The most revealing measure of U.S. competitive power isn’t found in military operations against Iran or a looming $1.5 trillion defense budget. It’s in our private economy. SpaceX closed with a market cap larger than the gross domestic product of most nations on June 12, its first day of public trading. In the prior two weeks, Anthropic and OpenAI filed to go public, both chasing $1 trillion valuations.

Celebrations of America’s founding and reflections on its ideals often overlook the central role of civil-military relations. This is a mistake. In the Declaration of Independence, a chief complaint was that King George III “affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” George Washington himself worried about this abuse of power and went to great pains to avoid it in his own career.

In this conversation, Sanford School of Public Policy professor Deondra Rose reflects on the power of education and why learning to engage across differences is essential for the next generation of leaders. Drawing from her own journey, Rose shares how educators and families can help students develop the skills needed to make a meaningful impact.

Noah Pickus is head of global strategy and partnerships and senior adviser to the provost at Duke University and the co-author of The New Global Universities: Reinventing Education in the 21st Century (Princeton University Press, 2023). Recently, Noah shared with me information about a new project he is leading called the Future Universities Alliance. I asked if Noah would answer my questions about this new network, and he graciously agreed.

Public policy is a discipline that recognizes that people want and need different things, and different policy processes can lead to dramatically different outcomes. Yet, despite these apparent differences, competing worldviews are still working towards a common goal of making the world better. It is just that the better world might look different depending on where you view it from. At a time when Americans are increasingly concerned about the tone of our political discourse, the Sanford...

Peter Feaver is made for Empathy. As the Director of Duke’s American Grand Strategy program, Peter believes that being able to stand in another’s shoes is a core value. That’s why he organizes an event every four years that gathers Republican and Democratic presidential advisors in discussion.

Author Rick Atkinson is known for his gripping narratives of military conflict, from World War II to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian, Atkinson last year released his second book on the American Revolution, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, which debuted at the top of the nonfiction bestseller list, and was featured in Ken Burns' 2025 documentary series on PBS.

Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler (2019- 2021) and his successor Michael Regan (2021-2024) shared an enlightening and inspiring conversation moderated by Vice President & Vice Provost for Climate & Sustainability Dr. Toddi Steelman in the Karsh Alumni and Visitor Center. Taking place on January 9th, this discussion was the first installment of the Sanford School of Public Policy’s “Bridging the Divide” series, meant to “feature bipartisan dialogues with...

What makes creating policy in a democracy challenging? We asked Congressman David Price, who helped start Duke’s public policy program and represented North Carolina’s Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years. He is now a Professor Emeritus at Duke and a Distinguished Fellow with Polis, Duke’s Center for Politics.

On Wednesday evening, members of the Duke community joined POLIS for a discussion exploring the question: "Why Public Service?" The conversation, moderated by Sanford Professor of the Practice Jenni Owen, featured POLIS Distinguished Fellows Dr. John Hillen, a former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and decorated combat veteran; Michael Regan, former EPA Administrator; and Danny Werfel, former IRS...

“If I can get someone from being 100% opposed to 75% opposed…that’s a win.” Attorney General Jackson came well-prepared for his November 12th Sanford Distinguished Lecture, considering he brought with him a book that contained addresses from the former North Carolina Governor, Senator, and Duke President Terry Sanford. He utilized the tome to point out that then-Governor Sanford was cognizant of the dangers of gerrymandering in the future, something Jackson fought to counteract while in the...

Congressman Ro Khanna outlined a vision of economic prosperity, bipartisanship and a new generation of American political leadership in his discussion with Frank Bruni, Eugene C. Patterson professor of the practice of journalism and public policy, on Monday evening. The discussion was part of Provost Alec Gallimore’s “Independent Thinkers” speaker series and Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry and Belonging, which seeks to “foster constructive conversations across diverse perspectives and...

"Face these times with purpose, and, to use a word that has become unfashionable in our politics these days, with hope.” Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg concluded his transformative lecture with a call to action, an obligatory call in a defining political moment to not turn apathetic but to use the lessons of history to shape the future. He emphasized that we have no excuse to be pessimistic because of the countless heroes that have faced adversity before us and the future...

