U.S. Foreign Policy and the 2008 Presidential Campaign

On June 26, the Brookings Institution’s Opportunity 08 and Managing Global Insecurity (MGI) projects hosted Senator Chuck Hagel, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Select Intelligence committees, for a discussion of U.S. foreign policy in the context of the 2008 presidential campaign. Senator Hagel examined the inventory of global challenges that the next president will inherit and the responsibilities of the presidential candidates to address these challenges.

Chuck Hagel, Nebraska’s senior U.S. senator, is serving his second term in the United States Senate. He is the author of America: Our Next Chapter (Ecco Press, 2008), a straightforward examination of the current state of our nation which provides substantial proposals for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Brookings President Strobe Talbott provided introductory remarks. After the program, Senator Hagel took audience questions.

Opportunity 08 aims to help presidential candidates and the public focus on critical issues facing the nation, providing ideas, policy forums and information on a broad range of domestic and foreign policy questions.

The goal of MGI is to provide recommendations and generate momentum for the next American President, the United Nations, and key international partners to launch a strategic effort to build the global partnerships and international institutions needed to meet twenty-first century trans-border challenges and threats.