The Pentagon’s $820 billion budget is the United States government’s biggest expense other than Social Security and health care. However, despite its obvious importance, the Defense Department’s budgeting process is notoriously inflexible and slow. As a result, current operational and security needs often do not match spending priorities established two or more years ago.Congress recently established an independent Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform to identify ways to improve the defense budgeting process. A key recommendation in the commission’s final report is to transform the structure of the defense budget itself—realigning it to better connect funding to desired outcomes. Rather than organizing spending by inputs in a “cube” with categories of activity such as research, procurement, or operations on one side and military services and programs on the other sides, the proposed new structure would divide the budget primarily in terms of missions and capabilities. Proponents argue that this approach would foster greater transparency, agility, and innovation by allowing the Pentagon to move money where it is needed to address challenges and opportunities. Skeptics raise concerns about ensuring adequate oversight when funding is not tied to specific inputs.Join Hudson Senior Fellow Dan Patt for a discussion on restructuring the defense budget with two commissioners who shaped this proposal—Jamie Morin, former Pentagon director of cost assessment and program evaluation, and David Norquist, former deputy secretary of defense and under secretary of defense (comptroller). The panel will explore the problems this reform aims to solve, alternative approaches the panel considered, how increased flexibility could reshape incentives and decision-making, and potential downsides and implementation obstacles.
On June 2, Mexicans will head to the polls to elect over 20,000 national, state, and local officials, including the president, members of Congress, and numerous governors. The two leading contenders for the presidency, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, offer starkly contrasting visions for Mexico’s future. Sheinbaum, of the ruling MORENA party, seeks to continue the nationalist Fourth Transformation agenda, which began under incumbent President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). In contrast, Gálvez, the opposition candidate, advocates for a more market-oriented approach, promising reforms in key areas such as energy policy and the fight against organized crime.This election has significant implications for the complex Mexico–United States relationship. Sheinbaum and Gálvez disagree on the extent to which Mexico should align itself with the US on critical issues like migration, security cooperation, and trade. Additionally, the election takes place against a backdrop of concerns over the erosion of democratic institutions under AMLO.Join Hudson for a discussion of possible post-election scenarios with Covington Senior Advisor Kim Breier, Dentons Global Advisors Partner Antonio Ortiz-Mena, and National Defense University Professor Arturo Sotomayor.
This event is part of the Motwani Jadeja US-India Dialogue series funded by the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation.As the world’s oldest and largest democracies, respectively, the United States and India constitute key anchor points of the democratic world, and the two nations have significantly deepened their partnership over the past three decades. Shared values and strong people-to-people connections remain the core of US-India ties.But the relationship is also based on a mutual commitment to economic engagement, marked by deepening trade relations worth over $190 billion. Additionally, US-India defense relations have evolved in recent years, reflecting shared security interests and a commitment to a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based international order.Please join Hudson Institute for a discussion on the big picture of US-India relations with Hudson fellows Walter Russell Mead and Aparna Pande.
When Estonia joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 29, 2004, the country’s foreign minister said, “Ever since regaining our independence, one of the main tasks of every government of Estonia has been the security of our nation. Today, I can say that we are much closer to a peaceful and confident feeling in our hearts.”But NATO has not only kept Estonia safe from existential threats. The alliance has also helped establish a framework that spurred the economic growth, inward investment, and entrepreneurial vibrancy that have become hallmarks of Estonia’s identity.Tallinn has proven itself a serious defense actor, consistently living up to its Article III commitments to maintain and develop its security capacities. Estonian forces have reliably proven to be some of the most active contributors to NATO missions. Estonia remains one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, materially and financially aiding Kyiv’s fight for freedom.What insights should policymakers draw from Estonia’s 20-year NATO success story? How can Estonia’s experience guide aspirant nations like Ukraine through the membership process? How have Tallinn’s views on NATO shifted over the past two decades? And what does the alliance need to do to maintain credible deterrence at a time of heightened threats?Ambassador Kyllike Sillaste-Elling, the undersecretary for political affairs at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will join Hudson for a conversation on the Estonian experience in NATO.
Fresh off a string of policy victories, United States Representative Dan Crenshaw (TX-02) joins Hudson Media Fellow Jeremy Hunt for a conversation about the critical foreign aid package that recently passed both chambers of Congress. Specifically, the package contains vital support for Taiwan and the forced divestiture of TikTok—both of which are important policy steps to counter the Chinese Communist Party.Congressman Crenshaw will explain why this bill—and future national security legislation—is crucial to the interests of the American people.
Join Hudson Distinguished Fellow Walter Russell Mead, United Kingdom Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and Senator Jim Risch (R-ID), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for a conversation about the challenges and opportunities facing the transatlantic community and the future of the special relationship.
