Notre Dame International Security Center

Šumit Ganguly is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science and holds the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is a specialist on the international and comparative politics of South Asia. His most recent book (edited with M. Chris Mason) is The Future of US-India Security Cooperation (Manchester University Press, 2021).

In 2014 Lt. Gen. Daniel Bolger published his book Why We Lost: A General’s Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghan Wars. Seven years before the fall of Kabul, he had already foreseen the chaotic end of that campaign in the Global War on Terrorism. Bolger says there is much blame to go around but focuses his fire on his profession and colleagues: the senior leadership of the U.S. military. In this ep...

Bear F. Braumoeller is Professor in the Department of Political Science at The Ohio State University and the holder of the Baronov and Timashev Chair in Data Analytics. He conducts research in the areas of international relations, political methodology, and complexity and human behavior. He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago and his Ph. D. from the University of Michigan, and he held...

The episode considers the future of counterterrorism in the context of a Taliban controlled Afghanistan. Beginning with a discussion of how the Taliban was able to regain control so swiftly, the podcast draws on the counterterrorism knowledge and expertise of the FBI’s Former Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Mike McGarrity to explore how the landscapes of counterterrorism and counterintelli...

Jayita Sarkar is an Assistant Professor at Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies, where she teaches diplomatic and political history. Her research has been published in the Journal of Cold War Studies, Cold War History, International History Review, Journal of Strategic Studies, Nonproliferation Review, and elsewhere. Her first book, Ploughshares & Swords: India's Nuclear Program in th...

In this episode of ‘Students Talk Security’, undergraduate fellow, Callie Whelan, speaks with Pamela Fierst-Walsh, the Senior Advisor on Conflict Minerals and U.S. Representative to the Kimberley Process at the U.S. Department of State. Callie and Pamela dig into critical mineral supply chains, their relationships with electric vehicle production, and what it means for the United States.

An Interview with U.S. Army Civil Affairs Captain Ben Ordiway by Cullen Geahigan where they discuss the purpose and function of Army Civil Affairs operations as well as the value of Civil Affairs missions as part of the Army's guiding mission. Additionally, we covered the future role Civil Affairs will play in great power competition.

Recorded: Aug 31, 2021 Host: Dan Lindley Speaker: Fred Kaplan

The Fall of Afghanistan: What Does it Mean for America and the World? A virtual flash panel discussion on the fall of Afghanistan featuring Michael Desch, Mary Ellen O'Connell, Dina Smeltz, and Eugene Gholz. Recorded: August 24, 2021

Summary: In this episode, Mike and Jim interview Andrew Bacevich, author After the Apocalypse: America's Role in a World Transformed. In this latest book, Bacevich, a retired U.S. Army officer, former professor at Boston University, and President of the new Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, laments that America has failed both domestically and internationally since the end of the Cold W...

Summary: In this episode of Outside the Box, Mike and Jim are joined by Doug Bandow of the CATO Institute to discuss national service. We are once again hearing calls to institute some form of national service; whether in the military through conscription or via some form of mandatory civilian service along the lines of AmeriCorps. Proponents of some form of national service could bolster citizen...

Recorded: May 4, 2021 Host: Joseph Parent Speaker: Jeffrey Taliaferro

An Interview with Associate Professor Karrie J. Koesel by Andrew DelVecchio Summary: In this episode of Students Talk Security, Professor Karrie Koesel discusses the role that Russian domestic politics play in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Professor Koesel uses her experience with contemporary Russian politics to explain how President Putin is constrained and catalyzed by popular opinion an...

An interview with Former U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly by Liam Karr Summary: In this podcast, I discuss America's role in the regional conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Trump and Biden Administrations have taken drastically different approaches to both our ally and our adversary, and we'll break down the different outcomes this could cause. We discuss Saudi Arabia's unique leadership situati...

An Interview with Former U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly by Carson Whitesell Summary: In this episode of “Students Talk Security,” former United States Senator Joe Donnelly discusses the domestic terrorism in the United States with an emphasis on recent events like the storming of the Capitol on January 6th. Donnelly brings a special perspective to the problem because of his time in the Senate, which gi...

Recorded: April 6, 2021 Host: Joseph Parent Speaker: Steven Pincus

Title: A New Faustian Bargain? Understanding the Lessons of the Soviet-German Cooperation An Interview with Professor Ian Johnson by Charles Sedore Summary: In this episode of Students Talk Security, Charles Sedore, a Notre Dame senior, and Professor Ian John, Assistant Professor of Military History, discuss the history surrounding the German-Soviet Cooperation that occurred during the interwar pe...

Recorded: March 23, 2021 Host: Joseph Parent Speaker: Mariya Grinberg

Summary: On this episode of “Outside the Box,” Jim and Mike speak with Dr. William Ruger, Vice President for Policy at the Charles Koch Foundation, Iraq War Veteran, President Trump’s nominee as ambassador to Afghanistan, and author of a widely discussed New York Times Op/Ed piece urging the Biden Administration to hold to the May 1, 2021 deadline in the United States’ agreement with the Taliban t...

Title: Geopolitics: The Competing Maritime and Continental World Orders of China, Russia, and the United States Recorded: March 16, 2021 Host: Joseph Parent Speaker: Sarah Paine

Full Title: Large-N Qualitative Analysis (LNQA): Everything You Wanted to Know about Doing a Cornell-Princeton Book, Part I Speaker: Gary Goertz and Stephan Haggard Host: Joseph Parent Recorded: February 23, 2020

Title: Anticipate, Prevent, Respond: Conflict Stabilization and U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa Hosted by Katherine McLaughlin Summary: With 54 voting UN members, economies ripe for investment and development, and the emergence of foreign influence in the continent, Africa’s future is of strategic importance to U.S. foreign policy. In this episode of “Students Talk Security,” Kate McLaughlin sits do...

Summary: Sanctions expert and Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies George A. Lopez draws on his extensive research and experience in sanctions design and peace building to explain the advantages and drawbacks of targeted economic sanctions as a diplomatic tool, particularly in how they enable the US to intervene in nuclear threats, corrupt regimes, and human rights abuses. Biography: George A. Lope...

Title: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy: The Importance of Law and Humanitarian Values on the Battlefield An Interview with Colonel Ian Brasure by Evan Muller Summary: In this episode of ‘Students Talk Security’, Evan Muller will discuss Col. Brasure's career, the importance of international law, his involvement in humanitarian operations, and current and future events in military justice. Bio: Ia...

Summary: On our second episode of Outside the Box, Mike and Jim discuss U.S.-Israel relations after the Trump Administration. Under the 45th President, the United States moved closer to the positions of the Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud government than any previous Administration, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,...