Monday, March 31, 2025

Hear from former ambassador John Shattuck on the rise of Viktor Orban followed by political scientist Jennifer McCoy's analysis of Venezuela's backslide into authoritarianism.

Today we return to the 2025 Camden Conference for a talk by David Stasavage: “What Is Democracy, How Did It Start, and When Does It Prosper?” followed by “Drivers of National Populism,” from Matt Goodwin.

Hear journalist and activist Maria Ressa's keynote address to the 2025 Camden Conference followed by political scientist Joshua Tucker's discussion of social media and the polarization of politics.

Henry Haggard is the founding partner of Seekonk LLC. Following a twenty-five-year career at the U.S. State Department during which he attained the rank of Counselor in the Senior Foreign Service, From 2021-2023, he served as Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs at the United States Embassy in South Korea. Prior to that, he served as Director at the National Security Council under both the Trump and Biden administrations. His talk, "US-Korea Relationship in Transition", was recorded for broadcast on February 10, 2025.

Ambassador Douglas Lute is the former United States Ambassador to NATO. Appointed by President Obama, he assumed the Brussels-based post in 2013 and served until 2017. During this period, he was instrumental in designing and implementing the 28-nation Alliance responses to the most severe security challenges in Europe since the end of the Cold War. His talk, "The Future of NATO," was recorded for broadcast on January 13, 2025.

James Bosworth is the founder of Hxagon, a company that provides political risk analysis and bespoke research in Latin America. With over 20 years of experience researching and writing about Latin America, he assists financial institutions, investors, and analysts at corporations operating throughout the Western Hemisphere understand current events, potential scenarios, and risks to monitor. His talk, "Mapping Latin America's Current Politics," was recorded for broadcast on December 9, 2024.

In this talk hosted by the University of Maine's Mitchell Center in Orono, Cat Biddle and Zeke Kimball explore the relationship between Maine’s schools, rural communities, and future. Their talk,"Education as a Rural, Public Good: Preparing Maine’s People, Families, Schools, & Communities for the Opportunities of Tomorrow" was recorded on November 25th, 2024.

Jeremy Konyndyk is president of Refugees International. A committed humanitarian advocate and seasoned emergency operator, he has served in senior appointments in two U.S. administrations and in a range of U.S. and overseas NGO leadership positions. His talk, “Refuge At Risk: Can Humanitarian Law Survive 21st Century Geopolitics?” was recorded for broadcast on October 15, 2024.

John Lee is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He is also a senior fellow (non-resident) at the United States Studies Centre and adjunct professor at the University of Sydney. From 2016 to 2018, he was senior national security adviser to Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. In this role, he served as the principal adviser on Asia and for economic, strategic, and political affairs in the Indo-Pacific region.