Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

At the dawn of a new century, a newly elected U.S. president was forced to confront an escalating series of unprovoked attacks on Americans by Muslim terrorists sworn to carry out jihad against all Western powers. As timely and familiar as these events may seem, they occurred more than two centuries ago. The President was Thomas Jefferson, and the terrorists were the Barbary pirates. Victory in Tripoli recounts the untold story of one of the defining challenges overcome by the young U.S. republic and reviews every aspect of the first U.S. military campaign through foreign lands.

Standing alone against the pirates, the young nation would learn valuable lessons in cross-cultural diplomacy, diplomatic maneuvering, and the projection of military might as an extension of public policy. This dramatic tale examines the events that gave birth to the Navy and the Marines and re-creates the startling political, diplomatic, and military battles that were central to the conflict … and offers deep insight into issues that remain fundamental to U.S. foreign policy decisions to this day.

JOSHUA E. LONDON is the Deputy Director for Public Affairs with the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. He has written on politics and public policy for many publications, including the American Spectator, Human Events, National Review Online, and Details: Promoting Jewish Conservative Values. He holds an M.A. in Social Science from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Davis.