Michael Hopkins’s new monograph, Dean Acheson and the Obligations of Power (Rowman & Littlefield) is now available and was launched at The Woodrow Wilson international Center for Scholars, Washington DC. The book explores the role played by Dean Acheson in developing policies for greater American engagement in global affairs in the 1940s and early 1950s; and his contribution as advisor to presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon in the 1960s. More than fifty people attended the event. The audience was made up of members of the public, TV and print journalists, academics, and staff and fellows of the Wilson Center and other Washington–based research centres and think tanks. Dr Hopkins gave a talk on his book and thendiscussed various aspects of his study with Professor David Painter of Georgetown University. This was followed by a lively and engaging question and answer session with those attending the event. This is the first of a number of occasions when Dr Hopkins will be speaking about his book to audiences in the United States.