Sweden’s total defense concept includes a civil defense component that “encompasses the whole of society and comprises the collective resilience in the event of war or danger of war.” Civil defense consists of three pillars: defending the population, safeguarding important societal functions, and contributing to the armed forces’ ability to respond to an attack. Russia’s hybrid attacks against the West and indiscriminate targeting of civilians in Ukraine have underscored the importance of a robust civil defense.How can Stockholm’s new North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies learn from Sweden’s civil defense experience to harden the vulnerable elements of Western societies? How does Sweden employ a whole-of-society approach to strengthen its total defense? What has Sweden learned from the war in Ukraine, and how can this enhance its civil defense capabilities? What is the Swedish view of the geopolitical situation in Europe and beyond?Join Hudson for a discussion with Swedish Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin on the Swedish approach to civil defense.
Hudson’s Michael Doran hosts Columbia University Professor Ran Kivetz, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East Executive Director Asaf Romirowsky, and Senior Fellow and Tablet Editor at Large Liel Leibovitz. They will discuss the causes of the recent slate of pro-Hamas encampments on American college campuses, who is funding these protests, and what administrators and policymakers should do about this nascent national security threat.
For several days, Georgians have demonstrated on the streets of Tbilisi against the Georgian Dream–led government’s moves to derail the country’s Euro-Atlantic future. Nona Mamulashvili, a former member of the Georgian parliament and cofounder of the Gamziri civic platform, has participated in the nightly protests. Hundreds of miles away, her brother Mamuka Mamulashvili commands the Georgian Legion in Ukraine. He and his troops have been fighting Russia there since 2014. Join Hudson Senior Fellow Luke Coffey for a conversation with the two siblings, who each serve on the frontlines of freedom in different ways. They will discuss what is at stake for Georgia, Ukraine, and the Euro-Atlantic community.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders met in Madrid, Spain, to chart a new Strategic Concept for the alliance. The document identified Russia as “the most significant and direct threat to Allies’ security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.” One year later, in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO leaders met again to adopt a new set of regional defense plans to guard against Russian aggression.Now comes the implementation. This July, NATO leaders will meet in Washington to assess the alliance’s progress in meeting its deterrence and defense targets. How strong is the West’s defense industrial base, and how prepared is NATO to defend itself if necessary? How will Sweden’s full membership in the alliance affect Northern Europe? Moreover, the war in Ukraine continues, and Kyiv has made no secret of its aspiration to join the alliance. So these are difficult questions that allied leaders cannot put off into the future. Please join Hudson Institute’s Peter Rough as he sits down with Lithuania’s minister of defense, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, for a conversation on these topics and more. Kasčiūnas was appointed minister of defense just last month after serving as chair of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK). A past head of the Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC), Lithuania’s top think tank, Kasčiūnas wrote his doctoral dissertation on Ukraine’s relations with the European Union.
The foreign policy actions of many Latin American governments often contradict their principles. This disconnect causes leaders to pursue short-term objectives that do not address the region’s most pressing challenges, such as authoritarianism and organized crime.The Maduro regime’s assassination of a Venezuelan exile in Chile and the Ecuadorian government’s arrest of a convicted former vice president at the Mexican embassy in Quito illustrate how poor foreign policy exacerbates lawlessness and democratic regression in the region.Join Hudson for a conversation with academic and columnist Hector Schamis on how Latin American governments’ approach to foreign policy destabilizes the region and what a better approach might look like.
The historic April summit between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signaled a new era in United States–Japan relations. The summit produced agreements for enhancing economic ties, advancing technological innovation, coordinating diplomatic efforts, and strengthening security cooperation.The president said that this is the most significant upgrade of the US-Japan alliance since it was first established. This upgrade comes at a critical juncture when the democratic nations of the world need to have all hands on deck. President Biden has made it clear that Japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States.Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will join Hudson Asia-Pacific Security Chair Patrick Cronin to examine the new outlook for this key alliance.
As Russia scores localized gains on land, Ukrainian forces have achieved major successes in the Black Sea Region (BSR). The Ukrainians have sunk or damaged some one-third of the Black Sea Fleet, forced Moscow to move naval assets away from occupied Crimea, and put Russia on the defensive. These successes challenge the narrative that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a stalemate and demonstrate Ukraine’s determination to preserve its identity, sovereignty, and independence.Ukraine’s gains are real and strategically significant, but the Battle for the Black Sea is not over. Major Russian land, sea, and air assets remain in Crimea and in the BSR, and Moscow is using them to continue its quest to subordinate Ukraine. The war will be won or lost on land and in the air.If Russia wins or ends the war on its terms, the interests of all Black Sea littoral states will be negatively affected. But so too will those of the United States, Europe, and the West more broadly. The US has a major interest in a free and open Black Sea and a peaceful, stable, and prosperous BSR.Join Hudson for an event to present the results of an in-depth study written by a US–Romanian–Ukrainian team: Hudson Senior Fellow Matt Boyse, New Strategy Center CEO George Scutaru, New Strategy Center Senior Fellow Dr. Antonia Colibasanu, and New Geopolitics Research Network Director Mykhailo Samus.Read the study, The Battle for the Black Sea Is Not Over, here.
