Counterbalance

What do classical authors have to teach us about the global brawl that is international affairs? Catholic University professor, Jakub Grygiel, joins hosts Mike Doran and Peter Rough to provide the historical context behind the show's new exploration into "real-realism."

After internal dialogues revealed that the team was feeling a bit "strategically rudderless," hosts Mike Doran and Peter Rough sit together to launch a new thesis for Counterbalance. Together they explain what's wrong with foreign policy "experts" today and why an interest-based foreign policy is needed over the dominant, but flawed, values-based outlook of today's elites. They're calling this new...

Hudson Senior Fellow Jonathan Ward joins co-host Peter Rough to discuss his new book The Decisive Decade: American Grand Strategy for Triumph Over China . In his book, and during the episode, Ward lays out how the US gave up many of its economic advantages while allowing China's rise. Thankfully, according to Ward, it's not too late to reverse course, but America has to start by winning one decade...

Is Ukraine losing? Can it still win? Where does international support stand now, and where will it be going forward? Host Peter Rough addresses these questions and more having just returned from an overseas study trip to Moldova and Ukraine. Mike Doran joins him to discover what Peter saw, heard, and learned from his travels.

On this special edition of Counterbalance, co-hosts Mike and Peter are joined by Israeli intellectual Gadi Taub. Mike and Gadi recently started the Israel Update Podcast with Tablet magazine. This week on Counterbalance, the trio discuss the Biden administration’s attitude towards the war in Gaza, including the president calling Israel’s response in Gaza “over the top.” They also float the possibi...

This week, host Michael Doran is joined by co-host Peter Rough, senior fellow and director of the Center for Europe and Eurasia at Hudson Institute. Peter offers an overview of his recent visit to Taiwan and discusses with Mike his thoughts on Beijing's increasing economic and military pressure on Taipei. The duo also talks about the current state of Taiwanese domestic politics and how it affects...

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel was a clear intelligence failure, but for whom and in what ways? Counterbalance co-hosts Mike Doran and Peter Rough are joined by Hudson colleague Ezra Cohen, who, fresh off a trip to Israel, provides his view on what led to the failure of intelligence we now know as October 7. A former Pentagon official, Ezra also outlines how each US administration sets intelli...

This week, host Peter Rough is joined by co-host Michael Doran, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at the Hudson Institute. They recap Mike's recent trip to Israel, and why he thinks the war that sparked by the October 7th atrocities is actually a war for the future of Western civilization. Additionally, they discuss his observations on Israel's curr...

This week, co-hosts Mike Doran and Peter Rough are joined by Allison Hooker, seasoned Asia hand with extensive experience working on issues relating to the Korean Peninsula and the broader Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan. The trio discuss key developments to watch out for in the year to come, beginning with Taiwan’s presidential election that gave the ruling DPP a historic third straight term.

Peter Rough talks this week with Ken Weinstein, Hudson’s Japan Chair and former president and CEO of Hudson. Peter and Ken talk about Hudson’s founding and the instrumental role Herman Kahn, Max Singer, and Wally Stern played in making it what it is today. The two also delve into the role Shinzo Abe played in transforming Japan’s foreign and security policy.

For decades after its accession to the WTO, China got rich, and the average Chinese citizen became accustomed to a certain rise in living standards. Now, with Xi Jinping undermining the most innovative parts of China’s private economy and further centralizing power, China’s economy is stalling.  Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Thomas Duesterberg joins host Peter Rough to discuss his new report on C...

Host Mike Doran is joined this week by Izabella Tabarovsky, the Kennan Institute senior advisor on regional partnerships and programming at the Wilson Center. They explore the origins of anti-Zionism by examining the evolution of Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda and its effects on Israel and the Middle East. How did Soviet anti-Zionist propaganda target American institutions? How did it infiltrate p...

Veteran reporter Matt Karnitschnig, POLITICO’s Chief Europe Correspondent, joins the podcast to discuss the differences and similarities between European and America media. Matt, Peter, and Mike also delve into Germany’s approach to foreign affairs and view of the world, with special attention on Berlin’s approach to relations Russia and Iran.

This week, Peter and Mike are joined by one of Washington’s foremost experts on US policy and strategy towards Ukraine, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Luke Coffey. The trio take a wider view of this year’s Ukrainian counteroffensive, discuss the Biden administration’s fears of escalation, and talk about how to enable Kyiv to prevail on the battlefield. (And for the first time, a video recording of...

Anti-Semitic incidents in the West have significantly increased since the October 7 massacre in southern Israel by Hamas. Daniel Schwammenthal, director of the AJC Transatlantic Institute, joins co-hosts Peter and Mike this week to discuss the root causes of antisemitism and its manifestations in both Europe and the US.

Why hasn’t China named or condemned Hamas? What role does China see for itself in a potential broader Middle East conflict? What is Beijing’s preferred outcome in Ukraine? This week, Director of Hudson Institute’s China Center Miles Yu joins co-host Peter Rough to discuss Beijing’s view of the war in Gaza and how the CCP envisions China’s role in Europe and the Middle East during these times of in...

Ken Pollack, Senior Fellow at AEI, joins host Michael Doran to reflect on the mistakes made and lessons learned from October 7th and what is holding Israel back from its operations in Gaza. Additionally, Pollack discusses why Hezbollah and Iran may, or may not, open another front in the war against Israel.

Peter Rough and Mike Doran are joined by their Hudson Institute colleague Jonathan Schachter, a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The trio discuss Israel at war, with an emphasis on relations between the the Biden administration and Israel. What were President Joe Biden's goals in his visit to Jerusalem? Why did the United States let United Nations sanctions on Iran’s mi...

Jan Havránek, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, DC, joins the show to discuss the U.S. and NATO postures in Europe, as well as Russia's aims in Ukraine and the larger Eastern European front.

Hosts Peter Rough and Mike Doran are joined by Presidential candidate Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota. Gov. Burgum delivered a key foreign policy speech at Hudson on Wednesday, but joined the show beforehand to discuss a everything from energy security to the southern border to the ongoing war against Israel.

This week, Mario Mancuso, former undersecretary of commerce for industry and security and Hudson Institute visiting senior fellow, joins host Peter Rough for a wide-ranging discussion of economic statecraft and its role in U.S. national security and strategy.

The Biden administration's backroom deals with Iran have made headlines recently, with prisoner swaps and $6 billion payments. This week, Mike Doran hosts Tony Badran, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Badran argues that the administration's Lebanon policy sheds light on Biden's shady Iran deals, showing them to part of a broader "backdoor" policy designed to subordinat...

On this episode, Peter is joined by Wess Mitchell, co-founder and principal of the Marathon Initiative who previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Europe from 2017-2019. Peter and Wess talk about the challenge of China, the dilemma of multipolarity for U.S. strategists, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the fundamentals of U.S. foreign policy.

With the recent military coup in Gabon, the continent of Africa has seen nine governments overthrown by coups in three years. Hosts Mike Doran and Peter Rough talk with Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Josh Meservey to investigate what's behind the trend. They also weigh the shifting international influence from Western powers to a new international oppositional bloc led by Russia and China. 

Host Peter Rough is joined by US Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa to talk about the timely Iowa State Fair, her work on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and the state of national security policy as we head into election season.