In front of a crowd of more than 750 people, Susan Rice, national security advisor in the Obama administration, sat down with Michael McFaul to talk about her new memoir “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For.” McFaul, the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, is also a  former member of the Obama administration, having served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Together they discussed her service under President Obama, the political divisions in the U.S., and her book’s focus on family and the importance of learning from your mistakes.

Rice devoted a significant portion of the book to describing the experiences of her family members, including her great-grandfather, a slave in South Carolina who went on to found a private school for African American students; and her mother, who was instrumental in establishing the Pell Grant, which has enabled 80 million Americans from low-income backgrounds to attend college.

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“Their history and experience truly defines who I am,” Rice told McFaul. “As the granddaughter of immigrants from Jamaica who went to Portland, Maine, in 1912 with literally nothing — no education, just the hunger and ambition that so many immigrants bring to this country. My grandfather was a janitor, my grandmother was a maid. They saved and they scraped, and they sent all five of their kids to college.”
 

Rice explained that her decision to attend Stanford over the east coast Ivy League schools“wasn’t popular” with Rice’s mother, a Radcliffe College alumna.

“For me, the exposure to the west coast, to the Pacific, and to the history and culture of this part of the world was quite eye-opening,” Rice said. “I made wonderful friends that I’ve kept to this day. My only regret, frankly, is that I only had four years here.”
 

The former diplomats also discussed Rice’s time serving in the Obama Administration. Five days after the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Rice was tasked with representing the administration on political talk shows, an experience for which she felt she was “characterized and mischaracterized,” she said.

“I was compelled as a senior administration official and public servant to speak only on behalf of our country and on behalf of the president, which was my job and I accepted it,” Rice explained. “That was the right thing to do. But I couldn’t in any way, shape, or form tell my own story in my own words. So writing this book — it was something I felt I needed to do.”
 

Rice shared one of her most memorable experiences of “tough love” with the audience, which took place at the end of her first year at the State Department. Howard Wolpe, then a Congressman from Michigan, took Rice out to lunch and gave her some career advice, which included a suggestion that she make more of an effort in listening to the views and experiences of others.

“It was critical in enabling me to learn, to grow, and to change, and to become a more effective leader — to learn that leadership is a team sport, not an individual sport,” she said. “And I got there, but not without making some mistakes along the way.”
 

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Given much of the recent coverage surrounding security and the fifth generation (5G) of cellular networks, you would be forgiven for assuming that security concerns are largely limited to China in general and Huawei in particular.

This is not the case.

Equally important are the concerns for United States’ security that extend beyond Huawei’s role in the development and deployment of 5G technology. Notably, while Huawei amplifies many pre-existing areas of concern, 5G would represent a significant challenge for American national security even if China was not a peer competitor in the market. 

Read the rest at The Wilson Center

A project 20 years in the making officially came to completion with the dedication of the restoration of Encina Commons and new Bechtel Courtyard on November 7.

The new space will be shared by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and two departments in the School of Humanities and Sciences: Stanford Global Studies and the Department of Political Science. Philanthropic support played a key role in the renovations.

“I am thrilled that we now have this stunning courtyard for our faculty and students to use and enjoy,” said FSI Director Michael McFaul, professor of political science. “There is no doubt that FSI needs the space, as do our partners in the School of Humanities and Sciences, and I am confident that our Master’s in International Policy students will make the most of it.” Professor McFaul is also the Ken Olivier & Angela Nomellini Professor in International Studies.

The space will help establish an international studies hub at FSI by connecting Encina Commons and Encina Hall: the large courtyard is accessible by stairs from Bechtel Conference Room in Encina Hall and from a new lobby area in Encina Commons.

In her remarks during the dedication ceremony, Dean Debra Satz, Vernon R. and Lysbeth Warren Anderson Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences and
Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society, emphasized how the new area reflects Stanford’s commitment to promoting collaboration between academic departments and interdisciplinary research.

“The space people are in can really facilitate or inhibit what happens,” Satz said. “At Stanford, we place a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research and teaching, and I think of this space as a material embodiment of that commitment. We have a lot of faculty who are shared between the School of Humanities and Sciences and FSI and this symbolizes and valorizes that sharing of people.”

Provost Persis Drell and Vice Provost and Dean of Research Kathryn Moler also made remarks at the ceremony, while University Architect and Director of Campus Planning David Lenox spoke about the history of Encina Hall, which was originally a men’s dorm, and described the transformation of the once “not-so-nice-looking” courtyard to the new and improved present-day space.

