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What We Do
Activities in Local Chapters
Our activities can be divided into three major components. The first set of activities occurs through
our national and overseas chapters.
We currently have chapters in Washington,
D.C.; New York City;
New Haven, CT;
Boston; San Francisco;
Chicago; Los Angeles;
and Oxford, England. Our President, Patrick Belton, and our
National Director, Justin Abold, oversee and
support the heads of each of our regional chapters. Our chapters organize guest lectures,
forums, discussion groups, and public outreach activities. To contact the leader of one of our
chapters, click here. For information on activities at each of
our chapters, please keep your eye out for our periodic newsletter.
EXAMPLE: On November 15,
2004, we invited Steve Clemons, Executive Vice President of the New America
Foundation and Director of the Japan Policy Research Institute, to lead a
discussion with members of our Washington,
DC chapter. Clemons, a recognized expert and regular
commentator in the print and television media, commented on what the 2004
election will mean for American foreign policy. He also presented an engaging and
thoughtful critique of current U.S. economic and security policy—particularly
in East Asia and the Middle East—and advanced the argument that the United
States would be well to adopt a more pragmatic and “realist” approach during
the second Bush term in office.
Our Research Institute
Our third set of activities relate to the Nathan Hale
Research Institute. We have
engaged talented scholars and professionals from a variety of fields to
develop research programs and produce nonpartisan publications that will
ultimately contribute valuable ideas and perspectives to today’s foreign
policy discourse. We currently have
six regional study programs focusing on Asia, Africa, Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. We
also run thematic study programs in such areas as foreign policy ethics,
democratization, trade and development, military strategy, and energy and
resource allocation. Our President,
Patrick Belton, and our Director of Studies, Bob Kokta,
supervise research for our program directors.
We also enjoy the support of a talented group of researchers from
leading universities throughout the United States and elsewhere. Our goal is to produce a library of
accessible, trustworthy policy papers that define key foreign policy issues,
provide comprehensive policy background information, and develop ideas,
insights, and prescriptive measures for addressing current and strategic
foreign policy questions. To learn
more about our research institute, click here.
Outreach Activities
As our first outreach
project, we organized an international secondary school and university-level NHFPS
Essay Contests. The subject of our 2004 contest was the following: “Place yourself
in the position of the American President's National Security Advisor, with
the opportunity to propose a new initiative or a substantial change in an
area of American foreign policy. What proposal would you submit to the
President, and how would you argue for it?”
The winners of our 2004
contest were Zachary Constantino, Peter E. Jeydel of
Princeton University,
and Nathan Hale of Columbia University. Essays were limited to
1,000 words and judged on the quality of arguments that authors displayed
in arguing for their proposals. Connie Chung served as the national chair of our essay contest
committee. For more information about our outreach programs, including
future essay contests, please email Connie by clicking on her name
above. You may also email our National Director, Justin Abold, or
our President, Patrick Belton. We look forward to your participation!
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