Meet our Next Speaker
Dr. Isaiah (Ike) Wilson
April 13, 2026
Topic: Why America Keeps Winning Battles—and Losing the Peace
Dr. Isaiah (Ike) Wilson III is a retired U.S. Army colonel, former Department of Defense senior civilian executive, and a scholar-practitioner of national security and strategy. He is the founder and CEO of Wilson W.i.S.E. Consulting, where he advises leaders on security, governance, and institutional resilience, and a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University.
Dr. Wilson previously served as President of the Joint Special Operations University and has spent decades working at the intersection of military power, diplomacy, and civic legitimacy. His current work focuses on the role of soft power, trust, and democratic credibility in sustaining American influence in an era of great-power competition. He is also the host of The Civic Brief podcast and author of the Substack Compound Security, Unlocked.
Meetings open to members and members’ guests only. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings take place at Elk Hall, 210 Rankin Street in Rockland. The speaker begins promptly at noon and lunch is served from 1 PM.
Audios of Past Presentations
Listed below are links to recent presentations. Click to listen:
- Christina Bobrow: Ice in the Mediterranean: Frozen Conflict on the Island of Cyprus Click here for Slides
- Nader Habibi: The Economy of Iran in the Shadow of International Sanctions and the Supreme Leader
- Blas Nuñez-Neto: Status of Asylum Laws and Practices Click here for Slides
- Jane Holl Lute: Securing the Homeland Since 9/11: What Have We Learned?
- Silkroad Trio (Soft Power in Action) Introductory Panel Silkroad Performance
- Ambassador Christopher Hill: Foreign Policy Challenges in Uncertain Times
- Mohamed Bouabdallah and Carla Canales: Soft Power — An Essential Element of Foreign Relations
- Farah Pandith: SOFT POWER — How We Win: The Threat from Hate and the Power of Compassion
- Sherri Goodman: Arctic Security in a Changing Environment and Sherri’s Slides: Threat Multiplier
- Kenneth Frankel: How Current US Policies Create Uncertainty in Western Hemisphere Relations
- Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman: Adrift: The UN, Multilateralism, and US Disengagement
- Joshua Landis: Syria and the Middle East
- Martin Mühleisen on The IMF and World Bank in the New Geopolitical Environment
- Admiral Michael Rogers on Current Hot Spots of the World
- Henry Haggard on The US-Korea Relationship in Transition
- Ambassador Douglas Lute on The Future of NATO
- James Bosworth on Mapping Latin America’s Current Politics
- Clark Adams on Defense Diplomacy in Central Asia and Clark’s slides: Defense Diplomacy
- John Lee on China and Indo-Pacific Security
- Dr. Steven Koonin on The Realities of Climate and Energy. and Steve’s slides: Realities slides
- Dr. Elizabeth Cameron on National Security in an Age of Pandemic Threats
- Ambassador Lawrence Butler: NATO at 75—Relevant, Obsolete, or Dangerous?
- Jack Goldsmith on The Decline of Congress in the Conduct of Foreign Affairs, and accompanying slides
- Robert Einhorn on Nuclear Non-proliferation
- Matthew Goodwin on Brexit, Trump, Le Pen, and National Populism
- Ambassador Anne Hall: The Baltic Nations — Profiles in Courage
- Ambassador Jake Walles: The Israel-Gaza Conflict
- Heather Cox Richardson: Democracy Awakening
- John Deutch: Challenges to Future Climate Policy
- Thomas Blanton: The Downsides of Government Secrecy
- Shanthi Kalathil: Challenges to Democracy in the Age of Misinformation
- Ambassador Charles Ray: Why Africa Matters
- Tom Ricks: First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country
- Amna Nawaz: On the Frontlines: Reporting Overseas and Here at Home
- Christopher Costa: Counterterrorism and the Future Terrorism Threat
- Susan Landau: The Reality of Cyberwar — In Ukraine and Elsewhere
- Jon Wolfsthal: Is a New Era of Nuclear Danger Upon Us?
- Amb. Derek Mitchell: Democracy and International Security
- Admiral Michael Rogers: Russia and Ukraine
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How to Contact Us
We can be contacted by email, mail, or phone:
The Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations
PO Box 41
Rockport, ME 04856
207-332-6567