When policymakers in the United States declared in the aftermath of the Cold War that the age of “spheres of influence” had ended, were they misdiagnosing the issue? Strong countries throughout history have exerted influence over their neighbors—be it the U.S. Monroe Doctrine or Russia and its Near Abroad. The Center for the National Interest, the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and Russia Matters, a project at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, have gathered leading experts in a webinar event broadcast live on April 8, 2020, to debate whether spheres of influence are a geopolitical force today, and if so, how U.S. policymakers should respond. This webinar event featured: Dr. Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard University; Paul Saunders, senior fellow, the Center for the National Interest; Ambassador Steven Pifer; William J. Perry Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University and non-resident senior fellow, the Brookings Institution; and John Herbst, director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.

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