Chain Reaction

In this episode of Shifting Ground , Nick Gvosdev and Larry Rubin are joined by Phil Wasielewski, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. A veteran of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations and the US Marine Corps, Phil brings a lifetime of experience—from the end of the Soviet era to the frontlines of Afghanistan—to a wide-ranging discussion on the nature of strategy in an unpredic...

In this episode of Shifting Ground , Nick Gvosdev and Larry Rubin are joined by Mohammed Soliman, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East . Soliman challenges our traditional geopolitical mental maps, arguing that the term “Middle East” no longer explains the realities of today’s integrated political and economic landscap...

Welcome back to The Ties That Bind , a project of the Foreign Policy Research Institute examining the past, present, and future of NATO and the transatlantic relationship. This season we examine how Western European NATO members like Germany are shifting their defense policies, pursuing rearmament, and what lies ahead for the future of European security. This week we are pleased to feature a conve...

In this episode of Shifting Ground , hosts Larry Rubin and Nick Gvosdev are joined by Dmitri Alperovitch, Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, co-founder of CrowdStrike, and author of World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century . Alperovitch discusses the collision of cybersecurity and international affairs, arguing that the cyber “problem” is fundamentally...

Aaron Stein, President of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), talks with James Swartout, VP of Strategy at Ursa Major Technologies, about his career in national security and how his company is revolutionizing aerospace and defense. Explore more from Behind the Front here. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Geo-economic and country risk expert Rachel Ziemba joins Nick and Larry to discuss the intersection of government policy and global commerce. This episode explores how sovereign balance sheets and coercive tools like sanctions have become primary instruments of modern statecraft, fundamentally shifting the landscape of global commerce. Related Reading: * Rachel’s portion of the Global Order After...

On this episode of Shifting Ground, Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld, Jr. (ret.) introduces his concept of the “global operating system” (GOS)—which includes the rules-based international order and the global economy—explaining that its foundation of international stability is at risk of catastrophic failure due to geopolitical cycles, political polarization, and the overextension of the prevailing...

Welcome back to the Ties That Bind , a project of the Foreign Policy Research Institute examining the past, present, and future of NATO and the transatlantic relationship. We often assume our safety is a “government problem,” but guests Admiral Rob Bauer, the former Chair of the NATO Military Committee, and Strategic Communications Advisor Eleonora Russell argue that this mindset is our greatest v...

In the inaugural episode of Shifting Ground , the Hon. Stacey Dixon joins Nick Gvosdev and Larry Rubin to discuss the US government’s challenge of balancing national security interests by restricting sensitive technology exports with the need for American companies to compete globally and influence international technology standards. The conversation highlighted “accelerants” like the democratizat...

Welcome back to the Ties That Bind , a project of the Foreign Policy Research Institute examining the past, present, and future of NATO and the transatlantic relationship. This season, we examine how Western European NATO members like Germany are shifting their defense policies, pursuing rearmament, and what lies ahead for European security. This week, we are pleased to feature a conversation with...

Iran is facing massive protests and the regime is facing a significant challenge to its grip on power. The regime has unleashed the military, killing hundreds on the country’s streets. President Trump had threatened air strikes, raising questions about the future of the regime. What is the future of Iran? Aaron sat down with Saeid Golkar, an Iranian-American political scientist, and UC Foundation...

Welcome back to the Ties That Bind. This week, we go even further north, to Finland, one of the alliance’s newest members. Like the other frontline states we’ve visited this season, Finland shares a turbulent and complicated history with Russia that has long molded its security and foreign policy. But unlike the other frontline states, it was not a member of NATO at the start of Russia’s full-scal...

We have spent a lot of time talking about Combat Collaborative Aircraft, or CCA. On this episode, Aaron sat down with Billy Byrne, the Director of Strategy for Defense at Saildrone. The two talked about the future of unmanned naval systems, the lessons learned from Ukraine’s operations in the Black Sea, the challenges of operating in the Indo-Pacific, and the need to have both endurance and to “pa...

