Menu

United States Institute of Peace

Home ▶ Events

Passing the Baton 2021: Securing America’s Future Together

Date: Friday, January 29, 2021 / Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm EST

Read the event coverage
Share This
Print the Page

For the past 20 years, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has convened national security leaders after every change in administration to affirm the peaceful transfer of power and the bipartisan character of American foreign policy through its signature Passing the Baton event.

In 2021, USIP and its partners believe that this event is more important now than ever.

Read the full event transcript

On January 29, USIP brought together Jake Sullivan, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s national security advisor, and Ambassador Robert O’Brien, President Donald J. Trump’s former national security advisor, for a conversation on the most critical foreign policy challenges facing the nation. Secretary Condoleezza Rice, the 66th Secretary of State and former national security advisor to President George W. Bush, moderated the conversation.

Passing the Baton: Securing America’s Future Together provided an opportunity to assert and reflect on the importance of standing united against threats to global peace and security, which is rooted in the American commitment to the peaceful transition of power.

USIP was pleased to host this bipartisan event with the American Enterprise Institute, Atlantic Council, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for American Progress, The Heritage Foundation, and Hudson Institute.

Agenda

Opening Remarks

  • Stephen J. Hadley
    Chair, U.S. Institute of Peace
  • Lise Grande
    President and CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace

Top National Security Threats Facing the Nation

  • Admiral Michelle Howard
    USN Retired                       

Securing America’s Future Together

  • Jake Sullivan
    National Security Advisor to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
  • Ambassador Robert O’Brien
    Former National Security Advisor to President Donald J. Trump
  • Secretary Condoleezza Rice, moderator
    66th Secretary of State and Former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush

Meeting the Moment: Reflections from Partners  

  • Frederick Kempe
    President and CEO, Atlantic Council
  • Kenneth Weinstein
    President Emeritus and Walter P. Stern Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute
  • Thomas Carothers
    Senior Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • James Jay Carafano
    Vice President of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, and the E. W. Richardson Fellow, The Heritage Foundation
  • Ambassador Gordon Gray
    Chief Operating Officer, Center for American Progress
  • Kori Schake
    Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Closing Remarks

  • Ambassador George Moose
    Vice Chair, U.S. Institute of Peace

Speaker Bios

co host logos

Latest Publications

In Europe, Xi Looks to Boost Ties — and Sow Divisions

In Europe, Xi Looks to Boost Ties — and Sow Divisions

Thursday, May 16, 2024

By: Andrew Scobell, Ph.D.; Mirna Galic; Mary Glantz, Ph.D.; Katie Ruppert

Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week made his first trip to the European continent in five years, visiting France, Hungary and Serbia. In Paris, Xi faced tough questions over trade and China’s support for Russia and its war in Ukraine, but met a much friendlier reception in Budapest and Belgrade, both of which view China as a key economic and political partner. Still, the visit demonstrated the obstacles Beijing faces in fostering deeper ties across Europe, where resentment is simmering over China’s moral and materiel aid to Russia and what Europe views as unfair trade practices.

Type: Question and Answer

Global Policy

Traumatic Decarbonization in Fragile States

Traumatic Decarbonization in Fragile States

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

By: Aditya Sarkar; Benjamin Spatz; Alex de Waal; Jared Miller; Tarun Gopalakrishnan

The process of decarbonization—that is, the replacement of fossil fuels with non-hydrocarbon-based forms of energy—is essential for meeting the climate goals articulated by international agreements. But in fragile, oil-dependent nations, where hydrocarbon revenues are often a key means of political control, decarbonization can spell the difference between peace and conflict. This report examines the consequences of the sudden loss of oil revenues for fragile, conflict-affected states and provides recommendations for policymakers on how to manage future decarbonization peacefully.

Type: Peaceworks

Conflict Analysis & Prevention;  Economics;  Environment;  Fragility & Resilience

China’s Edge in the Pacific Islands: Xi Jinping Makes Time for Leaders

China’s Edge in the Pacific Islands: Xi Jinping Makes Time for Leaders

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

By: Camilla Pohle

If the U.S. government wants an edge over China in the Pacific Islands, it needs to facilitate more meetings between the president of the United States and regional leaders, preferably one-on-one. When Pacific Island leaders fly to Beijing, they often have a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but such a meeting between the leader of a Pacific Island country and a sitting president of the United States has never taken place. The White House has only conducted joint meetings with Pacific Island leaders. Sometimes even joint meetings don’t make the cut.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

At the Sahel’s Center, Tension Rises Over Chad’s Disputed Election

At the Sahel’s Center, Tension Rises Over Chad’s Disputed Election

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

By: Dr. Yamingué Bétinbaye; Kamel Fakhry; James Rupert

A disputed presidential election in Chad last week is making few global headlines, but poses new risks to African and international efforts to reverse the Sahel region’s spreading instability, conflict and human displacement. Chad is centered in the world’s largest belt of military rule: six nations across Africa that have suffered armed coups since 2020. Among them, Chad is the first to hold elections to restore civilian rule. But a string of setbacks to a fully credible vote has yielded a contested result that risks further domestic conflict and a narrowing of popular legitimacy for the next government, led by the incumbent transitional president, Mahamat Idriss Deby.

Type: Analysis

Global Elections & Conflict

View All Publications