Upcoming Events
Join us for an exciting discussion with the dynamic Rep. Dan Goldman at The Common Good Monday, May 6th, from 6-6:30pm on Zoom.
Don’t miss your chance to hear from Governor Hochul of New York, in-person, as she joins us to talk common sense governance at The Common Good.
Two important and fresh voices join us to discuss the pressing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, leadership in Israel, and the prospect of a two-state solution. Join us on Thursday, April 25th, from 3-4:00pm to hear from Maj. Gen. (Rt.) Amnon Reshef and Rula Jebreal.
National Security expert and former Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration, Miles Taylor, brings his urgent insights to The Common Good, as he dives into the ramifications of a potential 2024 Trump presidency.
Join The Common Good and Senior Managing Director & Chief investment Strategist at Blackstone, Joe Zidle - successor to our longtime favorite prognosticator, Byron Wien; for an important and timely conversation on the economy, the markets, and political and international events that may affect your portfolio, your business, or simply your peace of mind.
Brian Stelter, best-selling author, media expert and former CNN host will join us to discuss his groundbreaking reporting on efforts by Fox News to manipulate the public and the 2020 election, as told in his book, “The Network of Lies” and what that may mean for the 2024 election. (In-person with a dinner to follow for Executive Members and up.)
Paul Scharre, Executive VP, Center for a New American Security think tank, and one of TIME magazine’s top 100 most important people in AI, will join us for an essential conversation on threats and advance in Artificial Intelligence for defense and national security. (In-person with a dinner to follow for Executive Members and up.)
To discuss a possible path to resolution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, distinguished professor Dr. Nathan Brown and Dr. Tahani Mustafa, Senior Palestine Analyst for the International Crisis Group, will join us in a moderated conversation with esteemed journalist Richard Wolffe, columnist at The Guardian and managing director of Jose Andres Media.
The Common Good welcomes Bill Browder, who was the largest foreign investor in Russia until he was denied entry into the country in 2005 and declared a threat to national security. His crime? Exposing corruption in Russian state owned companies. He has a lot of experience dealing with Russia and particularly with Vladimir Putin. He will discuss Putin’s place on the world stage, the invasion of Ukraine, and the threat that Putin poses to the Western world order as Ukrainian defenses languish at a stalemate.
Join us with Putin’s declared #1 enemy, Bill Browder, recipient of the American Spirit Award from The Common Good in 2019 for citizen activism for his incredible advocacy work to create the Magnitsky Act, which punishes corrupt Russian officials, in conversation with Harvard-trained lawyer and CEO Richard Salomon.
William Browder is the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and author of Red Notice.
He was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he was denied entry to the country and declared “a threat to national security” for exposing corruption in Russian state-owned companies.
In 2008, Mr. Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, uncovered a massive fraud committed by Russian government officials that involved the theft of US $230 million of state taxes. Sergei testified against state officials involved in this fraud and was subsequently arrested, imprisoned without trial and systematically tortured. He spent a year in prison under horrific detention conditions, was repeatedly denied medical treatment, and died in prison on November 16, 2009, leaving behind a wife and two children.
Since then, Mr. Browder has sought justice outside of Russia and started a global campaign for governments around the world to impose targeted visa bans and asset freezes on human rights abusers and highly corrupt officials. The United States was the first to impose these targeted sanctions with the passage of the Sergei Magnitsky Accountability Act in 2012, followed by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in 2016.
As a result, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Baltic states, the European Union and most recently Australia have passed their own versions of the Magnitsky Act. Mr. Browder is currently working to have similar legislation passed in other countries worldwide including New Zealand and Japan, to name a few.
Richard A. Salomon is a graduate of Carleton College and Harvard Law School and the founder and CEO of Vantage Point Consultants. Vantage Point advises corporations on ways to optimize the expenditure of legal dollars and has worked with over 400 of the Fortune 500 throughout the world. Mr. Salomon is a frequent keynote speaker to groups, including the GC100 (the Chief Legal Officers of the FTSE 100 in London) and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, as well as an occasional lecturer at Harvard Law School. Mr. Salomon is a member of the Advisory Board of the Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Law Department Management and Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Litigation Management. Mr. Salomon is also a co-author of Managing the Corporate Legal Function (2nd ed. 1995, Matthew Bender).
