LaiYee Leong, Fellow, Tower Center and SMU Center for Presidential History
Diana Newton, Senior Fellow, Tower Center
Hiroki Takeuchi, Director of the Sun & Star Program on Japan and East Asia, Tower Center
February 15, 2017

Monthly Seminar | President Donald Trump and the Border

Featured speaker

Rodolfo Hernandez Guerrero, Director of International Partnership Development (IPD) and Senior Advisor to the Center for U.S. – Latin America Initiatives (CUSLAI) at the University of Texas at Dallas
January 25, 2017

Texas-Mexico | Coffee & Conversation with Alan Bersin

Featured speaker

Alan Bersin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security
December 6, 2016

SAS@SMU | Does America Still Need the Army?

Featured speakers

Austin Long, assistant professor of security policy, Columbia University
Joshua Rovner, Director of Studies, Tower Center
November 1, 2016

Tower Center Special Event | A Conversation with His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, United Arab Emirates

Featured speaker

His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States
October 20, 2016

Tower Center Student Forum | A Brexit Discussion

Featured speakers

Harold Clarke, Ashbel Smith Professor, School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex
Lorinc Redei, lecturer, LBJ School of Public Affairs
October 7, 2016

SAS@SMU | Intelligence, Policy and Covert Action

Featured speaker

Jon Sather, former Chief Intelligence Officer, Stratfor
September 22, 2016

Sun & Star | Uninformed: Why People Know so Little about Elections and What we can do about it

Featured speaker

Arthur Lupia, Hal R. Varian Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan
September 21, 2016

T ower Center Monthly Seminar | Injury, Rage, Audacity: Donald Trump, Andrew Jackson, and the Creation of the 'People's Candidate'

Featured speaker

Aaron Crawford, Center for Presidential History
September 21, 2016

The Situation in Turkey

Featured speaker

Martin P. Adams, former Special Assistant for Political Intelligence, United States Fifth Fleet
September 13, 2016

Scott Hawkins Lecture | Strategic Dilemmas in American Foreign Policy

Featured speaker

Kenneth Schultz, Professor, Stanford University
September 7, 2016

Sun & Star | The Resource Curse in China

Featured speaker

Jing Vivian Zhan, Associate Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
August 31, 2016

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Intelligence in Iraq Revisited

Featured speaker

Joshua Rovner, Director of Studies, Tower Center
August 24, 2016

Sun & Star Symposium | U.S. Japan Relations and Security in the Asia-Pacific: Challenges and Hopes

Featured speakers

Rumi Aoyama, Professor, Waseda University
James F. Hollifield, Director, Tower Center
Satoshi Ikeuchi, Associate Professor, University of Tokyo
Tomoki Kamo, Professor, Keio University
Satoshi Machidori, Professor, Kyoto University
Diana Newton, Senior Fellow, Tower Center
Junya Nishino, Associate Professor, Keio University
The Honorable Itsunori Onodera, Member of the House of Representatives
Joshua Rovner, Director of Studies, Tower Center
Tomohito Shinoda, Professor, International University of Japan
Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, SMU
Hiroki Takeuchi, Director of Sun & Star Program, SMU
Motohiro Tsuchiya, Professor, Keio University
Admiral Patrick Walsh, former commander of the Pacific Fleet, Senior Fellow of the Tower Center

Coffee & Conversation | Terrorism and the Internet

Featured speaker

David Benson, Postdoctoral Fellow, SMU Lyle School of Engineering
April 19, 2016

SAS@SMU | Intelligence in an Age of Terror

Featured speaker

Gerg Treverton, Chairman, National Intelligence Council
April 14, 2016

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | When Norms Collide: Local Responses to Activism against Female Genital Mutilation and Early Marriage

Featured speaker

Karisa Cloward, Assistant Professor of Political Science, SMU
April 13, 2016

Coffee & Conversation | (Un)healthy Pursuits: Public Health, Exile, and Surveillance in Cold War Mexico

Featured speaker

Katherine Bliss, Senior Associate, Global Health Policy Center & Senior Fellow, Tower Center
March 30, 2016

Immigration in the News: How the Media Covers the Issue and How the Public Responds

