“The word ‘obliteration’ is being used a lot…I think there’s a little more nuance to it.” Intelligence assessments from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran, and the United States have provided competing accounts of the functionality of Fordow, Iran’s critical uranium refinement site, and the Iranian nuclear program as a whole. The intelligence community still has a lot of blanks to fill in, including the extent of the damage to various Iranian nuclear sites, the state of Iran’s missile ...
Jun 27, 2025•23 min
“They didn’t understand the essence of Israel, and they are now dead.” Are Iran and regional terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah considering the reality of Israel’s military posture and motivations? Iran may have underestimated Israel’s willingness to launch a surprise attack like the one that started the 12-day war, but with a fragile ceasefire in place, it is unclear whether Tehran’s military calculus has changed. Ambassador Dennis Ross, counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fello...
Jun 26, 2025•29 min
CSIS Missile Threat Program director Tom Karako joins the podcast to assess conflicting reports about the degradation of Iran’s nuclear and missile program and how soon Iran may be able to rebuild.
Jun 25, 2025•14 min
CSIS’s Jon Alterman, a longtime Middle East scholar and geopolitical expert, joins the podcast to discuss potential outcomes from Israel and Iran’s 12-day war and shaky ceasefire. Key question: Does the conflict and ceasefire make the world a safer place and reduce nuclear proliferation, or does it possibly increase nuclear proliferation?
Jun 24, 2025•25 min
CSIS Middle East Program Director Mona Yacoubian joins the podcast to discuss Monday’s strike by Iran on Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American military installation in the Middle East and the broader strategic implications of the conflict.
Jun 23, 2025•15 min
In this cross over episode, Mariana and Andrew are joined by Gopi Kallayil, Google’s Chief Business Strategist for AI, to explore what he calls “the most profound technology ever created by human beings.” Gopi shares how AI’s evolution is reshaping industries while amplifying human cognition and creativity. They discuss the tightrope between AI’s promise and risks, including the need for new “checks and balances” and emerging defenses against malicious AI. Gopi offers a nuanced take on AI’s impa...
Jun 20, 2025•47 min
CSIS’s Norm Roule, a former senior U.S. intelligence officer for the Middle East joins the podcast to discuss how conflict with Iran might end, what regime change could look like, the wider implications for the United States and the region and more.
Jun 20, 2025•30 min
CSIS’s Eliot A. Cohen, former dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and former councilor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joins the podcast to discuss Israel’s strategic objectives, potential regime change in Iran and what Israel’s military operation indicates for the future of warfare.
Jun 18, 2025•24 min
"This is easily once of the biggest ballistic missile and ballistic missile defense engagements in history, and it is truly momentous in terms of the overall context and the overall posture that Israel is taking." Israel and Iran have been at war since June 13, with each country firing hundreds of ballistic missiles in just a few days. Iran's defense enterprise is severely weakened following Israel's huge initial attack, but Israel lacks the capability to completely destroy Iran's hardened nucle...
Jun 17, 2025•18 min
CSIS’ Seth Jones, Emily Harding and Ben Jensen join the podcast to discuss Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, leadership and other targets.
Jun 13, 2025•30 min
"The spectrum is a scarce national resource...it is absolutely a defense priority." Much of the spectrum has been auctioned off for commercial use, sparking a fierce debate on Capitol Hill: How can we balance spectrum use between commercial and national defense needs? While fast telecommunications is crucial to our economy, leaving spectrum space for military radar is also key for U.S. homeland security and intelligence. Tom Karako, director of the CSIS Missile Defense Project, joins the podcast...
Jun 09, 2025•13 min
“I do believe we’re in a strategic competition. I believe it’s fine to describe it that way analytically. But if it’s a competition that is purely strategic, what’s the goal? What’s the endpoint?” U.S. strategic competition with China is a cornerstone of our Indo-Pacific policy. However, this suggests that the U.S.-China relationship is always a zero-sum game when the reality is much more complicated. Dr. Tom Christensen, Columbia University professor, former State Department official, and new C...
Jun 03, 2025•27 min
“The stark reality is that the Russians really aren’t doing well on the battlefield, and their economy is also in pretty tough shape.” CSIS experts examined several indicators of Russia’s battlefield performance and found that it has been performing poorly since January 2024. Russia’s rate of advance on some fronts has been as slow as just 50 meters per day—the slowest rate since World War II. It has also only seized around 5,000 square kilometers, less than 1 percent of Ukrainian territory, ove...
May 29, 2025•18 min
“Back in 2015, about $12.8 billion, or about 7.6 percent of DOD’s modernization, went to missile defense of some kind. Today it’s up to $25.5 billion, and 8.2 percent of DOD’s modernization budget.” As hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles become increasingly more common on the battlefield, focusing on the full spectrum of missile threats is crucial, especially as the missile threat from China and Russia grows. Developing next-generation missile defense capabilities ...
