- International Affairs
- Security & Defense
- US Foreign Policy
- Key Countries / Regions
- Military
- History
- Democracy
- Europe
- Confronting and Competing with China
- Determining America's Role in the World
- Revitalizing History
Join Radek Sikorski, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, and Hoover Senior Fellow H.R. McMaster, as they discuss the future of NATO deterrence, the US-Poland strategic partnership’s role in securing Europe, and what a successful outcome in Ukraine would mean for European security and the defense of democratic nations.
The conversation examines Poland’s remarkable transformation since the end of the Cold War, the challenges posed by Russian hybrid warfare and Chinese economic practices, and the importance of energy security, resilient supply chains, and technological innovation. Sikorski and McMaster also discuss developments in the Middle East, transatlantic trade and cooperation, and the leadership required to strengthen democratic societies and navigate an increasingly competitive international environment.
Recorded on July 17, 2026.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Radosław (Radek) Sikorski is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland. Minister Sikorski earlier served as Speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s parliament, from 2014 to 2015, as Foreign Minister from 2007 to 2014, and as Minister of Defence from 2005 to 2007. As Foreign Minister, he launched the European Union’s Eastern Partnership and led the EU mission to Kyiv that negotiated an end to violence during the Maidan protests. Before entering politics, he reported as a war correspondent from Afghanistan and Angola, studied at Oxford, and held fellowships at the American Enterprise Institute and Harvard.
H.R. McMaster is the host of Today's Battlegrounds. He 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. He was the 25th assistant to the president for National Security Affairs. 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 before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Each episode features H.R. McMaster, in a one-on-one conversation with a senior foreign government leader to allow Americans and partners abroad to understand how the past produced the present and how we might work together to secure a peaceful and prosperous future. “Listening and learning from those who have deep knowledge of our most crucial challenges is the first step in crafting the policies we need to secure peace and prosperity for future generations.”