Featured speakers

Aileen Cardona-Arroyo, Latino Politcs Post-Doctoral Fellow, SMU
Julián Aguilar, Reporter, The Texas Tribune
March 14, 2016

Coffee & Conversation | The 2016 Taiwanese Elections and the Implications on the U.S.-China-Taiwan Relationship

Featured speaker

Hans Stockton, Associate Dean & Professor, Director, Center for International Studies, University of St. Thomas
March 14, 2016

SAS@SMU | Killer Robots

Featured speakers

Michael Horowitz, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Christopher Jenks, Director of the Criminal Justice and Assistant Professor of Law, SMU
Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security
March 3, 2016

Coffee & Conversation | Selling Ideas, Buying Influence: Mexican and American Think Tanks in the Promotion of an Immigration Agreement

Featured speaker

Jesus Velasco, Associate Professor, Tarleton State University
February 22, 2016

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Is it Documentation or is it Immigration? Exploring the Effects of Attitudes Toward Documented and Undocumented Immigrants on Immigration Policy Attitudes

Featured speaker

James Garand, Emogene Pliner Distinguished Professor of Political Science, LSU
February 17, 2016

Coffee & Conversation | Satoshi Ikeuchi: Diffuse and then Expand: Organizational Approach to the Islamic State

Featured speaker

Satoshi Ikeuchi, Associate Professor, University of Tokyo
January 19, 2016

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Hubris, Self-Interest and America’s Failed War in Afghanistan: the Self-Sustaining Overreach

Featured speaker

Thomas Cavanna, Postdoctoral Fellow, Tower Center, bio
December 2, 2015

Lunch & Lecture | Memo to Aspiring Washington Whizzes

Featured speaker

Chase Untermeyer, former United States Ambassador to Qatar, bio
November 24, 2015

Coffee & Conversation | Ambassador Kenney: Southeast Asia and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Featured speaker

Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State (October, 2015 to Present), bio
November 20, 2015

Intimate Rivals: Japanese Domestic Politics and a Rising China

Featured speaker

Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, bio
November 16, 2015

SAS@SMU | National Security Dinner: Maintaining the Arsenal of Democracy

Featured speaker

Gen. Craig R. McKinley (USAF, ret), President and CEO, National Defense Industrial Association, bio
November 12, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Rethinking German Nationalism and Politics between the World Wars

Featured speaker

Erin Hochman, Assistant Professor of History, SMU, bio
November 11, 2015

SAS@SMU | The Rise of ISIS

Featured speakers

Caitlin Talmadge, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University, bio
Joby Warrick, Reporter, The Washington Post, bio
Moderator | Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, bio
November 5, 2015

Tower Center in DC | Latinos in America: From Immigrants to Citizens

Featured speakers

Michael Jones-Correa, Professor of Government, Cornell University, bio
Miryam Hazán, Consultant, Inter-American Development Bank, bio
Miguel Esteban Solis, President, Latino Center for Leadership Development, bio
Tom K. Wong, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego, bio
Moderator | Andrew Selee, Executive Vice President & Senior Advisor to the Mexico Institute, Wilson Center, bio
October 26, 2015

Lunch & Lecture | Pakistan: Terrorists, Nukes, and Betrayal, but Gotta Get It Right

Featured speaker

Ambassador James F. Moriarty, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh (2008-2011), bio
October 23, 2015

Tower Center Forum Event | The State of Higher Education in Texas

Featured speakers

Dan Branch, former Chairman of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education; Commissioner, Education Commission of the States; and Chairman, SMU Tower Center Board of Directors, bio
Michael K. McLendon, Dean of the School of Education & Professor of Higher Education Policy and Leadership, Baylor University, bio
Moderator | Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, bio
October 15, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Capitalism and Activism: Market Forces and LGBT Movements in Asia

Featured speakers

LaiYee Leong, Tower Center Fellow, SMU, bio
Anny Wong, Tower Center Research Fellow, SMU, bio
Moderator | Robert Hunt, Professor & Director of Global Theological Education, SMU, bio
October 14, 2015

Tower Center Forum Event | Art and Power: War, Politics, and the Destruction of Ancient Treasures

Featured speakers

Anita M. Difanis, Director of Government Affairs, Association of Art Museum Directors, bio
Mark A. Roglán, Director of the Meadows Museum & Adjunct Associate Professor of Art History, SMU, bio
Moderator | Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, bio
October 1, 2015

