Washington insider Philip Bobbit offers a unique perspective on what he sees as a dangerous migration of power in this nation. In an increasingly interconnected world, a world where law and policy are steadily giving way to nationalism, extremism and chaos, will opportunity and freedom still remain the hallmarks of this American democracy? In this address, Professor Bobbit will describe the rise of great wealth and political clout in the hands of a select few concentrated in the urban centers on the east and west coasts of the United States, and how this troubling shift threatens the very future of our nation.
Philip Bobbitt is the Herbert Wechsler Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia, and has long been a leading constitutional theorist whose interests also include international security and the history of strategy. He has published nine books including the canonical book on constitutional interpretation, Constitutional Fate (1982) and his international bestsellers include The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History (2002) and Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century (2008). His most recent books are The Garments of Court and Palace: Machiavelli and the World That He Made (2014) and The Ages of American Law (with Gilmore, 2d edition) (2015).
Professor Bobbitt also has an extensive history of government service. He has served in all three branches of government, during six administrations, Republican and Democratic, including most recently as Director for Intelligence Programs, Senior Director for Critical Infrastructure and Senior Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council. Until 2017 he was a member of the External Advisory Board of the CIA.
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a former trustee of Princeton University.