May 31, 2019
From 'mein Mädchen' to 'leader of the free world,' Angela Merkel is winding down her political career
President Donald Trump was the 2019 commencement speaker at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday.
“In all things and ways, we are putting America first, and it’s about time,” Trump told the graduating class of just under1,000 cadets. “And we are restoring the fundamental principle that our first obligation and highest loyalty is to the American citizen. No longer will we sacrifice America’s interests to any foreign power. We don’t do that anymore.”
Across the country at Harvard University, new graduates heard a very different message on commencement day.
“Changes for the better are possible if we tackle them together,” Germany's Angela Merkel told the graduating seniors in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “If we want to go it alone, we could not achieve much. More than ever, our way of thinking and our actions have to be multilateral rather than unilateral.”
Listen to Julianne Smith's full conversation on PRI's The World.
More from CNAS
-
China, Europe, and COVID-19 with CNAS’s Ashley Feng and Kristine Lee
Podcast
Ashley Feng and Kristine Lee join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to explain China’s response to COVID-19 on the latest episode of Brussels Sprouts. Feng is a Research ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Kristine Lee & Ashley Feng
-
Macron and France's National Security Policy with Benjamin Haddad and Alice Pannier
Podcast
Benjamin Haddad and Alice Pannier join Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend on the latest episode of Brussels Sprouts to discuss France’s foreign policy and Emmanuel Macron’...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend, Dr. Alice Pannier & Benjamin Haddad
-
Great Power, Great Responsibility: Global Competition in an Age of Uncertainty
Podcast
In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, William Inboden, director of the Clements Center at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with Richard Fontaine, Chief Executive ...
By Richard Fontaine & William Inboden
-
Combating Populism
Reports
Executive Summary The rise of populism in Europe and the United States is well documented. Although studies may disagree about the relative importance of populism’s drivers, t...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Carisa Nietsche
