“At War with Ourselves” with Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster | Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations on Glue Up

Event Details

Join the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations (PCFR) on September 12 for an exciting kickoff to our season with the esteemed Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, the 25th United States National Security Advisor. In a captivating discussion with PCFR board member David Merkel, McMaster will delve into the insights and revelations from his new book, "At War with Ourselves."

At War with Ourselves is the story of helping a disruptive President drive necessary shifts in U.S. foreign policy at a critical moment in history. McMaster entered an administration beset by conflict and the hyper partisanship of American politics. With the candor of a soldier and the perspective of a historian, McMaster rises above the fray to lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump's presidency and give readers insight into what a second Trump term would look like.

Copies of McMaster's book will be available for purchase, and he will be signing them following the program.

Dinner will be served, so please inform our team of any dietary restrictions you may have.

Don't miss this chance to be part of an enlightening and dynamic discussion. Secure your spot today!

About the Book

A revealing account of National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster's turbulent and consequential thirteen months in the Trump White House.

While all administrations are subject to backstabbing and infighting, some of Trump's more unscrupulous political advisors were determined to undermine McMaster and others to advance their narrow agendas. McMaster writes candidly about Cabinet officials who, deeply disturbed by Trump's language and behavior, prioritized controlling the President over collaborating to provide the President with options.

McMaster offers a frank and fresh assessment of the achievements and failures of his tenure as National Security Advisor and the challenging task of maintaining one's bearings and focus on the mission in a hectic and malicious environment.

Determined to transcend the war within the administration and focus on national security priorities, McMaster forged coalitions in Washington and internationally to help Trump advance U.S. interests. Trump's character and personality helped him make tough decisions, but sometimes prevented him from sticking to them. McMaster adroitly assesses the record of Trump's presidency in comparison to the Obama and Biden administrations.

With the 2024 election on the horizon, At War with Ourselves highlights the crucial importance of competence in foreign policy, and makes plain the need for leaders who possess the character and intellect to guide the United States in a tumultuous world.

Speakers

Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster
25th United States National Security Advisor
H. R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also the Bernard and Susan Liautaud Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and lecturer at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years. He retired as a Lieutenant General in June 2018 after serving as the 25th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. From 2014 to 2017 McMaster designed the future army as the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and the deputy commanding general, futures, of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC). As commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, he oversaw all training and education for the army’s infantry, armor, and cavalry force. He has commanded organizations in wartime including Commander, Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force—Shafafiyat in Kabul,
Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012; Commander, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006; and Commander, Eagle Troop, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Operation Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991. McMaster also served overseas as advisor to the most senior commanders in the Middle East, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
McMaster holds a PhD in military history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an assistant professor of history at the United States Military Academy. He is author of the bestselling books Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World and Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Lies that Led to Vietnam. His many essays, articles, and book reviews on leadership, history, and the future of warfare have appeared in The Atlantic,
Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, SurvivalNational Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.

McMaster is the host of Battlegrounds: International Perspectives on Crucial Challenges and Opportunities and is a regular on Goodfellows. He is a Distinguished University Fellow at Arizona State University.
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David Merkel
Summit International Advisors, LLC
David A. Merkel is the managing director of Summit International Advisors, LLC. His expertise includes United States foreign policy, the geopolitics of energy, the Belt and Road Initiative, Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

David A. Merkel has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Director for South and Central Asian Affairs at the National Security Council in the White House, Director for European and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department. He also served as international counsellor to the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), senior professional staff on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and senior foreign and defense policy adviser to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations.
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Samuel Richardson
Interim Executive Director of Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations
Samuel Richardson is the Interim Executive Director at PCFR and a former Program and Outreach Fellow for the organization. Sam started his career as an intern in the public diplomacy office for the Bureau of Southeast Asian and Pacific Affairs in the US Department of State and in the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. He then worked as a special assistant for US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and helped to liaise with local and national transportation systems at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, Sam has worked with a local Arizona manufacturing company to develop its global communications strategy.

Sam is from a small town in Northern Utah but calls Arizona home with his wife. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University - Idaho in Communications and Asian Studies, a certificate in Vietnamese from Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City, and a master’s degree in Global Business Management with a concentration in Global Public Affairs and Digital Transformation from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.

Besides connecting with the global community, Sam loves to go on long hikes, cook and create new recipes, and take photos.
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