NSI celebrated the bicentennial of the Monroe Doctrine, where we explored its historical roots, its evolving legacy, and its potential relevance to the modern geopolitical landscape.
The Monroe Doctrine, which sought to halt foreign interference in the Western Hemisphere, has reemerged within the policymaking community as the United States seeks to develop an approach to respond to challengers from outside the Western Hemisphere – in particular, from China and its growing presence in the region. This event examined policies that promote and maintain U.S. economic and national security, as well as uphold wider regional security and stability.
The event will began with keynote remarks by Senator Jim Risch (R-ID), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and was followed by a panel discussion with:
- Dr. Colin Dueck, Professor, George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government
- Ana Quintana-Lovett, former Staff Director, Western Hemisphere, the House Foreign Affairs Committee
- Liza Tobin, Senior Director of Research and Analysis of Economy, Special Competitive Studies Project
- Lester Munson, NSI Senior Fellow and former Staff Director, Senate Committee Foreign Relations
Speaker Bios
U.S. Senator Jim Risch
As the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Risch is focused on protecting the security and interests of the American people, in addition to continuing to advance U.S. prosperity and leadership in the world. His top priority on the committee continues to be strategic competition with China. As such, he has introduced and advanced several legislative packages, including the first comprehensive legislative strategy to compete with China. Senator Risch has also made significant progress in strengthening NATO, defending human rights, and defending freedom of religion worldwide.
Senator Risch earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from the University of Idaho, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Idaho, College of Law. He is a small business owner, a rancher, and a farmer, and was a senior partner in the Risch Goss Insinger Gustavel Law firm at the time of his election to the U.S. Senate. Risch also served as the 31st governor of the state of Idaho.
Senator Risch and his wife Vicki have been married for more than 50 years. They have three married sons and nine grandchildren. They live on a ranch outside of Boise.
Dr. Colin Dueck
Colin Dueck is a professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
He has worked as a foreign policy adviser on several Republican presidential campaigns, and acted as a consultant for the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council. His current research focus is on the relationship between party politics, presidential leadership, American conservatism, and U.S. national security strategies.
Dueck has published four books on American foreign and national security policies: Age of Iron: On Conservative Nationalism (Oxford University Press, 2019), The Obama Doctrine: American Grand Strategy Today (Oxford 2015), Hard Line: The Republican Party and U.S. Foreign Policy since World War II (Princeton 2010), and Reluctant Crusaders: Power, Culture, and Change in American Grand Strategy (Princeton 2006).
He has provided congressional testimony and published articles on these same subjects in journals such as International Security, Orbis, Security Studies, Review of International Studies, Claremont Review of Books, Political Science Quarterly, American Affairs, and World Policy Journal, as well as online at RealClearPolitics, National Review, Foreign Affairs, Ricochet, the National Interest, Providence, the American Mind, Texas National Security Review, War on the Rocks, Ambassador’s Brief, and the New York Times.
Dueck studied politics at Princeton University and international relations at Oxford under a Rhodes Scholarship.
Ana Quintana-Lovett
Ana Rosa Quintana-Lovett is currently the Senior Director of Policy at the Vandenberg Coalition. She most recently served as the Staff Director for Western Hemisphere for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX). In that capacity, she was the lead Republican advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives on U.S. policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean. She was also Chairman McCaul’s principal advisor on border security, migration, and counternarcotics policy. Prior to her time on the hill, she led the Latin America portfolio at The Heritage Foundation for nearly eight years and served at the Defense Intelligence Agency. At The Heritage Foundation, she wrote policy studies and articles for a variety of outlets and was also a regular media contributor. She was formerly a National Security Fellow with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Penn Kemble Democracy Forum Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy. She is a current Board Member of the Strategic Intelligence Program at Patrick Henry College.
Liza Tobin
Liza Tobin is the Senior Director for Economy at the Special Competitive Studies Project. Prior to joining SCSP, Liza served on the National Security Council staff as China Director, where she led the development of multiple US strategies and policies related to China, including on trade and economics, climate and the environment, military issues, and China’s influence beyond the Indo-Pacific. Prior to serving at the NSC, Liza worked for more than a decade in various capacities as a China specialist for the U.S. Government, including as a senior advisor at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and as an economic analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as in various roles in the private sector and academia. She holds an M.A. in international relations with concentrations in China studies and international economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a graduate certificate at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and a B.A. in China studies and biblical studies from Gordon College.
Lester Munson
Lester Munson is Vice President, International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, DC, where he consults with foreign governments, corporations, and advocacy groups.
He also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and as a principal on the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. He speaks regularly on the foreign policy role of Congress and on U.S. foreign assistance issues.
Most recently, he is co-author of the Atlantic Council’s “State Department Reform Report,” released in August 2017, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ “Reforming and Reorganizing U.S. Foreign Assistance,” released in June.
Lester joined BGR Group in November 2015 after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He was most recently Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative, and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department, and Congressional leadership.
Previously, Lester was Chief of Staff for Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois. During his tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Lester served as Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Lester is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.