Class of 2008 Session Overview

“Seminar XXI would disappoint anyone with a senior position in the military or civilian government who thinks he's seen it all and learned it all. Over the course of the year, even the broadest thinker would be challenged by the breadth of subject matter tackled by scholars, practitioners, and seminar participants. The seminar instills in the problem solver the salutary habit of asking: is there another perspective to be considered?”
Dr. Susan Offutt Chief Economist, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Session Date Participating Faculty
Introductory Session Dr. Philip Zelikow
- Ethnic and Religious Conflict Dr. Gerard Prunier, Prof. Scott Appleby, Prof. Sumit Ganguly, Prof. Robert Art, Prof. Chaim Kaufmann, Prof. Steven Burg, Prof. Ashutosh Varshney, Prof. Jarret Brachman
Iran & Turkey: Democracy & Islam Prof. Henri Barkey, Prof. Ray Takeyh
Japan & Europe — US Allies Forever? Prof. Richard Samuels, Prof. Jolyon Howorth
Realism, Liberalism, and World Politics Prof. John Mearsheimer, Prof. Michael Doyle
- National Economies in a Globalizing World Prof. Kenneth Oye, Prof. Jomo K.S., Prof. Chappell Lawson, Ms. Kimberly Elliott, Prof. Andrew Natsios, Ms. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Prof. Adam Segal, Prof. Rawi Abdelal
State Building Prof. James Dobbins, Prof. Seth Jones
Democratization Prof. Terry Karl, Prof. Tamara Wittes
- US National Security Policy Prof. Robert Art, Prof. Bob Ross, Prof. Chris Layne, Prof. Keir Lieber, Prof. Stephen Cohen, Prof. Daniel Byman, Prof. Gregory Gause, Prof. Daryl Press, Prof. Marc Lynch, Dr. Andrey Kortunov, Prof. Stacy VanDeveer, Prof. Bruce Hoffman

Class Attendees

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Program Director & Staff

Program Director: Prof. Robert Art
Program Executive Director: Tisha Gomes Voss
Program Assistant: Kristen Jamison
Research Assistants: Gabriel Rubin, Joshua Shifrinson
Senior Advisors: Jake Stewart, Mitzi Wertheim

25th Anniversary Video

Hear past and present organizers reflect on over 25 years of the Seminar XXI Program and its impact on the national security policy community.

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2026–2027 SESSION DATES

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Find out who attended and the national security topics discussed.

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