PAST EVENTS
Rising Leaders Series: Meet Representative Elissa Slotkin
The Common Good Rising Leader Series with Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) . Moderated by Honorary Board Member, Jane Harman.
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The Common Good sits down with Representative Elissa Blair Slotkin. Moderated by Jane Harmon.
Thursday, July 15th, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm EST
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Rep. Slotkin has spent her career in national service. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which took place during her first week of graduate school in New York City, Rep. Slotkin knew that national service would define her career. She was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to be a Middle East analyst and went on to devote her career to protecting the United States from national security threats.
In her role at the CIA, Rep. Slotkin worked alongside the U.S. military during three tours in Iraq as a militia expert. In between her tours in Iraq, Rep. Slotkin held various defense and intelligence positions under President Bush and President Obama, including roles at the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In 2011, Rep. Slotkin took a senior position at the Pentagon and, until January 2017, she served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In this role, Rep. Slotkin oversaw policy on Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at the Pentagon and participated in negotiations on some of the country’s most pressing national security issues.
Jane Harman is an internationally recognized authority on U.S. and global security issues, foreign relations, and lawmaking. Among her many achievements, Harman is a Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita of the Wilson Center, one of the world’s most highly regarded think tanks.
Harman recently completed a decade as its first female President & CEO. Congresswoman Harman has long been a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for her distinguished service, including the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Service, the CIA Agency Seal Medal, the CIA Director’s Award, and the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal.
Her upcoming book, Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe, offers an insider's account of America's ineffectual approach to some of the hardest defense and intelligence issues in the three decades since the Cold War ended.
Revisiting The MLK Assassination with G. Robert Blakey
Revisiting The JFK Assassination with G. Robert Blakey and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson.
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As we reflect on the anniversary of the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr., G. Robert Blakey and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. offers us incredible insider perspectives on the assassination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Was there a conspiracy, or did James Earl Ray act alone?. What role did American agents play in the life and death of the Reverend Dr. King?
Thursday, April 8, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm ET
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Professor G. Robert Blakey, the nation's foremost authority on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), has served on the Notre Dame Law School faculty for more than 30 years. He teaches in the areas of criminal law and procedure, federal criminal law and procedure, terrorism, and jurisprudence. Blakey's extensive legislative drafting experience resulted in the passage of the Crime Control Act of 1973, the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 and the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title IX of which is known as RICO. He has been personally involved in drafting and implementing RICO-type legislation in 22 of the more than 30 states that have enacted racketeering laws. He frequently argues in or consults on cases involving RICO statutes at both the federal and state levels, including several cases before the United States Supreme Court.
Blakey has considerable expertise in federal and state wiretapping statutes as well. He helped draft and secure passage of Title III on wiretapping of the federal 1968 Crime Control Act, and has been personally involved in drafting and implementing wiretapping legislation in 39 of the 43 states that have enacted such laws. Blakey has extensively investigated the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He served as chief counsel and staff director to the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1977 to 1979, and helped to draft the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Blakey gave remarks at the 2012 Law School Hooding/Diploma Commencement Ceremony on May 19, 2012. Blakey received Emeritus status in December 2012.
Michael Eric Dyson is one of the nation’s most renowned professors, gifted writers, inspiring preachers, knowledgeable lecturers and prominent media personalities. As a teacher who earned a PhD in Religion from Princeton University, Dyson has taught at some of the nation’s most distinguished universities. He is presently Distinguished University Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies, College of Arts & Science at Vanderbilt University. Dyson is one of America’s premier public intellectuals and author of over 23 books, including seven New York Times bestsellers.
As a preacher and sometime pastor for more than 40 years, Dyson has mounted many of the nation’s most noted pulpits to deliver sermons, including, most recently, the Washington National Cathedral where Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his last Sunday sermon. Dyson has lectured across the country, and around the world, in many of the best colleges and universities, and in public theaters and auditoriums, and for many corporations and unions. He has also served for the last 30 years as a media commentator – and occasionally host – on every major radio and television show. Dyson has even found time to make guest appearances on scripted cable and network television programs such as Soul Food, The Game and Black-ish.
