Small World, Big Problems

Sanjana Polapragada sits down with President Jakov Milatović of Montenegro, NATO’s youngest head of state, for a timely conversation on how Montenegro, as a small state, can exercise influence at a decisive moment for its EU ambitions, economic future, and role in a world shaped by geopolitical tensions and shifting alliances. From Montenegro’s push toward EU accession to its new economic growth m...

Riley Bryant sits down with Dr. Deborah Wituski, a 20-year veteran of the CIA and an early contributor to the emerging field of private sector intelligence services. In an increasingly globalized economy, what happens when profit motives intersect with national security imperatives? How can traditional intelligence agencies adapt to incorporate these new perspectives coming out of the private sect...

Krithiga Narayanan hosts a conversation with Michael Coppedge, co-founder and principal investigator of the Varieties of Democracy Project (V-Dem), one of the world’s leading efforts to measure and analyze democratic change. Drawing on V-Dem’s latest global data, Coppedge examines how shifts within democratic systems are reshaping the international order and altering global power dynamics. The dis...

This episode was recorded on Jan 21, 2026. Wasay Mir hosts a conversation with Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute and one of the most influential voices on US-Iran relations in Washington. A Johns Hopkins SAIS PhD and author of four books on American foreign policy in the Middle East, Parsi unpacks Iran's unfolding domestic crisis in January 2026. Seven months after deva...

Sanjana Polapragada hosts a two-speaker conversation with Robert Miller, a seasoned “startup statesman” who has advised companies such as CrowdAI (now acquired by Saab) and Hawkeye 360 (now valued at over a billion dollars), and Emma Bates, CEO and founder of Cachai, a dual-use tech company (for both civilian and military purposes) focused on collaborative autonomy and drone innovation in the nati...

Leila Olukoga talks with Ambassador Juan Jose Gomez Camacho of Mexico. Ambassador Gomez Camacho has represented his country as ambassador to eight countries and led international negotiating efforts on a wide range of issues – ranging from politics, economics, and trade to security, disarmament, humanitarian issues, and a host of other subjects. Researched and hosted by Leila Olukoga; edited by Vi...

Connor Hall talks with US Air Force Brigadier General Geoffrey Weiss on the evolution of modern airpower theory, the role airpower has played in recent conflicts, and the future of manned aircraft in an environment increasingly dominated by attritable unmanned systems. General Weiss is currently serving as the Director of Regional Affairs in the office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Interna...

Erik Schuh talks with Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro about how China became a great power, discussing her recent book on the topic. They dive into China's rise compared to historical global powers and where the U.S.-China relationship stands today. Dr. Mastro is a Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Courtesy Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford Uni...

Luke Litle talks with Dr. Ursula Wilder about the importance of understanding the psychology of foreign leaders and of ourselves, the psychology of historical figures, and the psychology of deterrence. Dr. Wilder takes us down her career path and offers invaluable advice to students and young professionals in the national security space. We explore the frontiers of the study of psychology as appli...

Luke Litle talks with Dr. Mara Karlin about the development of the 2022 National Defense Strategy, various practical approaches to deterring adversaries, recent US security challenges, and potential future global security threats. Dr. Karlin is a professor of practice at SAIS and is the co-lead for the Security, Strategy, and Statecraft focus area. She has served in national security roles for six...

Days after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, new in office, gave the now famous Zeitenwende speech in which he proclaimed a dramatic turn in German foreign policy and national security policy in response to Russia’s full-scale aggression. The speech generated a lot of discussions and, sometimes, unrealistic optimism. Two years later, Germany has b...

In a first for Small World Big Problems, this week we interviewed a sitting head of state: Jakov Milatović, the 37-year-old president of Montenegro. Milatović was elected in May of 2023 on a pro-European Union, pro-democracy, and anti-corruption platform that has received record-breaking support from the people of Montenegro. In an era of weakening democracy and growing isolationism around the wor...

