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From Facebook to foreign affairs, the security of the United States is constantly being challenged. How has the country historically handled threats, and how does national security strategy adapt as the threats evolve?

Tom Donilon, national security advisor to President Barack Obama and distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, will sit down with Annelise Riles, Buffett Institute for Global Studies executive director and associate provost for global affairs, to discuss.

About Tom Donilon

Thomas E. Donilon is Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute and Senior of Counsel at the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers. He served as National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama. In that capacity, Mr. Donilon oversaw the U.S. National Security Council staff, chaired the cabinet-level National Security Principals Committee, provided the president’s daily national security briefing, and was responsible for the coordination and integration of the administration’s foreign policy, intelligence, and military efforts.

Mr. Donilon also oversaw the White House’s international economics, cybersecurity, and international energy efforts. Mr. Donilon served as the President’s personal emissary to a number of world leaders, including President Hu Jintao and President Xi Jinping, President Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Mr. Donilon chaired the Presidential Commission to Enhance National Cybersecurity. Mr. Donilon is a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Society, a member of the Center on Global Energy Policy Advisory Board at Columbia University. Mr. Donilon is among the nation’s most experienced policy and presidential advisors. He has worked closely with and advised three U.S. presidents since his first position at the White House in 1977.

About Annelise Riles

Annelise Riles is the executive director of the Buffett Institute for Global Studies, associate provost for global affairs, professor of law, and professor (by courtesy) of anthropology. Her scholarship spans a wide range of substantive areas including human rights, managing and accommodating cultural differences, and the regulation of the global financial markets.

She has taught at the London School of Economics, University of Tokyo, and Yale University, among others. Riles is a former professor of anthropology and Far East legal studies at Cornell University. Learn more about her.

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