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May 9, The Biden Administration: National Security and Foreign Policy

Speaker: Mel Goodman

The talk will assess the wretched national security inheritance that faces the Biden administration. Special attention will be given to U.S. bilateral relations with Russia and China, which are taking on Cold War atmospherics, as well as regional relations with the Middle East and Southwest Asia. The case for resuming the Iran nuclear accord will be assessed as well as the problems associated with any further withdrawal from Afghanistan. Finally, the talk will explore the opportunities for arms control and disarmament.

Melvin Allan “Mel” Goodman is a national security and intelligence expert. He has worked as an analyst for the CIA and the State Department, taught at the National War College and Johns Hopkins University, and is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy. Mr. Goodman’s recent publications include: Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk (2004); Failure of Intelligence: the Decline and Fall of the CIA (2008); National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism (2013); National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism (2013); Whistleblower at the CIA. An Insiders Account of the Politics of Intelligence (2016; American Carnage: The Wars of Donald Trump (2018) and Containing the National Security State (2021).