Welcome back to the Ties That Bind. This week, we go back North to the shores of the Baltic Sea for the perspective from Latvia. In this episode, we’ll hear from three Latvian experts on the evolution of the country’s defense posture, NATO cooperation, and its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We’ll also hear about what’s happening on the domestic front, with the evolution of national and...

Welcome back to the Ties That Bind. This week, we are looking further south along NATO’s eastern flank at Romania. Romania has long advocated for increased NATO and US presence in the Black Sea. Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the importance of the Black Sea and Romania’s role have been reflected in an increased NATO presence and multiple defense and infrastructure investments. The cou...

In a rapidly evolving world where Washington might not have the same sway it used to, how should the US best position itself? Who are the “schools” or “camps” contesting the direction of foreign policy. In this episode of The Continent, Emma Ashford joins Aaron Schwartzbaum to talk about American grand strategy and her recent book First Among Equals: US Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World. Get fu...

Welcome back to the Ties That Bind. This season, we are looking at NATO from a bit of a different vantage point, specifically that of the frontline states. How are frontline states investing in and planning for their defense? How are they thinking about their role and contributions in the Alliance and on the world stage? How have their historical experiences shaped how their governments and societ...

Introducing our new monthly podcast series, Behind the Front , which features conversations with industry experts on challenges and opportunities facing the technology, space, and national security sectors. This week Aaron Stein sat down with Scott “FUG” Gilloon, who currently serves as the Sector Vice President of Air Force Strategic Development and Capability Assessments at General Atomics Aeron...

A flurry of back-and-forth diplomacy, a renewed Russian offensive, and a rare outburst of protest in Ukraine. The Kyiv Dispatch with Aaron Schwartzbaum and Fabrice Deprez returns to break down what's actually happening and most importantly, how people on the ground are feeling about it. For more reporting and stories from Ukraine, be sure to follow Fabrice’s newsletter, Eastern Radar. Explore more...

Are drones the future of war? What lessons can be learned from Ukraine for the Taiwan contingency? To discuss these topics and more, FPRI President Aaron Stein sat down with Lorenz Meier , CEO of Auterion, to discuss drones and the future of war. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Why does Russia play such an important role in geopolitics? If it's because of 'strength'... what does strength even mean? And why do conceptions of Russia's strength vary so extremely? Seva Gunitsky joins Aaron Schwartzbaum on this week’s Bear Market Brief podcast. Related Reading Russia is both weak and strong - that's the problem by Seva Gunitsky Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights...

How might combat collaborative aircraft be used to fight a war in Europe? Or the Indo-Pacific? To discuss these questions, and the latest from the YFQ-44A, President Aaron Stein sat down with Andrew Van Timmeren, the director of air dominance systems at Anduril Industries, about what he and the company are working on. FPRI’s new project, Behind the Front , analyzes current and future national secu...

Here on the Bear Market Brief , a lot of what we focus on is, simply put, risk: what might happen, and what might it mean? On this episode, geoeconomic and country risk expert Rachel Ziemba joins Aaron Schwartzbaum to delve in the discipline of Political Risk: how does one "do" the field? Bear Market Brief features a weekly newsletter and a monthly podcast that strives to be a resource for special...

Listen to Part 1 here. In this special two part episode of Chain Reaction , Senior Fellow Rob Lee interviews Yevgeniy Malik, a squad leader in Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade. Malik fought in Mariupol during the beginning of the war and defended the Illich Iron and Steel Works. He spent more than two years in captivity in Russia as a prisoner of war from April 2022 to September 2024. In Part 2, Yevg...

In this special two-part episode of Chain Reaction , Senior Fellow Rob Lee interviews Yevgeniy Malik, a squad leader in Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade. Malik fought in Mariupol during the beginning of the war and defended the Illich Iron and Steel Works. He spent more than two years in captivity in Russia as a prisoner of war from April 2022 to September 2024. During this time Malik faced daily bea...