In May 2018, H-PAD assisted in the distribution of a letter protesting the selection of U.S. Army General David Petraeus as keynote speaker at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) conference in June. Initiated by New York University professor Hannah Gurman, the latter garnered 277 signatures from scholars. The letter did not question the general’s right to speak but challenged the special honor accorded him, especially in light of his claims to “success” in the counterinsurgency wars he led in Afghanistan and Iraq. Among the notable historians signing the letter were Andrew Bacevich, Greg Grandin, Alfred McCoy, Lloyd Gardner, Carol Anderson, and Christian Appy. See The Nation article, July 5, 2018.