The Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy

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.

Visit the Weatherhead Center YouTube channel to view videos from the Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy and more. All Manshel Lecture Series videos can be found in its lecture series playlist.

Past Lectures

2025 / November 12

The Crisis of Pax Americana

Speaker: Walter Russell Mead, Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft, Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida. Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship, Hudson Institute. Columnist, Wall Street Journal.

Chair: Erez Manela, Acting Center Director (2025–2026); Director, Graduate Student Programs; Executive Committee; Steering Committee; Faculty Associate. Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History, Department of History, Harvard University.
 

2025 / February 6

American Foreign Policy in the Trump Era

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.
 

2023 / April 19

The Future of Climate Action: A Conversation with Gina McCarthy 

Speakers: Gina McCarthy, the first-ever White House National Climate Advisor and former US EPA administrator. 

James Stock, Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard University; the Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University. 

Chair: Melani Cammett, Center Director; Harvard Academy Senior Scholar (on leave 2022–2023). Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard University. 

Cosponsored by the Office of Sustainability and Climate; the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Climate Change.
 

2023 / November 21

Toward a Politics of Responsibility: The Case of Climate Change

Speaker: Kathryn Sikkink, Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

Chair: Melani Cammett, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs; Acting Director, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; Chair, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Harvard University.

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2019 / March 11

Trumpism in American Foreign Policy

Speaker: Peter J. Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University. 

Convener: Michèle Lamont, Director, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies; Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies, Departments of Sociology and African and African American Studies, Harvard University.

2016 / December 12

International Institutions in an Era of Populism, Nationalism, and Diffusion of Power”

Speaker: Robert O. Keohane, Professor of International Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. 

Response: Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Faculty Associate. Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard Kennedy School; Director, Center for International Affairs (1989–1993)

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Symposium: Soft Power in a Tough World

Speakers: J. Bryan Hehir, Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life, Harvard Kennedy School.

Yuen Foong Khong, Li Ka Shing Professor of Political Science, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

David A. Welch, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) Chair of Global Security, Balsillie School of International Affairs; Professor of Political Science, University of Waterloo; Senior Fellow, CIGI.

Chair: Beth A. Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Law and Political Science, University of Pennsylvania; Director, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (2006–2013).

2015 / June 20

The Future of the 'Special Relationship': The United States, Britain, and the European Union in a Changing Environment

Speaker:  William Wallace, House of Lords

Delivered at the Center's annual conference in Talloires, France.

2014 / April 15

Remembering Robert R. Bowie: A Celebration of His Life and His Contributions to US Foreign Policy and Harvard University

Speakers: Jorge I. Domínguez, Chairman, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. Antonio Madero Professor for the Study of Mexico, Department of Government; Vice Provost for International Affairs, Harvard University.

J. Bryan Hehir, Senior Adviser; Faculty Associate. Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life, Harvard Kennedy School; Secretary for Health and Social Services, Archdiocese of Boston.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Senior Adviser; Faculty Associate. Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard Kennedy School.

Chair: Karl Kaiser, Director, Program on Transatlantic Relations. Adjunct Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School.

2013 / October 16

The State of the Euro: Implications for Europe and the United States

Speaker: Jean-Claude Trichet Former President, European Central Bank; Honorary Governor, Banque de France.

 

2013 / June 15

US Foreign Policy after the Presidential Elections: #ComebackKid

Speaker: Roger Cohen, Journalist, International Herald Tribune, New York Times

Delivered at the Center's annual conference in Talloires, France.

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2012 / June 16

The Future of American Foreign Policy

Speaker: Anne-Marie Slaughter, Bert G. Kerstetter '66 University Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University; Former Director, US Department of State Planning Staff

Delivered at the Center's annual conference in Talloires, France.

2010 / October 21

America's Bush/Cheney Foreign Policy: Why Hasn't It Changed?

Speaker: Seymour Hersh, Investigative Journalist

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2008 / June 14

A European Perspective on the U.S. Presidential Elections

Speaker: Baroness Shirley Williams, Privy Councillor; former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords

Delivered at the Center's annual conference in Talloires, France.

2007 / November 15

Goodness Triumphs Ultimately

Speaker: The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus, Cape Town; 1984 Nobel Peace Prize

This talk was given as part of the Weatherhead Center's 50th anniversary celebrations.

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November 3, 2005

“The Impact of Globalization on Decision Making at the Federal Reserve: Unraveling a Conundrum”
Richard Fisher
President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

May 14, 2003

“Mexico and America: Partners and Protagonists”
Jorge Castañeda
Former Secretary of Foreign Relations of Mexico

December 4, 1996

“The United States Role in Europe in the Post-Cold War World”
Richard C. Holbrooke
Former Assistant Secretary of State

October 21, 1994

“Foreign Policy for a New Era”
Anthony Lake
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

February 8, 1993

“The Future of American Foreign Policy: A Dialogue”
Irving Kristol
Founder, The Public Interest and The National Interest
and Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Senator (D-New York)

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