ASU Forum on Innovating for Competitive Statecraft at Arizona State University in Tempe

Moderated by Ambassador Michael C. Polt, this invitation-only event was a candid examination of the challenges and opportunities found in the competitive statecraft paradigm, especially in light of the recent National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy. ASU was happy to welcome thought leaders and policymakers to our D.C. building for a lively and constructive discussion that laid the conceptual foundations for the March Forum.

Moderated By Ambassador Michael C. Polt

Ambassador Polt assumed his position as ASU Ambassador-in-Residence in The College’s Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab on October 1, 2020. Prior to that, he served as Senior Director at the University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership after concluding his 35-year diplomatic career in 2012 where he served six presidents and eleven Secretaries of State. Among Mr. Polt’s many high-level diplomatic assignments was his service as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia during the Obama Administration, Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro during the Bush Administration, and as Principal Deputy and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs in the Powell and Clinton State Departments.

In Conversation With H. R. McMaster

H.R. McMaster is a Distinguished University Fellow at Arizona State University, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He was the 26th Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Upon graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1984, McMaster served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army for thirty-four years before retiring as a Lieutenant General in June 2018.