Prioritizing China’s Vulnerable Children after the CCP’s Suspension of International Adoptions

September 2024

Past Event

Prioritizing China’s Vulnerable Children after the CCP’s Suspension of International Adoptions

Past Event

Hudson Institute

September 27, 2024

A general view of the Harbin Holy Iveron Icon Orthodox Church and orphanage on December 6, 2017, in Harbin, China. (Tao Zhang via Getty Images)

September 2024

Past Event

Speakers:

Chelsea Sobolik

Author

Rana Siu Inboden

Senior Fellow, Robert Strauss Center for International Affairs and Law, University of Texas-Austin

Karla Thrasher

Senior Director of International Adoption, Lifeline

Shaoey Chapman

Certified Child Life Specialist, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, Vanderbilt

Shaoey Chapman is a certified child life specialist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She is trust based relational intervention (TBRI) certified and has a master of social work from the University of Alabama. She was adopted from China when she was eight months old and has worked closely with the nonprofit Show Hope, which aims to break down barriers between waiting children and loving families.

Listen to Event Audio

The Chinese Communist Party made a seemingly sudden decision to end its international adoption program in late August. Then, in September, the State Department told American families who were matched with children in China that they would likely never be united with the children they were pursuing for adoption. The news was a devastating blow to the hopes and dreams of hundreds of Chinese children and their prospective families, many of whom had been waiting for their adoptions to be finalized since before the start of the pandemic. This decision also leaves hundreds of thousands of children, most of whom have special needs, languishing in Chinese orphanages.

Join Hudson for a conversation on what the US government and the international community can do to help these children and their families.

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Operation Epic Fury: Strategy, State of Play, and Theories of Victory

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

David Albright

Can Kasapoğlu

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs

Ray Takeyh

Nadav Samin

Ilan Berman

Zineb Riboua

H.E. Yechiel Leiter

Joel Scanlon

Mariam Memarsadeghi

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Operation Epic Fury: Strategy, State of Play, and Theories of Victory

This conference convenes leading experts and policymakers to examine why the conflict began, assess the current state of play, and explore competing theories of victory.

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

David Albright

Can Kasapoğlu

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs

Ray Takeyh

Nadav Samin

Ilan Berman

Zineb Riboua

H.E. Yechiel Leiter

Joel Scanlon

Mariam Memarsadeghi

Learn More

March 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Operation Epic Fury and the Future of Warfare: A Conversation with Senator Joni Ernst

Featured Speakers:

Peter Rough

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

John P. Walters

March 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Operation Epic Fury and the Future of Warfare: A Conversation with Senator Joni Ernst

Please Join Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Armed Services Committees, for a discussion with Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia Peter Rough on Operation Epic Fury, the future of American foreign policy in the Middle East, and how the conflict is shaping the future of warfare and strategy.

Featured Speakers:

Peter Rough

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)

John P. Walters

Learn More

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Postponed | Updating US Trade Policy: A Discussion on the Strategic and Economic Importance of Central Asia with Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Congressman Jimmy Panetta

March 2026

In-Person Event | Invite Only

Postponed | Updating US Trade Policy: A Discussion on the Strategic and Economic Importance of Central Asia with Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)

Please Join Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Senior Fellow Michael Doran for a discussion on the region’s significance and why updating US trade policy is key to unlocking its potential in an era of renewed great power competition.

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Congressman Jimmy Panetta

Learn More

March 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Congressman Michael Baumgartner on Operation Epic Fury and U.S. Strategy

Featured Speakers:

Michael Doran

Congressman Michael Baumgartner

March 2026

In-Person Event | Hudson Institute

Congressman Michael Baumgartner on Operation Epic Fury and U.S. Strategy

Together, Baumgartner and Doran will examine the objectives and risks of Operation Epic Fury, the broader regional implications, and the policy choices facing Washington in the weeks ahead.