Talks from the Hoover Institution

The Alliance for Civics in the Academy hosted "Out of Many, One: Creating a Pluralistic Framework for Civics in Higher Education" with Paul Carrese, Jacob Levy, Minh Ly, and Brian Coyne on November 12, 2025, from 9:00-10:00 a.m. PT. With increasing cross-partisan support for renewing civic learning in higher education, an important question emerges: how can colleges and universities create a framework for civic education that cultivates shared democratic values while honoring pluralism and diverse perspectives? This webinar explores this challenge in depth, highlighting guiding principles and exemplary approaches for creating a shared vision of civic education suited to a pluralistic society. Panelists: Paul Carrese is Director of the Center for American Civics, and professor in the School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership, at Arizona State University, serving as the School’s founding director 2016 to 2023. Formerly he was a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy, co-founding its honors program blending liberal arts and leadership education. He teaches and publishes on the American founding, American constitutional and political thought, civic education, and American grand strategy. His forthcoming book is Teaching America: Reflective Patriotism in Schools, College, and Culture (Cambridge, May 2026). He has held fellowships at Oxford (Rhodes Scholar); Harvard; University of Delhi (Fulbright); and the James Madison Program, Princeton. He served on the advisory board of the Program on Public Discourse at UNC Chapel Hill; co-led a national study, Educating for American Democracy, on history and civics in K-12 schools with partners from Harvard, Tufts, and iCivics (2021); and served on the Civic Education Committee of the American Political Science Association (APSA). He is a fellow of the Civitas Institute, UT Austin, and serves on the Academic Council of the Jack Miller Center for America’s Founding Principles and History, and the executive and on the executive Council of the APSA. He is a Senior Fellow with the Jack Miller Center, and in 2025 was an Alliance for Civics in the Academy Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Jacob T. Levy is the Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory and associated faculty in the Department of Philosophy at McGill University. He is the founder and coordinator of McGill's Research Group on Constitutional Studies, whose Charles Taylor Student Fellowship is devoted to an intensive non-credit yearlong reading group of major works in the history of political, moral, and social thought. Minh Ly is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont.  His book, Answering to Us: Why Democracy Demands Accountability, will be published by Princeton University Press in March 2026. Anna Stilz, distinguished professor at Berkeley, writes, "this powerful book . . . is a must-read for anyone interested in the fate of democracy in our times."  Professor Ly’s research and teaching focus on democratic theory, the rights and responsibilities of democratic citizenship, economic justice, global justice, and civic education.  His work has been published in the Journal of Politics, the European Journal of Political Theory, the Review of International Political Economy, and other journals.  Before joining UVM, he was a Lecturer at Stanford University and a postdoc at Princeton. Professor Ly earned his Ph.D with distinction in political science from Brown and his A.B. from Harvard.   Moderator: Brian Coyne is an Advanced Lecturer in Political Science and serves as the Nehal and Jenny Fan Raj Lecturer in Undergraduate Teaching. He received his B.A. in Government from Harvard College in 2007 and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University in 2014. His dissertation, "Non-state Power and Non-state Legitimacy," investigates how powerful non-state actors like NGOs, corporations, and international institutions can be held democratically accountable to the people whose lives they influence. Coyne's other research interests include political representation, responses to climate change, and the politics of urban space and planning. In addition to Political Science, he also teaches in Stanford's Public Policy, Urban Studies, and COLLEGE programs.

The Hoover History Lab invites you to "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future", a book talk with the author, Dan Wang, on Monday, October 27, 2025 from 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. PT in the Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building. FEATURING Dan Wang is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, in its Hoover History Lab and is one of the most-cited experts on China’s technological capabilities. He is the author of the forthcoming Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future (W. W. Norton [US] and Penguin [UK], Fall 2025). Stephen Kotkin is director of the Hoover History Lab, Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and senior fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He has been conducting research in the Hoover Library & Archives for more than three decades.

