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A Conversation with Former U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster

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September 29, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
Former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster joins Washington Post national security reporter Ellen Nakashima on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss his forthcoming book, how the global pandemic affects the most pressing foreign policy challenges and America’s standing in the world today. (Video: The Washington Post)

Former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster joins Washington Post national security reporter Ellen Nakashima on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 11:00 a.m. ET to discuss his forthcoming book, “Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World,” how the global pandemic affects the most pressing foreign policy challenges and America’s standing in the world today.

Former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster breaks down what drives China and Russia, why they are threats to the U.S. and how they view America. "I think they view us as weak at the moment, right, because they see us in the midst of, now today, especially, a triple crisis: a crisis of a pandemic, the recession associated with the pandemic and the social division laid bare by the murder of George Floyd." (Video: Washington Post Live)
Former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster says Russian President Vladimir Putin banks on his ability to disrupt the U.S. and then later deny his involvement. McMaster says President Trump plays into Putin's propaganda tactics when he doesn't confront him publicly. "It gives him [Putin] wiggle room." (Video: Washington Post Live)
Former U.S. national security advisor H.R. McMaster criticized the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, calling the decision “unwise," "a pipe dream," and “doomed to failure." “The Trump administration has replicated almost precisely the flaws of the Obama administration approach to Afghanistan. And, in particular it has created, and I use this term strategic narcissism in ”Battlegrounds” to describe our tendency to define problems and challenges as we would like them to be, rather than they really are. And in this case, to conjure up an enemy in Afghanistan that we would prefer rather than the actual enemy in Afghanistan which is a Taliban that is utterly intertwined with other terrorist organizations including Al Qaeda.” (Video: Washington Post Live)

H.R. McMaster, Former U.S. National Security Advisor

H.R. McMaster is the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Stanford University. A native of Philadelphia, H.R. graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1984. He served as an Army officer for thirty-four years and retired as a Lieutenant General in 2018. He remained on active duty while serving as the 26th Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. He taught history at West Point and holds a PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.