On Friday, February 19, US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg served as the Institute’s first featured speaker in its newly established Washington Ideas Roundtable Series––monthly lunch discussions sponsored by Michelle Smith and the Smith Family Foundation.

Steinberg shared his views on a number of pressing US foreign policy issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Iran, Pakistan, China, Bosnia, and Iraq as well as nuclear nonproliferation, the Dalai Lama's recent visit to the White House, and human rights. Guests at the roundtable included Jake Wales of the Council on Foreign Relations, Ambassador of the League of Arab States Hussein Hassouna, Hungarian Ambassador to the US Bela Szombati, CBS News Washington Bureau Chief Christopher Isham, and Kevin Nealer of the Scowcroft Group. The event was off the record.