Russia has a long-fabled history of deep-cover spies in the West. Known as the Illegals Program, these spies enter Western countries under false identities to conduct espionage activities. The history of this program goes back to the earliest days of the USSR, but these spies still lurk in the shadows of universities, think-tanks, and suburban neighborhoods across the West. Why does Russia use the...

In part two of this interview with Richard "Otter" Bew, we dive deep into the challenges currently facing the defense industry. The digital revolution is upending how we approach defense; back in the day, we could plan out development on a ten or fifteen year timeline. But now, game-changing technologies are being released every few months. The militaries that can best capitalize on this revolutio...

The American defense industry employs over a million people—in the military, in civilian jobs, and at private companies—and every part matters. Few people have spent as much time inside this complex machine as our guest this week: Richard T. Bew, the Chief of Staff for Lockheed Martin. In part one of this two-part interview, we talk with him about his time as a Marine aviator, the importance of hu...

The EU and the US have long been steadfast partners across the Atlantic, with healthy trade relations and cooperation in numerous sectors of foreign policy, including combatting climate change, promoting the rule of law, and international security. With several international security crises taking place globally, it is important for the cooperation between the two to remain strong. However, electi...

Over the last 15 years, Bolivia has experienced political and economic ups and downs. The MAS, a socialist part with a leftist agenda, led a period of high growth and a vibrant new political party structure. Now, the party is experiencing internal conflict and the country has a mighty foreign exchange crisis on its hands. If Bolivia plays its cards right, though, it could improve its economic, and...

We are joined by Sergey Radchenko, a Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at SAIS Europe, and Director of the Bologna Institute for Policy Research. An expert on Sino-Soviet relations, Soviet and Chinese foreign policies, he discusses the State of Sino-Russia Relations in the wake of a raging war in Ukraine. Connor Crago conducted this interview.  The episode was researched and produced...

Cyber operations are becoming increasingly ubiquitous as a means for nation state and non-nation state actors to engage in intelligence collection, subversion, and strategic competition more broadly. As our world becomes more thoroughly networked and as more data travels throughout cyberspace, the potential power of cyber operations and the urgency of cyber security grow exponentially. Cyberspace...

In the 2000s, China has undertaken an unprecedented naval buildup, expanded its investment in overseas ports, and pushed new interpretations of laws of the sea to secure sovereignty in its “near seas” while protecting its interests in the “far seas.” In discussing China’s comprehensive approach to maritime power, Dylan Yachyshen sits down with Dr. Isaac Kardon to analyze China’s strategic concepti...

In our latest podcast episode, host AlMaha Al-Neama and guest journalist Ivan Nechepurenko from The New York Times explore the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a significant and ongoing dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They discuss the conflict's history, its status as a complex and long-standing territorial struggle, and the delicate balance of the current no-peace, no-war situation. The episode...

Intelligence analysis is a tricky job, and failure can have devastating consequences. Since the October 7th attacks by Hamas in Israel, this issue has become more acute as experts wonder how Hamas was able to manage such a sophisticated operation undetected by Israeli intelligence. But this is not the only example of intelligence failure. In this week's episode, we are joined once again by the for...

In a rapidly-transforming Middle East, the ascendant roles of China and Russia are reshaping the region's security landscape. This comes in tandem with the startling normalization of relations between erstwhile rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, a move orchestrated by China. Professor Vali Nasr decodes these developments and their potential implications for the United States. This conversation aims to...

The United States Armed Forces are facing the biggest recruiting crisis in fifty years. At the same time, there is a growing cultural gap between the military and civilian sectors of the American public. Politicians, generals, and academics are all concerned, but the situation doesn't seem to be getting any better. This week, we sit down with Dr. Nora Bensahel and LTG David Barno to discuss the re...

John McLaughlin is the Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, contributing columnist to Grid News, and former acting director of the CIA. In this episode Professor McLaughlin discusses the origins of the war in Ukraine and the possible future outcomes of the war. He also gives his thoughts on Russia's relationship with China and the role...