Barrett Takesian | Fiona Hill | Susan Thornton onstage at Freeport Speech

Barrett Takesian, Susan Thornton, and Dr. Fiona Hill at a Freeport Speech event, where they primarily explore the breakdown of the global system and the importance of local, grassroots solutions in both domestic and international contexts. Takesian highlights the success of his community organization, Portland Community Squash, as a model for creating social capital and opportunity from the ground up, an idea that Dr. Hill connects to national defense and resiliency. Thornton and Dr. Hill, both former senior diplomats, discuss the challenges facing multilateral institutions like the UN and the erosion of the United States' role as a "gold standard" for diplomacy and democracy, agreeing that strengthening community-level initiatives and education is essential for building a better future.