Hagel Named to Defense Policy Board

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that former Senator Chuck Hagel has been named to the Defense Policy Board by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

"A Republican Looks at His Party"

There is an interview with Hagel titled "A Republican Looks at His Party" that is worth a read. It gives Chuck Hagel's take on a recent Republican fundraiser and the state of the Republican party.

In the wake of the big Republican fund-raising dinner keynoted by Newt Gingrich with Sarah Palin as an off-again, on-again attendee and distraction, the shambles in which the party finds itself is painfully apparent.

Rather than trotting out a prominent figure who might bring a fresh and forward-looking message to the assembled faithful, the dinner spotlighted a veteran of Democratic vilification and a defeated vice-presidential nominee diminished by her transparent shortcomings in national and foreign policy international matters.

KPTM: "Former Senator Chuck Hagel Staying Busy with Role as Professor"

KTPM 42 has a nice story and video with Chuck Hagel catching up with him on life after the U.S. Senate.

US-Saudi Relations

Chuck Hagel was a panelist at a recent event sponsored by the New America Foundation. The panel was titled "A Forward Projection of What the Saudi-US Relationship Should Look Like and Needs to Achieve." For more details, see The Washington Note.

Q&A with Chuck Hagel

The National Journal has a good Q&A with Chuck Hagel: "Knitting Together an Unraveling World."

What's next for Chuck Hagel

In the last week Chuck Hagel's post-Senate plans have begun to be announced. First, Chuck Hagel will be joining the faculty at Georgetown University (see the story at the Washington Post). Senator Hagel will also become the new Chairman of the Atlantic Council (see their announcement). Their previous chairman, retired General Jim Jones, stepped down to be President Obama's National Security Advisor. In addition to his foreign policy portfolio, Senator Hagel will also be active in the financial sector, taking on two positions. One is as a member of the Board of Advisers for Corsair Capital, a private equity firm (see the press release). The other is as a senior adviser with McCarthy Capital Corp. (see the story at the Lincoln Journal Star).