The Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy with Ben Rhodes

Date and Time

February 6, 2025
04:30PM - 06:00PM EST

Location

Tsai Auditorium, Room S010, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA


"American Foreign Policy in the Trump Era"

Free and open to the public. This event will be in person and streamed live on our YouTube channel. Please plan on being seated by 4:15 p.m. as the event will start promptly at 4:30 p.m. There will be a public reception following the lecture, from 6–6:30 p.m.      

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Speaker

Ben Rhodes, American writer, political commentator, and a former deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting under President Barack Obama. 

Chair

Melani Cammett, Center Director; Chair, Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity Politics. Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard University.

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Biography 
            

Ben Rhodes.
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.

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, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. A native New Yorker, Ben has a BA from Rice University and an MFA from New York University.

Contact

Sarah Banse
sarahbanse@wcfia.harvard.edu

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. For more information on the Manshel Lecture, please visit the Lectureships page.

Illustration: Kristin Caulfield. Original image of Donald Trump by Gage Skidmore, Flickr. All other portraits from Wikimedia Commons. 

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Valuing Accessibility

The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you would like to request accommodations or have questions about the access provided, please get in touch with the person listed as the contact on the individual event listing in advance of your participation or visit. Requests for Sign Language interpreters and/or CART providers should be made at least two weeks in advance, if possible. Please note that the Weatherhead Center will make every effort to secure services, but that services are subject to availability.