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For the past 20 years, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has convened national security leaders after every change in administration to affirm the peaceful transfer of power and the bipartisan character of American foreign policy through its signature Passing the Baton event.

In 2021, the Atlantic Council, USIP and its partners believe that this event is more important now than ever.

On January 29, USIP brings together Jake Sullivan, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s national security advisor, and Ambassador Robert O’Brien, President Donald J. Trump’s former national security advisor, for a conversation on the most critical foreign policy challenges facing the nation. Secretary Condoleezza Rice, the 66th Secretary of State and former national security advisor to President George W. Bush, moderates the conversation.

Passing the Baton: Securing America’s Future Together provides an opportunity to assert and reflect on the importance of standing united against threats to global peace and security, which is rooted in the American commitment to the peaceful transition of power.

USIP is pleased to host this bipartisan event with the American Enterprise Institute, Atlantic Council, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for American Progress, The Heritage Foundation, and Hudson Institute.

Agenda

Opening remarks

Stephen J. Hadley, Executive Vice Chair, Atlantic Council and Chair, U.S. Institute of Peace

Lisa Grande, President and CEO, U.S. Institute of Peace

Top national security threats facing the nation

Admiral Michelle Howard, USN Retired

Securing America’s future together

Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 

Ambassador Robert O’Brien, Former National Security Advisor to President Donald J. Trump

Moderator: Secretary Condoleezza Rice, 66th Secretary of State and Former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush

Meeting the moment: Reflections from partners

Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council

Kenneth Weinstein, President Emeritus and Walter P. Sloan Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute

Thomas Carothers, Senior Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

James Jay Carafano, Vice President of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy and the E.W. Richardson Fellow, The Heritage Foundation

Ambassador Gordon Gray, Chief Operating Officer, Center for American Progress

Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

Closing remarks

Amb. George Moose, Vice Chair, U.S. Institute of Peace