Francis J. Gavin, the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS and author of "Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft & Strategy," discusses the crucial role of history in shaping effective policy. He elaborates on why historians often fall out of policy discussions and introduces the concept of historical sensibility as vital for prudent decision-making. Gavin also critiques simplistic historical analogies, emphasizes empathy for policymakers, and warns against overconfidence in the face of unexpected events, urging for a disciplined integration of historical awareness.

Stephen Kotkin, a Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and an esteemed historian known for his work on Stalin, joins Dan Wang for an engaging discussion on the craft of history. They explore the importance of archival research and empathy in understanding historical contexts. Kotkin warns against 'junk history' and emphasizes the historian's role in responsible policymaking. They also discuss how AI can impact education and the pursuit of global peace, urging a balanced approach to the complexities of power and societal change.

Amir Weiner, a Stanford associate professor of history and director of the Centre for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, dives deep into the KGB's tactics in maintaining Soviet stability. He reveals how psychological pressure and conspiracy thinking were key methods, rather than outright violence. Weiner also discusses the influence of foreign literature on KGB operations and examines Vladimir Putin's complex relationship with the agency. Ultimately, he highlights the KGB's failure to adapt and its role in the USSR's collapse.

H.R. McMaster, a Fuad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and former national security advisor, dives into the urgency of building strategic competence in government and academia. He emphasizes the need for leaders to integrate history into policymaking, warning against oversimplified narratives. The discussion includes the importance of red teaming in strategy evaluation and the complexities of military decision-making, showcasing lessons from past conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a call for continuous education to enhance national security.

Kenneth I. Juster, the former US Ambassador to India, and Shivshankar Menon, ex-foreign secretary of India, dive into the intricate dynamics of US-India relations. They discuss the evolving partnerships amid geopolitical tensions, particularly with China and in light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The conversation addresses challenges in trade and investment, while emphasizing collaboration on counter-terrorism efforts. They also explore the critical balance of military strategies in South Asia, especially regarding Pakistan, and the prospects for future cooperation.

In this engaging discussion, Weitseng Chen, a law expert from the National University of Singapore, Lev Nachman, a political scientist at National Taiwan University, and Chien-Chih Lin, a specialist in comparative constitutional law, delve into Taiwan's current constitutional crisis. They explore the contentious political landscape influenced by recent legislative changes affecting the Constitutional Court. Highlights include the challenges of judicial independence amidst party polarization, implications for Taiwan's 2024 elections, and the urgent need for reforms to safeguard democratic institutions.

Chris Walker, Vice President at the National Endowment for Democracy, discusses the urgent challenges posed by digital authoritarianism. Valentin Weber uncovers how China's data-centric technologies facilitate social control and global repression. Charles Mock delves into the complexities of monitoring these practices, emphasizing the need for democratic vigilance. Beth Curley highlights strategies for integrating democratic values into technology, advocating for accountability and privacy-preserving solutions to counteract authoritarian surveillance methods.

The Hoover Institution Center for Revitalizing American Institutions webinar series features speakers who are developing innovative ideas, conducting groundbreaking research, and taking important actions to improve trust and efficacy in American institutions. Speaker expertise and topics span governmental institutions, civic organizations and practice, and the role of public opinion and culture in shaping our democracy. The webinar series builds awareness about how we can individually and collectively revitalize American institutions to ensure our country’s democracy delivers on its promise. The sixth session discussed How Foreign Speech Restrictions Affect American Free Expression with Jacob Mchangama and Eugene Volokh on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, from 10:00 - 11:00 am PT. Much of our speech to each other uses technology created by companies that operate throughout the world such as Google, Meta (Facebook), X, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple. Because these companies operate worldwide, they are potentially vulnerable to pressures from the countries in which they operate—if Google has assets or people in Germany or Turkey, then the German or Turkish government can force them to comply with German or Turkish law. So long as countries have tried to regulate what tech companies do in their countries (e.g., what information Google shows to readers in Germany or Turkey), foreign restrictions end up having relatively little effect on what Americans can say to other Americans. But foreign countries are increasingly asking for worldwide restraints on things that are said on various multinational platforms (for instance, anything said anywhere about those countries’ citizens or politicians), sharply risking undermining American’s free speech rights.