Mr. Salomon is involved in numerous philanthropic and social service-related activities. He is a co-founder, member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; and a member of the Advisory Board for the Visas for Life Foundation (relating to Consul General Chiune Sugihara, who rescued his father and uncle during the Holocaust).
In addition, Mr. Salomon is on the Board of New York University’s Of Many Institute as well as on the President's Council of the Interfaith Youth Core, and the President’s Global Forum of the Auburn Theological Seminary. Mr. Salomon is a frequent public speaker at the 92nd Street Y, Temple Emanu-El, and other venues.
As the Israel-Hamas war rages on, there are many looming questions about how this will play out for Israel, for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and for the eradication of Hamas; the humanitarian concerns for civilian lives in Gaza; the release of the hostages still held by Hamas; and Israel's longterm security concerns. What military and diplomatic solutions are still on the table to prevent a multi-front war?
Join us with Ambassador Dennis Ross in conversation with Richard Salomon as we unpack these vital and urgent questions. The Common Good welcomes Ambassador Dennis Ross, acclaimed diplomat and expert on the Middle East in conversation with Harvard-trained lawyer and CEO Richard Salomon for a discussion on where Palestinians and Israelis can go from here and what the future might hold for the Middle East.
Ambassador Dennis Ross has served several US administrations as a senior diplomat and advisor on the Middle East and broader international security. In Obama's first term, he had the principal responsibility for Iran policy. He is one of America’s foremost foreign policy experts on the region and currently serves as Counselor at The Washington Institute, a think tank dedicated to improving the quality of US Middle East policy, and a Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
In February 2009, Ambassador Dennis Ross was appointed Special Advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Later that year he left the State Department to join the National Security Council staff as a Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for the Central Region (the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Asia). He stepped down from this role in December 2011.
Ambassador Dennis Ross served as Middle East Envoy under President Clinton, helping the Israelis and Palestinians reach the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. He also brokered the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron in 1997 and facilitated the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.
During George H. W. Bush’s administration, Ambassador Dennis Ross was Director of the United States State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, where he worked on US policy toward the former Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany and its integration into NATO, arms control, and forming the coalitions during the 1991 Gulf War. He also collaborated with Secretary of State James Baker on convincing Arab and Israeli leaders to attend the 1991 Middle East peace conference in Madrid, Spain.
Richard A. Salomon is a graduate of Carleton College and Harvard Law School and the founder and CEO of Vantage Point Consultants. Vantage Point advises corporations on ways to optimize the expenditure of legal dollars and has worked with over 400 of the Fortune 500 throughout the world. Mr. Salomon is a frequent keynote speaker to groups, including the GC100 (the Chief Legal Officers of the FTSE 100 in London) and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, as well as an occasional lecturer at Harvard Law School. Mr. Salomon is a member of the Advisory Board of the Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Law Department Management and Corporate Counsel’s Guide to Litigation Management. Mr. Salomon is also a co-author of Managing the Corporate Legal Function (2nd ed. 1995, Matthew Bender).
Mr. Salomon is involved in numerous philanthropic and social service-related activities. He is a co-founder, member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; and a member of the Advisory Board for the Visas for Life Foundation (relating to Consul General Chiune Sugihara, who rescued his father and uncle during the Holocaust). In addition, Mr. Salomon is on the Board of New York University’s Of Many Institute as well as on the President's Council of the Interfaith Youth Core, and the President’s Global Forum of the Auburn Theological Seminary. Mr. Salomon is a frequent public speaker at the 92nd Street Y, Temple Emanu-El, and other venues.
Dr. Yascha Mounk will join The Common Good for a thought-provoking and important session on identity and how it has been used and misused in political culture, resulting in greater division rather than solving entrenched problems such as racism or sexual identity. He will discuss why and how the application of these ideas to areas from education to public policy is proving to be so deeply counterproductive—and why universal, humanist values can best serve the vital goal of true equality.
