Shapers of Post-Cold War US Foreign Policy Round Table

Shapers of Post-Cold War US Foreign Policy

Moderator

Thomas Pepinsky is the Walter F. LaFeber Professor of Government and the Director of the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University.

Participants

  • Jeffrey Bialos (Cornell BA, Class of 1978) heads the Aerospace, Defense, and Security Practice at Eversheds Sutherland LLP, a global law firm based in Washington DC.
  • Robert Einhorn (Cornell BA, Class of 1969) is a senior fellow in the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative at the Strobe Talbott Center at the Brookings Institution.
  • Eric Edelman (Cornell BA, Class of 1972) has been Counselor at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments since 2009, when he retired from the US Foreign Service. 
  • Stephen Hadley (Cornell BA, Class of 1969) is a Principal at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international consulting firm in Washington DC.
  • Paul Jones (Cornell BA, Class of 1982) retired from the US Department of State in 2020.  
  • Shannon Smith (Cornell PhD, Class of 1998) is Middle East and Africa Section Manager for the Congressional Research Service.

For a full bio of the moderator and participants in this round table, click here.


Many of Walter LaFeber’s students and alums pursued careers in government, business, and law rather than in “the ivory tower.” To no one’s great surprise, dozens of his students pursued careers in foreign policy and international affairs. Some joined the US Foreign Service and rose through the ranks to become ambassadors and high-ranking State Department officials. Others served at the Pentagon, in Congress, or on the White House staff. Two of them—Stephen Hadley and the late Sandy Berger—actually became National Security Advisors. All of the contributors to this roundtable confirm the powerful impact of Walt’s teaching and mentorship.