Where to Next, America?
Derek Chollet gives the keynote address at the Next America Summit
(courtesy of Next America).
By Rebecca Park, Contributor
“Youth” is the buzzword right now in DC. With our forty-something president, his young staff and a newly reinvigorated Gen-Y electorate, the CSIS initiative Next America Project, launched the summer of last year, falls easily into this new generation trend. An outlet for young leaders to gather and exchange ideas, the June 22 Next America conference provided a glimpse the millennial world outlook.
Keynote speaker Derek Chollet, currently the Principal Deputy Director of the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff, kicked off the conference with a speech that highlighted the concerns of this rising generation, an overall re-addressing of how the United States looks at the world and at itself. A panel discussion led by Next America Fellow and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy Josh Marcuse was an opportunity for attendees to engage with Next America Fellows and the issues, like climate change, nuclear proliferation and smart power, that occupy their time and work. Erik Peterson, senior vice president at CSIS, finished up the afternoon with his presentation "Class of 2025," which raised the questions that will concern the next generation as much as this one.
Chollet took the stage with an easy almost-slouch, encapsulating the casual--but never overly light--attitude of the afternoon and the millennial generation leading discussions on the serious issues facing them and their parents. The round table of Fellows, actively engaging with the audience, made it clear that at the current moment they are more interested in open exchanges of information, ideas, questions, concerns than formulating concrete policies. Questions were proposed, considered, freely leading onto the next topic of conversation between the Fellows and conference attendees. Marcuse asked the (mostly under-30) audience for their ideas on the balance between diplomacy and defense, one response inspired Fellow Ali Wyne's comments on the limits of microfinance, making quick mention of the Marshall Plan, which led to Fellow Laura Keating's thoughts on the threat of a worldwide water crisis.
The Millennial Leader that emerged was a little bit of everything: partisan, but open to dialogue; filled with the can-do spirit of youth, but pragmatically wary of Utopian solutions; inspired by the Internet and its boundary-breaking, global possibilities. Fellow Rachel Hoff easily balanced her interests as a rising Young Republican leader and an advocate of across-the-aisle smart power policies. At the heart of the initiative itself is the faith that young professionals can link up on-line, share and exchange, think and grow the practical solutions present situations demand. As Marcuse summarized, here is a generation that sees no duality in the "notion of doing good and doing well."
So where do we go from here? It was the major question often hinted at, but never fully formed, during the conference. As a baby-faced one-year-old Next America is off to a strong start, but could also use some time to grow, allowing questions and conversations to evolve into concrete answers and policies. Like its members, the organization is young and not quite ready for a leading role, but ready to mature for a grander, global stage.
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