Dr. Yascha Mounk is an acclaimed writer and influential academic known for his work on the crisis of democracy and the defense of philosophically liberal values.
Born in Germany to Polish parents, Yascha received his BA in History from Trinity College Cambridge and his PhD in Government from Harvard University. He is a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, where he holds appointments in both the School of Advanced International Studies and the SNF Agora Institute. Yascha is also a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Moynihan Public Fellow at City College. He is the Founder of Persuasion, the host of The Good Fight podcast, and serves as a publisher (Herausgeber) at Die Zeit.
Dr. Mounk has written five widely accredited books with his most recent being, “The Identity Trap - A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time” which tells the story of how a new set of ideas about race, gender and sexual orientation came to be extremely influential in mainstream institutions, and why it would be a mistake to give up on a more universalist humanism. Dr. Mounk will be joining us to delve deeper into this assessment of identity and the role and impact it has on our nation today
Next to his work for The Atlantic, Dr. Mounk also occasionally writes for newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. He is also a regular contributor to major international publications including Die Zeit, La Repubblica, El País, l'Express and Folha de São Paolo, among others.
“The most comprehensive and reasonable story of this shift that has yet been attempted” - The Washington Post
“Among the most insightful and important books of written in the last decade on democracy and its torments” - Jonathan Haidt
“This book is brave, bold, erudite, and rich in detail.” —Fiona Hill, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
We are honored to present a timely and urgent briefing with one of the foremost battle-tested and celebrated combat leaders alive today, former U.S. Army General and former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus will join The Common Good for an extraordinary session and dinner on the evolution of warfare up to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the current conflagration in the Middle East following the Hamas attack on Israel, and the potential escalations between China and Taiwan. He will explore the mistakes made over and over, the new weapon systems, theories and strategies, and anticipate in the future in order to navigate an increasingly perilous world.
Co-author with Andrew Roberts of "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.”
“Most extraordinary book that bristles with lessons drawn skillfully from the past” - General James Mattis
”'A major book that will enlighten the layman and guide the statesman or geopolitical student” - Dr. Henry Kissinger
“It is a book that will shape the thinking of policy makers and military strategists for generations to come” -Admiral William McRaven
General (Ret) David Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands as a general officer, five of which were in combat, including command of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and NATO/US Forces in Afghanistan.
Following his military service, and after confirmation by the Senate by a vote of 94-0, Gen. Petraeus served as Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the Global War on Terror. Gen. Petraeus graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy, was the top graduate of his Rangers School and Command and General Staff College classes, earned a Ph.D. from Princeton Univ, and has held academic appointments at six universities. He is currently Co-Chairman of the Global Advisory Council of the Woodrow Wilson Center, Sr. Vice President of RUSI, and a member of the Trilateral Commission, the Aspen Strategy Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Board of the Atlantic Council. He has received numerous U.S. military, State Dept, NATO, and UN medals, including four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Medal, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger Tab, and master parachutist wings. He has also been decorated by 14 foreign countries, sanctioned by Russia, and designated a LinkedIn Top Voice.
Petraeus has been a Partner in the global investment firm KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in May 2013. The Global Institute supports the KKR investment process, KKR's portfolio companies, and KKR's investors with analysis of geopolitical risks and trends. He is also a member of the boards of directors of Optiv and OneStream, a Strategic Advisor of Semperis and Advanced Navigation, a personal venture capitalist, a Kissinger Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Yale University, a speaker with the Washington Speakers Bureau, and co-author with Andrew Roberts of "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine.”
Copies of "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine" for the event will be ordered from Theodores Books, owned by good TCG friend and former Congressman Steve Israel.
John Berman is an Emmy-award winning CNN anchor and currently co-anchors CNN News Central weekdays from 9am - 12pm ET. He previously served as co-anchor of New Day and a number of other CNN broadcasts.
