National Security in the New Era: Program

Two Days of Agenda Setting and Society Building

To launch this effort, the Tobin Project will gather 40 leading scholars, policymakers and thought leaders for two days in November 2008 at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia. There participants will chart a research agenda to address the key issues and trends defining the new era in United States national security and their implications for national security policymaking.

We are inviting scholars of security studies and international relations, political scientists, economists and historians, and a few promising graduate students. They will join current and former policymakers and other thought leaders in international affairs for a vital exchange of ideas.

This conference will be an annual event. A list of themes to be taken up at the inaugural conference is outlined below. Identifying which research questions need answering to further develop policy-relevant knowledge will be made integral to the discussions structured around these themes. Where disputes on policy arise, participants will be asked to determine what underlying research could help lead to greater consensus.

Key Themes

Grand Strategy

A consensus U.S. grand strategy to address the threats of the post-9/11 era has yet to emerge. What should be American grand strategy for the new era? What should be American strategy against al-Qaeda? How is U.S. national security affected by U.S. dependence on imported oil? Why has there been a failure to achieve broad consensus around a U.S. grand strategy for today? What questions need answering before Americans can choose an effective national security strategy?

Identity Politics

Nationalist and religious identity politics have grown more important in domestic and international political conflict since the end of the Cold War. How strong are nationalist and religious identities today, in comparison to one another and to ideological, class and clan loyalties, and civic loyalties to the state? What are the implications of powerful religious and national identities abroad for U.S. foreign policy?

Weapons of Mass Destruction

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction — nuclear and biological — and the threat of their falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states poses a grave threat to U.S. national security. How large is the threat of a broader spread of nuclear and biological weapons in years ahead? What U.S. policies can best limit or roll back that spread?

Wars of Ideas

The U.S. invests little in shaping opinion abroad. At the same time al-Qaeda and other terrorists make effective use of cheap, rapid global communication to propagate their message. What could the U.S. accomplish if it tried to shape global opinion? When and how have the U.S. and others successfully waged wars of ideas in the past? What tactics work and which do not work?