Defense Innovation and the New Cold War

China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea present a pressing threat to the United States and its allies. Russia’s war against Ukraine seeks to break the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s unity and render US defense commitments unreliable. Iran is waging a proxy war to destroy Israel and force the United States out of the Middle East. And China and North Korea are materially supporting these efforts while menacing their Indo-Pacific neighbors.

This threat environment is teaching American defense planners and policymakers hard lessons about the need to adapt and change the way the United States budgets, tests, acquires, and deploys new and existing weapon systems. Join Hudson for two panels that will discuss these lessons and why Washington urgently needs to apply them. 

Program

Introduction

• Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, Senior Fellow and Director, Keystone Defense Initiative, Hudson Institute

Panel 1: Defense Innovation

• Senator Tom Cotton, United States Senator, Arkansas
• Joe Londsdale, Cofounder, Palantir Technologies 
• Shyam Sankar, Chief Technology Officer, Palantir Technologies
• Nadia Schadlow, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Moderator

• Morgan D. Ortagus, Founder, POLARIS National Security

Panel 2: Defense Implementation

• Mackenzie Eaglen, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
• Richard Berger, Budget Director, Senate Armed Services Committee
• Nadia Schadlow, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

Moderator

• Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, Senior Fellow and Director, Keystone Defense Initiative, Hudson Institute