Soho Forum Debate: Hal Brands vs. Gareth Porter

Resolution: The Cold War was a necessary response by the United States to a Soviet and Chinese threat to the global balance of power.

For the Affirmative: Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger distinguished professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. Brands graduated from Yale University with a Ph.D., M.A., and M.Phil. in history, and has authored books on the Cold War and post-Cold War history, including What Good Is Grand Strategy?: Power and Purpose in American Statecraft From Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush and Latin America’s Cold War.

For the negative: Gareth Porter is an American historian, investigative journalist, author, and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security issues. With a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian studies from Cornell University, he has published several books on the Vietnam War, including Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam and Vietnam: The Politics of Bureaucratic Socialism. He is a winner of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism.

ALL tickets must be reserved in advance.

Info: 55 Great Jones Street. Food and drink are included with a Reception ticket.

Please note: to attend the reception you must purchase a Debate + Reception ticket.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street, New York, United States