Since joining CNN in 2012, Berman has been at the forefront of the most pressing news events, including elections, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine (for which CNN’s coverage was acknowledged with a DuPont-Columbia Award).
Before CNN, he worked at ABC News for nearly 17 years, and appeared on television there since 2001. He was a regular contributor to all of ABC’s broadcasts, including World News with Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America, Nightline, and 20/20.
In 1999 and 2000, Berman worked as an off-air reporter for ABC News covering George W. Bush’s presidential campaign. He logged more hours with then-candidate Bush than nearly any other reporter, following Bush to 45 states.
In his career, he has interviewed everyone from Barack Obama to Mike Pence to Mitt Romney to MC Hammer. He was embedded with the Marines for the U.S. Invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has covered countless hurricanes and natural disasters.
From 1997 to 1999, Berman was the head writer for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
He has also been part of teams winning the Edward R. Murrow Award for best broadcast, and was awarded a James Beard Award in 2010.
Berman started at ABC News as a desk assistant working the overnight shift in 1995. A native of Carlisle, Mass., he graduated from Harvard University, where he was president of Hasty Pudding Theatricals. He likes the Red Sox. Have a problem with that?
Prominent Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea joins Pulitzer-winning journalist Judith Miller at The Common Good for an urgent and critical session on the events in the Middle East prompted by Hamas’ shockingly savage attack on Israeli citizens and followed now by Israel’s unrelenting strikes on Gaza, home to millions of Palestinians, in the effort to eradicate Hamas.
Nahum Barnea is widely regarded as one of Israel’s top columnists and political analysts. As Tom Friedman has put it, "When I need the most accurate analysis about Israel, the first call I always make is to my longtime friend and reporting partner there, To lead the conversation, we are honored to have Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Judith Miller, who has covered the Middle East for decades.
Join us for important insights into where this incredibly devastating and complex series of events unfolding in the Middle East may lead.
Nahum Barnea is a prominent Israeli journalist and commentator whose columns have much influence in Israel and on key issues in the public policy arena. Since 1989, he has been the chief columnist of Yedioth Ahronoth, the biggest daily newspaper in Israel.
He has won numerous awards for his journalistic efforts. In 2007, he won the State of Israel, Israel Prize, an award regarded as the Israel’s highest cultural honor and for excellence in their field. He was awarded the Sokolov Prize for journalism in 1981 and in a survey in 1998, he was voted one of most influential journalists in Israel. He also received an award Tel Aviv University for his unique contribution to journalism in Israel.
In 2006 he was one of the few reporters who went into Lebanon during the second Lebanon war. His call to the government of Israel to accept the ceasefire, based on what he has seen on the ground had a tremendous influence.
He has served at The International Crisis Group as a Trustee since July 2010 and is an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution published his essay, “Backchannel: Bush, Sharon and The Uses of Unilateralism.” He also served in the IDF in the paratroopers brigade.
Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter who has covered the Middle East for decades. During her 28 years at The New York Times, she was a key member of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, for its 2001 coverage of global terrorism before and after the September 11th attacks. She was also apart of The New York Times team that won the prestigious DuPont award for a series of programs on terrorism for PBS's "Frontline.”
In 2008, she joined Fox News as a commentator, speaking on terrorism and other national security issues in, the Middle East, American foreign policy, and the need to strike a delicate balance between protecting both national security and civil liberties in a post-9/11 world. She is currently an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of its magazine, "City Journal."
Miller is a recipient of many awards, among them the Society of Professional Journalists’ “First Amendment Award” for her protection of sources. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on a prestigious National Academy of Sciences panel examining how best to expand of the work of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which since 1991 has sought to stop the spread of WMD material and expertise from the former Soviet Union.
We are in a moment where we will tread carefully. As an organization dedicated to informing our audience and understanding and mitigating hatred, political violence, and division, we have presented a number of guests warning about the rise in hate and attacks by race, sexual orientation, and religion, including anti-semitism. We will attempt to bring briefings that go beyond headline news to help illuminate the complexity of the issues before us. We hope this will be one of many such programs.
