For 60 years, the US government has been laying secret doomsday plans to save itself in the event of nuclear war — even while the rest of us die. Today, a third generation of doomsday planners are settling into life inside a network of bunkers that are staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, ready to house top government officials in the event of catastrophe. How did these Cold War-era plans come together, how have they evolved over time, and how prepared are we for a worst-case scenario?...

Tens of thousands of men and women have left comfortable, privileged lives to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria—and kill for it. The highest-ranking American currently fighting for ISIS is John Georgelas, a Texan whose dad was a US Air Force colonel. Who are the Westerners who join ISIS? Where do they come from? What do they believe? And most importantly, what can we do to stop them? Speakers: Graeme Wood, James Fallows

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Rana Foroohar, global business columnist of the Financial Times, examine American foreign policy and the crisis of the old order. Given 21st century challenges posed by terrorism, climate change, and cyberwarfare within a context in which the policies and institutions that have guided us for decades no longer seem to suffice, is it time for a new approach to the world, a total system upgrade? Speakers: Richard Haass, Rana Foroohar

This talk rethinks refugees as a potential economic benefit to the societies that host them, rather than simply passive victims of war and tyranny. Taking the audience on a research journey across continents, Alexander Betts, professor of forced migration and director of the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University, shows how refugees’ skills, talents, and aspirations can be unlocked to empower them as contributors. Speaker: Alexander Betts

Every new president finds it challenging to adjust to the role of commander in chief. President Trump, the quintessential outsider, has had a distinctive transition experience, made all the more unusual by the prominence given to active and retired senior military officers in key political appointments. What are the civil-military challenges the Trump administration must overcome, and how well is it managing them? Speakers: David Petraeus, Peter Feaver

We are on the cusp of a sweeping revolution — one that will change every facet of our lives. The changes ahead will challenge and alter fundamental concepts such as national identity, human rights, money, and markets. In this pivotal, complicated moment, what are the great questions we need to ask to navigate our way forward? Speaker: David Rothkopf

Most of us probably harbor preconceived notions about refugees. Maybe it’s a misunderstanding about what drove them from home. Or maybe it’s a lack of understanding about the lives they led before crises upended them. Or possibly, a failure of imagination about the talents and capacities they bring to their new host countries. How do our misconceptions about refugees keep us from fixing our broken refugee system and integrating refugees more fully into our communities? Could it be that one of...

The Trump Administration says it is “committed to a foreign policy focused on American interests and American national security” and that “the world will be more peaceful and more prosperous with a stronger and more respected America.” Others have called Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement, waffling commitment to NATO, and abandonment of the TPP dangerous acts of isolationism that will create a vacuum of American leadership, and openings for others to reorder the world. Meanwhile,...

A grand strategy is a framework through which a country like the United States understands its place in the world: its goals, its biggest challenges, and the best way to promote its security and way of life. Post-war American grand strategy has typically been characterized by the notion of American global primacy and a commitment to the liberal international order, though different administrations have differed in their tendencies toward intervention versus restraint. Prolonged wars following...

Authoritarian populists are gaining power from Ankara to Athens, from Warsaw to Washington. Meanwhile, popular support for democratic values is sliding in many countries around the world. Is our political system in existential danger? And what can we do to save it? Speakers: Yascha Mounk

Galina Timchenko used to run Lenta.ru, a widely read Russian news site. When she was fired and replaced in 2014 by a Kremlin-backed editor, most of the editorial staff followed her to Riga, Latvia, where they established Meduza, an independent Russian news site. Alexey Kovalev used to work for Russian State media, but now runs a site dedicated to exposing fake news and propaganda. Hear from both about life and work under Putin, lessons for journalists working in Trump’s America, and tips for...

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, lead negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal, shares takeaways from her experiences working the historic agreement. What does the Iran deal have to teach us about approaching today’s seemingly intractable conflicts? Speakers: Wendy Sherman, Jane Harman

This is not a moment to take democracy for granted. The 2016 emergence of Donald Trump and his populist counterparts in Europe didn’t signal the start of something new. Rather, they announced a long simmering, troubling trend away from liberal democracy in the United States and elsewhere. How did we get here? How are Western values shifting? What might the future hold? Speakers: Edward Luce, Peter Wittig, Michael McFaul, Steve Clemons, Jane Harman

From election meddling to new US sanctions to close calls between fighter planes over the Baltic Sea, the US-Russia relationship is as complicated as ever. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has described US-Russian relations as being “at an all time low, and deteriorating further.” Meanwhile, anti-corruption protests have sprouted up all over Putin’s Russia, and here in the US, the FBI and Senate Intelligence Committee continue their investigations into Russian cyberattacks and associations...

Often overshadowed by terrorism, nuclear weapons, and cybercrime in the public imagination, pandemics may actually be the more existential threat to human civilization. And most experts agree: We’re woefully unprepared, and crucial funding for basic research, foreign aid, and preparedness is on the chopping block. What lessons have we learned from the Ebola crisis that can be applied to Zika and other threats, both natural and manmade in the months and years to come? What leadership and...

Fake news. Extremist propaganda. Religious intolerance. Trolling. Sexual harassment. Bullying. And we haven’t even talked about grumpy cat emojis. Social media is being successfully used and abused by hate groups to promote a toxic agenda that often marginalizes and targets religious and ethnic minorities and women. Every day, it seems that a handful of bad guys have the upper hand. How can we push back? How are the private sector and government responding to this global phenomenon that is...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is poised to start his second five-year term when the 19th Party Congress convenes in Beijing this fall. Under him, a new generation of leaders will emerge as China continues to position itself for maximum strategic and economic influence around the globe. As the United States enters an era of “America first,” Beijing is launching projects of sprawling ambition, from investing in infrastructure to expanding its diplomatic relationships around the world. How will...

Against a backdrop of rising populism, weakening of traditional political parties, and a rejection of establishment politics in the United States and Europe, how are the twin political earthquakes of Trump’s election and Brexit remaking the world? Speakers: Michael Dimock, Alexander Betts, Yascha Mounk, Richard Haass, Wendy Sherman, James Fallows

John Dickerson and former CIA director, retired Army General David Petraeus, take a tour of the unprecedented threats facing the United States and the latest developments in American national security and foreign policy. Speakers: David Petraeus, John Dickerson

The Trump Administration has said that “all options are on the table” in North Korea. What actually are the options, and how might they play out? Can the international community come together to find a diplomatic solution to avoid a new Korean War? Speakers: Evan Osnos, Elizabeth Economy, Thomas L. Friedman, Fareed Zakaria

From election meddling and economic espionage to financial fraud and personal identity theft, it’s becoming clear that cybersecurity is increasingly central to every aspect of the way we live. Both state-sponsored cyber-spies and transnational organized crime groups pose urgent threats online to our nation’s critical infrastructure, our security, and our fundamental values in a democratic society. How should government, private companies, and even individuals be confronting these new threats...

It’s been called one of the worst self-inflicted political wounds of modern times. British Prime Minister Theresa May, seeking to solidify her mandate for a hard exit from the European Union, called for snap elections on June 8th, which ended up dealing the Tories a massive political blow and producing a hung parliament. Meanwhile, terror attacks in Manchester and London followed by the Grenfell Tower tragedy have put the public on edge and security at top of mind as the United Kingdom’s...