Fault Lines

Fault Lines welcomes FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to discuss the national security work the FCC is doing.  What is the FCC's role in pushing back against the threat posed by China? What is the FCC doing on O-Ran? How will competition with China impact technology policy in the next five years?  Commissioner Carr and guest host Megan Brown, answer these questions and many more on this wee...

Belarus forced a RyanAir flight to land in Minsk in order to take opposition journalist Roman Protasevich into custody. Les, Jodi, Mike, and first time guest Scott Cullinane, NSI Visiting Fellow and Executive Director of the US-Europe Alliance, discuss how the United States should respond to Belarus and the next steps in the fight against COVID-19. Are sanctions enough to get Belarusian President...

Fault Lines welcomes Sada Cumber, NSI Advisory Board Member first-ever Special Envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. What role does soft power play in the Middle East? What can America do to protect Muslims in Myanmar and China? Why are Saudi Arabia and Iran meeting secretly? Sada and Fault Lines Host Les Munson, answer these questions and many more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

The violence in Israel continues unabated. Fault Lines welcomes Simone Ledeen, NSI Visiting Fellow and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, and Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, to discuss the causes of this latest flare up, how other actors in the region are responding, and what role of the United States should play with Fault Lines Host Les Munson. &...

Fault Lines welcomes Ambassador Cindy Courville, first Ambassador to the African Union, for a conversation about some key issues happening on the continent. How should policymakers frame their thinking about African Affairs? How should America be involved in Northern Mozambique? What role should America play in preventing human rights atrocities in Ethiopia? All these questions...

On Armenian Remembrance Day, President Biden acknowledged the genocide of Armenians at the hands of Ottoman authorities beginning in 1915.  Jodi, Jamil, Les, Grant, and first time guest Max Hoffman, Director of National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, discuss the impact of this acknowledgement on U.S.-Turkish relations and the ten year anniversary of the...

Fault Lines welcomes Dr. Lenora Gant, NSI Advisory Board member and Distinguished Fellow and former Senior National Intelligence Officer within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. How does a diverse workforce increase America’s national security? What role do historically black colleges and universities play in preparing the next generation of national security leaders?&...

President Biden announced increased sanctions on Russia for their involvement in the SolarWinds hack and a withdrawal date for American troops in Afghanistan. Les, Loren, Jamil, and returning guest Rob Walker discuss whether the Biden administration is pushing back hard enough against Russia and leaving Afghanistan too soon. Will sanctions change Putin’s calculus? Does President Bid...

Fault Lines welcomes Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book Isolationism: A History of America's Efforts to Shield Itself from the World .  What are the driving factors of American Isolationism throughout history? What lessons should President Biden learn from previous presidents? What is American Exceptionalism? Dr. Kupchan and host Les, ans...

The Biden administration is participating in indirect talks with Iran about the JCPOA and there are conversations swirling on the Hill about revising the 2001 AUMF.  Les, Jodi, Jamil, and Mike discuss how to get to a better deal with Iran and whether all the talk about the AUMF is for naught. Is it possible to get a good deal with Iran? What did "maximum pressure" achieve? Is there any chance...

Fault Lines welcomes Admiral James Stavridis, author of the book 2034: A Novel of the Next World War and contributing author of a white paper with the American Edge Project on National Security Policy. Should we expect a war with China? How do fiction and foreign policy work together? Where do emerging technologies play a role in all of this? Admiral Stavridis and host Lester M...

Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan recently held a meeting with their Chinese Counterparts in Alaska and the pandemic has been ravaging the globe for more than a year. Les, Loren, Jamil, and first time guest Rob Walker discuss what can we expect coming out of the Anchorage Summit and how the world looks different post-pandemic. How is the Biden administration trying to approach the relatio...

Fault Lines welcomes Andrew Natsios and Andy Card co-editors of Transforming Our World: President George H.W. Bush and American Foreign Policy .  What made President George H.W. Bush uniquely able to take on the challenges of the end of the Cold War?  Was there an underlying ideology driving President Bush’s foreign policy?  Can President Biden learn any lessons from the challe...

President Biden issued an executive order focused on enhancing the security of America’s supply chains and India purchased anti-aircraft weapons from Russia which may cause issues at the upcoming meeting of the Quad. Les, Jodi, Jamil, and Loren discuss how much the government should insert itself in the private sector in the name of national security and the status of the relationship between...

Fault Lines welcomes David Gordon, former Director of policy planning at the US State Department and co-author of Making U.S. Foreign Policy Work Better for the Middle Class .  How different is "putting Americans first" to "America First"? Is American participation in the TPP impossible? Is domestic-foreign policy fusion advisable given polarization?  David and host Lester Munson, answer...

Fault Lines welcomes Nicole Perlroth, Cybersecurity report for the New York Times and author of This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race .  How has the market for 0-days impacted our national security? How do you communicate the technological threat to a non-technical audience? Why isn't the US deterring cyberattacks effectively?  Nicole and host Lester Munson,...

The Biden Administration is open to reentering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Jamil, Les, Loren, and Mike discuss what is necessary to actually prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons and then pivot to Australia’s law which caused a standoff with Facebook. Should America ease sanctions to negotiate a new deal with Iran? Is Iran already too far down the nuclear path? Is Au...

Fault Lines welcomes Morgan Vina, former Chief of Staff to Ambassador Nikki Haley in her role as Permanent Representative to the United Nations. What can the Biden administration learn from President Trump’s failures and successes in Africa? How should we view the worsening violence in Ethiopia? Is Sudan a success story or is it too early to tell? Morgan and host Lester Munson, answer th...

President Biden may be new to the job but the foreign policy challenges haven’t slowed down. Les, Jamil, Jodi, and Michael discuss President Biden’s first foreign policy speech and how the ideals he laid out in it will be applied to the coup in Myanmar and protests in Russia. Is Biden really laying out a new foreign policy vision? Will his team be decisive or dithering? How sho...

Fault Lines welcomes multiple NSI authors for conversations about their recent publications. First, Les talks with NSI Visiting Fellow Matthew Ferraro about his backgrounder entitled  Decoding Deepfakes . After that, NSI has a conversation with NSI Visiting Fellow Vince Vitkowsky and Rachida Mecheri on their Law and Policy Paper entitled  Responding to China at the United Natio...

Fault Lines welcomes former Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Bob Corker. What should a post-Trump GOP look like? Should the Senate vote to convict former President Trump? How should the Biden Administration think about Iran? All these questions and more on this very special episode of Fault Lines. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mo...

The Biden Administration is in full swing but what does that mean for foreign policy? Les, Jamil, Loren, and first time guest Amira Valliani talk about Making U.S. Foreign Policy Work Better for the Middle Class and Biden’s first hundred days. Is a foreign policy focused on the middle class only about economics? Why isn’t Congress leading on foreign policy issues? What do the f...

Fault Lines welcomes David Adesnik , Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and John Hannah , Senior Counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to discuss  From Trump to Biden  a report which details the successes and failures of the Trump Administration and guidance for over 25 different areas of national security and foreign po...

This week, Congress contemplates how to respond to the attack on January 6th. Les, Loren, Jamil, and Jodi discuss how the legislative branch should move forward and news out of China that you may have missed. How should Congress deal with members who supported the riots? With time winding down on the Trump Administration, is impeachment moving fast enough? How is China capitali...

A mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to halt the certification of the electoral college vote. Les, Jamil, Loren, and returning guest Michael Gottlieb pick through the rubble and discuss the implications. How can America rebuild after this crisis? How does it impact our standing in the world? How will our adversaries use this against us? A...