In 2019, Alexander S. Vindman – then a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and a director on the National Security Council – reported the infamous phone call that led to President Trump’s first impeachment. This decision put him at the center of one of the biggest political firestorms of our time. Now, Colonel Vindman has published his full account of what happened that year in a new memoir. Here, Right Matters tells his story, from his childhood as an immigrant growing up in New York City, to his career in service of his new home – on the battlefield and at the White House, to his exposure of President Trump's abuse of power.
What was it like to challenge the actions of one of the most powerful people in the world? How can U.S. institutions – government, media, and the military – better hold public officials accountable for such abuses of power? And what does it mean to be an immigrant and a public servant in the United States in the 21st Century?
Join Perry World House and Alexander Vindman for answers to these questions and more and a wide-ranging discussion of Colonel Vindman’s new book, Here, Right Matters: An American Story.
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SPEAKER
Alexander Vindman, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, was most recently the director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Russia on the White House’s National Security Council. Previously, he served as the Political-Military Affairs Officer for Russia for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as an attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. While on the Joint Staff, he co-authored the National Military Strategy Russia Annex and was the principal author for the Global Campaign for Russia. Lt. Col. Vindman is currently a doctoral student and fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Pritzker Military Fellow at the Lawfare Institute, and the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Here, Right Matters. In 2020-21, he was a Visiting Fellow at Perry World House. Follow him on Twitter @AVindman.
MODERATOR
Michael C. Horowitz is Director of Perry World House and Richard Perry Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics, and the co-author of Why Leaders Fight. He won the Karl Deutsch Award given by the International Studies Association for early career contributions to the fields of international relations and peace research. He has published in a wide array of peer reviewed journals and popular outlets. His research interests include the intersection of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics with global politics, military innovation, the role of leaders in international politics, and geopolitical forecasting methodology. Professor Horowitz previously worked for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the Department of Defense. He is a senior fellow for defense technology and innovation at the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Horowitz received his Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and his B.A. in political science from Emory University.
