Fiasco in Kabul: The Untold Story

September 2023

Past Event

Fiasco in Kabul: The Untold Story

Past Event

Hudson Institute

September 27, 2023

A family crouches in front of a barb wire cordoned by American military at the East Gate of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 25, 2021. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

September 2023

Past Event

Speakers:

Jerry Dunleavy

Author, Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End, and Investigator, House Foreign Affairs Committee

James Hasson

Author, Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End, and Afghanistan Veteran

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs

Senior Fellow and Director, Keystone Defense Initiative

Listen to Event Audio

The world continues to feel the impact of President Joe Biden’s precipitous withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan. During the evacuation, 13 American service members perished in the Kabul airport bombing, and afterward Afghanistan fell into chaos once again. The US left behind billions of dollars of military equipment and other antiterrorism tools. And the withdrawal may have contributed to Russia’s calculation that its full-scale invasion of Ukraine would be worth the cost.

More than two years later, the US government has yet to conduct a fair accounting of the decision-making and intelligence failures that led to the disastrous withdrawal. Jerry Dunleavy and James Hasson accessed key government documents and conducted eyewitness interviews to answer these questions in Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End.

Join Hudson Senior Fellow Rebeccah Heinrichs as she sits down with the authors for a book talk.

September 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Rebuilding Venezuela: Progress and Challenges

Featured Speakers:

Gil Guerra

Rick de la Torre

Jorge Jraissati

César Dager

September 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Rebuilding Venezuela: Progress and Challenges

Join Hudson Institute for a panel that will examine how far Rodríguez’s interim government can advance economic recovery without an electoral mandate or political reforms and how Washington’s approach will shape Venezuela’s path to a democratic transition.

Featured Speakers:

Gil Guerra

Rick de la Torre

Jorge Jraissati

César Dager

Learn More

September 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Regional Reactions to the US-China Summit

Featured Speakers:

Takahiro Tsuchiya

Kenneth R. Weinstein

Patrick M. Cronin

William Chou

September 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Regional Reactions to the US-China Summit

Join Hudson Institute for a discussion which will examine how Japan, Europe, South Korea, and Southeast Asia view the Trump–Xi summit and how the regions will act on their priorities going forward.

Featured Speakers:

Takahiro Tsuchiya

Kenneth R. Weinstein

Patrick M. Cronin

William Chou

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October 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Brazil Decides: The 2026 Election and the Future of US-Brazil Relations

Featured Speakers:

Gil Guerra

Jana Nelson

Clifford Young

October 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Brazil Decides: The 2026 Election and the Future of US-Brazil Relations

Join Hudson Institute for a panel that will examine the dynamics shaping the race, how each leading candidate would govern, and what a Lula or Bolsonaro victory would mean for US-Brazil relations.

Featured Speakers:

Gil Guerra

Jana Nelson

Clifford Young

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October 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought on Revitalizing the Shipbuilding Industrial Base

Featured Speakers:

Russell Vought

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs

October 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought on Revitalizing the Shipbuilding Industrial Base

Please join Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, for a conversation with Dr. Rebeccah Heinrichs to discuss the Trump administration’s decisive efforts to build the Navy needed for today’s intensifying threat environment.