The Truman Project brings together leaders to rethink national security. We unite bold thinkers as a community of change, solving challenges and building a strong, safe future.
Truman National Security Project
The Truman Project brings together leaders to rethink national security. We unite bold thinkers as a community of change, solving challenges and building a strong, safe future.
2500+ Members. 50 States. 1 Shared Vision.
Truman Members are veterans, scholars, public sector officials, business people, educators, and activists. We share a vision of a strong, just United States, leading the world by influence and example. Truman Members focus on principled solutions to our country’s most pressing national security issues. Simply put, we are catalysts for change. Our diverse, nationwide community of experts is reshaping the narrative around national security, driving better policy at all levels of government, industry, and civil society.
Values-Based Communication: Statistics don’t change minds, but stories do.
Our members are at the forefront of helping you visually convey the stories behind the services that will be lost due to the proposed massive budget cuts through the innovative Pöster Project: Infographics for Democracy. Click here to access simple, clear graphics illustrating the specific human impact these cuts to federal agencies will have on individual states and territories.
Climate Security: Adapting legal frameworks for climate resilience.
Climate change is drastically altering living conditions and investment decisions, yet climate and disaster law have not adapted accordingly. Antiquated laws make it hard to respond to climate disasters, and without a national plan for adapting, communities face ongoing challenges and inequalities as they keep having to rebuild. To break this cycle, Truman Member Mark Nevitt outlines a needed shift from a reactive approach to a proactive strategy. Read more about it here.
Leadership: Turning fear into opportunity.
Truman Member Kristen Kavanaugh and Mike Randolph, both former Tesla leaders, offer insights in Courage Over Fear for navigating leadership challenges in today's shifting landscape. They advocate rejecting fear-driven leadership, seizing personal agency, and confidently managing uncertainty by turning fear into opportunity. Their guide offers practical strategies and real-world examples to help leaders address issues such as the deprioritization of DEI, political polarization, and rapid technological change, presenting their work not just as a leadership resource but as a call to action. Read the book here.
America’s Leadership at a Crossroads
America’s security and prosperity depend on our continued global leadership and engagement. The current retreat from foreign assistance not only abandons vulnerable populations worldwide—it abandons America's strategic interests, constitutional principles, and core values.
Duration :58
For decades, both Republican and Democratic administrations recognized that foreign assistance advances U.S. national security by:
Preventing conflicts before they require military intervention
Building the capacity of allies to address shared challenges
Promoting stability in regions of strategic importance
Countering violent extremism by addressing root causes
When the Afghan government fell in August 2021, Truman members supported more than 74,000Afghans who had been promised, safe harbor in the United States.
The chaotic withdrawal and rush to evacuate Americans and Afghans alike left thousands of Afghan allies vulnerable to Taliban reprisals. We sprang into action.
We must keep that hope alive. The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world – and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation.