BMAV members, friends and neighbors are invited to a conversation with Professor Michael O'Hanlon on US history and foreign affairs. He has entertained us with talks on the geostrategic implications of the Ukraine war and developments in Russia and Asia. Now he returns to discuss the past and present character of American defense policy.
Join us for light refreshments and socializing, followed by O'Hanlon's insights and ample time for questions. RSVP by February 27 is required.
O’Hanlon is a senior fellow and director of research in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where he specializes in U.S. defense strategy and budgets, the use of military force, and American national security policy. He directs the Strobe Talbott Center on Security, Strategy and Technology, and is the inaugural holder of the Philip H. Knight Chair in Defense and Strategy. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and a member of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board; he was also a member of the external advisory board at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2011-12.
In his new book "To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution" O'Hanlon argues America has dared mighty things and often achieved them: After growing into a continental power, largely through force of arms, during the first half of its history, it then led the way to coalition victories in two world wars, pursued peace in the Cold War, and has contributed to the most democratic period in human history. But it is a more “dangerous nation” than most citizens appreciate, given that its leaders, as well its people, are highly self-confident and activist. O’Hanlon claims that only by understanding this “national DNA” can we hope to steer safely through the twenty-first century.
O’Hanlon’s other books include “Military History for the Modern Strategist: America’s Major Wars since 1861“ (2023); The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and Resolute Restraint” (Yale, 2021); “Defense 101: Understanding the Military of Today and Tomorrow” (Cornell, 2021); “The Senkaku Paradox: Risking Great Power War over Limited Stakes (Brookings, 2019); “Beyond NATO: A New Security Architecture for Eastern Europe” (Brookings, 2017); “The Future of Land Warfare” (Brookings, 2015); “Strategic Reassurance and Resolve: U.S.-China Relations in the 21st Century” (with Jim Steinberg, Princeton University Press, 2014); “Crisis on the Korean Peninsula” (with Mike Mochizuki, McGraw-Hill, 2003); “Winning Ugly: NATO’s War to Save Kosovo” (with Ivo Daalder, Brookings, 2000); and several other books.
His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, Survival, Washington Quarterly, Joint Forces Quarterly, and International Security, among other publications; he has also written hundreds of op-eds in major newspapers. Recent articles include a detailed analysis of the U.S. defense budget, a military assessment of a possible Chinese blockade of Taiwan, and a proposal with Georgetown Professor Lise Howard for a new security architecture for eastern Europe. O’Hanlon has appeared on television or spoken on the radio more than 4,000 times since September 11, 2001.
O’Hanlon was an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office from 1989-1994, where he won the Director’s Award in 1992. His doctorate from Princeton is in public and international affairs, where he was awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship. His bachelor’s and master’s degrees, also from Princeton, are in the physical sciences.