Foreign Podicy

With the implosion of FTX and the arrest of its founder, Washington finally woke up to the need for more effective regulation of cryptocurrency. Yet as government agencies and legislators take up the challenge of crypto regulation, the associated national security challenges need to be front and center, too. Relative anonymity or pseudonymity make crypto currency naturally attractive to those seeking to avoid government oversight and intervention — like criminals, terrorists, and the states that sponsor them. From cybercrime, terror finance, and sanctions busting to domestic extremism and drug and human trafficking, Washington needs a plan to tackle the unique challenges posed by crypto. To unpack everything, guest host and FDD Senior Advisor Rich Goldberg is joined by economic and national security experts Alex Levitov and Elaine Dezenski. Alex Levitov Alex is an associate managing director at K2 Integrity where he works with financial institutions, technology firms, and jurisdictional authorities to identif

General James C. McConville is the 40th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, filling a critical position for our nation once occupied by individuals such as General John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, and Omar Bradley. A West Point graduate, soldier, leader, and aviator, General McConville has commanded the famous 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and led in combat including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, as Army Chief of Staff, his job is to ensure our soldiers have the training and equipment they need to accomplish their missions and return home safely. In this position, he’s also a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, helping to advise some of our nation’s senior civilian leaders on vital national security decisions. General McConville sat down with Bradley Bowman — senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), filling in for host Cliff May — just days after the one-year anniversary of Putin’s unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin expected to conquer Ukraine in three days. But the brutal and bloody war he launched against his neighbor has dragged on for one year. The factors that gave rise to this war are still widely misunderstood. How or when it will end remains unclear, too. To unpack everything, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May — FDD's Founder and President and Chairman of its Russia Program — is joined by three FDD experts. RADM (ret) Mark Montgomery Mark Montgomery serves as senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, countering cyber threats that seek to diminish America’s national security. Mark also directs CSC 2.0, an FDD initiative that works to implement the recommendations of the congressionally mandated Cyberspace Solarium Commission, where he was executive director. Mark previously served as policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the leadership of Senator John McCain, coordinating policy efforts on national security strategy, capabilities and requirements, and cy

The Islamic Republic of Iran possesses the largest ballistic missile arsenal in the Middle East, and Tehran is working hard to increase its size and quality by pursuing improvements in precision, range, mobility, warhead design, and survivability. That’s one of the conclusions drawn by FDD Senior Fellow and Iran expert Behnam Ben Taleblu in his major new FDD Monograph, "Arsenal: Assessing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program." Leveraging an impressive array of English and Persian-language sources, Behnam has produced one of the most comprehensive publicly available assessments to date of Iranian ballistic missile program. In it, he warns that we should expect more missile attacks and transfers from Iran in the future. In his foreword for the monograph, Vice Admiral (Ret.) James D. Syring, Former Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, writes that Behnam’s “findings and recommendations will stimulate a productive policy discussion regarding the steps Washington must take to counter the

Mike Waltz is a warrior and a diplomat. In 2014, he wrote a fascinating book called “Warrior Diplomat: A Green Beret’s Battles from Washington to Afghanistan.” In 2015, he was a non-resident senior fellow at FDD. In 2018, he became the first Green Beret elected to Congress, taking the seat that had belonged to the now-Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. In the current session of Congress, Rep. Waltz serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Relations Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. These assignments suggest that he’s thinking harder than ever about national security and foreign policy at a critical and dangerous moment. He joins host Cliff May along with Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, to discuss. MORE: https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/2023/02/10/warrior-diplomat-on-the-hill/

The United States and Israel conducted the Juniper Oak 23 multi-domain military exercise in late January. The Pentagon calls it the “largest” and “most significant” bilateral U.S.-Israel exercise in history. This exercise comes as the Islamic Republic of Iran deepens its relationship with China and Russia, continues to export terrorism, inches toward a nuclear weapon, and expands the missile means to deliver a weapon of mass destruction to its target. So, what was this military exercise all about? What makes it unique? Why does it matter? What comes next? Filling in for Cliff May, senior director of FDD's Center on Military and Political Power Bradley Bowman asks Lieutenant General Gregory Guillot. Lt. Gen. Gregory Guillot is the Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command, which is the Pentagon’s regional combatant command responsible for the Middle East. CENTCOM was established a few years after the  revolution in Iran in 1979 and views deterring Iran as its number one command priority. Lieutenant General Greg