Chris Whipple: The Spymasters
Join us for a discussion with the New York Times bestselling author of The Gatekeepers, on his new book The Spymasters as we get a a remarkable, behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to run the world’s most powerful intelligence agency, and how the CIA is often a crucial counterforce against presidents threatening to overstep the powers of their office.
Chris Whipple tells the story of an agency that answers to the United States president alone, but whose activities—spying, espionage, and covert action—take place on every continent.
We at The Common Good are extremely fortunate to have hosted this intimate, comprehensive and timely conversation between author and journalist, Chris Whipple and author and historian, Kai Bird, about the CIA - its innerworkings, successes and failures, role in American history, and ultimately its fundamental purpose. For an institution with so much brand recognition - the Rolls Royce of government if you will - it remains a mystery to most. However, not to these two guests - it’s clear from their research, their writing and this conversation that Chris and Kai are two of the most knowledgeable observers of the CIA living today.
To illustrate the extent of the CIA’s secrecy, Kai opens with a simple question - How many people work at the CIA?
We actually don’t even know that, but Chris’ educated guess is in the tens of thousands.
What is more clear, however, is the CIA’s role in some pivotal moments in American history.
Chris and Kai discuss Richard Helms, the quintessential spymaster - he was a career intelligence officer, who viewed the president as his only client; he was also a great dancer and loved dry martinis.
Helms was also, however, implicated in the flawed Domino Theory that ultimately drew America deeper into Vietnam - the theory purported that if one country fell to communism, the surrounding countries would also fall.
Citing another intelligence failure, Chris and Kai examine President Carter’s biggest foreign policy blunder - Iran.
American intelligence community missed the Iranian revolution entirely, illuminating a complete misunderstanding of internal Iranian Politics.
This of course had immediate consequences for American hostages, but one can also draw a line back to the Iranian revolution to explain much of American/Iranian relations today.
Fascinatingly, Chris and Kai opined that MBS of Saudi Arabia today may be mirroring the Shah of Iran in the 1970s.
They cite The Bay of Pigs and Weapons of Mass Destruction to be other monumental intelligence failures.
Intelligence Failures versus Policy Failures
Chris and Kair joked that there are only policy successes and intelligence failures - meaning the CIA gets blamed a lot, but in reality, the failure often happens when an administration either fails to act or acts in correctly in response to accurate intelligence.
In weeks leading up to 9/11, the CIA, specifically George Tenet and Cofer Black, provided the Bush administration with credible evidence that Al-Qaeda was planning to attack America at home. The Bush administration mostly ignored the warning and the rest is history.
More recently, and perhaps even more consequentially, the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment warned the Trump administration about the likelihood of an airborne, flu-like global pandemic that would kill millions and devastate the world, economically and geopolitically. As we all know now, that’s exactly what is happening.
Chris called President Trump, the “unbriefable” president in response to a question about Russian bounties on American soldiers. Moreover, Trump’s disdain and skepticism for the intelligence community is uniquely dangerous.
We had some fascinating and illuminating questions from a superb group of guests, so we do encourage you to watch the event in its entirety. However, some highlights include.
Gillian Sorenen, Ted Soresnen’s widow, asked about assassinations, their records and the importance of transparency in an institution shrouded in secrecy.
How has the CIA evolved and where is it today?
Since, 9/11 there’s been an internal battle for the soul of the CIA: Is it an information gathering agency or a paramilitary organization?
Chris noted President Obama’s escalation of drone usage in his first term despite rhetoric that would suggest otherwise.
The creation of the DNI in 2004 to coordinate between 17 intelligence agencies has also been an important development
What does the CIA need right now in its next leader?
Someone who avoids group-think, brings fresh eyes to old problems (Middle East)
Chris cited some contenders: Darrell Blocker, Michael Morell and Sue Gordon, but noted that the lag in Biden’s announcement has been odd.
Interestingly, Chris mentions Pete Buttigieg as someone who would have been good.
Leon Panetta was the gold standard - “an iron fist in a velvet glove”
Gina Haspel is a “fascinating figure” - and importantly, has surrounded herself with women as deputies, so for the first time ever, there are women effectively running the CIA.
