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Moving the partnership between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its Asia-Pacific partners from dialogue to cooperation is becoming increasingly urgent as Russia and China create a two-front challenge for the United States and its allies. But maritime security, hybrid warfare challenges, and increasing automation are ideal points of departure to get cooperation off the ground.
Rapid technological change and global interconnection have changed the maritime threat environment and the capabilities that nations use to address it. Maritime hybrid warfare threats from Russia and China are on the rise. These operations are generally conducted in coastal waters and feature the use of civilian and coast guard vessels manned by non-uniformed personnel armed with off-the-shelf systems.
Are the US and its allies prepared for these threats? Warships are expensive and should be built to last 30 years or more. But the frequent emergence of new threats involving complex actors challenges ships’ lifespans. In the Russia-Ukraine War and in Operation Prosperity Guardian in the Red Sea, allies and partner forces shoot down cheap enemy drones with missiles that cost millions.
Should Washington and its allies build smaller and cheaper ships and create redundancy to reduce vulnerability? Can the defense industry develop laser technology to shoot down enemy drones and replace expensive missiles? Can greater flexibility, rather than specialization, guide the development of warships to prepare them for a variety of complex threats? Is US and allied ship production sufficient to meet the demand for affordable capabilities at a time when national defenses are stretched thin?
Hudson’s Liselotte Odgaard will moderate a panel with Benedetta Berti, the head of policy planning in the Office of the NATO Secretary General, Tsuneo Watanabe, senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Senior Fellow Peter Rough, and Japan Chair Ken Weinstein to discuss these issues.
The threats to the United States and the US-led international order are growing increasingly hostile. The Chinese Communist Party seeks to supplant the United States as the preeminent global power is forming an economic bloc of partners and quickly building its up military to threaten and coerce the US and its allies. Russia initiated the largest land war in Europe since World War II with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack against Israel and is funding proxy attacks against the United States and its allies. These authoritarian countries, and their proxies, have expansionist goals and are collaborating to harm the United States and subvert its global influence.
Join Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs for a discussion about the speaker’s agenda to bolster the credibility of US deterrence, strengthen alliances, improve America’s hard power, and maintain freedom, security, and prosperity for the American people.
In the quarter century after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, reunified Germany grew steadily more confident and powerful as the preeminent country in Europe. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shattered much of that confidence, forcing the country to undertake a pivot as expressed in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement of a zeitenwende, or watershed moment.
But what, exactly, has changed in Germany’s foreign policy outlook? Is the change in Berlin’s attitude toward Russia specifically, or in its stance on economic interdependence and dialogue as a pacifying force more generally? How applicable is zeitenwende to Germany’s attitude toward the Middle East, particularly Iran, or East Asia, particularly China? What about the military rearmament of the Bundeswehr?
There are few Germans better placed to answer these and other questions than Ambassador Thomas Bagger, the state secretary of the German Foreign Ministry. Ambassador Bagger is the author of a much-discussed 2019 essay in the Washington Quarterly, “The World According to Germany: Reassessing 1989,” and is considered one of the country’s leading public intellectuals and foreign policy professionals.
Please join Senior Fellow Peter Rough as he welcomes Ambassador Bagger to Hudson for a discussion on Germany’s foreign and security outlook today.
Building upon significant Japanese foreign direct investment across the United States, the US-Japan economic relationship is stronger and more consequential than ever. As affirmed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s official visit this spring, the private sector has a significant role in deepening bilateral economic ties and strengthening America’s competitiveness. The automotive industry is critical to this dynamic. This event will focus on Japanese automakers’ commitment to innovation and progress, contributions to workforce development, and the development of community partnerships in the US.
Hudson’s Japan Chair will welcome Hideaki Fujisawa, economic minister (METI) at the Embassy of Japan, for a keynote address on the state of the US-Japan economic relationship and the role that the private sector plays in deepening ties. The address will be followed by a fireside chat with Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) USA General Director Anita Rajan and Hudson Japan Chair Fellow William Chou on the importance of the Japanese automotive industry’s investments in the US and the launch of JAMA USA’s latest Impact Report.
