Hudson Institute Events Podcast Hudson Institute

This event is part of the Motwani Jadeja US-India Dialogue series funded by the Motwani Jadeja Family Foundation.

Amid a shifting and increasingly competitive global landscape, technology cooperation has emerged as a vital component of the United States–India strategic partnership. In May 2022, the two countries announced the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), which was launched in January 2023. Over the last year and a half, governments, businesses, and academic institutions have expanded cooperation in both the civilian and defense arenas.

Join Hudson for a discussion on what role technology will play in deepening the US-India relationship with Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan, Carnegie India Director Rudra Chaudhuri, Carnegie India Fellow Konark Bhandari, United States Institute of Peace Senior Fellow Daniel Markey, United States India Strategic Partnership Forum Senior Advisor Vikram Singh, and Center for New American Security Senior Fellow Lisa Curtis. Hudson Institute’s Aparna Pande will moderate the conversation.

Join Hudson in welcoming Ambassador Nikki R. Haley for her inaugural event as the Walter P. Stern Chair. She will deliver a special address on United States foreign policy amid wars in the Middle East and Europe and growing tensions in Asia. Following her remarks, she will sit down with Hudson’s Peter Rough for a fireside chat.

Hudson Board of Trustees Chair Sarah May Stern will deliver introductory remarks.

Over two years on, the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine War continue to reverberate throughout the Black Sea and Western Balkan regions.

Russia’s latest push threatens to break Ukraine’s front lines. Georgia’s free and open society hangs in the balance as a pro-Moscow government debates a restrictive new “Russian law.” North Atlantic Treaty Organization member Montenegro’s leadership is falling under the Kremlin’s influence. Under Milorad Dodik, Republika Srpska relentlessly seeks to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina. And the European Union is losing its allure in Belgrade and Tbilisi as Serbian and Georgian elites kowtow to Vladimir Putin.

Hudson, in partnership with the US-Europe Alliance, will host two panel discussions to examine the futures of these critical regions.

The Pentagon’s $820 billion budget is the United States government’s biggest expense other than Social Security and health care. However, despite its obvious importance, the Defense Department’s budgeting process is notoriously inflexible and slow. As a result, current operational and security needs often do not match spending priorities established two or more years ago.

Congress recently established an independent Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) Reform to identify ways to improve the defense budgeting process. A key recommendation in the commission’s final report is to transform the structure of the defense budget itself—realigning it to better connect funding to desired outcomes. Rather than organizing spending by inputs in a “cube” with categories of activity such as research, procurement, or operations on one side and military services and programs on the other sides, the proposed new structure would divide the budget primarily in terms of missions and capabilities.

Proponents argue that this approach would foster greater transparency, agility, and innovation by allowing the Pentagon to move money where it is needed to address challenges and opportunities. Skeptics raise concerns about ensuring adequate oversight when funding is not tied to specific inputs.

Join Hudson Senior Fellow Dan Patt for a discussion on restructuring the defense budget with two commissioners who shaped this proposal—Jamie Morin, former Pentagon director of cost assessment and program evaluation, and David Norquist, former deputy secretary of defense and under secretary of defense (comptroller). The panel will explore the problems this reform aims to solve, alternative approaches the panel considered, how increased flexibility could reshape incentives and decision-making, and potential downsides and implementation obstacles.

On June 2, Mexicans will head to the polls to elect over 20,000 national, state, and local officials, including the president, members of Congress, and numerous governors. The two leading contenders for the presidency, Claudia Sheinbaum and Xóchitl Gálvez, offer starkly contrasting visions for Mexico’s future. Sheinbaum, of the ruling MORENA party, seeks to continue the nationalist Fourth Transformation agenda, which began under incumbent President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). In contrast, Gálvez, the opposition candidate, advocates for a more market-oriented approach, promising reforms in key areas such as energy policy and the fight against organized crime.

This election has significant implications for the complex Mexico–United States relationship. Sheinbaum and Gálvez disagree on the extent to which Mexico should align itself with the US on critical issues like migration, security cooperation, and trade. Additionally, the election takes place against a backdrop of concerns over the erosion of democratic institutions under AMLO.

Join Hudson for a discussion of possible post-election scenarios with Covington Senior Advisor Kim Breier, Dentons Global Advisors Partner Antonio Ortiz-Mena, and National Defense University Professor Arturo Sotomayor.