USGLC and IRI at the 2024 Republican Convention

Every Presidential election cycle, USGLC hosts events at both the Republican and Democratic conventions with the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), respectively. Our event at the RNC in Milwaukee this year drew an over-capacity crowd of nearly 500 guests and featured more than a dozen top Republican national security leaders making the conservative case for international engagement. Check out our highlight video and key quotes below.

Highlights from the event

“We are looking out at a world that perhaps is more dangerous than at any time since the Second World War, where authoritarians are on the march… working together from China to Iran, to North Korea, to Russia, to overthrow, dismantle, and ultimately end the world that America and our friends and allies built. At the end of the day, I think we have to have ultimate confidence in the values of free people and free markets, as well as, of course, our democratic alliances.”

Dan Twining
President, International Republican Institute

“Dictators in Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are working together to undermine America’s interests, and those of our allies.”

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
Chairman, International Republican Institute

“We all need them to step up, but it’s only when we provide leadership and collaboration that we will see our partners step up. We need to lead. America needs to lead.”

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA)
Member, Senate Armed Services Committee

“We want that peace through strength…And this is where diplomacy is really important, in the work that you guys do, as well as IRI.”

Elbridge Colby
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense and Strategy, U.S. Department of Defense

“It’s a nasty world with nasty dictators. And if we actually all care about this rules-based order that we’ve been talking about for so long, if we actually care about the West leading, then we need to get serious, not just in rhetoric but in policy.”

Morgan Ortagus
Spokesperson, U.S. Department of State (2019-2021)

“And so the partnership across government, with industry, particularly when it comes to things like our critical infrastructure, around cybersecurity, etc, it’s just absolutely essential.”

Ginny Badanes
General Manager of Democracy Forward, Microsoft

“In America, what happens here makes a difference and in order to make a difference, it takes a strong military, hard power, but it also takes diplomacy, soft power. And we have to have the capacity to do both.”

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Co-Chair, USGLC

“The world better understands the threat of Russia’s expansionism, certainly of China’s.”

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee

“Food security is national security.”

Luke Lindberg
President and CEO, South Dakota Trade

“Economic security is national security.”

Heather Nauert
Spokesperson and Acting Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State (2017-2019)

“What makes the model at MCC so unique is that form. It’s a government agency where form follows function extremely well. It’s small, it’s nimble. It has a very focused mission, reduce poverty through economic growth.”

Sean Cairncross
Chief Operating Officer, Republican National Committee

“So we have to do fair and reciprocal trade with China…and we do need trade partners.”

Linda McMahon
Administrator, U.S. Small Business Association (2017-2019)

“U.S. Global Leadership is about kitchen table issues, our economic interests, our security interests, our values.”

Liz Schrayer
President and CEO, USGLC

“This is our armor, not just as the Congressman said, not just against China, but to support American interests and American companies throughout the world and to counter autocratic governments.”

Adam Boehler
CEO, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (2019-2021)

“Anyway you look at the world today, the most important thing is to defeat the Russians in Ukraine… If you want to send President Xi a message, beat Putin in Ukraine.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Senate Republican Leader

“But if you want peace through strength, that’s a moment to celebrate the State Department…a whole bunch of people at the State Department who would die for their country… We have to protect them, obviously, but we cannot have an assumption that diplomacy isn’t the right thing to do.”

Ambassador Richard Grenell
U.S. Ambassador to Germany (2018-2020),
Acting Director of National Intelligence (2020)

“What I see in the future is free men and free women and free markets being promoted by this country. I see a country that’s confident and an economy that’s booming and working with our neighbors and our friends and our allies, and I see freedom back on the march.”

Robert O’Brien
National Security Advisor (2019-2021)

USGLC

USGLC and IRI at the 2024 Republican Convention