The Paul C. Warnke Lecture

This endowed lecture series was established in 2002, and is dedicated to the memory of Paul C. Warnke (1920-2001), member and former director of the Council on Foreign Relations. The series commemorates his legacy of public service, his friendship to the Council (he was a director and devoted member), and his unique combination of eloquence, intellect, and pragmatism in the cause of peace and America’s values.

Paul Warnke is best known for serving as the chief U.S. negotiator for the 1978 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He was one of the first government figures to strongly support arms reductions as a means to security, an idea, radical at the time, which gradually gained currency. He also played a pivotal role in bringing about the Vietnam peace negotiations. The Warnke Lecture honors his ideals, courage, intellect and his belief that America’s power brings with it a special responsibility in world affairs.

The lecture alternates between New York and Washington.

Warnke Lectures:

General Meeting

The Paul C. Warnke Lecture on International Security: A Conversation with U.S. Senator Jack Reed

Speaker: Jack Reed, Member, U.S. Senate
Presider: Michael Getler, Ombudsman, PBS
November 15, 2010
General Meeting

Paul C. Warnke Lecture in International Security with Mohamed ElBaradei

Speaker: Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency
Presider: Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations
November 4, 2009

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General Meeting

The Paul C. Warnke Lecture in International Security with Joschka Fischer

Speaker: Joschka Fischer, President, Joschka Fischer Consulting, and Former Vice Chancelor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Germany
Presider: Christopher Isham, Vice President and Bureau Chief, CBS News
December 11, 2008
General Meeting

Paul C. Warnke Lecture in International Security: A National Security and Arms Control Strategy for the Twenty-first Century

Introductory Speaker: Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations
Discussant: Lt. Gen. Robert Pursley, USAF (Ret.)
Presider: Richard C. Steadman
November 8, 2007
General Meeting

Paul C. Warnke Lecture on International Security

Speaker: Robert L. Gallucci, Dean, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Presider: Gary Samore, Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair, Council on Foreign Relations
October 12, 2006
General Meeting

Paul C. Warnke Lecture in International Security - Reviving Disarmament: Developing the United Nations

Speaker: Hans Blix, Chairman, Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, Former Executive Chairman, United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission
Presider: Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government
October 20, 2005
General Meeting

Paul C. Warnke Lecture on International Security

Speaker: Carl M. Levin, Member, U.S. Senate (D-MI)
September 13, 2004
General Meeting

Paul C. Warnke Lecture in International Security

Presider: Leslie H. Gelb, President, Council on Foreign Relations
Speaker: Harold Brown, Counselor, Center for Strategic And International Studies; Former Secretary of Defense, 1977-1981
February 26, 2003