China, Russia, Iran, North Korea — not to mention the persistent threat from terrorist organizations. The United States confronts an extraordinary array of threats, with many of our adversaries working together more closely than ever. So, how should we respond? What kind of military do we need? And how can we ensure the United States continues to possess the most formidable air force in the world? To discuss these questions and more, guest host Bradley Bowman — senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP), filling in for host Cliff May — is joined by U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Michael A. Loh. He’s the Director of the Air National Guard where he is responsible for formulating, developing, and coordinating all policies, plans and programs affecting over 108,000 Air National Guard Airmen and civilians across 90 wings and 180 installations in 159 communities throughout the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. He has served our country for

During the Cold War, one of the few issues on which the United States and the Soviet Union agreed, was that other states should not have nuclear weapons. The likelihood that one of them would use those weapons – or transfer them to a regime or group that would was too great. This was called the principle of non-proliferation. It was regarded as an established norm of international behavior, expressed most explicitly in the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons -- better known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT. Is it still in force or relevant or even meaningful? What is being done to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons – as well as chemical and biological weapons – by regimes hostile to the United States and its allies? FDD has a new Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program attempting to answer such questions and provide policy options. Chairing the program is Ambassador Jackie Wolcott, former U.S. representative to the United Nations in Vienna and the U.S. representative to the I

Jonathan Conricus was born in Jerusalem but grew up in Sweden. His family returned to Israel when he was 13 years old. A few years later he joined the Israeli Defense Forces, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel and serving as the IDF’s international spokesman. He joins Foreign Podicy host and FDD founder and president Cliff May to discuss his life, career, what it was like dealing with the journalistic herd, and – now that he’s retired from the military – opine on some of the Middle East’s many conflicts and controversies. Also joining the conversation is Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s senior vice president for research at FDD whose most recent book, Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War, challenges – and corrects – some of the major media’s inaccurate reporting on that conflict.

Not that long ago, Venezuela was among the freest and richest nations in Latin America. But in 1999, Hugo Chavez became president and introduced his brand of socialism known as Chavism. Venezuela’s liberties and prosperity were quickly eroded. Chavez died in 2013. Under his successor, Nicolas Maduro, who had been his right-hand man, Venezuela has continued to decline. In 2019, the U.S. supported an alternative “interim government” headed by Juan Guaido. At one point, Guaido was recognized by dozens of countries as Venezuela’s legitimate president. But last month, members of Venezuela’s opposition parties voted to remove Guaido and dissolve the interim government. Elliott Abrams served on the staffs of Senators Scoop Jackson and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He was an assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration, senior director of the National Security Council for democracy, human rights, and international organizations in the George W. Bush administration, and – in the Trump administration – served a

The Muslim Brotherhood has been around for close to a century but most people – certainly most Americans and Europeans – know very little about it. Is it reformist and non-violent as its spokesmen and defenders claim? Or is it – as Cynthia Farahat argues in a new book – the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization? The book is titled: The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Industry of Death. Cynthia Farahat is an Egyptian-American writer, counterterrorism expert, and fellow at the Middle East Forum, whose president, Daniel Pipes, a distinguished scholar, wrote the forward to her book. She joins host Cliff May as well as FDD’s Reuel Marc Gerecht, formerly a Middle Eastern specialist at the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, to discuss.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic Muslim people who live in a Central Asian land usually called Xinjiang. They have been – and are being – brutally oppressed by China’s Communist rulers. There can be no debate about that. Nury Turkel was born in a detention center in Xinjiang. As a young adult, he made his way to America, where he became the first Uyghur to earn a law degree at an American university. Today, he is a prominent human rights attorney, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and he serves as chairman of USCIRF – the U.S. Commission on International Freedom – appointed by Nancy Pelosi. He has also written a memoir and call to action. Its title: No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs. He joins Cliff to discuss his life, his book, and what remains a dire situation in Xinjiang. 

