Search this site
Event at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, featuring four speakers on stage in front of an audience of students in a packed auditorium.
,

SFS students, alumni come together for post-election analysis

Siobhan Cooney

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Americans voted to return former President Donald Trump to the White House. Building on the momentum of this historic event, Dean Joel Hellman brought the SFS community together for two events featuring faculty with differing policy views to discuss the implications of a second Trump presidency on the future of U.S. foreign policy. These conversations gathered SFS students and alumni for a critical analysis of what might be to come both at home and abroad. There was a significant response from the community, with attendees contributing weighty questions that sparked meaningful dialogue both in-person and online.

Looking ahead for U.S. foreign policy

On Wednesday, November 6, Hellman moderated a panel featuring SFS Professors Matthew Kroenig, a former official in the Trump administration and vice president of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security; Charles Kupchan, a former official in the Obama administration and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Renanah Joyce, an expert in security cooperation, military and economic statecraft and U.S. foreign policy. With only six hours’ notice, SFS undergraduate and graduate students filled the seats in the ICC Auditorium, ready to engage.

The conversation centered on the questions of what this extraordinary election means for the United States’ position in the world and what we should expect in the new administration’s foreign policy. The panelists discussed Trump’s “peace through strength” strategy, the opportunities and risks of transactionalism and how the U.S. might reevaluate the role of allies and partnerships. Students also raised important questions about Trump’s relationships with authoritarian leaders, his plan to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and potential migration policies under the new administration.

Audience of students attentively sitting in a lecture hall. A woman with long brown hair wearing a black dress asks a question at the microphone.
An SFS student raised the question of potential migration policies.
Four panelists sitting onstage at a Georgetown University School of Foreign Service event, engaging with an audience.
SFS Dean Joel Hellman moderated the panel discussion.
Person wearing a blue shirt standing in front of a microphone reading notes in a crowded auditorium.
An SFS student posed a question on ending the war in Ukraine.
Three panelists seated on stage at Georgetown University, engaged in discussion during a panel event.
SFS Professors Renanah Joyce, Charles Kupchan and Matthew Kroenig engage in discussion.
Audience of students at a lecture in an auditorium at the School of Foreign Service, with three speakers seated on stage under a banner reading "SFS."
SFS students fill the seats of ICC Auditorium.

Going beyond the rhetoric

On Friday, November 8, Hellman brought back Kroenig for Fast Break, a virtual alumni event series that offers 30 minutes of analysis on the most important topics of the day. Over 400 SFS alumni joined on Zoom to listen as Hellman and Kroenig went beyond campaign rhetoric and explored the implications, likely first steps, key players and ideas likely to shape the second Trump administration. Kroenig opined on potential candidates for main foreign policy posts, the future of American alliances and a possible new focus on deterrence. He also answered questions from alumni on Trump’s relationship with the military and his stance on international organizations and partnerships.