Why Should We Care About Airpower in the Indo-Pacific? Jim and Ray welcome General Kevin Schneider, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), to explain why airpower matters for deterring and defeating aggression in a massive region largely dominated by oceans. General Schneider explains what lessons PACAF has learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and how concepts like “agile combat employment” and “adaptive basing” are crucial to making sure air forces are not easily targeted by Chi...
Mar 03, 2025•48 min•Ep. 61
Jim and Ray welcome U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney , who represents Connecticut’s 2nd District, home to the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton. Rep. Courtney addresses concerns raised by some of our previous guests–most notably former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull –about whether U.S. Virginia-class submarine construction can support Australia’s requirements under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) agreement. Representative Courtney emphasizes that even in America’s polari...
Feb 28, 2025•57 min•Ep. 60
Ray and Jim welcome Sue-Lin Wong, investigative journalist from The Economist , to talk about her new podcast series, “ Scam, Inc. ” Sue-Lin explains the vast multi-billion criminal network behind the mysterious e-mails, text messages and social media offers that we see every day. She takes us on a harrowing journey from huge scam compounds in Southeast Asia populated by ruthless criminal groups and illegally trafficked people working under often horrific conditions. From Asia she returns to the...
Feb 25, 2025•48 min•Ep. 59
Jim and Ray welcome Critical Minerals Institute Co-chair Melissa Sanderson to explain why allowing China to dominate the critical minerals and rare earths industries creates vulnerabilities for the United States and its allies. Mel explains how China has come to control the supply chain for materials fundamental to national defense, technological development and economic security, and why it has thrived while other countries have languished in this sector. Mel explains the steps the United State...
Feb 21, 2025•49 min•Ep. 58
Jim and Ray welcome Thailand’s renowned scholar and journalist Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak to help them understand why the past quarter century has seen Thailand’s politics in a state of near-constant turmoil, and what the prospects are for the years ahead. Dr. Thitinan explains how the conservative forces of Thailand’s monarchy, judiciary and military have used their institutional power to sideline repeated electoral victories by populist and reformist groups. He discusses how the one-time outsid...
Feb 14, 2025•48 min•Ep. 57
"It's my belief that the incoming administration has chosen USAID...to curb-stomp it to death as a way to send a message to the rest of the federal bureaucracy." -- Michael Schiffer As Washington DC is in turmoil over the drastic changes to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Jim and Ray welcome its former Asia Bureau Assistant Administrator Michael Schiffer to explain what exactly USAID does and the potential impacts of these changes. Michael argues that USAID is not just a c...
Feb 10, 2025•54 min•Ep. 56
Ray and Jim welcome Justin Bassi, former Australian National Security Advisor and current Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Justin explains what the “Quad” grouping between the U.S., Australia, Japan and India means for Indo-Pacific security, stability and prosperity–on issues from supply chain resiliency, cyber security and maritime security. Justin makes the case that given the threat from China, the Quad needs to mature so as to overtly include security as a key co...
Feb 07, 2025•56 min•Ep. 55
Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan–author of three recent books on the future of warfare–joins our hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso to discuss how autonomous weapons (drones) are challenging our military assumptions, and their implications for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. Mick draws lessons from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and asserts that drones don’t necessarily mean the obsolescence of current inventories of manned weapon systems, but will require significant cultural and org...
Jan 31, 2025•46 min•Ep. 54
RAND’s senior behavioral scientist Todd Helmus joins Jim Carouso and Ray Powell to explain how China exploits the maritime “gray zone” to pursue its aggressive and expansionist policies without triggering open conflict. They examine how China’s competitors have seen their sovereignty eroded and their influence wane by remaining passive in the face of gray-zone aggression. They discuss the crucial role of assertive transparency and affirmative engagement in illuminating these activities in order ...
Jan 24, 2025•49 min•Ep. 53
Ray and Jim welcome back one of their most popular guests, retired Rear Admiral Mike Studeman, to discuss his recent assertion that Beijing’s malign influence operations–which extend from hacking computer networks to undermining faith in institutions to altering the media landscape–have reached the point of constituting a ‘silent invasion’ of the U.S. homeland. Mike discusses his documented concerns about the extraordinary case of Elon Musk, America’s most important industrialist whose core busi...
