ABOUT THE PRESENTATION

In the years since George W. Bush left the White House, a vigorous and often dramatic debate over American foreign policy and national security has consumed the Republican Party. Now, with a historically crowded field of presidential candidates vying for the GOP nomination, that high-stakes battle of ideas is unfolding on the national stage. Next year’s winner could determine the party’s platform—and the international agenda—for a generation to come.

McKay Coppins is the senior political writer at BuzzFeed News, where he covers national politics and the 2016 presidential race. In 2012, Coppins covered Mitt Romney’s campaign, and before that, he was a reporter for Newsweek. He has been listed as one of the Forbes 30 under 30, included on Politico’s list of 2012’s “breakout reporters,” and identified as a rising TV pundit in Details magazine. His forthcoming book is the Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party’s Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House (December 2015). Coppins studied journalism at Brigham Young University and currently lives in New York City with his wife and two children.