Also new to Encina Commons is an atrium and bridge across the new open lobby, which connects both of the second-floor wings. Several conference rooms have also been added to the first floor as part of the new Moghadam Conference Center.

Across the courtyard, in Encina Hall, the main lobby has been renamed the Coit D. Blacker lobby in honor of FSI’s director, affectionately known as Chip, from 2003 to 2012, who championed the renovation project.

“Chip understood that we needed a space for international studies, and that we needed a space to allow FSI to grow,” said McFaul. “It was his vision and his dedication to working with campus partners that got us here today.”
 

The space around Encina Commons and the Bechtel Courtyard is a material embodiment of Stanford’s commitment to interdisciplinary research. Today we inaugurated this beautiful space, a project 20-years in the making. pic.twitter.com/mvehzOtwY9

— FSI Stanford (@FSIStanford) November 8, 2019

A New Look for MIP and International Relations
The ground floor of Encina Hall, which houses the Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy (MIP) program, has been remodeled and is now open. Renovations to the academic space, which is adjacent to the Bechtel Courtyard, will allow students more space for collaboration and will bring all of the MIP staff offices together in a centralized location. 

Another big change for the MIP program was announced last summer: Professor Francis Fukuyama, one of the most well-known and respected social scientists in the world, took over as the program’s director in August.

The International Relations program also has a new space on the ground floor of Encina Hall, which will foster academic collaboration and enhance the MIP student experience, and the space is also home to the Center for Human Rights and International Justice within the Stanford Global Studies division.

“This is a critical time to prepare our students to be policy leaders in government, civic society, and the private sector,” said Fukuyama, who is the Mosbacher Director at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law and Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at FSI. “Our curriculum aims to be among the best in international policy education, and continues to get stronger with new faculty, courses, and terrific students.”

The following donors made the Bechtel Courtyard and Encina Commons renovation possible:
The S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and Stephen D. Bechtel, Jr.
Laurie Dachs
Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini
Hamid and Tina Gwatkin Moghadam

Watch the evening’s complete dedication ceremony on the FSI YouTube channel:

This fall, the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) began its ninth offering of Stanford e-Japan, an online course that introduces U.S. society and culture and U.S.–Japan relations to high school students in Japan. Stanford e-Japan is made possible through the support of the Yanai Tadashi Foundation, Tokyo. The fall 2019 Stanford e-Japan online course has continued the tradition of enrolling students from various parts of Japan; engaging students with leading American and Japanese academics, entrepreneurs, and community leaders as guest speakers; and encouraging students to study in the United States.

The 28 students of the fall 2019 cohort were selected from among a competitive group of applicants from throughout Japan. The selected students represent the prefectures of Chiba, Ehime, Gunma, Hiroshima, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Kyoto, Mie, Miyagi, Nara, Okayama, Saitama, and Tokyo. Stanford e-Japan Instructors Meiko Kotani and Waka Brown have noted that their students not only continue to learn important content and perspectives from the guest speakers but also important perspectives from their fellow students. Brown recalled, “…last year, I was particularly struck by the impact a student from Okinawa had on the other students in his cohort as he shared insights on the U.S. military presence in Okinawa from his personal experiences.”

The fall 2019 course recently featured guest speaker Suzanne Basalla, who has become a regular speaker for Stanford e-Japan. Basalla is Chief of Staff at the Toyota Research Institute in Silicon Valley and a former officer (Lieutenant Commander) of the U.S. Navy. Following her naval career, Basalla served as Director for Japan in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and as Senior Advisor to U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, serving at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from 2010 to 2012. During her talk with the students, she touched upon her work with security-, economic-, political-, and cultural-related issues in the U.S.–Japan relationship and also offered keen insights into her current work as a leading entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.

Speakers like Basalla as well as Instructors Brown and Kotani have been encouraging Japanese students to consider studying in the United States. Many Stanford e-Japan alumni have enrolled in summer programs in the United States, spent a year studying abroad in the United States, and several have enrolled in four-year colleges in the United States. Among the latter are Jun Yamasaki (Fall 2017 Stanford e-Japan cohort) and Hanako “Hannah” Tauchi (Spring 2017 Stanford e-Japan cohort), who are recipients of Yanai Tadashi Foundation Scholarships. The following is noted on the scholarship’s website.

[The] Yanai Tadashi Foundation Scholarship aims to provide promising young people with leadership potential the opportunity to study at world-class universities in the United States. The scholarship enables recipients to mix with an internationally diverse student body to cultivate their entrepreneurial skills and enhance their global perspective, encouraging their development as future drivers of a better society.