This past week has not been America's best. Political violence. Hateful rhetoric. Social media comments leading to job terminations. Testing the limits of free speech. And it all started from a tragic public debate on a college campus in Utah. Many are going about it the wrong way. How about example of those that are (and have been) doing it the right way? Two Duke seniors join the pod to discuss the The Lemur, a publication that allows students to speak freely on a wide variety of...

David Schanzer, a Duke University professor, spoke with WCNC Charlotte about how the death of Charlie Kirk is affecting students and campus life after attending a Civil Discourse Project open forum.

In the latest episode of Sanford's Policy 360 podcast, guest John Hillen says that only a third of native-born Americans can pass the citizenship test that American immigrants are required to pass. He is part of a new bipartisan commission trying to change that. The goal is to revitalize the teaching of American civics and history.

When an airplane hits rough turbulence, most passengers don’t look at the wings or the engine—they look at the flight attendants. If they’re calm, passengers usually stay calm. But if they’re alarmed, then there’s reason for worry. That quiet signal—the composed or concerned face of someone who knows the system from the inside—matters. And that’s the metaphorical moment our federal government is living in right now.

On June 9, Duke administrators unveiled the preliminary results of the Inclusive Excellence Working Group, announcing new “principles and recommended guidance” to align the University with both federal law and Duke’s institutional values. These values — “respect, trust, inclusion, discovery and excellence” — were reaffirmed as foundational to campus life. In their message, administrators reiterated Duke’s “longstanding goal” of “creating an inclusive community.”

Wednesday evening at Belmont University, I had the privilege of witnessing something increasingly rare: a genuine friendship navigating discourse with soul and grace. Watching Abdullah T. Antepli—Director of Polis: Center for Politics at Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy and co-founder of the groundbreaking Muslim Leadership Initiative at the Shilom Hartman Institute.

ACTA President Michael Poliakoff welcomes The Honorable John Hillen, distinguished resident fellow at the Center for Politics in Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and an executive-in-residence of the Political Science Department. Dr. Hillen is a combat veteran and Bronze Star recipient, a former assistant U.S. secretary of state, a successful business leader, and the author of The Strategy Dialogues: A Primer on Business Strategy and Strategic Management.

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, Congress established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the CFPB. It protects Americans from predatory practices by consumer finance companies. The CFPB enforces federal laws and investigates fraud and abuse. It has sent over 6.8 million complaints to companies for resolution so far. The bureau has been targeted for massive cuts by the new administration which, thus far, have been blocked by a federal judge.

Duke students gathered for a thought-provoking Civil Discourse Roundtable on immigration, co-hosted by Polis: Center for Politics, the Civil Discourse Project, Duke College Republicans, and Duke Democrats. Moderated by Professor Abdullah Antepli and Hannah Postel, the discussion provided a space for students from across the political spectrum to share personal experiences, challenge perspectives, and engage in a constructive debate on one of today’s most pressing issues.

Former U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., spoke of the importance of U.S. representatives bridging partisan divides to enact meaningful legislation during a Monday event at Duke. The conversation, titled “Bridging the Divide: A Fireside Chat,” was moderated by Provost Alec Gallimore and hosted by the Office of the Provost, the Sanford School of Public Policy and POLIS: Center for Politics.

On Wednesday, February 21st, Polis: Center for Politics hosted Polis Distinguished Fellows Huma Abedin and Reggie Love (Duke '05) to discuss their respective memoirs, Both/And and Power Forward. The evening focused on the Distinguished Fellows' pathways to politics and how they became confidantes for the prolific political figures of former President Obama and Hillary Clinton, respectively. The two reflected on their careers in politics and public service, offered advice for being a valued...

Duke’s Center for Politics and the Duke Triangle Alumni Chapter hosted an event previewing the 2024 presidential election Monday evening. The Karsh Alumni and Visitor Center had nearly every seat filled for the event, called The 2024 Election, One Year Out. The conversation was guided by journalist John Harwood, Trinity ’78, who was joined by two national political strategists, Sarah Longwell, president and CEO of Longwell Partners and publisher of The Bulwark, and Michael Podhorzer...