2011 Breakfasts
A major strength of the Congressional Program is our breakfast series, an educational opportunity that we offer between conferences. We host 25 breakfasts each year for Members of Congress. The format is condensed and at a quicker pace than our conferences, but the concept is the same—a presentation by a renowned expert, followed by discussion and questions from Members of Congress. Our objective is informed, civil discourse through education, not advocacy. We routinely have a bipartisan representation of 20 Members from the Senate and the House participate in each breakfast. Members have told us how much they benefit and value these off-the-record in-depth discussions. The breakfast forums focus on foreign and defense policy, energy policy, intelligence issues, China, Russia, nuclear security, polices toward the Muslim World, and terrorism. In addition to these topics, as world events unfold we seek informed experts to address current issues. Here follows a list of breakfast speakers and topics held in 2011.
| SPEAKER | ORGANIZATION | TOPIC |
| Charles Vest | President Emeritus, MIT | Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Steps to Ensure America’s Global Competitiveness |
| Jon Alterman | CSIS | The Situation in Egypt and Implications for U.S. Policy |
| Michele Dunne | Carnegie Endowment | Ramifications of Events in Egypt for the Region and Policy Implications for the U.S. |
| Michael Green | former NSC Asian Affairs Director | The Direction of U.S-China Relations |
| Rachel Bronson | Chicago Council on Global Affairs | Saudi Arabia and the Arab Uprisings |
| Michael Mandelbaum | Johns Hopkins University | Foreign Policy in an Age of Austerity |
| Peter Bergen | New America Foundation | Have the Arab Uprisings Strengthened or Weakened Al Qaeda |
| Bruce Hoffman | Georgetown University | The Impact of the Death of Osama Bin Laden on American Policy |
| Robbie Diamond | Securing America’s Future Energy | Transportation Policies for America’s Future |
| Robert Thompson | Chicago Council on Global Affairs | The Looming Global Food Crisis & Implications for U.S. Policy |
| Marwan Muasher | Carnegie Endowment | The Arab Awakening and Implications for U.S. Policy |
| Joseph Nye | Harvard University | The Future of Power |
| Pam Cantor | Turnaround Schools | Innovations to Transform Struggling Schools: Implications for Federal Policy |
| Zalmay Khalilzad | former Ambassador to Afghanistan | Pakistan: What Should U.S. Policy Be? |
| Martin Indyk | The Brookings Institution | Syria: Options for U.S. Policy |
| Scott Sagan | Stanford University | International Reactions to the New U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy |
| Amb. Arturo Sarukhan | Embassy of Mexico | U.S.-Mexico Relations |
| Daniel Kammen | The World Bank | Biofuels: Pros and Cons as a Renewable Energy Source |
| Mike McConnell | former Director of National Intelligence | Cybersecurity: What Policies are Needed to Best Protect the U.S. |
| Arvind Subramanian | Peterson Institute for International Economics | China’s Economic Dominance and Implications for the U.S. |
| Amb. Daniel Kurtzer | Princeton University | The Current Situation in Arab-Israeli Relations and Implications for U.S. Policy |
| Admiral Dennis Blair | former Director of National Intelligence | China’s Military Posture in the Pacific and Implications for U.S. Policy |
| Ed Rendell | former Pennsylvania Governor | Transportation Infrastructure Investment: How the U.S. Compares to its Economic Competitors |
| Fred Smith | CEO, Federal Express | Transportation, Energy and the American Economy |
| Karim Sadjadpour | Carnegie Endowment | Iran’s Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons and Options for U.S. Policy |
| Graham Allison | Harvard University | Are Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons Secure? |
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