You would not know if from the onslaught of nuclear weapons threats from Russian TV propagandists and political figures, but there is a 1973 Treaty between the USSR and the United States -- still in effect with Russia -- under which both sides agree to refrain from the use of nuclear weapons threats. I spoke with Tom Countryman, Board Chair of the Arms Control Association, about how to understand and confront Russia's barrage of threats. Tom knows of what he speaks. ...
Jul 15, 2023
33 min
Romania plays an often under-appreciated role as a bulwark for NATO on its eastern flank. I spoke with Black Sea security expert and George Washington University Professor Iulia Joja on June 14 about Romania's security challenges amid Russia's war on neighboring Ukraine. Among the topics covered were: traditional Romanian attitudes toward Russia; issues in Romanian-Ukrainian bilateral relations; the changing NATO and US military presence in Romania; the threat to Moldova from Russ...
Jun 15, 2023
1 hr 8 min
President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has declared an unprecedented and controversial war on the country's gangs. Under a "State of Exception" in effect since March 2022, over 60,000 suspected gang members have been arrested. Some human rights groups warn that the round up is coming at the expense of proper due process. Bukele's supporters note a dramatic drop in the murder rate and the return of the rule of law on the streets. Bukele's approval rating is over 80 perc...
Apr 25, 2023
40 min
How is Russia's information war against Ukraine going? What are the main propaganda and disinformation narratives Russia is pushing -- and are they working? What is happening in cyber space? We explore these and other topics with Gavin Wilde, Senior Fellow in the Technology and International Affairs program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Gavin is a noted Russia expert with broad experience in and out of government, including as a Director for Rus...
Mar 20, 2023
52 min
We review what Russia's war on Ukraine has meant for Central Europe with Matt Boyse, who served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for coordinating policy toward Central Europe from 2018-2021. Poland has emerged as a clear leader in the wake of the invasion, but we examine how the rest of the region, with the exception of Hungary, has risen to the challenge as well. Putin's aggression has vindicated the warnings Poland and others in Central Europe have been m...
Feb 27, 2023
40 min
The Nordstream 2 natural gas pipeline -- Putin's project to make Germany energy dependent on Russia, divide the Euro-Atlantic Community, bypass Ukraine, and make Europe subject to energy blackmail -- went from zero percent completed to 95 percent completed during the Trump Administration. This took place despite bipartisan legislation from Congress in 2017 that called for the US to sanction Russia's energy export pipelines. It happened despite urgent pleas from Ukraine, Pola...
Feb 7, 2023
23 min
I spoke with Mike Purcell who had decades of experience as a Russia watcher for the U.S. Marines. Mike, now retired and teaching at GW University, brings unique operational, strategic and area expertise to the analysis of Russian military performance. He led a combined armed force of 800 marines and 200 vehicles during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was later a Foreign Area Officer in Russia and a Liaison at the UN Observer Mission in Tbilisi, Georgia. Mike was al...
Nov 8, 2022
53 min
Russian and Soviet history make it clear that defeat in war can result in the overthrow of the leader and that -- in the Soviet period especially -- the inner circle has repeatedly taken action against a leader seen to have failed. Autocrats rule through the appearance of strength. Putin is weakened and getting desperate. Yet he continues to hold on to his imperial fantasies. There is no hope for any real peace while Putin remains in the Kremlin. ...
Oct 25, 2022
18 min
I spoke with my former State Department colleague Ben Schmitt on August 12 about energy sanctions against Russia. We reviewed how Germany had willfully made itself more dependent on Russian energy through a misguided policy of "change through trade." We discussed the outlook for Europe's efforts to rapidly wean itself off Russian oil and gas. While in the near term, Russia is finding alternative markets for its oil in China and India, medium and longer term trends r...
Aug 15, 2022
1 hr 11 min
I spoke with Mykola Vorobiov, journalist and political-military analyst based in Kyiv. Mykola has devoted the past eight years to analyzing and writing about Russia's war on Ukraine, including covering the front in Donbas. Mykola evaluates prospects for Ukraine's much anticipated counter-offensive in the key Kherson region in the South. He examines the composition and morale of Russian forces. He also reviews the political and economic affects of the war on Ukraine - ...
Jul 30, 2022
45 min
Load more