Commonwealth Club Event: "The Case for American Power"

Join the Commonwealth Club of California on Jan 28, 2026 to hear Shadi Hamid discuss his new book, The Case for American Power.

HOW TO WATCH:
This event is $10 for online tickets, and you must register at the link below, at which point you'll be emailed a link to the online event - https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FVb00000A1TBtMAN

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Is the United States still the “indispensable nation,” former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s term to describe America’s leading role in the world? Or is the world better off as the country turns inward and downplays its historic alliances?

Washington Post columnist Shadi Hamid has made his own journey, moving from opposition to America’s role in the world to reluctantly embracing it. He says the alternative to American leadership isn’t a morally perfect superpower—it’s the brutal authoritarianism of countries like China and Russia. He explores this topic in his new book The Case for American Power, and he comes to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to make the case for America to embrace its power as the only moral option in a world beset by tragedy.

Drawing on his unique perspective as both an American and a Muslim who came of age in the shadow of the September 11 attacks, Hamid contends with the contradictions of American power: how a nation founded on moral purpose so often does not live up to its ideals. He also deals with America’s failures, from the war in Iraq to support for authoritarian regimes across the Middle East. But he says that because America is a democracy, it has the ability to correct past mistakes and change for the better—and that part is up to all of us.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER & MODERATOR:

• Shadi Hamid is a political scientist working as a columnist at The Washington Post. Previously, he worked at Brookings Institution and at The Atlantic. He is also the author of several books about political Islam and democracy in the Middle East such as Temptations of Power (2014), Islamic Exceptionalism (2016), Rethinking Political Islam (2017), Militants, Criminals and Warlords (2018), and The Problem of Democracy (2022).
• Steven Saum, the moderator, is Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Content at Saint Mary’s College and has lived and worked in the Czech Republic and Ukraine, where he directed the Fulbright program, taught as a Peace Corps volunteer, hosted a radio show, and has served as an election observer.

ABOUT THE EVENT HOST:
The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. Every year, they present more than 450 forums on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. Their stated mission is to be the leading national forum open to all for the impartial discussion of public issues important to the membership, community and nation. To learn more, go to: https://www.commonwealthclub.org/who-we-are
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