Past Programs
Strategy in the Asia-Pacific
Strategy in the Asia-Pacific was a weeklong training workshop for mid-career professionals in the national security and defense community, both civilian practitioners and members of the military. It was a graduate-level educational opportunity for those seeking an immersive education in Asia and strategy.
Summer Study
The Summer Study was a weeklong workshop that gathers new and experienced practitioners, emerging scholars, and current and former government leaders to explore strategies for the United States to compete with China over the next several decades.
America in the World Consortium
Johns Hopkins SAIS has partnered with Duke University and the University of Texas-Austin to launch the America in the World Consortium (AWC). The Consortium aims to prepare the next generation to confront geopolitical challenges and understand American national interests abroad, and participate in the debate about the United States' role in the world. The Merrill Center and the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS conduct activities supported by the AWC at the undergraduate, MA, and PhD levels of education.
Past Events
Alvin H. Bernstein Memorial Lecture
Alvin Bernstein, a distinguished ancient historian and lecturer at Johns Hopkins SAIS who served in positions of high responsibility in the U.S. Department of Defense, was an exceptional educator in the civilian academic world (Yale and Cornell) and in the United States government (the U.S. Naval War College, National Defense University, and the George C. Marshall Center for European Security Studies). In keeping with his example and his interests, the annual Alvin H. Bernstein Memorial Lecture has as its organizing theme the intersection of history and national security policy.
Conference on Civil-Military Relations
The Merrill Center's annual Conference on Civil-Military Relations is co-hosted with Duke University's Program in American Grand Strategy and supported by the America in the World Consortium. The 2020 conference, Reflections on Civil-Military Relations: Crises, Comparisons, and Paradoxes, presented various dimensions of current debates; engaged the audience on questions of who should serve in U.S. defense and national security; and raised questions of ethics and morals in military and civilian command. The conference concluded with a performance of Sophocles' Philoctetes by Theater of War Productions and a podcast recording with War on the Rocks.