Discussion on the new Supreme Court’s recent controversial rulings
Top expert Angelo Carusone shares his expertise and analysis of the impact that misinformation and falling trust in media has on our politics and our social fabric.
Celebrating our nation’s top leaders and heroes on one unforgettable night
Discussing the changes of our democracy, shifting balance of power in the parties, and the near future of election season with top-tier journalists.
Richard Haass discusses the state of the world today and how we can protect our own democracy with his book Bill of Obligations
Richard Haass discusses the state of the world today and how we can protect our own democracy with his book Bill of Obligations
Join Blackstone’s Bryon Wien and Joe Zidle for exclusive insight on this year’s economic outlook.
Join Ari Melber for a recap on the most important Congressional investigation since Watergate - and what to expect next.
Almost 6 months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the war has progressed into a new stage defined by a renewed counter-offensive where Ukrainian forces have reclaimed swathes of Russian held territory and a loss of Russian manpower to a degree that Putin has ordered a partial mobilization amidst rushed referendums in occupied territory. The commitment of Ukraine’s western allies in sanctions and donated military hardware have led to threats of nuclear escalation as the war continues with no clear end in sight. Amidst these rapidly developing circumstances, we’re bringing together a panel of military experts to explain the situation on the ground, outline the current geopolitical implications, and what where the outcomes of this fighting might lead.
Catch the groundbreaking documentary covering the human toll of the war in Ukraine Freedom on Fire followed by a discussion with the director and members-only reception.
Every seat counts in the 2022 Midterms - and these elections will be consequential, one way or the other.
Midterm elections are usually costly to the party in the White House but this year may be different. Republicans should gain seats and power, but Democrats now look stronger than expected. What will move voters? Biden’s approval ratings, extreme Republican candidates in many races, immigration pressures at the border, the Dobbs decision on abortion, and even Trump’s legal battles may factor in. TCG has a assembled a great panel of experts to survey the playing field and share their predictions:
Rachel Bitecofer - Political scientist Rachel Bitecofer first gained recognition for predicting the 2018 midterm election “blue wave” and having one of the most accurate house seat predictions of that cycle. Her election analyses have also appeared on MSNBC and the New York Times.
Charlie Cook - Recurring election night analyst at CNN, CBS, and NBC, Charlie Cook is one of the leading experts on election and electoral politics. Among his many publications, Cook founded The Cook Political Report as an independent, non-partisan source to analyze elections, campaigns and American political trends. TCG is thrilled to welcome Cook back following our 2020 election panel.
Matthew Dowd - Political consultant Matthew Dowd was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign and is the current chief political analyst at ABC news.We are excited to have him back at TCG for another Midterm Election Panel!
John Harwood - Chief Washington Correspondent for CNBC and political writer for the New York Times, John Harwood joins us again as our moderator. In addition to CNBC, Harwood offers political analysis on NBC Nightly News and PBS’ Washington Week in Review, among other television and radio programs.
Midterm Election Panel
Monday, November 3rd 2022, 5:00-6:00 pm ET via Zoom
The Fed, Inflation, and Economic Growth with Alan Blinder. Moderator TBD.
September 21st, 2022 6:00-7:30 pm ET
UES Home of Patricia and Richard Cohen - Address given upon RSVP
COVID-19 Vaccination Required for this members-only Event
Hazards Ahead: How Will the New Supreme Court Change America?
with Jeffrey Toobin, Jennifer Rubin, & Kimberly Atkins Stohr
Wednesday, August 24, 2022 5:00-6:00 pm ET
NAVALNY Screening and Discussion
Rights After Roe v. Wade
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022, 5:00-6:00 pm ET
Saving Democracy with Yascha Mounk Moderated by Richard Wolffe Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 5:00-6:00 pm ET
Cancel Culture and Free Speech: How do we have accountability without putting a chill on free speech and intellectual freedom? With Suzanne Nossel, Daniel Kovalik, and David Lat.