Jan 22, 2025•53 min•Ep. 52
Ray and Jim welcome Colonel Rich Butler and Dr. Sheena Greitens to help us understand the readiness of China’s military for combat operations, and what that means for global security. They explain the contingencies the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is preparing for, from a cross-strait invasion of Taiwan to a South China Sea confrontation, and what lessons the PLA has learned from Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. Colonel Butler and Dr. Greitens also discuss how China uses the PLA and non-traditi...
Jan 18, 2025•57 min•Ep. 51
Ray and Jim welcome Colonel Rich Butler and Dr. Sheena Greitens to help us understand the readiness of China’s military for combat operations, and what that means for global security. They explain the contingencies the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is preparing for, from a cross-strait invasion of Taiwan to a South China Sea confrontation, and what lessons the PLA has learned from Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. Colonel Butler and Dr. Greitens also discuss how China uses the PLA and non-traditi...
Jan 18, 2025•57 min
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randy Schriver joins Jim and Ray to discuss how the security policies pursued by Donald Trump’s second administration are likely to affect the U.S., its allies and the broader region. Randy explains that while the first Trump administration may have featured certain splashy events and surprising rhetoric, real progress on policy was more evolutionary than revolutionary. For example, America’s Indo-Pacific alliances were...
Jan 11, 2025•57 min•Ep. 50
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel joins Jim and Ray for 2025's inaugural episode, in which he discusses why the alliance between the U.S. and Japan is critical to the security of both nations and of a vital but volatile region. In his characteristically forthright style, he explains how the Japan alliance strengthens America's strategic position, especially as it has been increasing its investments in its own defense. Multilateral cooperation among allies--an alliance "latticework--is, he sa...
Jan 03, 2025•52 min•Ep. 49
In this special year-end edition of the podcast, co-hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso reflect on most significant developments in the Indo-Pacific region throughout 2024 including the economic challenges faced by China amidst the consolidation of power by President Xi Jinping, and how concern over its increasing military power and aggression is strengthening the U.S. network of alliances. They also discuss the prospects for a grand U.S.-China deal in the upcoming Trump administration. They talk a...
Dec 30, 2024•44 min•Ep. 48
Ray and Jim welcome Isaac Stone Fish to discuss why he believes companies that want to do business with China are being compelled to make hard choices due to the increasingly fraught relationship with the U.S. and the West. Isaac explains how the ongoing economic decoupling with China has been driven in large part by Beijing’s own policies, and that this process has been accelerated since the COVID-19 outbreak. He asserts that U.S. political and business elites, in their enthusiasm for what Chin...
Dec 28, 2024•50 min•Ep. 47
Jim and Ray welcome McKinsey & Company’s Global Director of Geopolitics Ziad Haider to discuss how businesses are navigating the evolving risks and opportunities of today’s Indo-Pacific business environment. Ziad asserts that the region is the engine of the global economy which is both economically vibrant but also highly volatile. Ziad discusses the role of India and Southeast Asia as rising global economic power, and of course, the increasingly complex challenge of operating in China amids...
Dec 20, 2024•40 min•Ep. 46
Jim and Ray welcome BowerGroupAsia’s Managing Director for Indonesia Doug Ramage to look at the country’s economic and geopolitical position as it moves on from a decade under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to new President Prabowo Subianto. They consider Indonesia’s position as a rising power with a $1 trillion economy, a G20 membership and leadership position within the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) nations. Doug credits the Jokowi presidency for championing a stable political and inv...
Dec 13, 2024•53 min•Ep. 45
Jim and Ray welcome Suzanne Vares-Lum, retired U.S. Army Major General, outgoing President of the East-West Center and Director-designate of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. Together they explore the geopolitical significance of the geographically vast but sparsely populated Pacific Islands region. They discuss how these small island nations have found themselves in the midst of the great-power competition between the U.S. and China, while many have also become unlikely players in t...
Dec 06, 2024•50 min•Ep. 44
In this "emergency" episode, Ray and Jim welcome retired South Korean Lieutenant General Chun In-Bum back to help explain the extraordinary events of December 3rd–President Yoon Suk Yul’s shocking declaration of martial law, its unanimous rejection by the parliament, and its subsequent repeal by Yoon. General Chun talks about the ethical and legal dilemma faced by South Korean military personnel, crediting their professionalism and restraint for averting violence. He also discusses South Korea’s...
