On May 20th, the American Foreign Policy Council convened the eighth installment of its Capitol Hill conference series on “Missile Defenses and American Security.” As in previous years, the event brought together leading national security and defense practitioners to examine the current state of the U.S. missile defense system, and ballistic missile threats to the United States. Speakers included: Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC); Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, former director of the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency; former NASA Associated Deputy Administrator Eric Sterner; former Acting Assistant Defense Secretary Frank Gaffney, and; former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph.

In early July, AFPC Fellow in Asia Studies Joshua Eisenman and former US Ambassador to Ethiopia David Shinn published an AFPC Policy Paper titled “Responding to China in Africa.” The twelve-page report, which has been distributed widely on Capitol Hill and within the Administration, serves as a predecessor and a summary to their book which is to be published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2009.

While Russia faces uncertainty with its people engaged in astruggle for democracy, the American Foreign Policy Council has launched the Russian Parliament Exchange Program.  The program was established in May of last year at the request of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Russian parliament.