Recorded on March 14, 2018, A discussion with Niall Ferguson on The Square and the Tower The twenty-first century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in new book “The Square and the Tower,” historian and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, “The Square and the Tower” tells the story of the rise, fall and rise of...

The Hoover Institution hosted "'Security by the Book featuring Amy Chua" on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. In her newest book, Chua argues that more successful foreign policy is only possible if the United States government acknowledges, and deals with, the realities of political tribalism. But Chua's analysis isn't limited to foreign political tribalism; she turns the magnifying glass inward to critique our domestic political culture. A successful America is one that...

The Hoover Institution hosted "Security by the Book: Max Boot's new book, 'The Road Not Taken,'" on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. Max Boot's new book, "The Road Not Taken" chronicles the life of Edward Landsdale, a relatively obscure but crucial figure in American military and foreign policy. In this new biography, Boot reframes Landsdale's legacy to demonstrate his contributions to American diplomacy, from the Philippines to the Vietnam war. While many of...

New technologies have provided both incredible convenience and new threats. The same kinds of digital networks that allow you to hail a ride using your smartphone let power grid operators control a country’s electricity—and these personal, corporate, and government systems are all vulnerable. In Ukraine, unknown hackers shut off electricity to nearly 230,000 people for six hours. North Korean hackers destroyed networks at Sony Pictures in retaliation for a film that mocked Kim Jong-un. And...

Recorded on September 11, 2017 Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair, interviewed authors Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro, examining the role that war has played in international relations from the sixteenth century to the present -- a role profoundly transformed by the "Internationalists," who created the rules and institutions that gave us seven decades of unprecedented peace between states. Hathaway and Shapiro argue that as the world stands on the brink of rejecting the global legal...

The Hoover Institution hosted "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?" on Wednesday, July 12, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviewed author Graham Allison about why...

The Hoover Institution hosted "The Ideas Industry: How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas" on Thursday, June 15, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST. The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion of The Ideas Industry: How Pessimists, Partisans, and Plutocrats are Transforming the Marketplace of Ideas. Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair and senior...

Recorded on May 3, 2017 The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, discussion of Oppose Any Foe: The Rise of America's Special Operations Forces. Jack Goldsmith, working group co-chair and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviews author Mark Moyar, a member of the Hoover Working Group on Military History and Conventional Conflict, about this first comprehensive history of America's Special Operations...

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office discussed Privacy and Power: A Transatlantic Dialogue in the Shadow of the NSA-Affair. Benjamin Wittes (Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution), Russell Miller (professor of law at Washington & Lee University School of Law) and Prof. Ralf Poscher (professor of law at University of Freiberg) discussed fundamental differences in the...

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office held a discussion with author of The Way of Strangers, Graeme Wood. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes, along with Samuel Tadros, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, interviewed Wood, who discussed his definitive, electrifying account of the strategy, psychology, and theology driving the Islamic...

The Hoover Institution hosts a discussion on "How America Lost its Secrets" with author Edward Epstein on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:0pm EST. The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion with author of How America Lost its Secrets, Edward Epstein. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes will interview Epstein, who will...

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, held a discussion with author of The Drone Memos, Jameel Jaffer. Hoover working group member and senior fellow, Jack Goldsmith interviewed Jaffer, who led the ACLU legal team that secured the release of many of the documents and evaluated the "drone memos" in light of domestic and international law. In an introductory essay, Jaffer provides an overview of the drone campaign...

The Hoover Institution's National Security, Technology and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion with award-winning author Christopher Moran as he digs deep into the tumultuous relationship between the CIA and former agents who try to go public about their careers. Hoover working group member and senior fellow, Jack Goldsmith will interview Christopher Moran on his new book, Company Confessions. Drawing on interviews; the private...

The Hoover Institution hosted "Soldiers on the Homefront: The Domestic Role of the American Military" on Monday, November 14, 2016 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. The Hoover Institution's National Security, and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, held a discussion on the legal dynamics that shape the domestic role of the American military. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviewed author William C. Banks on his...

The Hoover Institution's National Security, and Law Working Group, along with Hoover's Washington, DC office, invite you to a discussion on the unique relationship between the President and the intelligence community. Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Jack Goldsmith will interview author David Priess on his new book, The President's Book of Secrets. The interview will take an in depth look into the top-secret document known as the President's Daily...

Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviews author Rosa Brooks on her new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything. The interview takes a look at the growing lack of distinction between wartime and peacetime. A limited quantity of complimentary copies will be provided.

Benjamin Wittes's interview with Walter Pincus on his recent essay “Reflections on Secrecy and the Press from a Life in Journalism.”

Hoover working group member and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes interviews author Stephen Budiansky on his new book, Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union. The interview takes a look at the NSA's origins, its war against the Soviet Union and how the war relates to the Edward Snowden revelations. A limited quantity of complimentary copies will be provided. Security by the Book is a series of interviews of key...

Benjamin Wittes interviews author Fred Kaplan on his new book, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War. The interview takes a look at the past, present, and future of cyber war.

Jack Goldsmith’s interview with Jefferson Powell on his new book, Targeting Americans: The Constitutionality of the U.S. Drone War. The interview focuses on the legal debate surrounding drone strikes, the use of which has expanded significantly under the Obama Presidency as part of the continuing war against terror. Despite the political salience of the legal questions raised by targeted killing, the author asserts that there has been remarkably little careful analysis of the fundamental...

Jack Goldsmith interviews author Juliette Kayyem on her new book, Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home. The interview examines the smart, measureable guidelines that every American citizen can follow in order to make a more resilient home and a more resilient nation.

Jack Goldsmith interviews Adam Segal about his new book, The Hacked World Order, which begins at what Segal calls “year Zero”—sometime between June 2012 and June 2013—explaining that the events in that year ushered in a new era of geopolitical maneuvering in cyberspace, with great implications for security, privacy, and the international system. These changes, he suggests, have the potential to produce unintended and unimaginable problems for anyone with an internet connection.

Benjamin Wittes interviews General Michael Hayden on his book, Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror, where Hayden provides an inside look at some of the most critical intelligence decisions since 9/11, including the CIA’s controversial rendition, detention, and interrogation program, the NSA's Stellarwind program, and the U.S.’s interactions with the intelligence agencies of its allies in the following years. In addition to weighing in on the ongoing FBI vs. Apple...

Jack Goldsmith interviews Orde Kittrie on his new book, Lawfare: Law as a Weapon of War, examining the deployment and impact of lawfare, the role played by the private sector, and real-world examples of its use by the United States, China, Iran, and Israel.

Benjamin Wittes interviews Gayle Tzemach Lemmon on her new book, Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield. Lemmon, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discussed the growing role of women soldiers in special operations and beyond, examining the story of a cultural support team of women hand-picked from the Army in 2011 to serve in Afghanistan alongside Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. Their conversation dives into how the program...