George F. Kennan was the leading voice in shaping the U.S. foreign policy toward Russia for the majority of the 20th century. A Kennan for Our Times: Revisiting America’s Greatest 20th Century Diplomat in the 21st Century, edited by Kennan Institute Director Matthew Rojansky and Catholic University Professor Michael Kimmage, highlights his enduring legacy. It is a collection of scholarly and personal essays as well as interviews with four previous directors of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, which George F. Kennan established.

To celebrate the book’s launch, the Kennan Institute will host a discussion with its editors, along with Jon Finer, a former director of the Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, and American University professor James Goldgeier, moderated by Andrea Kendall-Taylor of the Center for a New American Security. This event will address containment, the U.S.-Russian relationship, policy planning, and the international order in the 21st century via an analysis of the career and thinking of George Kennan.

This event will be followed by a light reception.

Speakers

Andrea Kendall-Taylor

Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program, Center for a New American Security

Matthew Rojansky

Director, Kennan Institute

Michael Kimmage

Professor of History, Catholic University of America

Jon Finer

Adjunct Senior Fellow for U.S. foreign policy, Council on Foreign Relations

James Goldgeier

Professor of International Relations, American University School of International Service

RSVP at the Wilson Center