The conference will be held April 17-18, 2019

The Yale Kerry Initiative will host the two-day conference, “Challenges to Democracy at Home and Abroad,” April 17-18, 2019, in New Haven.

The event will bring together key figures from government, the military, the press and academia on critical topics including the importance of alliances in advancing America’s interests abroad; the ways in which American voters are being marginalized and the democratic process undermined; America’s role in promoting freedom, democracy, and human rights around the world; the role of the press in defending democracy; and historical perspectives on how to protect our democracy.

Speakers and sessions topics include:

Session 1: The Importance of American Leadership in Defending Democracy: Military Perspective

  • William Cohen, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman
  • Chuck Hagel, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and U.S. Senator
  • Leon Panetta, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and U.S. Congressman, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Session 2: Defending Democracy at Home

Stacey Abrams, former minority leader, Georgia House of Representatives, and founder, Fight Fair Action

Session 3: The Importance of American Leadership in Defending Democracy: Diplomatic Perspectives from former Secretaries of State

  • Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
  • Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State

Session 4: Facts, Truth, and the Press

  • David Ignatius, author and columnist for The Washington Post
  • Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News
  • Jason Rezaian, author and Global Opinions writer for The Washington Post
  • Bob Woodward, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author

Closing Session: Historical Perspectives

  • Michael Beschloss, historian and author
  • Douglas Brinkley, author and professor of history at Rice University
  • Beverly Gage, Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy and of History at Yale University
  • Robert Kagan, historian, author and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution

The conference is open to the general public; advance registration is required.

For more information on how to register, please visit the Kerry Initiative website.