Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) – In 2020, due to the unprecedented circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide stay-at-home orders, the Hoover Institution produced almost all of its events virtually. Nevertheless, Hoover hosted more programs in 2020 than in any past year since its founding a century ago, while garnering millions of viewers across the globe.
Considerations of COVID-19’s policy implications underscored the depth and diversity of the Hoover fellowship’s expertise. The programs below feature fellows’ analysis on the public health, economic, security, diplomatic, legal, and educational challenges that have arisen during the pandemic. Fellows also provide insight on the threats posed by China’s aggressive foreign policy, and the arguments and consequences of socialism and free-market capitalism, the modern world’s dominant, conflicting, and most fiercely debated economic systems.
Socialism and Free-Market Capitalism: The Human Prosperity Project (HPP)
In 2020, the Hoover Institution launched the Human Prosperity Project, an initiative directed toward educating Americans about the world’s dominant, conflicting, and most fiercely debated economic systems: socialism and free-market capitalism. Chaired by senior fellows Scott W. Atlas and Edward P. Lazear, the project features essays, panel discussions, and digital media hosted on Hoover’s educational platform, PolicyEd.
Impacts of Government-Sponsored Programs
December 3, 2020
Senior fellows John Cogan and Josh Rauh provide analysis on the economic consequences of government-sponsored programs, with a focus on universal basic income and taxation of income and wealth.
Democracy and Authoritarianism
November 12, 2020
Senior fellows Larry Diamond and Elizabeth Economy compare free-market capitalism and socialism on the basis of which economic system best delivers individual liberty and economic prosperity. The program also focuses on the transferability of Chinese-style socialism and Taiwan’s experience with democracy.
Read Elizabeth Economy’s HPP essay, “The China Model: Unexceptional Exceptionalism.”
Read Larry Diamond’s HPP essay, “Political Freedom and Human Prosperity.”
The History of Socialism and Capitalism
October 1, 2020
Senior fellows Niall Ferguson and Victor Davis Hanson provide analysis on the historical performance and future prospects of socialism and free \-market capitalism.
Read Niall Ferguson’s HPP essay, “Capitalism, Socialism, and Nationalism: Lessons from History.”
Read Victor Davis Hanson’s HPP essay, “Our Socialist Future?”
Opportunity and Income Inequality
August 20, 2020
Senior fellows Edward P. Lazear and Lee Ohanian explain how countries that embrace free markets have higher income and living standards than those based on income and resource equity.
Read Edward Paul Lazear’s HPP essay, “Socialism, Capitalism, and Income.”
Read Lee Ohanian’s HPP essay, “The Effect of Economic Freedom on Labor Market Efficiency and Performance.”
Battlegrounds: International Perspectives on Crucial Challenges to Security and Prosperity, with H. R. McMaster
In August, Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster launched a new video conversation series called Battlegrounds: International Perspectives on Crucial Challenges to Security and Prosperity. The Hoover-based interviews, based on McMaster’s recently released book, promotes “strategic empathy,” a concept coined by the historian Zachary Shore that considers outside perspectives in the formulation of national security strategy.
Australia’s Perspective on our Common Challenges: The Indo-Pacific and Beyond
November 23, 2020
Australia’s former foreign minister Julie Bishop explains how American-led security and economic partnerships are integral to confronting ambitions of the People’s Republic of China.
America’s Longest War and the Prospects for Peace in Afghanistan
September 30, 2020
Afghanistan’s foreign minister, Mohammad Haneef Atmar, describes the recent escalation of attacks by Taliban fighters on Afghan forces, as well as the prospects for ongoing peace negotiations involving both sides of this ongoing conflict and international stakeholders, including the United States.
The Threat from North Korea and the Future of the South Korean–American Alliance
September 22, 2020
South Korea’s former ambassador to the United States Ho-young Ahn outlines the security threats for his country posed by North Korea, as well as the challenge of attaining a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region amid old national rivalries and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Project on China’s Global Sharp Power
The Hoover Institution’s Project on China’s Global Sharp Power, is a research initiative chaired by Senior Fellow Larry Diamond and managed by Research Fellow Glenn Tiffert that tracks the People’s Republic of China’s efforts to subvert free and open societies and to control global narratives in favor of the ideals and ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party.
