Book Talk with Robert Kagan: The Ghost at the Feast

March 2023

Past Event

Book Talk with Robert Kagan: The Ghost at the Feast

Past Event

Hudson Institute

March 08, 2023

Thick smoke billows up from stricken American warships (from left, USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee) along battleship row during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, December 7, 1941. (Photo by US Navy/Interim Archives/Getty Images)

Thick smoke billows up from stricken American warships along battleship row during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. (US Navy/Interim Archives/Getty Images)

March 2023

Past Event

Speakers:

Robert Kagan

Stephen and Barbara Friedman Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Program, Brookings, and Contributing Columnist, Washington Post

Listen to Event Audio

View Event Transcript

Join Hudson Institute Distinguished Fellow Walter Russell Mead for a discussion with historian Robert Kagan on his new book, The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900–1941.

About the Book

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the United States was one of the world’s richest, most populous, and most technologically advanced nations. It was also a nation divided along numerous fault lines, with conflicting aspirations and concerns pulling it in different directions. America’s resulting intervention in World War II marked the beginning of a new era for the United States and for the world.

In The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900–1941, Robert Kagan examines America’s rise to global superpower—from the Spanish–American War to World War II. Brilliant and insightful, The Ghost at the Feast shows both the perils of American withdrawal from the world and the price of international responsibility.

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Hybrid Warfare and CCP Infiltration: A Shared Challenge for US-Taiwan Security Cooperation

Featured Speakers:

Sang Pu

KJ Hsu

Moderator:

Miles Yu

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Hybrid Warfare and CCP Infiltration: A Shared Challenge for US-Taiwan Security Cooperation

Join Hudson Institute’s China Center as Dr. Miles Yu hosts a panel of experts and policymakers on how the US and its partners can strengthen security cooperation in defense of Taiwan.

Featured Speakers:

Sang Pu

KJ Hsu

Moderator:

Miles Yu

Learn More

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Motwani Jadeja US-India Dialogue Series: US-India Relations and the Defense COMPACT

Featured Speakers:

Vikram J. Singh

Anthony Renzulli

Dr. Sameer Lalwani

Ingrid Henick

Moderator:

Aparna Pande

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Motwani Jadeja US-India Dialogue Series: US-India Relations and the Defense COMPACT

Dr. Aparna Pande will host an expert panel to discuss how Washington and New Delhi can increase security collaboration to bolster security both bilaterally and multilaterally in the broader Indo-Pacific region.

Featured Speakers:

Vikram J. Singh

Anthony Renzulli

Dr. Sameer Lalwani

Ingrid Henick

Moderator:

Aparna Pande

Learn More

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Industry, Security, and Community: Senator David McCormick on the Nippon Steel–U.S. Steel Deal

Featured Speakers:

Senator David McCormick

Hiroshi Ono

Kevin Lewis

Stefani Pashman

Moderators:

Joel Scanlon

William Chou

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Industry, Security, and Community: Senator David McCormick on the Nippon Steel–U.S. Steel Deal

Experts talk about why this deal supports American workers and communities, the major capital and technological investment, and how Nippon Steel’s investment advances American industrial and economic strength.

Featured Speakers:

Senator David McCormick

Hiroshi Ono

Kevin Lewis

Stefani Pashman

Moderators:

Joel Scanlon

William Chou

Learn More

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Africa in the Dark: The Cost of Misguided International Energy Policies

Featured Speaker:

Professor Brenda Shaffer

Moderator:

Zineb Riboua

September 2025

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Africa in the Dark: The Cost of Misguided International Energy Policies

Hudson’s Zineb Riboua will host Professor Brenda Shaffer, faculty member of the Naval Postgraduate School and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, to discuss Dr. Shaffer’s latest research paper and international energy policy shifts that can help address the challenge.