Yamasaki, a freshman at Northwestern University, and Tauchi, a freshman at the University of California, San Diego, recently commented on how Stanford e-Japan helped them as high school students to prepare for undergraduate studies in the United States. Their comments follow.

Yamasaki: As an institution, Northwestern places a great emphasis on interdisciplinary studies and learning—a characteristic that is apparent in both its research and the academic interests and aspirations of its students. The structure of the Stanford e-Japan program itself encouraged me to examine the U.S.–Japan relationship through multiple perspectives, ranging from sports to entrepreneurship. In addition to furthering my understanding of the dynamics of the U.S.–Japan relationship, Stanford e-Japan helped me identify the intersection between my past interests and the potential future needs and topics pertaining to the U.S.–Japan relationship, and construct my future goals accordingly. This in turn has allowed me to better plan out how I can take full advantage of Northwestern’s unique characteristics and offerings, which I am extremely thankful for. 

Tauchi: The Stanford e-Japan Program was an amazing opportunity for me both to consider undergraduate studies in the U.S. as a realistic option and to improve my English skills overall. As a student who was schooled in Japanese for my entire life, the course—lectures, reading assignments, discussions, and essays—was at first quite challenging, but looking back the half a year I worked on the program, I would definitely say that the program is one of the most important experiences that I had during my high school life. Offered by one of the most renowned colleges in the world, I could feel and imagine how college life in the U.S. would be like. Of course, the contents of the course—things that students do not normally learn in Japanese high school—were all interesting and motivated me to learn more about the U.S.–Japan relationship and beyond. 

Kotani and Brown hope that Stanford e-Japan alumni like Yamasaki and Tauchi will continue to play roles in U.S.–Japan relations beyond their college years. Kotani recently shared that “the Stanford e-Japan guest speakers like Suzanne Basalla, with such fascinating careers, are such excellent role models for the students. My hope is that many alumni of Stanford e-Japan will consider working for businesses in places like Silicon Valley and other organizations in Japan and the United States that focus on the U.S.–Japan relationship.” Brown, who will be recognized with the Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award at a ceremony at Stanford University on December 5, 2019, has noted that, “I feel so honored to be recognized with the 2019 Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award for my work as the Instructor of Stanford e-Japan and am especially looking forward to seeing one of my former Stanford e-Japan students, Ryoga Umezawa, who is studying at the Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute in San Francisco.”

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• Honoring High School Students from Japan and the United States: A Glow for Global Peace
• SPICE’s Waka Takahashi Brown Receives 2019 Elgin Heinz Outstanding Teacher Award
• Yanai Tadashi Foundation and SPICE/Stanford University

Two former Department of Defense (DoD) officials shared the stage at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), where they discussed the decision to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria, women in the military, and the importance of public service.

Ash Carter — who served as secretary of defense from 2015 to 2017 — told Joe Felter — former deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia — that he emphasized the importance of tradition and had high standards for good conduct from his employees when he was at the head of the DoD, which had 1.3 million active-duty employees in 2016, and is the largest employer in the world.

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“Even if you come into an organization and take over and your judgement is that it’s really quite broken, it’s still worth finding the things that it is good at and making the people proud of the things that they are already good at,” Carter said.

Felter asked Carter about a topic on the minds of some in Silicon Valley — the possible development of autonomous weapons — and whether the liability for harm should lie with the developer of technology, or those who make the decision to execute the use of the weapon.

“It’s going to be a shared responsibility,” Carter said. “The key thing is not to get lost in AI is human responsibility — AI is an aid to human decision-making, but at the end of the day, somebody is responsible.”

When asked about the relationship between tech companies and the government, Carter said he had encountered some tech leaders who didn’t think government mattered during the earlier days of his government service, but added that he has noticed a different attitude from young people today.

“My students know that something’s wrong in the relationship between tech and society… it brings a lot of great stuff, but it has brought some real darkness too, and we need to get on top of that,” Carter said. “And that’s how they want to spend their lives.”

When Felter asked Carter what he would say to a graduating Stanford student to encourage him or her to pursue a career in public service, Carter didn’t have to think twice before responding.

“I’d say, ‘Look, the building smells like your high school, the pay is terrible, and work conditions can be awful. But the mission is the best. And you’ll wake up every morning and be a part of something that is meaningful.’”

[Find more upcoming events with experts on international affairs on the FSI website]