In April 2024, the governments of the AUKUS (Australia–United Kingdom–United States) security partnership announced their willingness to cooperate with Japan on advanced capabilities projects as part of AUKUS Pillar 2. To date, the group has set up eight such working groups in areas including artificial intelligence, information sharing, and hypersonic missile technology. Given Japan’s technological capabilities and close cooperation with each of the AUKUS partners, Tokyo would bring considerabl...
Aug 28, 2024•59 min•Ep. 602
Three years ago, the Taliban returned to power in Kabul after America’s disastrous abandonment of Afghanistan. Since then, the situation in the country has deteriorated considerably. Afghanistan faces an acute humanitarian crisis and has once again become a haven for transnational terror groups, especially al-Qaeda. Additionally, the human rights of women and ethnic minority groups are under constant threat. Please join Hudson for an event with the leader of the National Resistance Front of Afgh...
Aug 27, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 601
General David Allvin, chief of staff of the Air Force, will discuss how today’s strategic environment requires a force that is aligned and focused on the requirements and attributes that will keep the service competitive. Specifically, the Air Force needs to deliver combat-effective, agile, and adaptive airpower at scale. The complexity and speed of combat demand greater preparation, and prioritizing readiness based on mission effectiveness rather than functional competence will be essential to ...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 600
United States–Japan–South Korea relations have surpassed all expectations. On the sidelines of the November 2022 East Asia Summit in Cambodia, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and US President Joe Biden issued the Phnom Penh Statement, in which they pledged to align “their collective efforts in pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive, resilient, and secure.” In August 2023, President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida joined President Bi...
Aug 16, 2024•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 600
Earlier this week, Ukraine shocked the world by launching a surprise military operation into the Russian Federation. Open-source intelligence shows that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have made considerable advances in the first 72 hours of the incursion, but many details remain unknown. Join Hudson experts Luke Coffey and Can Kasapoğlu for a discussion, moderated by Dan Kochis, on what this move means for the war and how this risk could pay off for Ukraine.
Aug 13, 2024•35 min•Ep. 599
On the evening of August 1, Hezbollah launched a massive rocket barrage at Israel. Is this the beginning of an all-out war between Israel and an axis comprising Iran and Hezbollah? Hezbollah’s July 27 rocket attack on the Israeli town of Majdal Shams murdered 12 children. The Israel Defense Forces responded by, among other things, killing Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah’s de facto chief of staff. Just hours after that operation, Ismail Haniyeh, the political head of Hamas, was assassinated in Tehran, wher...
Aug 01, 2024•44 min•Ep. 598
Energy policy has become a contentious issue in Taiwan. Amid the summer heat, occasional blackouts create public unrest. Meanwhile, Taipei continues to implement policy from the last decade to transition Taiwan’s energy production away from coal and nuclear and toward liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewables like solar, hydroelectric, and wind power. While renewables increase Taiwan’s ability to generate electricity domestically, the island—which is roughly the size of Maryland—remains mostly ...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 597
Hudson Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Luke Coffey host Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov, the representative of the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan on special assignments, to discuss the current state of United States–Azerbaijan relations and peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Jul 30, 2024•41 min•Ep. 596
The North Korean people continue to endure immense suffering at the hands of the Kim regime. Post-COVID-19 indicators suggest that conditions inside the country are worsening. Heightened state-imposed isolation has cut off the North Korean people from critical lifelines like the use of informal markets for livelihood and sustenance, as well as from outside information. Even fewer North Koreans are making it to freedom beyond the country’s borders than before the pandemic. But the lucky few who e...
Jul 28, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 595
The United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) develops and operates global space, missile defense, and high-altitude systems. Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have underscored the importance of space and missile defense capabilities, but questions remain regarding the Army’s role and preparedness in performing these missions. Please join US Army SMDC commander Lieutenant General Sean A. Gainey and Hudson Senior Fellow Timothy A. Walton for a discussion with participants...
