Entrepreneur and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will discuss his vision for the defense of the American homeland, including how that vision applies in the Middle East in an address at Hudson Institute. Following his remarks, he will sit down for a fireside chat with Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Doran.About the Presidential Speech Series:The 2024 presidential election will coincide with a time of fundamental global transition. From the ongoing war in Europe to the Chinese Communist Party’s increasingly aggressive challenge to the US, the next president will need to demonstrate strong leadership, strategic thought, and the ability to craft clear policy and shape the national consensus. For more than 60 years, Hudson Institute has challenged conventional thinking and helped manage strategic transitions to the future through interdisciplinary studies in defense, international relations, economics, energy, and technology. Hudson is guided by the understanding that American leadership is vital to security, freedom, and prosperity.In that spirit, Hudson has invited leading presidential candidates to share their views on America’s role in the world and the principles that would guide their foreign and defense policies in the inaugural Presidential Speech Series.

The Western-led international system faces a major test. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine 20 months ago harkens back to the major wars on European soil last century, while Hamas’s gruesome attack on Israel is a stark reminder of the threat of state-supported terrorism. From the Balkans to the Caucasus and from the Philippines to Taiwan, the number of real and potential global flashpoints is multiplying at an alarming speed.In this new geopolitical landscape, maintaining a favorable balance of power across Eurasia requires a strong and determined transatlantic alliance. From emerging technologies, to supply chains, to international trade, the United States and the European Union need to find means of cooperation and a constructive path forward to ensure peace and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.The US-EU summit at the White House is meant to do just that. On the sidelines of that meeting, Hudson Institute is delighted to welcome the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to discuss the conflict in Gaza and the challenge Iran poses, assess the state of the war in Ukraine, and explain Brussels’s view on China’s rise. Following her remarks, she will sit down with Peter Rough, director of Hudson’s Center on Europe and Eurasia, for a fireside chat.

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the world’s first oil shock, when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) declared an embargo on oil shipments to Western countries. Oil prices quadrupled in the next few months, but the embargo’s consequences for energy, domestic politics, and international relations were bigger and longer lasting than the price spike at the pump.Join Hudson Senior Fellows Brigham McCown and Arthur Herman as they explore the past and present of the 1973 oil embargo with distinguished industry leaders in a two-part panel discussion. The panels will accompany a keynote address from Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.Read Herman’s recent report on the lessons of the crisis, From Fueling Victory to Running on Empty, here.

The international system is less stable than at any time in recent decades. In the Middle East, Israel is taking the offensive in response to Hamas’s unconscionable terrorist attacks on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret. In Europe, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine shows no signs of abating after 20 months of grinding conflict. And from the Balkans to the Caucasus, long-festering tensions risk exploding into all-out war. In these trying times, the transatlantic alliance is crucial for maintaining a favorable balance of power in Eurasia and ensuring that the United States–led international system endures. Hudson is delighted to host one of the West’s foremost strategists, National Security Advisor of the Czech Republic and former Czech Ambassador to Israel Tomáš Pojar for a fireside chat on the most pressing issues of the day. He’ll be joined in conversation by Peter Rough, senior fellow and director of Hudson’s Center on Europe and Eurasia, to discuss Czech-US relations, the future of the transatlantic alliance, Israel’s war against Hamas’s terror, the war in Ukraine, and the politics of Central and Eastern Europe.

The United States began working to prevent the Chinese Communist Party’s illicit surveillance of Americans through Chinese-made telecom equipment long before the infamous spy balloon traversed the continental US. Yet in the past two decades, thousands of state and local governments in the US have purchased potentially compromised devices. This threat extends beyond America’s borders as countries across the globe—including those that host US military bases—have turned to Chinese companies like Huawei for telecom equipment, services, and infrastructure.Miles Yu, senior fellow and director of the China Center, will host Federal Communications Commissioner Nathan Simington and a panel of distinguished experts for a virtual discussion of how CCP-controlled telecommunications companies pose a uniquely pervasive threat to American national security.

Governor Doug Burgum will deliver a foreign policy address at Hudson Institute. Following his remarks, the governor will sit down for a “fireside chat” with Hudson President and CEO John P. Walters.

Senator Tim Scott will deliver a speech at the Hudson Institute about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel, wiping Hamas off the map, and confronting those who are enabling terrorism.Following the remarks, Senator Scott will sit down for a conversation with Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Doran.

Mobile wireless services have been central to America and its allies’ economic growth and national security over the past three decades. Billions of people, including many of the world’s poorest, use wireless services daily. New services such as 5G depend on spectrum availability, and countries like China are making far more of the spectrum available for new technologies than the United States. America’s economic growth, social welfare, and national security depend on its ability to find more spectrum for new technologies.Hudson’s Center for the Economics of the Internet welcomes James Andrew Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies to discuss his research in this area. A light lunch will be served.

Under the cover of heavy rocket fire, hundreds of terrorists belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad invaded Israel from Gaza in the early hours of Saturday, October 7. They breached two security fences and stormed in by foot, jeep, motorcycle, and paraglider; yet they encountered virtually no resistance from the Israeli military. The terrorists murdered hundreds of civilians and left close to 2,000 wounded. They took an undisclosed number of soldiers and civilians captive, including women and children, who are being held in the Gaza Strip. The magnitude of the attack makes an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza a virtual certainty.Join Hudson Senior Fellows Michael Doran, Jonathan Schachter, and Can Kasapoğlu for an analysis of these events.

The United States military faces multiple intensifying challenges. China, a peer adversary, has eroded the US military’s post–Cold War dominance and threatens the sovereignty and economic prosperity of the US and its allies and partners around the globe. Facing flat budgets, the Pentagon is pursuing resilience, flexibility, interoperability, and affordable scale to gain an edge. Far from the exquisite precision strikes of Operation Desert Storm, US forces will need to assemble kill chains in the field from a changing variety of commercial and military systems to undermine enemy decision-making and sustain a potential protracted fight.In order to implement the interoperability and command and control that the US military needs for a more adaptable and resilient force, leaders from the Department of Defense and its industry partners will have to cooperate. Join Hudson Senior Fellow Bryan Clark and Lockheed Martin Chairman, President, and CEO Jim Taiclet for a conversation about how the Pentagon and its suppliers can work together to overcome these challenges and ensure US forces can continue to dissuade aggression.