Dmitri Alperovitch Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Ben Buchanan is a Dmitri Alperovitch Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Prior to coming to Hopkins, he worked in the White House from 2021-2025, including as White House Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence, where he was responsible for coordinating the Biden Administration actions on AI. He is the author of three books on AI, cybersecurity, and national security.
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Sowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Michael served over 37 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, culminating his career as the Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, and the senior executive for AI in the Department of Defense. He previously served at the National Security Agency, overseeing global network operations and as the Director of Intelligence for the Chairman and the Joint Staff. In that position he worked closely with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense and Senior Leaders across the Department. Groen is an experienced Marine commander and multi-tour combat veteran. He was the Intelligence Officer for the 1st Marine Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom for both OIF I and II. He is the author of With the First Marine Division in Iraq, No Greater Friend, No Worse Enemy. His awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Co-Director, Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State
Adam J. White is the Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the Supreme Court and the administrative state. Concurrently, he codirects the Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
Mr. White practiced constitutional and administrative law, particularly in the regulation of energy and financial markets. He started his legal career as a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
Mr. White has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Affairs, Commentary, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He is a regular contributor to the Yale Journal on Regulation’s Notice and Comment blog, and for many years, he was one of the Weekly Standard’s lead writers on constitutional law and the Supreme Court.
Mr. White has testified often before Congress, including before the Senate’s Committees on the Judiciary; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and before the House’s Judiciary and Financial Services Committees. In 2018, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary called him to testify in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings to advise senators on Kavanaugh’s approach to administrative law.
In 2021, he served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, where he criticized “Court packing” and other efforts to restructure the Supreme Court. In 2017, he was appointed to serve on the Administrative Conference of the United States. He also serves on the leadership council for the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section, which he will chair in 2023–24. Before joining AEI, he was a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Mr. White has a JD from Harvard Law School and a bachelor of business administration from the College of Business at the University of Iowa.
Principal, BGR Government Affairs
Lester Munson joined BGR’s International practice after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He most recently served as the Staff Director for Chairman Bob Corker of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
In the past two and a half years, the committee has passed into law several bills regarding U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia, including major sanctions legislation, has engaged in efforts to fundamentally reform, reauthorize, or modify key foreign assistance programs, including food aid, PEPFAR, arms transfers, and has taken up legislation on the most important foreign policy and national security issues of the day, including the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, authorizations for the use of military force, and various international treaties and agreements.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff in Senator Mark Kirk’s (R-Ill.), Washington, DC office. During Lester’s tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson was a Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Prior to serving in the Bush Administration, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Munson was the Republican Communications Director and oversaw foreign assistance oversight and legislation. At the House International Relations Committee, he was the Communications Director and Professional Staff Member for Asia-Pacific issues as well as African affairs.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Dmitri Alperovitch Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Ben Buchanan is a Dmitri Alperovitch Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Prior to coming to Hopkins, he worked in the White House from 2021-2025, including as White House Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence, where he was responsible for coordinating the Biden Administration actions on AI. He is the author of three books on AI, cybersecurity, and national security.
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Sowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Michael served over 37 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, culminating his career as the Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, and the senior executive for AI in the Department of Defense. He previously served at the National Security Agency, overseeing global network operations and as the Director of Intelligence for the Chairman and the Joint Staff. In that position he worked closely with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Secretary of Defense and Senior Leaders across the Department. Groen is an experienced Marine commander and multi-tour combat veteran. He was the Intelligence Officer for the 1st Marine Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom for both OIF I and II. He is the author of With the First Marine Division in Iraq, No Greater Friend, No Worse Enemy. His awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Award, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Co-Director, Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State
Adam J. White is the Laurence H. Silberman Chair in Constitutional Governance and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the Supreme Court and the administrative state. Concurrently, he codirects the Antonin Scalia Law School’s C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State.
Mr. White practiced constitutional and administrative law, particularly in the regulation of energy and financial markets. He started his legal career as a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
Mr. White has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Affairs, Commentary, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. He is a regular contributor to the Yale Journal on Regulation’s Notice and Comment blog, and for many years, he was one of the Weekly Standard’s lead writers on constitutional law and the Supreme Court.
Mr. White has testified often before Congress, including before the Senate’s Committees on the Judiciary; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and before the House’s Judiciary and Financial Services Committees. In 2018, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary called him to testify in Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings to advise senators on Kavanaugh’s approach to administrative law.
In 2021, he served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, where he criticized “Court packing” and other efforts to restructure the Supreme Court. In 2017, he was appointed to serve on the Administrative Conference of the United States. He also serves on the leadership council for the American Bar Association’s Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section, which he will chair in 2023–24. Before joining AEI, he was a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Mr. White has a JD from Harvard Law School and a bachelor of business administration from the College of Business at the University of Iowa.
Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor, Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
Principal, BGR Government Affairs
Lester Munson joined BGR’s International practice after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He most recently served as the Staff Director for Chairman Bob Corker of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he led policy, oversight, legislative and communications efforts for a staff of 25 and negotiated committee priorities with the White House, the State Department and Congressional leadership.
In the past two and a half years, the committee has passed into law several bills regarding U.S. policy toward Ukraine and Russia, including major sanctions legislation, has engaged in efforts to fundamentally reform, reauthorize, or modify key foreign assistance programs, including food aid, PEPFAR, arms transfers, and has taken up legislation on the most important foreign policy and national security issues of the day, including the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program, authorizations for the use of military force, and various international treaties and agreements.
Previously, Mr. Munson was Chief of Staff in Senator Mark Kirk’s (R-Ill.), Washington, DC office. During Lester’s tenure, Senator Kirk became the leading Republican voice in the Senate on Iran and other national security issues.
During the Bush Administration, Mr. Munson was a Deputy Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he focused on legislative affairs as well as global health issues. He led legislative efforts to develop and implement the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and won an award for his contribution to the creation of the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Prior to serving in the Bush Administration, at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Munson was the Republican Communications Director and oversaw foreign assistance oversight and legislation. At the House International Relations Committee, he was the Communications Director and Professional Staff Member for Asia-Pacific issues as well as African affairs.
Mr. Munson is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago and holds a Master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He is married with two children.
Panel III: AI and Military Power in U.S.-China Competition
Ben Buchanan, Michael Groen, Adam White, McDaniel Wicker
Featuring: Dr. Ben Buchanan, former White House Special Advisor on AI; Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University...
Panel III: AI and Military Power in U.S.-China Competition
2025 AI and National Security Symposium
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2025 National Security Symposium Program
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The China Challenge: U.S. National Security Policy in the 21st Century
Washington, DCAmerican Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump
Lester Munson, Hal Brands
American foreign policy is in a state of upheaval. The rise of Donald Trump and...
American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump
International & National Security Law Practice Group Teleforum
Teleforum