Dec 04, 2024•24 min•Ep. 43
Ray and Jim welcome Victor Chin, the official representative of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party, to discuss Taiwan’s political landscape. They discuss how the KMT evolved from the flight with Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan at end of the Chinese Civil War; through decades of unchallenged KMT rule over the island; its transition to a multiparty democracy; through to today as its primary opposition party to the ascendant Democratic People’s Party (DPP). They turn to Taiwan’s strategic geograp...
Nov 30, 2024•56 min•Ep. 42
Ray and Jim welcome AEI senior fellow Zack Cooper to the podcast to discuss China's increasingly aggressive behavior, and what the U.S. and its allies need to do in response. They focus on the question of how deterrence strategies need to evolve and adapt to the threats, whether they be nuclear, conventional military, or across the spectrum of malign gray-zone activities. They discuss the specific need to deter a military move against Taiwan. The discussion turns to the topic of extended nuclear...
Nov 22, 2024•54 min•Ep. 41
Ray and Jim explore the implications of a Trump 2.0 administration for the Philippines with prominent Filipino columnist, podcaster and author of the 2020 book, The Indo-Pacific: Trump, China, and the New Struggle for Global Mastery . Richard Heydarian discusses the historical context of US-Philippines relations, the fluidity of ASEAN perspectives on China, and the importance of strategic autonomy for Southeast Asian nations. The dialogue compares the policies of U.S. administrations through rec...
Nov 20, 2024•59 min•Ep. 40
Ray and Jim talk to author and geopolitical analyst James Crabtree about India’s policy of strategic ambiguity, its evolving but complicated relationship to the other “Quad” countries (the U.S., Australia and Japan), and its enigmatic relations with Russia and China. They also review India's ongoing military modernization efforts, as well as the challenges of doing business in India with its complex web of protectionism, regulations and infrastructure issues. Crabtree unpacks the rhetoric of Ind...
Nov 15, 2024•50 min•Ep. 39
Jim and Ray welcome former Ambassador to Singapore Frank Lavin--now the Founder and CEO of Export Now, a firm that helps companies do business in China. Frank explains why he believes economic decoupling from China is unwise, and why he believes that China's 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization was not a mistake but instead forced Beijing to make important reforms that benefited U.S. businesses. Our guest emphasizes the importance of balancing geopolitical considerations with business ...
Nov 08, 2024•48 min•Ep. 38
Ray and Jim welcome Chinese espionage expert Matt Brazil to discuss the unprecedented scale of Chinese intelligence operations, emphasizing the role of the Ministry of State Security (MSS). He highlights the implications of China's sophisticated program of both domestic and transnational spying and repression of dissent; the involvement of some Chinese academics and students in espionage activities; and the growing threat of cyber hacking as a tool for state-sponsored intelligence. Matt also exp...
Nov 01, 2024•49 min•Ep. 37
Ray and Jim welcome Stanford University fellow and author Oriana Skylar Mastro to discuss her recent book, "Upstart: How China Became a Great Power". Oriana emphasizes that outsiders often misunderstand the sources of China's strength. She says that while Beijing sometimes emulates Western strategies, it also frequently exploits their weaknesses--for example, engaging strongly with certain developing countries that the U.S. largely ignores. She further asserts that China engages in entrepreneuri...
Oct 29, 2024•47 min•Ep. 36
Jim and Ray welcome Charlie Edel, Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about the significance of AUKUS--a trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US--focusing on its implications for defense and technology collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region. Their discussion covers the origins of AUKUS, its strategic importance, the controversies around "Pillar One" (nuclear submarine production), and the challenges and potential for expanding partnershi...
Oct 25, 2024•53 min•Ep. 35
Ray and Jim welcome retired Lieutenant General Chun In-bum of the South Korean Army to discuss North Korea's increasing role in supplying arms to the Russian war machine. General Chun highlights the long history of North Korea’s illicit arms industry, and how its ambitions pose not just regional but global challenges. General Chun emphasizes the need for a nuanced understanding of North Korea's changing military ambitions in the context of its ever-shifting relationships with China and Russia. H...
Oct 18, 2024•44 min•Ep. 34
Union College Professor Mark Dallas--also a senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce--joins Jim and Ray to delve into how the recently accelerating movement of global supply chains away from China is affecting consumers, employment and national security, both in the U.S. and around the world. Professor Dallas explains the importance and complexity of global supply chains, and explores how COVID-19 brought their vulnerabilities into the public awareness. He unpacks how 'friend-shoring' h...
Oct 12, 2024•53 min•Ep. 33
