The Burn Bag Podcast

This week, A'ndre chats with Michael Kugelman , the Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, on the recent diplomatic tensions between India and Canada over the assassination (on Canadian soil) of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader. We dive into Canada's allegations against India, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian Government of being in...

Professor Joseph S. Nye Jr., one of the most influential international relations thinkers of our time, sits down with A'ndre Gonawela and Andrew Wilson to discuss the applicability of his theories around neoliberalism in a Great Power competition framework, his assessments of executive foreign policy in past administrations, and where academia can inform the public as the international landsc...

This week, A'ndre spoke with Courtney Weatherby, the Deputy Director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Program and a Research Analyst with the Energy, Water, & Sustainability program, on the intersection of water insecurity and conflict, with a particular focus on the Mekong River Dispute. Courtney discusses the connection between water and national security, and how water insecurity...

This week, Christina interviews Anne Clawson, Principal and Head of Policy & Government Affairs Practice at Cascade Strategies. With an extensive portfolio in the manufacturing, natural resources, and clean energy space, Anne gives an extensive background on the state of critical minerals today. She discusses the race for critical minerals, rising tensions with adversaries and allies alike, an...

The Burn Bag is collaborating with the Climate Migration Council to conduct several episodes on the security risks surrounding climate change, amidst severe heat and climate-related crises that are gripping the country and the world. This week, A'ndre spoke with Rebecca Bill Chavez, the President and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue, on the migration crisis in Latin America -- discussing wh...

The Burn Bag is collaborating with the Climate Migration Council to conduct several episodes on the security risks surrounding climate change, amidst severe heat and climate-related crises that are gripping the country and the world. This week, A'ndre spoke with Iván Duque, who served as President of Colombia from 2018 to 2022, on a range of topics related to climate change, the Latin America...

The Burn Bag is collaborating with the Climate Migration Council to conduct several episodes on the security risks surrounding climate change, amidst severe heat and climate-related crises that are gripping the country and the world. This week, A'ndre chatted with Sharon Burke, President of Ecospherics and a former senior Defense official who specialized in energy security issues, on a range...

The Burn Bag is collaborating with the Climate Migration Council to conduct several episodes on the security risks surrounding climate change, amidst severe heat and climate-related crises that are gripping the country and the world. This week, A'ndre spoke with former PACFLT Commander Admiral Scott Swift, USN (Ret.) on how we can view climate change and climate-driven migration through an op...

The Burn Bag is collaborating with the Climate Migration Council to conduct several episodes on the security risks surrounding climate change, amidst severe heat that is gripping the country. This week, A'ndre spoke with former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on climate-driven migration and the national security threats spawned by climate change. The Secretary provides his per...

This week, A'ndre spoke with former CIA Director John Brennan on a range of topics pertaining to some of the recent controversies that relate to the intersection of politics and the Intelligence Community. Director Brennan discusses controversies behind President Trump's handling of classified documents, and provides an overview of how Presidents typically receive classified information...

This week, The Burn Bag's new co-host Christina Oh interviews Andrii Bondarenko, Chief of Staff for Oleksiy Goncharenko in the Ukrainian Parliament. Andrii discusses his unique views on Prigozhin’s short-lived uprising as a covert success and his maintained influence and popularity in Russian social media channels. We also discuss President Zelenskyy’s continued aspirations to join NATO’s ran...

This week, A'ndre chats with retired Air Force Brigadier General David Stilwell, who most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs during the Trump Administration, to get his views on the current state of U.S.-China diplomacy. General Stilwell has extensive experience on East Asian affairs (having also served as Asia Advisor to the J...

This week, A'ndre hosts former CIA Director and retired General David Petraeus for a conversation on the 20th Anniversary of the Iraq War, the War in Ukraine, and the U.S. Defense Department's preparedness for the next great power conflict. General Petraeus reflects on the run-up to the Invasion of Iraq, and outlines where he believes mistakes were made in the war's onset. The Gener...

This week, David and Andrea chat with Professor Mark Lawrence Schrad. A Professor of Political Science and the Director of Russian area studies at Villanova University, along with authoring several books and being a regular contributor to Foreign Policy, Mark brings a wealth of experience in international law and Russian politics. Specifically, David and Andrea chat with Mark on the history of int...

This week, A'ndre spoke with Basant Sanghera , Principal at The Asia Group and former NSC Director for India and the Indian Ocean, on the state of U.S.-India relations in advance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official state visit this month. We dissect how bilateral relations between the United States and India have evolved since the latter's independence in 1947, and assess whe...

RE-RELEASE: This episode was originally recorded in March 2022, at the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian War In this episode, Dr. Ken Dekleva returns for a conversation on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ken, who served as a Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist with the State Department,  dissects Vladimir Putin's formative experiences and core characteristics, as well as Putin's inner ci...

This week, A'ndre chatted with Even Rogers, CEO and Co-Founder of space defense start-up  True Anomaly , on a range of topics pertaining to space defense, the efficacy of the Space Force, and how his company is aiming to fill in key technology gaps the military is experiencing. Even, who formerly served at U.S. Space Command, discusses why he believes the Space Force is critical to national s...

This week, A'ndre caught up with Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, the Director of the Air National Guard (ANG), to talk about how the reserve force fits into the new National Defense Strategy, how it factors into the Joint Force's strategy, and how it promotes the goal of integrated deterrence. Lt. Gen. Loh shares out areas of the National Defense Strategy that are priorities for the ANG, and the o...

This week,  Burn Bag  hosts A'ndre and David chat with Ryan Hass, senior fellow and the Michael H. Armacost Chair in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings, on China's foreign policy decision-making and strategy, from the 1970s through to the present. We discuss how China's sphere of influence, global standing, and relations with the United States have changed over the decades. Rya...

This week, A'ndre interviewed Andrew Hoehn (Senior Director of Research at RAND) and Thom Shanker (Director of Project for Media and National Security) on their new book  Age of Danger , which aims to reassess and redefine how the United States approaches national security, amidst a range of new and emerging threats. Andrew and Thom talk about why the U.S. Government focused too much on the t...

Welcome to the Burn Bag's collaboration with Girl Security, a workforce mentorship program designed to help young women pursue careers in National Security. This series focuses on how we can reframe our thinking on National Security — what is pertinent to national security in the 21st century? Who, or what, is missing from the national security discussion? Join us as we explore topics within...

Welcome to the Burn Bag's collaboration with Girl Security, a workforce mentorship program designed to help young women pursue careers in National Security. This series focuses on how we can reframe our thinking on National Security — what is pertinent to national security in the 21st century? Who, or what, is missing from the national security discussion? Join us as we explore topics within...

Welcome to the Burn Bag's collaboration with Girl Security, a workforce mentorship program designed to help young women pursue careers in National Security. This series focuses on how we can reframe our thinking on National Security — what is pertinent to national security in the 21st century? Who, or what, is missing from the national security discussion? Join us as we explore topics within...

Welcome to the Burn Bag's collaboration with Girl Security, a workforce mentorship program designed to help young women pursue careers in National Security. This series focuses on how we can reframe our thinking on National Security — what is pertinent to national security in the 21st century? Who, or what, is missing from the national security discussion? Join us as we explore topics within...

This week, A'ndre chats with Colin Carroll, the Head of Applied Intuition's Government Relations team, and a vocal expert on leveraging autonomous systems in defense. We break down Colin's perspectives on how the Defense Department has leveraged autonomous systems in the past and present, and Colin outlines what he sees as the biggest blockers for rapid and efficient development in...