Tower Center Student Forum | Civil-Military Relations in China and Implications for Foreign Policy

Featured speaker

Andrew R. Wilson, Professor of Strategy and Policy, United States Naval War College, bio
September 17, 2015

The Trans-Pacific Partnership: Implications beyond Economics

Featured speaker

Michael L. Beeman, Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Japan, Korea and APEC Affairs, bio
September 15, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Tax Reform in Rural China: Revenue, Resistance, and Authoritarian Rule

Featured speaker

Hiroki Takeuchi, Associate Professor & Director of Sun & Star Program on Japan East Asia, Tower Center, SMU, bio
September 9, 2015

Tower Center Forum Event | An Ambassador’s Story — My Mission to Saudi Arabia After 9/11

Featured speakers

Ambassador Robert Jordan, former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia & Diplomat-in-Residence, Tower Center, SMU, bio
Diana Newton, Senior Fellow, Tower Center, SMU, bio
September 8, 2015

Propaganda for Sale: The Impact of Media Commercialization on Authoritarian Rule in China

Featured speaker

Daniela Stockmann, Associate Professor in the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University, Netherlands, bio
September 2, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World

Featured speaker

Bethany Albertson, Assistant Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin, bio
May 13, 2015

Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice

Featured speakers

John Nagl, Headmaster, Haverford School; President, New American Security (2009-2012), bio
Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, SMU, bio
May 5, 2015

SAS@SMU | The New Middle East Cold War

Featured speakers

F. Gregory Gause, III, John H. Lindsey ’44 Chair and Head of the International Affairs Department, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, bio
Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, SMU, bio
April 14, 2015

SAS@SMU | Nuclear Weapons and National Security: The Once and Future Role of the Bomb

Featured speakers

General C. Robert Kehler (USAF, ret.), former Commander of United States Strategic Command, bio
Francis J. Gavin, Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy studies & Professor of Political Science, MIT, bio
Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, SMU, bio
March 26, 2015

Sun & Star Symposium (2015) | Opening Dinner & Discussion: Waiting for the Rising Sun: Japanese New Nationalism and Beyond

Featured speaker

Ambassador Richard L. Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State (2001-2005), bio

Sun & Star Symposium (2015) | Waiting for the Rising Sun: Japanese New Nationalism and Beyond (Panel 1)

Panel 1: Japanese Nationalism and National Identity: The Domestic Context

Thomas Berger, Boston University
Leonard Schoppa, University of Virginia
Nathaniel Smith, University of Arizona
Discussant: Patricia Maclachlan, University of Texas at Austin

Sun & Star Symposium (2015) | Waiting for the Rising Sun: Japanese New Nationalism and Beyond (Panel 2)

Panel 2: Japanese Nationalism and National Identity: The International Context

Alexis Dudden, University of Connecticut
Alexander Tan, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Anny Wong, Tower Center, SMU
Discussant: Diana Newton, Tower Center, SMU

Sun & Star Symposium (2015) | Waiting for the Rising Sun: Japanese New Nationalism and Beyond (Panel 3)

Panel 3: Nationalism, Citizenship, and Immigration in Japan

Atsuko Abe, Obirin University, Japan
Erin Aeran Chung, Johns Hopkins University
Michael Orlando Sharpe, City University of New York
Discussant: James Hollifield, Tower Center, SMU

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Falling Giants: Rising States and the Fate of Declining Great Powers

Featured speaker

Joshua Shifrinson, Assistant Professor, Bush School of Government & Public Service, Texas A&M University, bio
March 18, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the Surprisingly Peaceful End of the Cold War

Featured speaker

Jeffrey A. Engel, Associate Professor of History & Director of the Center for Presidential History, SMU, bio
February 25, 2015

SAS@SMU | What Do We Know about Cyber Conflict?

Featured speaker

Brandon Valeriano, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Politics, University of Glasgow, bio
February 17, 2015

Coping with Immigration in Germany: From Ignorance to Acceptance?