Covert, Coercive, and Corrupt: Countering Chinese Communist Party Malign Influence in Free Societies
October 30, 2020
For far too long, China has exploited the freedom and openness that define the United States and other democracies. Now is the time for the free world to engage Beijing on the basis of reciprocity, argued David Stilwell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, in remarks during a virtual conversation copresented by Hoover’s project on China’s Global Sharp Power and the Asia Society’s Center on US-China Relations.
China, Hong Kong, and the Future of Freedom: Director Condoleezza Rice and Lord Chris Patten
September 23, 2020
Lord Chris Patten, the current chancellor of the University of Oxford and the last governor of British-administered Hong Kong, was interviewed by new Hoover Institution director Condoleezza Rice about the motives behind Beijing’s decision to enact and enforce new national security laws in the special administrative region.
Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region
Hoover’s research initiative Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, chaired by Senior Fellow Larry Diamond and managed by Research Fellow Tiffert, focuses on the strategic importance of the island nation for Asia’s collective security. Special focus of this event series has been given to Taiwan’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic, its democratic election in January, and cross strait relations with the People’s Republic of China.
Dynamics of Democracy in Taiwan: The Ma Ying-jeou Era
December 8, 2020
During the Ma Ying-jeou presidency in Taiwan (2008–16), confrontations over relations with the People’s Republic of China stressed the country’s institutions, leading to a political crisis. Nevertheless, as documented in Dynamics of Democracy in Taiwan, a new book edited by Kharis Templeman, Yun-han Chu, and Larry Diamond, Taiwan’s democracy proved to be resilient. In this discussion, several of the book’s contributors reflect on the politics of this era, and what subsequent developments tell us about the enduring strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan’s democracy.
Session 6: Conference on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region
October 29, 2020
This conversation on China’s rise and prospects for security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region features Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster; Senior Fellow Larry Diamond; Distinguished Research Fellow Michael Auslin; Senior Fellow Elizabeth Economy; Distinguished Visiting Fellow James Ellis; Thomas Fingar of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute; and Orville Schell of the Asia Society.
Session 1: Conference on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region
October 12, 2020
This conversation about security and defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific features Distinguished Visiting Fellow James Ellis; Research Fellow Joseph Felter; Phillip Saunders of National Defense University; Tetsuo Katani of the Japanese Institute of International Affairs; and Chyungly Lee of National Chengchi University.
Taiwan in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from the World
May 7, 2020
Past experience with infectious diseases and persistent threats from the People’s Republic of China prepared Taiwan for its successful crisis response to the COVID-19 pandemic, argues its vice president Chen Chien-jen and other experts on Taiwan’s public health system, laws, and civil society during a Hoover web conference.
Virtual Policy Briefings
Shortly after fellows left campus, Hoover launched its Virtual Policy Briefings. The series includes analyses by fellows on various COVID-19 policy matters, as well as other timely issues such as the politics of climate change, educational reform, and US national security strategy. Since shelter-in-place orders took effect in March, nearly forty episodes have been produced.
The 2020 Election: What the Polls Did and Didn’t Get Right
November 17, 2020
Featuring senior fellows David Brady and Douglas Rivers.
July 28, 2020
Featuring Senior Fellow Amy Zegart.
China, Russia, and American Freedom
June 25, 2020
Featuring Senior Fellow Stephen Kotkin.
COVID-19: Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Implications
April 23, 2020
Featuring Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster.
COVID-19 and the Lessons of History
April 9, 2020
Featuring Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson.
Great Decisions: America in the World 2020
Commentary and analysis from Hoover fellows who contributed essays to America in the World 2020, a special edition of Great Decisions journal published by the Foreign Policy Association. The volume of essays, coedited by Auslin, aims to inform citizens about foreign policy challenges confronting the next presidential administration.
Great Decisions: America In the World: Session 3: Tsars, Trade, and T-Cells
December 10, 2020
Featuring Senior Fellows Michael McFaul, Lucy Shapiro, and John B. Taylor. Distinguished Research Michael Auslin moderates the discussion.
Great Decisions: America In the World, Session 2: Strategic Stability
November 18, 2020
Featuring senior fellows Larry Diamond, Niall Ferguson, and Victor Davis Hanson. Distinguished Research Fellow Michael Auslin moderates the discussion.
