Hudson Institute Events Podcast

The conflict between the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic of Iran is not over, but it is already shaping a new future for the Middle East. From commercial flows and energy exports to shifting diplomacy, the region is adjusting to Operation Epic Fury in ways that will open up new diplomatic and economic relations, enable alternative trade routes, and shuffle political relationships....

In 2020, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially determined that China was committing genocide against the Uyghur and other Turkic Muslim communities. A new book,  The Xinjiang Procedure , reports that, in addition to torture, gang rape, and involuntary sterilization and abortion, forced organ harvesting on an industrial scale is a heinous feature of this genocide.  For these reports about...

Foreign-controlled telecommunications infrastructure and vulnerable global supply chains pose growing risks to the integrity and security of US communications networks. The Federal Communications Commission has taken steps to address these challenges over the past year. Efforts have focused on rooting out non-compliant overseas “bad labs” from the FCC’s equipment authorization program, acceleratin...

Policymakers and business leaders are looking for signals about where the broader economy is headed as the US economy navigates rapid technological change, geopolitical risks, and a monetary outlook shaped by tensions between inflation and a cooling labor market. From the Trump administration’s efforts to reindustrialize key sectors of the American economy and reshape trade relationships to persis...

“The year 2025 will be remembered as the year of the tariff,” wrote Ambassador Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, in a  Financial Times  op-ed  at the end of last year. In its first year back in office, the Trump administration wielded tariffs to strike new trade deals at negotiating tables around the world. Representatives from the White House made stops in Geneva, Madrid, Lo...

Nearly three months after Nicolás Maduro's capture, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez is consolidating her grip on power. In a sweeping shakeup, she replaced nearly half of her cabinet and all senior military commanders, including replacing defense minister Vladimir Padrino López with Gustavo González López, who has been sanctioned by the US for his past role in repression. Of Maduro's...

After years of subsidized, debt-driven growth and centrally directed economic policy, China is now mired in a slowing economy relying on massive exports to sustain stability. The nation faces growing debt problems, a faltering social safety net, failing productivity growth, and increasing foreign resistance to its heavily subsidized mercantilist model. Will China lapse into a Japan-like spiral of...

For decades, Europe developed along an east-west axis while the north-south spine of the continent remained underleveraged, its energy networks fragmented and its transit corridors incomplete. Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed the calculus. In the aftermath, Europe can no longer treat connectivity as a secondary concern. The Three Seas Initiative, linking twelve European Union member states fro...

Congressman Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) will join Michael Doran, Director of Hudson’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, for a timely discussion about the evolving situation in Iran. Congressman Baumgartner brings a distinctive perspective shaped by his professional experience in the Middle East, where he worked on economic development and governance initiatives in complex and often...

The United States and Israel’s campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran marks a pivotal moment for the Middle East, with consequences that will shape the region’s future security landscape. As Washington counters Iran’s asymmetric missile and drone capabilities, Senator Joni Ernst (R‑IA)—Chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities and Co‑Chair of...

The United States–Zimbabwe relationship has been strained for decades, in part due to the government’s violent farm invasion campaign that began in earnest in 2000. Harare’s refusal to compensate most of the farmers whose land was taken is still a significant barrier to improving the bilateral relationship. Join Senior Fellow Joshua Meservey as he hosts a panel of experts to discuss the history of...

Since the onset of Operation Epic Fury, Europe’s response has been cautious and divided, revealing real strain within the transatlantic alliance. While leaders in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Southern Europe have ruled out direct military participation—insisting this is “not our war”—others, including Spain and Greece, have declined to support U.S. operations altogether. The result is a Europe...

For over a year, the Republic of Moldova has advanced economic reforms to improve the country’s business environment and attract investment. The government prioritized deregulation and digitalized public services, while also helping businesses access finance. Key sectors, such as electrical equipment manufacturing and agriculture, received government support, and service exports, particularly in i...

As President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping prepare to meet in April, striking a favorable trade deal is top of mind. But trade shouldn’t be the only priority. China currently imprisons several political prisoners who are important to the United States government—including Chinese Christian Pastor Ezra Jin, Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas, Apple Daily  founder Jimmy Lai, and many others. Several of these...

Starting 20 years ago, the religious group Falun Gong began exposing how China harvests organs from persecuted groups. Today evidence shows that the Chinese Communist Party has harvested organs from living prisoners of conscience through a state-run system that includes the security services, military hospitals, and civilian transplant centers. Join Nina Shea for a discussion with Jan Jekielek, au...

As the United States and Israel continue to strike Iran, the strategic landscape in the Middle East is shifting rapidly. In this conversation, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Can Kasapoğlu will discuss the evolving military situation in Iran and the wider region. Kasapoğlu will assess how Iranian forces are responding to the strikes, the role of th...

The American industrial base once underwrote the nation's victory. Builders and workers rallied to win World War II. For most of the twentieth century, great American companies from General Mills to Chrysler had defense businesses that sent mankind into space and won the Cold War. But the forges fell silent, and the furnaces went dark. China took the lead in manufacturing. And the relationship bet...

Naval and commercial shipbuilding, maintenance, and shipping are crucial to the national security and economic prosperity of the United States and Japan. Both countries have rich naval and commercial maritime traditions, but such legacies have faced challenges in recent years. In response, Washington and Tokyo have established initiatives to strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation. On March 10,...

Supply chains have been central to the second Trump administration’s foreign and national security policy platforms. As global security deteriorates, policymakers need to act quickly to ensure American manufacturers can access materials that are vital for national defense and economic resilience. At the heart of this effort is the United States government’s drive, in collaboration with private ind...

The end of Nicolás Maduro’s rule marked a historic turning point for Venezuela. But transitions do not secure themselves. Authoritarian systems often attempt to survive through controlled reform and partial concessions. Venezuela’s interim authorities have introduced initial measures, including an amnesty law and economic adjustments. Yet a genuine democratic transition requires structural guarant...

More than three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has sought to offset Western sanctions and isolation by deepening ties with China and expanding relationships with partners such as North Korea and Iran. Beijing, meanwhile, views cooperation with Russia as a strategic asset in its competition with the United States and its allies across Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Though the Sino-R...

Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East will host Sir Liam Fox for a conversation on the evolving geopolitical landscape in the Middle East. Drawing on his experience as the United Kingdom’s secretary of state for defense and international trade and his leadership in advancing regional normalization efforts, Sir Liam will offer insights into the future of regional secur...

Africa’s most populous country unexpectedly found itself in President Donald Trump’s sights this past autumn. The president designated Nigeria a country of particular concern for alleged religious freedom violations and warned of possible United States military intervention to protect Nigerian Christians. But what appeared to be a tense diplomatic standoff quickly led to discussions of a new secur...

The alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States remains the cornerstone of transatlantic security. But regulatory and trade frictions, differing approaches to China, and divergent views on migration have strained this vital relationship. In his “Iron Curtain” address 80 years ago, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned of the threat that Soviet domination of Eastern Europe p...

On August 8, 2025, President Donald Trump hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for a historic peace summit, the first trilateral meeting of its kind since the end of the Cold War. The two leaders initialed a peace agreement, signed a joint declaration affirming their commitment to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity, and...