Featured speaker

Uwe Hunger, Associate Professor of Political Science, Muenster University (Germany), bio
February 16, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | The Other Immigrants: Mexican Brain Drain to the USA

Featured speaker

Jesus Velasco, Associate Professor & Joe and Teresa Long Endowed Chair in Social Sciences, Tarleton State University
January 21, 2015

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | 'Privatizing' Public Higher Education in the U.S.: The Political Economy of State Postsecondary Policy Change

Featured speaker

Michael K. McLendon, Annette and Harold Simmons Centennial Endowed Chair, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, SMU
December 10, 2014

Tower Center Student Forum | Why did the Arab Winter happen?

Featured speaker

Zoltan Barany, Frank C. Erwin Jr. Centennial Professor in Government, University of Texas at Austin
December 3, 2014

Book Talk | Immigration, Integration and Mobility: New Agendas in European Migration Studies

Featured speaker

Adrian Favell, Professor of Sociology, Sciences Po, Paris
November 17, 2014

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective

Featured speakers

    James F. Hollifield, Director & Professor, Department of Political Science, SMU
    Pia Orrenius, Vice President and Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
    November 12, 2014

National Security Conference (2014) | The United States and China: Strategy, Competition, and Innovation (Panel 1: Grand Strategy and the Rise of China)

Featured speakers

Chair: Professor Hiroki Takeuchi, SMU, bio
Ms. Bonnie Glaser, Center for Strategic and International Studies, bio
Professor Sean Kay, Ohio Wesleyan University, bio
Professor Jennifer Lind, Dartmouth College, bio
Professor Robert Ross, Harvard Fairbank Center & Boston College, bio

National Security Conference (2014) | The United States and China: Strategy, Competition, and Innovation (Panel 2: Military Dimensions of a Conflict with China)

Featured speakers

Chair: Professor Joshua Rovner, SMU, bio
Dr. Michael Chase, RAND, bio
Professor Aaron L. Friedberg, Princeton University, bio
Dr. Kevin Pollpeter, U.C. San Diego, bio
Professor Toshi Yoshihara, U.S. Naval War College, bio

National Security Conference (2014) | The United States and China: Strategy, Competition, and Innovation (Panel 3: Implications for the Defense Industry)

Featured speakers

Chair: James F. Hollifield, SMU, bio
Professor Eugene Gholz, University of Texas and former DOD advisor, bio
Mr. Brett Lambert, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing & Industrial Base Policy, bio
Professor Andrew Ross, Texas A&M University, bio
Admiral Patrick Walsh, USN (ret.), former Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, bio

National Security Conference (2014)| Opening Dinner & Discussion: China, Intelligence, and U.S. Grand Strategy

Featured speaker

Thomas Fingar, former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council
November 5, 2014

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Tempting Fate: Interests, Red-Lines, and Conflict in Nuclear Monopoly

Featured speaker

Paul Avey, Postdoctoral Fellow, Tower Center
October 22, 2014

The State of Democracy in Mexico, and Its Implication for the U.S. – Mexico Relationship

Featured speakers

    Roderic Ai Camp, Phillip McKenna Professor, Claremont McKenna College
    Pamela Starr, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California
    October 10, 2014

A New Cold War? Russia, the U.S., and the Meaning of Ukraine

Featured speakers

    David J. Kramer, President, Freedom House
    Joshua Rovner, John G. Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security
    October 8, 2014

The Euro Crisis and the Challenges for France

Featured speakers

    James F. Hollifield, Director & Professor, Department of Political Science, SMU
    Mark Wynne, Director of the Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
    September 25, 2014

New Immigration Patterns: Central American Youth and the Future of US Immigration Policy

Featured speakers

    Alfredo Corchado, Mexico Bureau Chief, The Dallas Morning News
    Pia Orrenius, Vice President and Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
    Andrew Selee, Executive Vice President and Senior Advisor to the Mexico Institute, Wilson Center
    September 19, 2014

After al Qaeda: The Future of American Grand Strategy

Featured speakers

    Hal Brands, Duke University
    Barry R. Posen, MIT
    Joshua Rovner, Tower Center, SMU
    September 11, 2014

After al Qaeda: The Future of American Grand Strategy (KERA Interview)

Featured speakers

    Hal Brands, Duke University
    Joshua Rovner, Tower Center, SMU
    September 11, 2014

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Time to React: The Efficiency of International Organizations in Crisis Response (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Heidi Hardt, Tower Center Associate
Tower Center Monthly Seminar | May 14, 2014

