Past presenters have included:
- Ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat, PLO Representative to the United States
- Michael Chertoff, former Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
- David Cohen, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing
- Joseph DeTrani, Director, National Counterproliferation Center, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- Erica Downs, China Energy Fellow, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
- Harry Harding, Inaugural Dean, Frank Batten Sr. School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia; author of "Organizing China," "A Fragile Relationship: the United States and China Since 1972," and "China’s Second Revolution: Reform After Mao"
- Fiona Hill, Director and Senior Scholar, Center on US and Europe, Brookings Institution; former National Intelligence Officer for Russia
- David Ignatius, Columnist for the Washington Post
- Martin Indyk, Vice President and Director, Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution; former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Assistant Secretary of State, Near Eastern Affairs
- Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
- James Lewis, Director and Senior Fellow, Technology and Public Policy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute, Department of Homeland Security; former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations for Mission Support, Department of Peacekeeping Operations, United Nations
- Michael Nacht, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs, Department of Defense
- Michael O'Hanlon; Senior Fellow and Director of Research, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution
- Kenneth Pollack, Director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution; author, The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America
- Bruce Riedel, Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy and Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution; former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs; author of "The Search for Al Qaeda"
- Major General Robert Scales, former Commandant, Army War College
- Qubad Jalal Talabany, Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government to the U.S
- Strobe Talbott, President, Brookings Institution; former Deputy Secretary of State; former Special Ambassador for the Soviet Union and Russia
- Alex Thier, Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan, US Institute of Peace; author of "The Future of Afghanistan"
Program Benefits
- A behind-the-scenes view of U.S. national security issues
- Ability to forecast threats and likely policy options
- Networking opportunities with key decision-makers