Great Decisions: America in the World, Session 1: Critical Countries
November 16, 2020
Featuring senior fellows Russell Berman, Elizabeth Economy, and H. R. McMaster. Distinguished Research Fellow Michael Auslin moderates the discussion.
Other Events
This category features virtual conversations about recently published books by Hoover fellows, high profile events that took place on the Hoover campus prior to COVID-19 restrictions; and other relevant policy discussions.
Hinge of History: Governance in an Emerging New World
December 2, 2020
An event copresented by the Hoover Institution and the United States Institute of Peace featuring Distinguished Fellow George P. Shultz and Distinguished Visiting Fellow James Timbie on their new book, A Hinge of History: Governance in an Emerging New World (Hoover Institution Press, 2020).
Competition for Dominance: Asia’s Geopolitics and the Trends Shaping the Indo-Pacific Future
June 17, 2020
A discussion on Distinguished Research Fellow Michael Auslin’s book, Asia's New Geopolitics (Hoover Institution Press, 2020). Also featuring Nadia Schadlow of the Hudson Institute; Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI); and Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster.
Statecraft, Innovation, And Leadership: Underwriting US National Security with Economic Power
June 15, 2020
Senior Fellow H. R. McMaster and CEO of Bridgewater Associates David McCormack discuss how the United States can sustain its economic might and leverage it for American security, prosperity, and influence.
Hoover Institution Fellows Feature in “Intelligence Squared” Debate about How to Deal with Iran
March 4, 2020
The Hoover Institution’s Hauck Auditorium was the venue for the nationally broadcast series Intelligence Squared US. The motion debated on the Stanford University campus was “the maximum-pressure campaign against Iran is working.” Arguing for the motion were senior fellows Victor Davis Hanson and H. R. McMaster. Arguing against it were Research Fellow Abbas Milani and Martha Crenshaw, senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Niall Ferguson, Hoover Fellows, Discuss America’s Challenges in a Networked World
March 2, 2020
The world premiere of the new PBS documentary Niall Ferguson’s Networld, based on Ferguson’s best-selling book The Square and the Tower, was screened in the Hoover Institution’s Hauck Auditorium, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Distinguished Policy Fellow Peter Robinson, including Ferguson and Hoover fellows Cole Bunzel, an Arabist and expert in Islamic movements; and Jacquelyn Schneider, an expert on the intersections of technology, national security, and political psychology.
Fireside Chat: Incentive Approach to American Foreign Aid Strategy
February 27, 2020
Senior Fellow Condoleezza Rice was joined in the Hoover Institution’s Stauffer Auditorium by Sean Cairncross, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US foreign assistance agency whose mission is to reduce poverty among partner countries while advancing American interests.
Mont Pelerin Society Meets at Hoover Institution: Forty-Year Anniversary
January 15–17, 2020
The Hoover Institution hosted more than 375 members and guests of the Mont Pelerin Society for a three-day conference about the vital importance of “preservation and improvement of the free society,” an aim established at the first meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947.
Secretary of State Pompeo Addresses Hoover Institution Following Strike on Iran’s Military Leader
January 13, 2020
US secretary of state Michael Pompeo delivered an address to an audience of Stanford University students, faculty, and Hoover Institution fellows about the Trump administration’s re-establishment of deterrence in its policy toward Iran, and how it correlates to America’s overarching national security strategy.
In Remembrance of
Edward P. Lazear – November 23, 2020
Edward Paul Lazear was an award-winning economist, public servant, and the Hoover Institution’s Morris Arnold and Nona Jean Cox Senior Fellow. In 1985, Lazear joined the ranks of Hoover’s senior fellowship, and from 1992 to 2017 he was a professor of human resources and economics at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Since 2017, he has held the post of Davies Family Professor of Economics at Stanford. From 2006 to 2009, he was chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Walter Williams – December 1, 2020
Walter E. Williams was a prominent economist, commentator, and professor at George Mason University. Williams was a national fellow at the Hoover Institution in the academic year 1975-1976. He also served on the Board of Overseers from 1983 to 2004 and was a member of its executive committee from 1994 to 2004.