Hudson is delighted to welcome Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala for a major policy address on the future of the transatlantic alliance.Since assuming office in November 2021, Fiala has placed transatlantic cooperation at the heart of the Czech Republic’s foreign policy and marshalled crucial support for Ukraine in its hour of need.As Fiala put it in October 2022, “Ukraine’s fight is our fight too. The Czech Republic’s fight, the European Union’s fight, the whole of Europe’s fight. Our own geopolitical prospects depend on the outcome of this war.”Under Fiala’s leadership, Czechia is modernizing its military and increasing its defense budget. It has launched an initiative to repair and upgrade Ukrainian armor on Czech soil and hosts the third-most Ukrainian refugees in Europe. Most recently, and to much acclaim, the Czech Republic has spearheaded an initiative to source ammunition for Ukrainian forces from stockpiles across the globe. Join Hudson to hear Prime Minister Fiala’s understanding of the current moment and a Czech prescription for transatlantic relations in turbulent times.
Prosperity Guardian, the United States–led military operation designed to end Houthi attacks on international shipping, has failed.Michael Roberts and Salvatore Mercogliano, two leading experts on international shipping, will join Senior Fellow Michael Doran for a virtual event. They will discuss the Houthi attacks’ consequences for the global economy and the balance of power between the US and its global rivals—in particular, how Iran and its proxies’ weaponization of global supply chains strengthens China.
As United States military ships set sail to the Gaza coast, many questions remain unanswered about President Joe Biden’s plan to construct a floating pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The Department of Defense is expected to deploy over 1,000 service members to support the project. But how will the Pentagon ensure their safety? How will the aid be delivered in a combat zone?Join Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg and Hudson Media Fellow Jeremy Hunt for an in-depth analysis of this risky mission.
Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth will introduce a discussion with Senior Fellow Jonathan Ward on his book The Decisive Decade: American Grand Strategy for Triumph over China. They will cover how the US can outcompete China on the world stage economically, diplomatically, militarily, and ideologically.Then, David Feith, former US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Roslyn Layton, founder of China Tech Threat, will respond and highlight critical challenges for US-China semiconductor policy, namely America’s strong rules but leaky enforcement.
Although Belarus gained independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up, it has been the crown jewel of Russia’s sphere of influence for three decades since. Domestically, Belarus remains firmly in the grip of its authoritarian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko, who has maintained power since 1994 through brutal repression and a series of unfree and unfair elections.Nevertheless, Belarusian civil society has a strong identity and a tradition of peaceful protest in support of freedom and democracy. In 1995, Andrei Sannikov resigned in protest from his position as deputy foreign minister of Belarus after Lukashenko put forward a referendum that would pave the way for the strongman’s consolidation of power. Sannikov has fought for Belarus’s freedom ever since. In 2005, he won the Bruno Kreisky Prize for Service to Human Rights. In 2010, Sannikov ran for president in a sham election in which Lukashenko claimed to have won more than 80 percent of the vote. In the aftermath, Sannikov led a peaceful demonstration in Minsk’s main square. Riot police attacked, badly injuring Sannikov. He was subsequently arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. Under international pressure, the Lukashenko regime released the opposition leader in April 2012. Threatened with rearrest, Sannikov left Belarus and received political asylum in the United Kingdom.At Hudson, Sannikov will offer remarks on Belarus’s strategic importance, Russia’s regional ambitions, and prospects for political change in Minsk, followed by a question-and-answer session with Hudson Senior Fellow Tod Lindberg.
Join Hudson Senior Fellow Brigham McCown for a conversation with Paul H. Tice about the trend of sustainable investing. They will discuss how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors affect corporate decisions and government policy in the energy sector. Tice spent 40 years on Wall Street working for some of the energy industry’s most recognizable firms. He is also the author of The Race to Zero: How ESG Investing Will Crater the Global Financial System.
In January, Taiwan held another successful democratic election. Prior to the election, however, the People’s Republic of China attempted to influence the results by spreading lies on social media about the candidates, the candidates’ political parties, and Taiwanese domestic issues. But the PRC’s political interests aren’t limited to Taiwan. According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the PRC, through social media sites like TikTok, attempted to influence the 2022 United States midterm elections—and Beijing will likely do the same in the 2024 US presidential election. Join Hudson for a panel with some of the leading organizations combating the PRC’s influence operations in Taiwan and around the world.