disaster is still avoidable, but only if these two giants can find a way to coexist without betraying their core interests through what Rudd calls “managed strategic competition.” Should they fail, down that path lies the possibility of a war that could rewrite the future of both countries, and the world.

Join the Hoover Book Club for engaging discussions with leading authors on the hottest policy issues of the day. Hoover scholars explore the latest books that delve into some of the most vexing policy issues facing the United States and the world. Find out what makes these authors tick and how they think we should approach our most difficult challenges. In our latest installment, we will feature a discussion between former Senator Phil Gramm, John Early and John B. Taylor the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution on Senator Gramm's and Mr. Early's latest book The Myth of American Inequality: How Government Biases Policy Debate co-authored by Robert Ekelund.  ABOUT THE AUTHORS Senator Phil Gramm is an economist by training and has had a long and distinguished career in public service, academia and the private sector. Senator Gramm was the vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank, where he provided strategic economic, political and policy advice to important corporate and institutional clients. He served in the US Congress representing Texas for more than two decades, first as the 6th congressional district representative to the US House of Representatives, then later as senator. His legislative record includes landmark bills like the Gramm-Latta Budget – which reduced federal spending, rebuilt national defense and mandated the Reagan tax cut – and the Gramm-Rudman Act, which placed the first binding constraints on federal spending. As chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Gramm steered legislation modernizing banking, insurance and securities laws. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act amended the 70-year-old Glass-Steagall Act,  allowing banks, security companies and insurance companies to affiliate through a financial services holding company.  Sen. Gramm taught economics at Texas A&M University for 12 years before becoming a member of Congress. He has published numerous articles and books on subjects ranging from private property, monetary theory and policy to the economics of mineral extraction. As a visiting scholar at AEI, he will be working on a comprehensive plan to fix the US economy through reform of the tax code and entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. John F. Early is a mathematical economist, president of the consultancy Vital Few, LLC, and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Early has also served twice as assistant commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics where he directed the statistical design, economic analysis, and survey operations for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), Point of Purchase Survey (POPS), and estimates of pre‐retail price changes. ABOUT THE BOOK Everything you know about income inequality, poverty, and other measures of economic well-being in America is wrong. In this provocative book, a former United States senator, eminent economist, and a former senior leader at the Bureau of Labor Statistics challenge the prevailing consensus that income inequality is a growing threat to American society. By taking readers on a deep dive into the way government measures economic well-being, they demonstrate that our official statistics dramatically overstate inequality. Getting the facts straight reveals that the key measures of well-being are greater than the official statistics of the country would lead us to believe. Income inequality is lower today than at any time in post- World War II America. The facts reveal a very different and better America than the one that is currently described by policy advocates across much of the political spectrum. The Myth of American Inequality provides clear and convincing evidence that the American Dream is alive and well. 

Watch a discussion between Barry Strauss, the Corliss Page Dean Visiting Fellow and Victor Davis Hanson the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow on Barry's latest book The War That Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Barry Strauss is the Corliss Page Dean Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Strauss (Cornell University) is a military historian with a focus on ancient Greece and Rome. His Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece—and Western Civilization was named one of the best books of 2004 by the Washington Post. His books have been translated into ten languages. ABOUT THE BOOK A “splendid” (The Wall Street Journal) account of one of history’s most important and yet little-known wars, the campaign culminating in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, whose outcome determined the future of the Roman Empire. Following Caesar’s assassination and Mark Antony’s defeat of the conspirators who killed Caesar, two powerful men remained in Rome—Antony and Caesar’s chosen heir, young Octavian, the future Augustus. When Antony fell in love with the most powerful woman in the world, Egypt’s ruler Cleopatra, and thwarted Octavian’s ambition to rule the empire, another civil war broke out. In 31 BC one of the largest naval battles in the ancient world took place—more than 600 ships, almost 200,000 men, and one woman—the Battle of Actium. Octavian prevailed over Antony and Cleopatra, who subsequently killed themselves. The Battle of Actium had great consequences for the empire. Had Antony and Cleopatra won, the empire’s capital might have moved from Rome to Alexandria, Cleopatra’s capital, and Latin might have become the empire’s second language after Greek, which was spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean, including Egypt. In this “superbly recounted” (The National Review) history, Barry Strauss, ancient history authority, describes this consequential battle with the drama and expertise that it deserves. The War That Made the Roman Empire is essential history that features three of the greatest figures of the ancient world.