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | The Idea of International Intellectual Property (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Shubha Ghosh, Tower Center Fellow
Tower Center Monthly Seminar | April 16, 2014

US-Russia Relations from the Cold War to the Present Standoff (Audio File)

Featured speaker

    Suzanne Massie, Author of “Trust but Verify: Reagan, Russia and Me”
    Daniel Orlovsky, Tower Center Senior Fellow & Professor of Russian Studies, SMU
    Tower Center Forum Event | April 9, 2014

How Desirable, and How Likely, Is International Macroeconomic Policy Cooperation? (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Jeffry Frieden, Harvard University
A Jno. E. Owens Memorial Foundation Conference | March 26, 2014

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Secret Intelligence and the Law of Lethal Attacks (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Christopher Jenks, Tower Center
Tower Center Monthly Seminar | March 26, 2014

The 2011 Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Accident in Japan: Coordinating the U.S. Government Response (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Kevin McQuade, ASysT Consulting Group (ACG)
Tower Center Discussion | March 25, 2014

Viral Warfare: The Security Implications of Cyber and Biological Weapons (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Gregory Koblentz, George Mason University
Tower Center Discussion | March 20, 2014

U.S., South & North Korea: What the Future Holds (Audio File)

Featured speakers

    Victor Cha, Georgetown University
    Han Park, University of Georgia
    Joshua Rovner, Tower Center
    Tower Center Event | February 24, 2014

The Abraham Lincoln You Don't Know

Featured speaker

Talmage Boston, Tower Center Board Member
Board of Directors Meeting | February 12, 2014

Tower Center Monthly Seminar | Rioters for Justice: Remnants of Colonization and civil unrest in the French Banlieues (Audio File)

Featured speaker

Hervé Tchumkam, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies and Associate of the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies

National Security Conference (2013) | Making Strategy under Budget Austerity (Panel 1)

Panel 1: Threats & Opportunities

Joshua Rovner, Tower Chair for National Security
Admiral Patrick Walsh, USN (Ret.), former Commander, Pacific Fleet
General H.R. McMaster, USA, Commander, Maneuver Center of Excellence
Jeremy Shapiro, Brookings Institution

National Security Conference (2013) | Making Strategy under Budget Austerity (Panel 2)

Panel 2: Capabilities & Choices

Celeste Ward-Gventer, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Capabilities
General Carter Ham, USA (Ret.)
General Buzz Moseley, USAF (Ret.)
General Peter Chiarelli, USA (Ret.)

National Security Conference (2013) | Making Strategy under Budget Austerity (Panel 3)

Panel 3: Money & Politics

General Montgomery Meigs, USA (Ret)
Pete Geren, former Secretary of the Army
Nora Bensahel, Deputy Director of Studies, CNAS
Dennis Ippolito, Senior Fellow, Tower Center

National Security Conference (2013) | Making Strategy under Budget Austerity | Keynote Dinner

Featured speaker

Gordon England, the 29th Deputy Secretary of Defense & President of E6 Partners LLC

Sun & Star Symposium | Asia's Contested Waters: The East China and South China Sea (Panel 1)

Panel 1: The History of the Rights to Oil, Gas and Fishing in the East China and South China Sea

Alexis Dudden, University of Connecticut
William Tsutsui, Southern Methodist University
Micah Muscolino, Georgetown University
Discussant: Ling Shiao, Southern Methodist University

Sun & Star Symposium | Asia's Contested Waters: The East China and South China Sea (Panel 2)

Panel 2: The Politics of Territorial Disputes: East and South China Sea

William Norris, Texas A&M University
Peter Gries, University of Oklahoma
Daniel Lynch, University of Southern California
Discussant: Hiroki Takeuchi, Southern Methodist University

Intelligence, National Security, and Civil Liberties: A Conversation with the NSA

Featured speaker

John DeLong, Director of Compliance, National Security Agency
Jeffrey Kahn, Associate Professor of Law, SMU
Joshua Rovner, Tower Distinguished Chair in International Politics and National Security, SMU
Jeffrey A. Engel, Director of the Center for Presidential History, SMU

Highlights on C-SPAN | Tower Center Symposium | Women in Politics

Featured speakers