CMU partners with NMC to host forum on critical global issues

Central Michigan University's Hart-Milliken Speaker Series is partnering with the International Affairs Forum (IAF) at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) to host keynote speaker Kori Schake, a nationally recognized voice on democracy, the civil-military relationship, and executive power.

Schake's presentation, "Long Arm or Strongarm? Executive Power in Foreign Policy and at Home," will take place at the Dennos Museum Center Milliken Auditorium in Traverse City 7 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 19 with a moderated live stream in Anspach 155 on CMU's campus. Thomas Greitens, chairperson of the School of Politics, Society, Justice and Public Service, will moderate the live stream.

The mission of the International Affairs Forum is to advance the understanding of critical global issues through education and public dialogue. IAF is a community-supported program of Northwestern Michigan College and an affiliate of the World Affairs Councils of America. 

“This partnership builds upon a strong relationship between NMC & CMU,” said IAF Director Alexander Tank. “We share a commitment to open dialogue based on rigorous research, practice, and expertise. We will engage in an important civic exercise with this discussion, a continuing investment in public discourse on the difficult issues we face as Americans and global citizens.”

About Kori Schake

Schake is Senior Fellow & Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Before joining AEI, she was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. She was also senior policy advisor on the 2008 McCain campaign. She has taught at Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and the University of Maryland.

Schake is the author of five books: The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States (Polity Books, 2025); America vs the West: Can the Liberal World Order Be Preserved? (Penguin Random House Australia, Lowy Institute, 2018); Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony (Harvard University Press, 2017); State of Disrepair: Fixing the Culture and Practices of the State Department (Hoover Institution Press, 2012); and Managing American Hegemony: Essays on Power in a Time of Dominance (Hoover Institution Press, 2009). She is also the coeditor, along with former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, of Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military (Hoover Institution Press, 2016).

Schake has been widely published in policy journals and the popular press, including in CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, Politico, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and War on the Rocks.

Schake has a Ph.D. and M.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, as well as an MPM from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Her B.A. in international relations is from Stanford University.

About the Hart-Milliken Speaker Series

CMU established the Philip A. Hart and William G. Milliken Endowed Speaker Series for Integrity in Politics to encourage a civil approach to politics, by hosting individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to encouraging positive change in American politics and policy-making. 

The series is named in memory of former U.S. Senator Philip A. Hart and former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken. A legendary trait of the careers of Senator Hart, a Democrat, and Governor Milliken, a Republican, was their ability to work together with members of opposing political parties.

It challenges interested parties — students in particular — to approach politics in a way that embraces America's diversity of ideas and perspectives and to strive to replace negativity and partisanship with creativity and innovation in shaping public policy.

"For over two decades, the Hart-Milliken series has shown our students and our community members how our common beliefs about complex policy challenges are stronger than our political differences, “ said Greitens. “By showcasing the power of bipartisanship, the series helps maintain the foundations of our country's political ideals.