Many Americans recognize the threat emanating from the People’s Republic of China. But some may assume that Beijing’s malign activities are relegated to the Indo-Pacific. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Beijing is increasingly active in Latin America — right here in our own hemisphere.  What are Beijing and other adversaries up to in this region? Why do these activities matter? How should we respond? U.S. Army General Laura Richardson is a leader, soldier, aviator, and combat veteran. She has commanded an assault helicopter battalion in Iraq, served as military aide to the Vice President, and led the Army component of U.S. Northern Command. Now, she is the Commander of U.S. Southern Command, the first woman to serve in that position. SOUTHCOM is one of the Pentagon’s six geographic commands and is responsible for U.S. contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. She joins guest host Bradley Bowman, Senior Director of FDD's C

FIFA’s World Cup of Soccer is a version of the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the Stanley Cup – all rolled into one very international extravaganza. This year, the games have been hip-deep in controversies that have nothing to do with athleticism. Declan Hill is an is an associate professor of investigations at the University of New Haven, and the head of its Sports Integrity Center. He is the author of The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime and The Insider’s Guide to Match-Fixing in Football. Jonathan Schanzer is FDD’s Senior Vice President for Research and an expert in all things Middle Eastern. They’ll be talking about the current World Cup, FIFA, and Qatar: the tiny, fabulously wealthy, and controversial country hosting it.

Israel is the world’s only Jewish-majority state and the only surviving and thriving Jewish community that remains in the Middle East. Despite that — or, maybe, because of that — Israel has many enemies.  You may think you know how this unique nation-state was born, but history, like science, is never settled.  Jeffrey Herf, a Distinguished University Professor of Modern European History at the University of Maryland, has cast a fresh and scholarly eye on Israel’s origins, and turned his research into a new book: “Israel’s Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945 – 1949.”   Today, he joins host Cliff May in FDD’s studio along with Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s senior vice president who reviewed Professor Herf’s book for the Jerusalem Post.

Richard Landes is an historian and author who specializes in medieval millennial thinking. His interests include media manipulation intended to defame, demonize, and de-legitimize the Jewish state. He joins host Cliff May to discuss his new book: "Can The Whole World Be Wrong? Lethal Journalism, Antisemitism, and Global Jihad.”

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Wagner Group? They’re Russian mercenaries. They claim they’re not taking orders from Vladimir Putin, but you should be skeptical. At this moment, the Wagner Group is fighting on Putin’s side in Ukraine — but not as effectively as many expected. Less well known is the Mozart Group, which consists mostly of special operations soldiers from 11 countries who are training, advising, assisting, and equipping Ukrainians as they attempt to defend their independence and freedom against an imperialist and colonialist tyrant who also, by the way, regards America as his enemy. The Mozart Group is led by retired United States Marine Corps Colonel Andrew Milburn. In his last assignment, Col. Milburn served as the Deputy Commander of Special Operations Command Central, the headquarters responsible for all U.S. special operations in the Middle East. He and Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, join host Cliff May to discuss Russia

Refusing to be silenced, even by brutal crackdowns, the freedom-seeking people of Iran have now surpassed six weeks of nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman murdered by the so-called "morality" police. Filling in for host Cliff May, FDD Senior Fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht is joined by Mariam Memarsadeghi — founder of Tavaana and the Cyrus Forum — to discuss why this round of protests is different and how "what we're watching this time around is a revolution."

Americans must be prepared to defend themselves from hostile armies, navies, air forces – and, not least, soldiers in cyberspace. With that in mind, in 2019, Congress created the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, the CSC. Its mission: “to develop a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace against cyber-attacks of significant consequences.” The CSC operated successfully for two and a half years, publishing its flagship report in March 2020. It issued more than 80 recommendations to reform U.S. government structures and organization, promote national resilience, operationalize public-private collaboration, and preserve and employ military instruments of national power. Many of those recommendations have been implemented — but not all. At the CSC’s planned sunset, the commissioners launched "CSC 2.0" to support the implementation of outstanding recommendations, provide annual assessments of progress, and conduct further research and analysis on cybersecurity issues. It’s a critical project b

North Korea is again launching missiles, Iran continues inching towards a nuclear weapons capability, Russia is escalating its aggression in Ukraine, and China is sprinting to field a military capable of invading Taiwan and defeating any effort by Washington to intervene. Considering these extraordinary threats, what kind of Air Force does the United States have — and what kind of Air Force does it need? Which aircraft should be retired, and which should be fielded without delay? The Air Force oversees two legs of the U.S. nuclear deterrent triad. So, with Russia and North Korea rattling their nuclear sabers, what about bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles? Would the Air Force also have a role in sinking ships in a contingency in the Taiwan Strait? What does the war in Ukraine tell us about the importance of Air Force capabilities? To get answers, FDD's Bradley Bowman — filling in for host Cliff May — asks Lieutenant General Richard G. Moore of the U.S. Air Force. Lieutenant General Richard G. Moor