With recent cyber attacks and political interference, where is intelligence heading as it relates to Russia and Putin? Why haven’t we hit back harder?
President Obama decided not to pull the larger trigger, and was followed by a president who a lot of people in the intelligence community think is compromised - financially or otherwise.
President Obama didn’t want to retaliate even though we could have taken down the Russian economy with a cyber attack, because we are better at offense than defense. It would have meant an escalation that we might not have been ready for.
This current hack is likely to be a monumental intelligence failure - we just don’t know the extent yet.
In memory of John le Carré, we're watching the Cold-War spy thriller “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (Netflix) this weekend.
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Chris Whipple is one of the most accomplished multimedia journalists of our era: a writer, documentary filmmaker, and speaker. He is a multiple Peabody and Emmy Award–winning producer at CBS’s 60 Minutes and ABC’s Primetime.
He is currently the chief executive officer of CCWHIP Productions and is a frequent guest on MSNBC and CNN. Chris served as the executive producer and writer of Showtime’s 2015 documentary film The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Politico, theDaily Beast, and many other publications.
Kai Bird is an author and columnist who has written on numerous topics and won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography on Oppenheimer. His books have received critical acclaim and popular success, including The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames, which was a New York Times best-seller. His memoir, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
In January 2017 he was appointed Executive Director and Distinguished Lecturer of CUNY Graduate Center's Leon Levy Center for Biography. He is also the recipient of the McArthur Genius Grant for research and writing.
The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Steve Coll
The Common Good was pleased to present a special discussion with the inestimable Steve Coll. Coll briefed us on America’s covert involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan and its impact on our intervention there, as detailed in his recent New York Times best seller, Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
The Common Good was pleased to present a special discussion with Steve Coll, Pulitzer Price-winning journalist, Dean of Columbia School of Journalism, and staff writer at The New Yorker, generously hosted by Rubén Kraiem, Partner, Covington & Burling. Coll briefed us on America’s covert involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan and its impact on our intervention there, as detailed in his recent New York Times best seller, Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Coll knows the true story of this regional conflict — how our own intelligence and military services have often been at odds with each other, the nature of Pakistan’s often duplicitous relationship with the US, as seen in efforts by Pakistan’s spy agency, ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), and their covert support for the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Coll’s analysis of these covert operations is extremely timely as we remain enmeshed in the region.
“The dance of blame, with the US swaying at one moment towards Pakistan and the next towards Afghanistan, is a choreography familiar to CIA chiefs, US presidents and writers who have tackled the subject. Coll refuses to follow this tired tune, and the result is masterful”
Steve Coll was appointed Dean of Columbia Journalism School in 2013 after serving as president of New America Foundation (2007-2012. He joined The New Yorker as a staff writer in 2005 and continues to write for the publication on politics, national security, and the media. Coll is also the author of eight nonfiction books, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and a former reporter, foreign correspondent and senior editor at the Washington Post (1985-2005).
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Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Legacy of Ashes is a detailed history of the Central Intelligence Agency from its creation after World War II, through the Cold War years and the War on Terror, to the September 11 attacks in 2001 and beyond. The book is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten Directors of Central Intelligence
“Impressively reported, immensely entertaining.”
“Truly extrodinary. The best book ever written on a case of espionage.”
“Is the CIA a bulwark of freedom against dangerous foes, or a malevolent conspiracy to spread American imperlalism? A little of both, according to this absorbing study.”
“The most notoius muckraking CIA books of the 1970s aspired to shatter the agency and make sure Americans never tried to create one again. Mr. Weiner’s goals is just the opposite. He hopes that his book will ‘serve as a warning’, insisting that “thisnation may not long endure as a great power unless it finds the eyes to see things asthey are in the world.”
Tim Weiner is a reporter, author of three books and co-author of a fourth, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. He is a graduate of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and has worked for the Times since 1993, as a foreign correspondent in Mexico, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan and as a national security correspondent in Washington, DC.
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The Common Good has been hosting events since 2006 that cover important issues of today, highlighting speakers who have worked to bolster our democracy and can provide great insight on the issues that matter.