Stanford University Libraries and the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions are pleased to present the 2026 Dr. Sam-Chung Hsieh Memorial Lecture featuring Professor Chang-Tai Hsieh who will be speaking on The Risks of Taiwan's Economic Boom.

To attend in person, please register here.
To attend online, please register here.

Professor Hsieh will discuss how Taiwan's Central Bank has had a longstanding unstated policy of keeping the exchange rate undervalued to boost exports. The rise of Taiwan as the center of the semiconductor industry, and more generally as the center of AI hardware, is making this policy untenable. The trade surplus reached 20% of GDP in 2025 and is likely reach an astronomical 35% of GDP this year. Furthermore, much of the surplus has been channeled into purchases of US treasury bonds by Taiwan's life insurance industry that face collapse when the Taiwan dollar appreciates.
 

Venezuela stands at a critical juncture. Following Nicolás Maduro's removal in January 2026, the question facing Venezuelan democratic actors and international partners is no longer whether a transition should occur, but how it could realistically unfold and what risks may undermine it. While the first session focused on the political challenges of transition, this second conversation examines the economic foundations of democratic viability. Sustainable political change in Venezuela will depend critically on the country’s ability to stabilize its economy, restore growth, and generate tangible improvements in living conditions. At the same time, economic recovery itself is deeply conditioned by political uncertainty, institutional fragility, and governance constraints. Understanding this interaction is essential for designing realistic pathways forward.

This webinar seeks to provide a serious, policy-relevant discussion of the economic constraints shaping Venezuela’s future and the conditions under which recovery could become politically sustainable and socially inclusive. Bringing together expertise in energy economics, macroeconomic stabilization, development policy, and political economy, the session aims to inform Venezuelan actors, international partners, scholars, and practitioners with grounded and realistic insights.

SPEAKERS

• Sary Levy-Carciente, Research Scientist, Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at Florida International University

  • Attracting investments and developing the non-oil economy

• Luisa Palacios, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia School of International Affairs

  • Energy policy and finance 

• Francisco J. Monaldi, Fellow in Latin American Energy Policy, Baker Institute and Director, Latin America Energy Program at Rice University
  • Oil and gas sector: requirements for a sustainable increase in production capacity
• Moderator: Héctor Fuentes, Visiting Scholar at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University

The U.S.-Israel military aid framework is defined by a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for fiscal years 2019–2028, providing $38 billion ($3.3B annual Foreign Military Financing + $500M annual missile defense). This aid helps fund Israeli defense imports and joint U.S.-Israel projects like the Iron Dome missile defense system, but also provides the U.S. security establishment with unique access to Israeli defense tech. As we near the end of the current MOU, American and Israeli officials have begun discussions over the future of U.S.-Israel military innovation cooperation and financing. Recent developments suggest that the relationship may undergo substantial changes after 2028. The 2026 National Defense Strategy issued by the Pentagon, for example, describes Israel as a "model ally" — a skilled and fiscally responsible partner, bringing substantial national security benefits to the U.S. At the same time, in a recent interview with The Economist, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared he intends to wean Israel off U.S. military aid entirely over the next 10 years. What factors influence U.S.-Israel security cooperation and long-term defense finance planning? How might these relations evolve over the coming decade in a world increasingly defined by war and potential great power conflict? Join former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro, for a conversation about these essential questions.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro is a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. From 2022 to 2023, he was the Director of the N7 Initiative.

In his most recent government service, Shapiro was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East from 2024 to 2025, and prior to that was Senior Adviser on Regional Integration in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. He is a former US ambassador to Israel, serving from 2011 to 2017. Prior to his appointment, he worked as senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council at the White House, following his role as senior policy adviser in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

From 2001 to 2007, Shapiro worked as legislative director and later as deputy chief of staff for then-U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. From 1999 to 2001, he was director for legislative affairs at the National Security Council, serving as congressional liaison for National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. Shapiro also previously served as a staff member on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East and as a senior foreign policy adviser to US Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Shapiro has served as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and in 2007, he was named vice president of Timmons & Company. Shapiro was a distinguished visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv from 2017 to 2021. Concurrently, he was a principal at WestExec Advisors.

Virtual Event Only.

Liberal order — composed of sovereign statehood, individual rights, democratic government under the rule of law, and economic openness — is under growing pressure around the world. The modern State of Israel was born with, and into, the Liberal International Order (LIO) built under American leadership in the aftermath of the Second World War and has generally thrived in that liberal world. How is Israel experiencing the challenge to liberal order and the erosion (some would say collapse) of the LIO? What shapes the Israeli experience with liberalism and public debate about the strengths and weaknesses of liberal politics? Join us for a conversation about the past, present, and possible futures of liberalism in Israel with political theorist, author, and activist Dr. Tomer Persico.   

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Tomer Persico is a Senior at the Shalom Hartman Institute and a Senior Research Scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Persico was the Koret Visiting Assistant Professor at the UC Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies for three years and has taught for eight years at Tel Aviv University. His fields of expertise include cultural history, the liberal order, Jewish modern identity, contemporary spirituality, and Jewish fundamentalism. His books include The Jewish Meditative Tradition (Hebrew, Tel Aviv University Press, 2016), Liberalism: its Roots, Values and Crises (Hebrew, Dvir, 2024 and German, NZZ Libro, 2025) and In God's Image: How Western Civilization Was Shaped by a Revolutionary Idea (Hebrew, Yedioth,2021, English, NYU Press,2025). Persico is a liberal activist in Israel and has written hundreds of articles on current events for legacy media outlets, including Haaretz and The Washington Post. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and two sons.

Virtual Event Only.