The Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) and Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) cordially invite you to a Capitol Hill luncheon to discuss the price of oil’s strong influence over the world economy and American security.
FPI HILL BRIEFING: AMERICAN INTERESTS AND THE ENERGY REVOLUTION
Monday, May 9, 2016
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch and discussion will begin at 12:00 p.m.
Rayburn House Office Building Room 2200
Expert Panel:
Robbie Diamond
Securing America’s Future Energy
Dr. David Andrew Weinberg
Foundation for Defense Democracies
Dr. Leif Wenar
King’s College London
Author of Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and Rules that Run the World
Moderated by:
Christopher J. Griffin
Foreign Policy Initiative
The price of oil exerts a strong influence over the world economy and American security. How will the current energy revolution affect U.S. interests? Will a soft oil market weaken the grip of authoritarian exporters on their own populations? Can the United States utilize these changes to advance a more robust human rights agenda? We look forward to discussing these questions and others about the implications of the changing energy market for America’s national security. Please note that the event is open to Hill staff only and lunch will be served.
Speaker Biographies
Robbie Diamond is the Founder, President and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE). In 2006, he came together with Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, and General P.X. Kelley, USMC (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the Marine Corps, to form SAFE’s Energy Security Leadership Council, a group of prominent business leaders and retired senior military officers dedicated to combating the nation’s dangerous dependence on oil. Since then, SAFE and the ESLC have been at the forefront of the energy policy debate, successfully helping to shape legislation in 2007 and shepherd a new, comprehensive energy bill through the Senate Energy Committee in 2009. Diamond is also the President and CEO of the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security dangers caused by the nation’s dependence on petroleum. Prior to his roles with SAFE and the Electrification Coalition, Diamond served as Deputy Director of Community Outreach on Senator Joe Lieberman’s 2004 presidential campaign. Before that, Diamond was a Director at the Washington firm Fontheim International LLC, working in all practice areas of the firm. Diamond earned an Honors Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto in Peace and Conflict Studies and Political
Dr. David Andrew Weinberg is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he covers the six Gulf monarchies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman). His research in this area focuses particularly on energy, terrorist finance, regional security, and human rights. A large part of his research also pertains to the Gulf states’ foreign policies toward such flashpoints as Syria and Iraq. Dr. Weinberg previously served as a Democratic Professional Staff Member at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he advised the chairman on Middle Eastern politics and U.S. policy toward the region. He also provided research support to staff at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff during the George W. Bush administration. Dr. Weinberg holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was affiliated for five years with the Institute’s Security Studies Program. Before coming to the Foundation, Dr. Weinberg was a Visiting Fellow at UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development. He has advanced reading skills in Arabic.
Prof. Leif Wenar is the author of Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World (Oxford, 2016). After earning his Bachelor’s degree from Stanford, he went to Harvard to study with John Rawls, and wrote his doctoral thesis on property rights with Robert Nozick. He now holds the Chair of Philosophy and Law at King’s College London. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Princeton Department of Politics; a Visiting Professor and a Fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values; a Visiting Professor at the Stanford University Center on Ethics in Society; a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University School of Philosophy; a Fellow of the Center for Ethics and Public Affairs at The Murphy Institute of Political Economy, and a Fellow of the Program on Justice and the World Economy at The Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. This spring he is back at Stanford as the William H. Bonsall Visiting Professor.
Christopher J. Griffin joined the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) as Executive Director in January 2013. Previously, he served as legislative director to Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (ID-CT), advising the senator on the full range of legislative proposals and key votes. Between 2008 and 2011, he was Senator Lieberman’s military legislative assistant, in which capacity he developed the senator’s legislative agenda as a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of its Airland Subcommittee. Prior to joining Senator Lieberman’s staff, Mr. Griffin was a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy (2005-2008). Mr. Griffin’s writings have been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times. Mr. Griffin received a B.A. in international studies from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and an M.A. in international studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC.
To join us for this important conversation, please click here to RSVP.
