Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will lead a conversation with Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist David Sanger, White House and national security correspondent for the New York Times. They will discuss Sanger’s recent book, “New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West” as well as other current events concerning national security.

"I'm delighted to be returning to Cornell and for the chance to engage with its stellar students, faculty and alumni,” Sanger said. “In recent decades we've witnessed several sharp turning points in history: 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise of China and the re-emergence of Russia as a threat to Europe. But at this moment, the surprise is that the United States is also seen as a source of political, economic and security instability – posing a set of challenges we could not have imagined even six months ago. We have a lot to discuss."
 

In addition to covering the president and his administration, Sanger also reports on foreign policy, intelligence and military advisers who shape the nation’s national security policy. He emphasizes analytical articles that explain the underlying factors that led to a major decision, or place a major event in a historical frame that gives readers some context of how hard choices are made.

Sanger has worked for the New York Times for more than four decades, starting shortly after his graduation from Harvard University. As a business correspondent, he covered the early days of Silicon Valley and worked on the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering the causes of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. He spent six years as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief in Japan. He has covered five presidents and served on teams that won two other Pulitzers, most recently for uncovering Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

He is the author of four books, most recently “The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power”; “Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power”; and “The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age,” which later became an HBO documentary by the same title. 

This event is organized through the Distinguished Visiting Journalist program in the College of Arts & Sciences.