Caption
Migrants storm a barbed-wire fence as they attempt to cross the land border with Spain's African enclave of Ceuta near Fnideq in northern Morocco on September 15, 2024. (Getty Images)
20
March 2023
Past Event
Forty Years after President Reagan Unveiled the Strategic Defense Initiative
Forty Years after President Reagan Unveiled the Strategic Defense Initiative
Past Event
Online Only
March 20, 2023
Share:
Caption
President Ronald Reagan giving a speech on SDI (Wikimedia Commons)
20
March 2023
Past Event
Speakers:
Forty years ago, on March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan addressed the American people to unveil “a vision of the future which offers hope,” namely, a program to counter the Soviet missile threat through defensive measures. Thus, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the missile defense system that ultimately helped the United States prevail over the Soviet Union, was born. SDI was born from Reagan’s disdain for mutual assured destruction, and to instead encourage advances in defenses.
Hudson Senior Fellow and Keystone Defense Initiative Director Rebeccah Heinrichs is joined by Will Inboden to discuss his new book, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink. They will also reflect on President Reagan’s visionary leadership for SDI as well as lessons for today’s major powers rivalry with the Chinese Communist Party.
Related Events
20
October 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
The Army and Congress: A Conversation with Chief Legislative Liaison Jimmy Byrn
Featured Speakers:
Jeremy Hunt
Jimmy Byrn
20
October 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
The Army and Congress: A Conversation with Chief Legislative Liaison Jimmy Byrn
The United States Congress will have a full defense agenda in the months ahead, with the National Defense Authorization Act, the reconciliation package, and a supplemental funding request on the docket. Join Hudson Institute for a conversation with Fellow Jeremy Hunt and Jimmy Byrn, the US Army’s chief legislative liaison and the service’s lead on Capitol Hill, on what this legislation could mean for the Army and how his office maintains its relationship with Congress.
Featured Speakers:
Jeremy Hunt
Jimmy Byrn
21
October 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
A Discussion with US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder
Featured Speakers:
Honorable Andrew Puzder
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
21
October 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
A Discussion with US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder
Join Hudson Institute for a conversation with US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder and Senior Fellow Harold Furchtgott-Roth on America’s interests in reducing the harmful effects of CS3D and CSRD.
Featured Speakers:
Honorable Andrew Puzder
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
21
October 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Dragon in the Americas: China’s Power, Presence, and Regional Influence
Featured Speakers:
Leland Lazarus
Daniel Batlle
21
October 2026
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Dragon in the Americas: China’s Power, Presence, and Regional Influence
Join Hudson Institute for a conversation with Lazarus, founder of Lazarus Consulting and former speechwriter to the Commander of the US Southern Command.
Featured Speakers:
Leland Lazarus
Daniel Batlle
21
October 2026
In-Person Event | Invite Only
A Moral Case for Zionism: A Book Launch with Casey Babb
Featured Speakers:
Casey Babb
Zineb Riboua
21
October 2026
In-Person Event | Invite Only
A Moral Case for Zionism: A Book Launch with Casey Babb
Join Hudson Institute for a conversation with the author on the eve of the book’s release. Babb, Director of The Promised Land Project at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and an associate fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, will discuss the book’s central argument and the practical ways Jews and non-Jews alike can embrace Zionist ideas in their own lives.
Featured Speakers:
Casey Babb
Zineb Riboua
Related Research
Caption
A Storm Shadow cruise missile is displayed at the Paris Air Show on June 18, 2025. (Getty Images)
Caption
The Z machine in Albuquerque, New Mexico, pictured on September 20, 2012. (US Department of Energy).
Caption
Multi-layered air defense consisting of a Japanese-developed surface-to-air missile system Chu-SAM and Kin-SAM alongside a US MIM-104 Patriot are seen during Orient Shield 22 at Camp Fukuoka in Japan on August 29, 2022. (US Army)
