New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy | Podcasts

In this second episode reviewing our recently published 2026 Q3 Forecast report, our team focuses on Bolivia, Sudan, and the DRC among some of the countries not covered in part 1, providing an outlook on the domestic and international situation related to these countries going into the third quarter.

In this episode, our team highlights our recently published 2026 Q3 Forecast report on geopolitical hotspots around the world and their implications on global connectivity themes like trade, technology, energy, and climate. In part 1 of this podcast, we focus on the US/Americas, the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific, and the Russia/Ukraine war, discussing the most important events from the past three...

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded Belarus remove military equipment from their shared border, while Ukrainian forces continued attacking energy and transport infrastructure near Moscow and in Crimea. In the Indo-Pacific, China sanctioned two critical minerals companies in the U.S., while U.S. AI company Anthropic accused Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba of copying its sof...

This week, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding paving the way for a ceasefire and two months of negotiations aimed at settling their conflict. Meanwhile, Israel stated it would continue to occupy territory in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. In the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan’s opposition leader met with members of the U.S. Congress in Washington, while the U.K. and Japan agreed to b...

Riley Sullivan sits down with Linda Robinson , Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss the dynamics of democracy, gender equality, and women's leadership, as well as her new book, Women in Power: Fighting for Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism.  

This week, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz after it and the U.S. traded strikes. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel continued its bombing campaign against Lebanon. In the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. sanctioned Chinese entities for their role in supporting Iran, while Chinese President Xi Jinping met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang for the first time in seven years. In the Russia-Uk...

This week, the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes amid continued diplomacy, while Israel continued its ground operations in Lebanon despite a conditional ceasefire agreement between them. In the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. set out new guidance designed to close loopholes that allowed China to receive advanced AI chips, while U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pushed for increased allied defense spendi...

This week, the United States and Iran traded airstrikes as peace negotiations continued, while Israel intensified strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite the recent ceasefire extension. In the Indo-Pacific, Nvidia pledged an annual $150 billion investment in Taiwan while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited India in an attempt to shore up ties within the Quad framework. In tran...

How do we measure the size of illicit economies, and what can seizure data actually tell us about the effectiveness of enforcement policies? In this episode of Crime Beat Conversations, Rafaella Lispschitz speaks with Henry Ziemer, Fellow with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), about the challenges of measuring illicit markets and evaluating interdic...

This week, Iran stated it was reviewing the latest peace proposal from the United States after the U.S. delayed planned strikes, while Pakistan deployed 8,000 troops to Saudi Arabia in the event of renewed hostilities. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, while U.S. President Donald Trump stated willingness to discuss renewed arms sales to Taiwan, prom...

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a long-anticipated summit in which the leaders discussed trade relations, the Iran war, and Taiwan. In the Middle East, Trump rejected a peace proposal by Iran, while representatives from Lebanon and Israel met in Washington, D.C., for a new round of discussions on Hezbollah’s disarmament. In th...

This week, Iran considered a one-page peace proposal sent by the United States that would end hostilities, while Israel issued new evacuation orders for southern Lebanon and bombed Beirut despite an ongoing ceasefire. In the Indo-Pacific, China gave conflicting advice to its banks on how to respond to U.S. sanctions, citing a violation of international law, while the EU took steps to reduce its te...

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian peace proposal and ordered an extension of the blockade on Iranian ports, while Israel resumed military operations in Lebanon. In the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. sanctioned a Chinese importer of Iranian oil, threatening more sanctions against China’s banking sector, while Beijing blocked Meta’s acquisition of a Chinese AI company. In the Russia...

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump extended the ongoing ceasefire with Iran, while Iran rejected negotiations with U.S. Vice President JD Vance as the U.S. continued its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. In the Indo-Pacific, Japan removed export bans on lethal weapons, marking a shift in its pacifist policy, while Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te canceled a trip to Eswatini, a...

This week, the United States imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz during the ongoing two-week ceasefire observed by the U.S., , with talks to extend it and resume diplomatic negotiations in Pakistan currently underway. In the Indo-Pacific, the in the South China Sea, while China eased some trade restrictions against Taiwan following last week’s negotiations with In the Russi...

This week, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire following President Donald Trump’s threats of targeting Iran's power plants and other infrastructure, while Israel escalated its bombing campaign against Lebanon. In the Indo-Pacific, South Korea met with representatives from Gulf countries to discuss securing energy supplies, and Taiwan’s opposition leader visited China, stalling Taipei’...

Student Fellow Riley Sullivan is joined by Dr. Kseniya Sotnikova, Ax:son Johnson Fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), to discuss women's roles in the war in Ukraine.  Learn more about Dr. Sotnikova: https://cepa.org/author/kseniya-sotnikova/ Learn more about New Lines' work on CRSV: https://newlinesinstitute.org/project/crsv/ Learn more about New Lines' work on Ukraine: http...

In this episode of Crime Beat Conversations, Rafaella Lipschitz talks to Adam Rousselle, illicit finance expert and founder of Between the Lines, to discuss Chinese money-laundering networks and their role as the financial backbone of Latin America’s drug cartels. They explore how China’s internal capital flight pressures have produced a shadow financial architecture that connects Chinese elites t...

In this episode, we continue to highlight our recently published 2026 Q2 forecast report on geopolitical hotspots around the world and their implications on global connectivity themes like trade, technology, energy, and climate. We discuss the internal destabilization happening in Iran, and review some of the main events that happened in Venezuela, the US, Afghanistan/Pakistan, and in conflicts in...

This podcast highlights our recently published 2026 Q2 Forecast report on geopolitical hotspots around the world and their implications on global connectivity themes like trade, technology, energy, and climate. In part 1 of this podcast, we discuss our outlook for global hotspots like the Middle East, Indo-Pacific, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while in part 2 we cover the US/Americas and hotsp...

This week, the United States and Iran traded proposals for a diplomatic settlement to their war, with Pakistan working as an intermediary, while the U.S. sent an additional 2,000 troops to the region for a possible ground operation into Iran. In the Russia/Ukraine conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that there was “irrefutable evidence” of Russian intelligence aid to Iran, whi...

This week, the conflict in Iran intensified as the U.S. bombed military facilities on Iran’s Kharg Island and Israel bombed key Iranian energy facilities, with Iran responding with attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf. Israel also committed troops for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon.  In the Indo-Pacific, U.S. President Donald Trump formally postponed a summit with Chinese President...

This week, the U.S. and Israel continued their military campaigns against Iran and Lebanon, while Tehran vowed to block oil exports from the region, leading to worldwide repercussions in the energy sector. Despite the strikes, China stated it would likely go ahead with an upcoming summit with President Donald Trump at the end of March, while the South Korean parliament approved the $350 billion in...

This week, the United States and Israel launched air- and naval-based attacks against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated with strikes against neighboring Gulf states and by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, talks between Russia and Ukraine have been postponed as the war detracted from diplomatic efforts in Abu Dhabi. In the Indo-Pacific, China held its annu...

This week, tensions between Iran and the U.S. continued to rise despite ongoing negotiations, with Iran threatening repercussions if the U.S. were to attack and Israel threatening Lebanon with strikes against civilian infrastructure if Hezbollah acted in defense of Iran. In the Indo-Pacific, China restricted rare earth exports to Japan, and U.S. aerospace manufacturers warned of dwindling rare ear...