The Burn Bag Podcast

[NOTE: This episode was recorded on Thursday afternoon, just before the ceasefire was announcement, and before President Biden's speech] In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan provide an update on the recent escalation in Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They also discuss the migrant crisis on the Morocco-Spain border, movement in Iran nuclear negotiations, and Havana syndrome hitting...

In the final installment of The Burn Bag Podcast’s miniseries with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center , A’ndre and Ryan have Barry Pavel and Matthew Kroenig, the Center’s Director and Deputy Director, on to reflect on the Biden Administration’s performance in the actual first 100 days with respect to security policy. We discuss how the first 100 days might indicate future trends in policymaki...

This week, A’ndre and Ryan speak with Ambassador Ronald Neumann, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Algeria, and Bahrain about the recently announced U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, scheduled to take place by September 11th, 2021. Ambassador Neumann provides a contextual background on Afghanistan pre-2001, focusing on the repercussions of the Soviet Invasion in the 1980s, the U.S. aid to the...

In this week's episode, Javed Ali joins A'ndre and Ryan to discuss the ransomware attack against the Colonial Pipeline and the Biden Administration's domestic terrorism measures. They also address the recent escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Be sure to check out Javed's new op-ed on combating domestic terrorism.

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan dissect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with University of Michigan Professor Victor Lieberman. This episode provides a broad overview of the conflict itself, going back more than a 100 years and framing the conflict as not one between Muslims and Jews, but one between two rival nationalisms -- Zionism and Palestinian Nationalism . Professor Liebe...

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan provide an update on the COVID crisis in India, breakdown the protests in Colombia, and dig into the political situations in the United Kingdom and Israel.  They also discuss Facebook's Oversight Board and whether dogecoin is going to the moon. 

Welcome to the fifth installment of The Burn Bag Podcast's special collaboration with The Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Security and Strategy ,  where we highlight contributions to the Scowcroft Center's "100 Ideas for the First 100 Days" project. The fifth episode in the series delves into two big ideas by Stephen Shapiro, and Lt. Col. Matthew Crouch and Clement...

In this week's episode of The Burn Bag Podcast , A'ndre and Ryan speak to Professor Stephen Walt, a distinguished thinker in international relations who currently teaches at Harvard University. Professor Walt, a leading scholar and subscriber to the school of realism in international relations, spoke to us about the state of U.S. power in the world today, and on the idea of primacy (the...

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan breakdown President Biden's address to Congress, noting in particular the focus on China and strengthening democracy. They also discuss the status of Alexei Navalny and India's COVID crisis.

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan talk with Nilanthi Samaranayake, director of the Strategy and Policy Analysis Program at the Center for Naval Analyses.  Nilanthi provides an overview of the Indian Ocean region, its strategic importance, and geopolitics. They also discuss the role of China in the region and how India and the United States can work to push back against Chinese infl...

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan provide an update on  opposition politician Alexei Navalny and discuss the domestic political situation in Russia. They also talk about the implications of the U.S. withdrawal of Afghanistan,  President Biden's coming recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and potential progress in nuclear negotiations with Iran. UPDATE: Alexei Navalny ended hi...

In this week's episode, we speak with Dr. John Ciorciari about his new book, “ Sovereignty Sharing in Fragile States. ” Dr. Ciorciari discusses what sovereignty sharing is, defining it as "consent-based agreements between a national government and international actors to share domestic authority," and he goes on to outline the governance challenges around the world that motivated hi...

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan are joined by Javed Ali, Executive Producer and former NSC Senior Director for Counterterrorism. They discuss President Biden's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, new sanctions on Russia, the attack on Iran's nuclear facility, and competition with China. 

Welcome to the fourth installment of The Burn Bag Podcast's special collaboration with The Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Security and Strategy ,  where we highlight contributions to the Scowcroft Center's "100 Ideas for the First 100 Days" project. The fourth episode in the series delves into two big ideas with Ash Jain and Ambassador Alexander Vershbow. First, A...

On this episode of the Burn Bag, we speak with Dr. Kennette Benedict, current Senior Advisor and former Executive Director and Publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, about nuclear weapons and the geopolitical policy challenges surrounding the "world's most dangerous technology." Dr. Benedict begins the conversation by giving us an overview of the origins of the atomic b...

In this week’s episode, A’ndre and Ryan talk about the Pape Report on January 6, violence in Northern Ireland, and the Ukraine/Russia situation. They also discuss Jordan’s monarchical infighting and political uncertainty in Singapore.

In the latest episode of The Burn Bag Podcast , we interview Glenn Gerstell, who as General Counsel, was the top lawyer at the National Security Agency between 2015 and 2020. We begin the conversation by getting Glenn's thoughts on why he believes that online disinformation is a national security threat, why cyber-propelled disinformation is very different from the spread of 'old-fashion...

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan talk about Alexei Navalny's hunger strike, Israeli politics, and the South China Sea. They also discuss the rise of ISIS in Mozambique , a growing spat between Egypt and Ethiopia over water, and Russia's aggressive moves on the Ukraine border.

On this week’s episode of The Burn Bag , we talk  counterintelligence with Bill Priestap, former Head of Counterintelligence at the FBI, and Holden Triplett, former Director of Counterintelligence on the National Security Council. Priestap and Triplett give an overview on counterintelligence, highlighting how it has changed over the past 20 years, and what types of operations the FBI has worked to...

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan talk about the cargo ship stuck in the Suez Canal, North Korea's missile tests, and Taiwan's looming China threat. They also discuss Israel's political deadlock,  the economic crisis in Turkey, and Biden's border problem. 

Welcome to the third installment of The Burn Bag Podcast's special collaboration with The Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Security and Strategy ,  where we highlight contributions to the Scowcroft Center's "100 Ideas for the First 100 Days" project. The third episode in the series delves into three big ideas with Robert Manning, Safa Shahwan Edwards, and James Dano...

On this week’s episode of the Burn Bag, we talk to Jonna Mendez, former CIA Chief of Disguise, about her work in the CIA. Mendez discusses her reasons for joining the agency, her time as an intelligence officer, and the history behind the Office of Technical Service (OTS). She analyzes the successes and failures of the products that the OTS produced and delves into the measures she and others had...

In this week’s episode, A’ndre and Ryan recap the Quad meeting, discuss the Biden-Putin drama, and dissect the uptick in  migrants at the US southern border. They also talk about the recently released National Intelligence Council report on foreign threats to the 2020 election. 

On this week’s episode of the Burn Bag, co-hosts Ryan and A’ndre speak with the D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine about the January 6th Insurrection, how to address issues in policing, and solutions to resolving the larger issues around hate in America. AG Racine outlines how his office is addressing the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol Building, what jurisdiction he has in terms of prosecu...

In this week’s episode, co-hosts A’ndre and Ryan speak to Dr. Kenneth Dekleva about his work in  leadership analysis and what exactly that is. Dr. Dekleva discusses how leadership profiles are created, and how different agencies like the CIA and the State Department have used them in the past to advance U.S. foreign policy goals. We then dig into three unique leadership profiles in particular: Chi...