May 15, 2025•21 min
“The Gulf is an absolutely critical player in critical minerals, because they’re all working on their goal of diversifying away from a reliance on oil…Each of these countries has adopted critical minerals as a central priority for their own economic development agenda, and that mirrors President Trump’s prioritization of minerals.” Minerals collaboration is already growing between the United States and Middle Eastern nations, including co-owned mining companies and high-level cooperation agreeme...
May 15, 2025•16 min
“The economic costs were beginning to become much more obvious—not just in terms of the market volatility, but potential shortages, inflation, the rare earths restrictions that the Chinese imposed. Those were going to bite soon.” On May 12, the White House announced a 90-day pause in the trade war between the United States and China and a significant reduction in tariffs following talks in Geneva. However, the impacts of the tariffs are already being felt by American consumers. Scott Kennedy, se...
May 14, 2025•27 min
“Modern war is almost a new missile age.” Missiles have played a crucial role in the Russia-Ukraine war, with Russia beginning to send mass missile salvos at command and control nodes, political centers, and even civilian targets. The CSIS Futures Lab has launched an innovative new project, the Russian Firepower Strike Tracker, that uses AI and data analysis to determine the success of these attacks and ways for Ukraine to fight back.CSIS’s Benjamin Jensen, director of the CSIS Futures Lab and s...
May 09, 2025•32 min
CSIS’s Charles Edel joins the podcast to discuss the Australian elections and what it means for the Trump administration and the United States.
May 07, 2025•21 min
CSIS’ Emily Harding joins the podcast to discuss observations from her recent visit to Ukraine including drone warfare, the state of the battlefield, U.S. and European support as well as the mining deal forged by President Trump and President Zelensky.
May 02, 2025•19 min
CSIS’s Phil Luck joins the podcast to discuss the U.S. national debt, why it matters and what the Trump administration and Congress can do to address it.
May 01, 2025•31 min
CSIS’s Ryan Berg joins the podcast to discuss the U.S. strategic interests in the Panama Canal, competition with China and potential outcomes.
Apr 29, 2025•19 min
"There's some real concern that if U.S. companies back away from selling in China, Chinese companies like Huawei could become dominant in this space and outsell us all over the world, which then hurts our competitiveness." China and the United States have quickly taken the lead in the global AI race, each acting as a hub for innovation in its own hemisphere. Which country comes out on top could be determined by how the White House shapes the future of U.S. AI policy. Josh Geltzer, former deputy ...
Apr 24, 2025•22 min
“This is not good for China’s economy, but they have staying power, and I don’t see them backing down.” While the pandemic years were tough on China’s economy, the country has recently recovered financially, recording a 5 percent growth rate last year. China is also becoming increasingly less dependent on exports to the United States and is diversifying investments in Southeast Asia, putting it in a good position to weather the storm of U.S. tariffs. Scott Kennedy, CSIS senior adviser and Truste...
Apr 17, 2025•19 min
"The President's 'Liberation Day' really shakes the foundation of the current system in the auto industry...if these tariffs stay on for any length of time, they could lead to a fundamental reordering of the U.S. market." The slate of tariffs recently announced by the White House will likely lead to rising costs for cars in the United States, especially for smaller and lower-priced vehicles. Some foreign auto makers are already pausing shipments to the United States, which also curtails choices ...
Apr 15, 2025•23 min
CSIS’s Gracelin Baskaran joins the podcast to discuss China’s halt of critical minerals to the United States. In addition to consumer products, the Pentagon and defense contractors are heavily reliant on magnets and rare earth minerals mined or processed in China. Baskaran discusses the impact of this decision and more.
Apr 15, 2025•20 min
“We are in the Golden Age of digital assets.” More Americans than ever are investing in cryptocurrencies and digital assets, keeping the United States dominant in blockchain technologies. However, given market volatility and the decentralized nature of these assets, some lack confidence in dollar-denominated payment stablecoins as a viable investment. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) joins the podcast to discuss the STABLE Act, a piece of legislation he introduced with Rep. French Hill (R-AR) to support ...
Apr 11, 2025•23 min
In this special crossover episode with CSIS podcast, The Trade Guys, Bill Reinsch and Scott Miller unpack the latest news about the impacts of the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs and how markets, trading partners, and consumers will respond.
Apr 08, 2025•31 min
Stagwell CEO and longtime pollster/strategist talks about his latest Harvard CAPS/Harris poll findings plus a discussion about the future of news.
Apr 07, 2025•23 min
CSIS’ Victor Cha joins the podcast to discuss South Korea’s “Quiet Crisis” of leadership and the vacuum in wake of President Yoon’s impeachment, plus, the impact of President Trump’s tariffs while the ROK seeks to elect its next leader over the next two months.
Apr 04, 2025•7 min
In this special crossover episode with CSIS podcast, The Trade Guys, Bill Reinsch and Andrew give their first takes on the April 2 tariff announcements from the White House.
Apr 03, 2025•24 min
