Event Hosted By the Alexander Hamilton Society of Berkeley Featuring U.S Naval War College Associate Professor Ian Easton and UC Berkeley School of Law Professor Chris Hoofnagle.
Join the Alexander Hamilton Society of Berkeley for their first speaker event of the year: a conversation on cross-strait relations and U.S. foreign policy toward China! This conversation will be moderated by Professor Chris Hoofnagle, and there will be free pizza.
Dinah Lawan is a PhD student in Political Science in the Charles and Louise Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. She studies political violence, with a focus on civilian agency in armed conflict, examining insurgent violence, its impacts on communities, and how civilians self-organize to protect themselves in the absence of state protection. Her work focuses specifically on Sub-Saharan Africa, and her dissertation examines northeastern Nigeria, exploring how ordinary civilians have protected themselves and their communities through over a...
Brandon is a PhD student in international relations. His research focuses on how states prepare for military threats across both government and society, specifically in the contexts of Taiwan and the broader East Asian security environment. Prior to Berkeley, Brandon worked as an analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense, taught English in Hualien County, Taiwan on a Fulbright grant, and received his bachelor's degree in Government from Harvard College.
Maya Mikelson is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in International Relations and Methods. Her research interests include repression, conflict, militarization, interventions, and human rights. Before attending Berkeley, she earned a B.S. with High Honors in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her senior thesis examined how militarization is measured and the relationship between militarization and conflict, using a latent variable model. She was an APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Scholar in 2024.
February 10, 2026 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM | 223 Philosophy Hall
After a career of federal service as a Marine Corps pilot and American diplomat, and with long experience in journalism and the not-for-profit sector, Ambassador Feeley possesses a unique view on both the tactics and strategic thinking of the Trump Administration. His critical observations stem from principle, experience and a firm belief that national security affairs and American interests should always incorporate technocratic expertise, independent of political leadership.
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Nathaniel Fick for a discussion of his best selling book One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer. Drawing on his wartime experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, Fick reflects on the nature of war and the role of the marines in post 911 conflicts. He focuses on military training and leadership with special attention to reconciling tactical and strategic imperatives, ethical issues in counterinsurgency missions, and deployment of military force as a complement to the full utilization of all aspects of American power.
Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Michael Gordon, Chief Pentagon Correspondent for The New York Times, for a discussion of his new book Cobra II, co written with General Bernard E. Trainor. In the interview, Kreisler and Gordon discuss the origins of the war plan, the key decision makers the intelligence failure before and during the war, the insurgency, Saddam's war plan, and the implications of the war for the American military.