Jul 24, 2024•49 min•Ep. 594
Join Hudson for an event to launch Beneath the Harbor: Hong Kong’s Leading Role in Sanctions Evasion, a new report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation. Hong Kong was once the freest economy in the world. But it is now experiencing a rapid erosion in the rule of law, which affects how businesses operate on the island. In recent years, the city has emerged as a top sanctions violator, a money laundering hub, and a transshipment center that plays a key role in providing Russia dual...
Jul 22, 2024•59 min•Ep. 591
China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are forming a new axis of aggressors to oppose the United States and its interests. With chaos unfolding around the globe, how should the US and its allies restore deterrence, maintain global leadership, and protect the prosperity of its people? Join Chair of the Hudson Institute Japan Chair Advisory Board and former National Security Advisor LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Media Fellow Jeremy Hunt for a discussion on this topic.
Jul 22, 2024•28 min•Ep. 590
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched one of the most severe acts of religious persecution since the Cultural Revolution—a violent campaign to wipe out Falun Gong, an indigenous spiritual group with tens of millions of Chinese practitioners. Twenty-five years later, this CCP campaign continues with large-scale imprisonments inside China as well as systematic propaganda and harassment in the United States. Beyond the horrific toll on the Falun Gong community, the CCP’s relentless rep...
Jul 18, 2024•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 589
Cyber and emerging technology play a critical role in the strategic contest between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. The US needs to secure its advantages on computer networks, semiconductors, critical infrastructure, and artificial intelligence to avoid having its competition with the PRC devolve into crisis or conflict. National Security Council Director for Cyber Policy Israel Soong joins Hudson’s Miles Yu for a conversation on why technology is crucial to Beijing’s plans...
Jul 16, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 588
After a monthslong investigation, the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and Chinese Communist Party uncovered that China is actively subsidizing the sale of fentanyl precursors to Mexico. With 80,000–100,000 American citizens dying of fentanyl overdoses each year, the administration needs to comprehensively disrupt the finances and operations of Mexico’s drug cartels and their suppliers, launderers, and partners in crime: the Chinese Communists. David ...
Jul 15, 2024•49 min•Ep. 587
Iran is a key player in the growing axis of revisionist powers threatening the United States–led world order. Yet the US and Europe have been hesitant to fully back Israel in its proxy war against Tehran, and the Islamic Republic is not meaningfully on the agenda for the seventy-fifth North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit. Former Congressman Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee, will join Hudson to discuss what NATO militaries can learn from Israel’s fight against Iran-backed...
Jul 09, 2024•59 min•Ep. 586
Upon taking office as foreign minister of Lithuania in December 2020, Gabrielius Landsbergis quickly made a name for himself as one of Europe’s most effective diplomats. Early in his term, he announced that Lithuania would no longer participate in the Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEEC) format; Estonia and Latvia withdrew the following year. Moreover, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Landsbergis has outspokenly defended Ukrainian sovere...
Jul 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 593
Moving the partnership between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its Asia-Pacific partners from dialogue to cooperation is becoming increasingly urgent as Russia and China create a two-front challenge for the United States and its allies. But maritime security, hybrid warfare challenges, and increasing automation are ideal points of departure to get cooperation off the ground. Rapid technological change and global interconnection have changed the maritime threat environment and the capa...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 585
The threats to the United States and the US-led international order are growing increasingly hostile. The Chinese Communist Party seeks to supplant the United States as the preeminent global power is forming an economic bloc of partners and quickly building its up military to threaten and coerce the US and its allies. Russia initiated the largest land war in Europe since World War II with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack against Israel and ...
