What World Leaders Forget about World Politics
Why do even the most powerful leaders make decisions that seem to ignore history, human nature, or hard-earned lessons of the past? What blind spots repeatedly shape foreign policy—and what do they mean for the rest of us?
Join us for a thought-provoking moderated Q&A with Stephen M. Walt, one of the world’s leading scholars of international relations, as he unpacks the enduring truths of world politics that leaders too often overlook. Drawing on decades of research and real-world examples, Walt will challenge common assumptions about power, alliances, and global leadership—offering clear insights into why good intentions so often lead to unintended consequences.
This timely conversation will move beyond headlines to explore the deeper forces shaping today’s global landscape, from great-power competition to regional conflicts and shifting alliances. Most importantly, it will help participants better understand how decisions made at the highest levels of government ripple outward, affecting everyday lives around the world.
Whether you closely follow international affairs or simply want to make sense of a rapidly changing world, this event offers a rare opportunity to hear from a leading thinker and engage directly through audience Q&A.
A light reception will follow the discussion for in-person participants.
The World Affairs Council of New Hampshire and the Portsmouth Athenaeum present this global conversation to their members for free. Not-yet-members of either organization can purchase a $15 ticket to attend in-person. Everyone can watch the livestream of the event for free on the WACNH homepage.
About the Speaker
Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he served as Academic Dean from 2002 to 2006. He previously taught at Princeton and at the University of Chicago, where he was Master of the Social Sciences Collegiate Division and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences. He is a Contributing Editor at Foreign Policy magazine, Co-chair of the editorial board of International Security, and Co-editor of the Cornell Studies in Security Affairs book series. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in May 2005 and received the International Studies Association’s Distinguished Senior Scholar award in 2014. His books include The Origins of Alliances, which received the 1988 Edgar S. Furniss National Security Book Award, and Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy, which was a finalist for the Lionel Gelber International Affairs Book Award and the Arthur Ross Book Prize. His book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007, co-authored with John J. Mearsheimer) was a New York Times best seller and has been translated into more than twenty foreign languages. His most recent book is The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018).
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