Manshel Lecture with Benjamin Rhodes

February 6, 2025

This event is open to the public. See event listing for more details.

The Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy was established at the Center for International Affairs in 1993 by members of the Manshel family and by many of their friends. It stands as a memorial to the Manshels’ longstanding commitment to public affairs and their desire to advance greater understanding of the international relations of the United States. The lecture series honors Warren Manshel’s role as a founder of both the Public Interest and Foreign Policy, his service as ambassador to Denmark, and his deep involvement over many years in the work of the Center. It also serves to recognize Anita Manshel as Warren’s full partner and enthusiastic supporter in these endeavors, which he so often acknowledged.

Biography

Ben Rhodes is a writer, political commentator, and national security analyst. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made, and The World As It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House. He is currently cohost of Pod Save the World; a contributor for MSNBC; a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama; and chair of National Security Action, which he cofounded with Jake Sullivan in 2018. From 2009–2017, Ben served as a speechwriter and deputy national security advisor to President Obama. In that capacity, he participated in all of President Obama’s key decisions, oversaw the president’s national security communications and public diplomacy, and led the secret negotiations with the Cuban government that resulted in the effort to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba. His work has also been published in the Atlantic, Washington Post, New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. A native New Yorker, Ben has a BA from Rice University and an MFA from New York University.

Recent Publications 

• "I Study Guys Like Trump. There’s a Reason They Keep Winning," The New York Times, November 8, 2024. 
• "American Descent," The New York Review, August 15, 2024
• "A Foreign Policy for the World as It Is," Foreign Affairs, July/August 2024