Join Hudson for a conversation with Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine, who will discuss their new book Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power. The book argues that the United States should undergo a renewed pivot to Asia while maintaining commitments to Europe and the Middle East. As the international order becomes more unstable, Blackwill and Fontaine stress that the US has far less margin for foreign policy error today than a decade ago. They also say policymakers need to understand what the pivot aimed to achieve―and where it fell short―to muster the resources, alliances, and resolve to preserve an open order in Asia and elsewhere. Crafting an effective policy for the region, they contend, is crucial for preserving American security, prosperity, and democratic values.
Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill is the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic planning under President George W. Bush, presidential envoy to Iraq, and US ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003.
Richard Fontaine is the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Previously, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Dr. Patrick M. Cronin, Asia-Pacific security chair and senior fellow at Hudson, will moderate the discussion. Ambassador Blackwill will join the conversation remotely.
Soon after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the Jewish state found itself under attack on seven fronts: in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen. Meanwhile, its enemies came out of the woodwork in Europe and North America as antisemitic and anti-Zionist demonstrations exploded on college campuses and city streets. From Houthi attacks on international shipping to “tentifadas” on American campuses, it is not hard to see that something more than just support for Gaza is at work here. Many different groups are hitching a ride on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
What are the hidden agendas of antisemites and anti-Zionists? What are the implications of this agenda for national security? And what is to be done? To discuss these questions, Hudson’s Michael Doran hosts Daniel Schwammenthal, the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute; Ilan Berman, the vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council; Professor Paul Caresse of Arizona State University; and Senior Fellow Liel Leibovitz.
Last year, Chinese diplomats brokered an Iran–Saudi Arabia deal that elevated Beijing’s status as a mediator in the Middle East. China hoped the deal would induce a greater “wave of reconciliation” in the region and strengthen its position. But Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel changed Beijing’s calculations.
To discuss China’s ambitions in the Middle East, Beijing’s position in the Israel-Hamas conflict, and what this all means for American interests in the region, Hudson’s Zineb Riboua hosts a discussion with Senior Fellow John Lee and Atlantic Council Nonresident Fellow Tuvia Gering.
Although Latin America’s economies have stabilized since the COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth in most of the region has stalled, and its forecasted growth rates are the lowest of any region in the world. Such low growth will mean greater poverty and inequality, leaving citizens’ expectations for greater economic opportunity unfulfilled.
While a slowing global economy, high investment costs, and many other factors play a role, persistently low productivity in the region is an important constraint on growth. The World Bank has pointed to the need for greater competition in Latin America’s economies, which would improve productivity by accelerating innovation and technological improvements, delivering important benefits to consumers. The World Bank has also highlighted the geography of productivity and outlined promising ideas for how Latin American cities can once again drive economic growth.
Join Hudson for a conversation with World Bank economists William Maloney and Elena Ianchovichina on how productivity gains could help accelerate economic growth in Latin America.
Long a crossroads between East and West, the Black Sea region today occupies a crucial geography from which the future security and prosperity of the transatlantic community will radiate. Russia’s unrelenting, unprovoked war against Ukraine has focused the world on the Black Sea. In the process, the world has grown to appreciate the role of Romania as a shoreline of stability.
Twenty years after joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Romania is one of America’s strongest and closest allies, with an ambitious and ongoing defense modernization program centered on American-made capabilities. The strategic partnership between the United States and Romania has further manifested itself through economic and security agreements, joint exercises, and a US presence at key bases in Romania.
Join Hudson for a discussion with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminiţa-Teodora Odobescu on why Russia’s war against Ukraine and the broader contest for the future of the Black Sea region is a global inflection point with far-reaching ramifications. The West today faces a stark choice: disengage and watch the Black Sea radiate instability and embolden autocrats, or seize the opportunity to transform the region into a driver of future transatlantic prosperity and security.
Last year, Chinese diplomats brokered an Iran–Saudi Arabia deal that elevated Beijing’s status as a mediator in the Middle East. China hoped the deal would induce a greater “wave of reconciliation” in the region and strengthen its position. But Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel changed Beijing’s calculations.
To discuss China’s ambitions in the Middle East, Beijing’s position in the Israel-Hamas conflict, and what this all means for American interests in the region, Hudson’s Zineb Riboua hosts a discussion with Senior Fellow John Lee and Atlantic Council Nonresident Fellow Tuvia Gering.
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