Jul 08, 2024•46 min•Ep. 592
In the quarter century after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, reunified Germany grew steadily more confident and powerful as the preeminent country in Europe. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shattered much of that confidence, forcing the country to undertake a pivot as expressed in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement of a zeitenwende , or watershed moment. But what, exactly, has changed in Germany’s foreign policy outlook? Is the change in Berlin’s attitude toward Russia specifical...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 584
Building upon significant Japanese foreign direct investment across the United States, the US-Japan economic relationship is stronger and more consequential than ever. As affirmed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s official visit this spring, the private sector has a significant role in deepening bilateral economic ties and strengthening America’s competitiveness. The automotive industry is critical to this dynamic. This event will focus on Japanese automakers’ commitment to innovation a...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 583
Join Hudson for a conversation with Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine, who will discuss their new book Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power . The book argues that the United States should undergo a renewed pivot to Asia while maintaining commitments to Europe and the Middle East. As the international order becomes more unstable, Blackwill and Fontaine stress that the US has far less margin for foreign policy error today than a decade ago. They also say policymak...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 582
Soon after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, the Jewish state found itself under attack on seven fronts: in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen. Meanwhile, its enemies came out of the woodwork in Europe and North America as antisemitic and anti-Zionist demonstrations exploded on college campuses and city streets. From Houthi attacks on international shipping to “ tentifadas ” on American campuses, it is not hard to see that something more than just support for Gaza is at...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 581
Last year, Chinese diplomats brokered an Iran–Saudi Arabia deal that elevated Beijing’s status as a mediator in the Middle East. China hoped the deal would induce a greater “ wave of reconciliation ” in the region and strengthen its position. But Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel changed Beijing’s calculations. To discuss China’s ambitions in the Middle East, Beijing’s position in the Israel-Hamas conflict, and what this all means for American interests in the region, Hudson’s Zineb Riboua host...
Jun 24, 2024•59 min•Ep. 580
Although Latin America’s economies have stabilized since the COVID-19 pandemic, economic growth in most of the region has stalled, and its forecasted growth rates are the lowest of any region in the world. Such low growth will mean greater poverty and inequality, leaving citizens’ expectations for greater economic opportunity unfulfilled. While a slowing global economy, high investment costs, and many other factors play a role, persistently low productivity in the region is an important constrai...
Jun 21, 2024•55 min•Ep. 579
Long a crossroads between East and West, the Black Sea region today occupies a crucial geography from which the future security and prosperity of the transatlantic community will radiate. Russia’s unrelenting, unprovoked war against Ukraine has focused the world on the Black Sea. In the process, the world has grown to appreciate the role of Romania as a shoreline of stability. Twenty years after joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Romania is one of America’s strongest and closest all...
Jun 21, 2024•56 min•Ep. 578
Last year, Chinese diplomats brokered an Iran–Saudi Arabia deal that elevated Beijing’s status as a mediator in the Middle East. China hoped the deal would induce a greater “wave of reconciliation” in the region and strengthen its position. But Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel changed Beijing’s calculations. To discuss China’s ambitions in the Middle East, Beijing’s position in the Israel-Hamas conflict, and what this all means for American interests in the region, Hudson’s Zineb Riboua hosts ...
Jun 21, 2024•59 min•Ep. 576
United States Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have served as cochairs of the bipartisan Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization Observer Group since its reestablishment in 2018. The two senators have been outspoken in their support for the alliance, including NATO’s recent round of enlargement to Sweden and Finland. Both have also been stalwart in their support of Ukraine. As they wrote to President Joe Biden in April, “We believe Ukraine should be offered a realistic pat...
Jun 20, 2024•49 min•Ep. 577
When Abiy Ahmed unexpectedly became Ethiopia’s prime minister in April 2018, he rapidly unleashed a wave of liberal political and economic reforms and shocked the world by making peace with longtime foe Eritrea. This earned him international adoration that culminated in the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Just a year later, however, Africa’s second largest state descended into a horrific civil war that left hundreds of thousands dead and tarnished Abiy’s reformist image. Though his regime nearly collaps...
Jun 20, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 576
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, is developing 6G specifications through the International Mobile Telecommunications 2030 (IMT-2030) program, aiming to release them by 2030. This program, introduced in the 6G framework document, outlines the vision, timelines, and candidate technologies for next generation telecommunications. IMT-2030 aims to connect humans, machines, and software to enable vari...
Jun 14, 2024•56 min•Ep. 575
