Duignan and Rabushka discuss the book they recently co-edited, "The United States in the 1980s." Rabushka summarizes the health of the United States in 1980 in "four short words: we are overtaxed, overregulated, overgoverned, and over legislated." While describing the nation's international interests in strengthening its presence in the Middle East and Africa, Rabushka lists pressing domestic issues, including inflation, income decline, energy dependence, stagnated government spending, and the environment. Duignan talks about accepting the limits of American power, and the two major foreign policy issues: containing Soviet expansion and modernizing the Third World.

Both speakers served as senior fellows at the Hoover Institution.