Upcoming Speakers
Dan Poneman
July 20, 2026
Topic: Prospects for Further Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
Daniel B. Poneman is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His work is focused on nuclear security issues.
From 2015 through 2023, Poneman served as president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., of Bethesda, Maryland, a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry. Prior to joining Centrus, Poneman served as U.S. deputy secretary of energy and as chief operating officer of the department from 2009 to 2014. Between April and May 2013, Poneman served as acting secretary of energy. He was an adjunct senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR from October 2008 through June 2009.
Before assuming his responsibilities as deputy secretary, Poneman served as a principal of the Scowcroft Group for eight years. From 1993 through 1996, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls at the National Security Council. His responsibilities there included the development and implementation of U.S. policy in peaceful nuclear cooperation, missile technology, space-launch activities, sanctions determinations, chemical and biological arms control efforts, and conventional arms transfer policy.
Poneman first joined the Department of Energy in 1989 as a White House fellow. In 1990, he joined the National Security Council staff as director of defense policy and arms control. Between tours of government service, Poneman practiced law for nine years in Washington, DC, as an associate at Covington & Burling and as a partner at Hogan & Hartson.
Poneman has published widely on national security issues. He is the author of Nuclear Power in the Developing World, Argentina: Democracy on Trial, and Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy.
Poneman received AB and JD degrees with honors from Harvard University and an MLitt in politics from Oxford University.
Steven Pifer
August 17, 2026
Topic: The Russia-Ukraine War: Negotiated Settlement or Continued Fighting
Steven Pifer is an affiliate with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) as well as a non-resident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution. He was a William J. Perry Research Fellow at CISAC from 2018-2022 and a fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin from January-May 2021. He is author of “The Eagle and the Trident: U.S.-Ukraine Relations in Turbulent Times” (Brookings Institution Press, 2017), and co-author of “The Opportunity: Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Arms” (Brookings Institution Press, 2012).
A retired Foreign Service officer, Pifer’s more than 25 years with the State Department focused on U.S. relations with the former Soviet Union and Europe, as well as arms control and security issues. He served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs with responsibilities for Russia and Ukraine (2001-2004), ambassador to Ukraine (1998-2000), and special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia on the National Security Council (1996-1997). In addition to Ukraine, he served at the U.S. embassies in Warsaw, Moscow and London as well as with the U.S. delegation to the negotiation on intermediate-range nuclear forces in Geneva. He was a resident scholar at the Brookings Institution from 2008 to 2017.
Ambassador Pifer is a 1976 graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor’s in economics.
Dr. Brian Latell
September 14, 2026
Topic: Cuba at the Crossroads
Dr. Brian Latell is a retired intelligence officer, historian, author, and recognized expert on Cuba, Latin America, and U.S.-Latin American relations. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University and spent more than three decades as an intelligence analyst with the U.S. Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the National Intelligence Council, primarily focusing on Latin American issues for senior U.S. policymakers.
During his intelligence career, Latell served as National Intelligence Officer for Latin America from 1991 to 1994 and as Director of the Center for the Study of Intelligence from 1994 to 1998. In recognition of his distinguished service and contributions to U.S. intelligence, he was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal. Following his government service, he was a Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Americas Program.
In addition to his government service, Latell served for 25 years as an adjunct professor in Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he taught courses on Cuba, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and U.S.-Latin American relations. He also spent ten years as an adjunct professor and senior researcher at the University of Miami.
A recognized authority on Cuba and the Caribbean, Latell has lectured widely and consulted with presidents, senior government officials, diplomats, and regional leaders on political, intelligence, and security issues. He is the author of several books, including After Fidel: Raul Castro and the Future of Cuba’s Revolution, Castro’s Secrets: The CIA and Cuba’s Intelligence Machine, and History Will Absolve Me: Fidel Castro—Life & Legacy.
His articles and commentary have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Time, Politico, and others, and he has frequently served as a television commentator on Cuba for local and national networks.
Now retired, Latell divides his time between Key Biscayne, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.