The Next Best with Marcel Dirsus

Historian Margaret MacMillan explains why Trump's foreign policy is unprecedented, what Putin wants, and whether the liberal international order is coming to an end. What happens when the world's most powerful democracy begins turning away from its closest allies? In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus sits down with renowned historian Margaret MacMillan to discuss Donald Trump&#3...

Germany is spending more on defence than at any point in recent history — and some analysts believe it could soon become Europe’s dominant military power. But what happens if Germany rearms in a world where Europe can no longer fully rely on the United States? Read the essay here: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/europes-next-hegemon-liana-fix

What keeps Iran’s regime in power—and why has it survived repeated crises, protests, and international pressure? In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus sits down with Yeganeh Torbati (New York Times Iran correspondent) and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin (Iran International) for a deep dive into how Iran’s political system actually works. We discuss the 1979 Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise, t...

Most countries are not superpowers. They’re not regional hegemons. They’re small states trying to survive in a world dominated by giants. In this episode, I speak with Anders Wivel, Professor of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, about why small states survive, how they trade autonomy for security, why they still maintain militaries, and what happens to them as the international or...

The Houthis aren't Iran's puppet. That's what makes them so dangerous. They can shut down two of the world's most critical chokepoints simultaneously — and there's very little the West can do about it. In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus sits down with Thomas Juneau, professor at the University of Ottawa and one of the world's leading experts on Middle Eastern s...

Everyone thinks Putin perfected the energy weapon. But Russia has been using oil and gas as a political bludgeon for over 70 years — and it didn't start with him. Historian Sergey Radchenko traces the full arc of Russian energy coercion, from Stalin's colonial resource extraction in Eastern Europe to the Nord Stream bets that reshaped modern Europe — and makes the provocative case that the...

In this live episode recorded in Berlin, Marcel Dirsus sits down with researcher and author Julia Ebner to explore the psychology of extremism, conspiracy theories, and online radicalization. From QAnon and neo-Nazi networks to AI-driven propaganda and the gamification of hate, they unpack how fringe movements recruit followers, spread across borders, and increasingly shape mainstream politics. Ju...

China doesn't need to invade Taiwan to win. A blockade could bring the global economy to its knees — without firing a single shot. In this episode of The Next Best, political scientist Marcel Dirsus sits down with Hoover Fellow Eyck Freymann to map out the most dangerous flashpoint in global politics: the China–Taiwan conflict. From a full-scale Taiwan invasion to a blockade strategy to gray z...

Russia didn't just invade Ukraine. It's trying to break the rules of the international system. In this episode, I sit down with James Ker-Lindsay — one of the world's leading authorities on secession and self-determination — to trace exactly how the sovereign state was built, why the rules against conquest exist, and how Russia is now dismantling them one fake referendum at a time. Abo...

Russia says it's winning. The front line tells a different story. Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady just returned from Ukraine — here's what he actually saw. Russia is betting on spring advances in the Donbas. Ukrainian soldiers say they'll stay "till hell freezes over." So who's right — and does it even matter if nobody has a theory of victory?

Xi Jinping may be the most powerful man in the world. But that power may also be a trap he can't escape. In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus sits down with Rory Truex — Princeton professor and leading expert on Chinese politics — to unpack how Xi Jinping consolidated control over China's political system, why his grip on power may have made China more fragile, and what happens...

NATO isn't just weakening. It's basically dead — and that's not a headline. It's an analysis. In this episode, I break down exactly what killed the alliance: Donald Trump's deep, structural hostility to multilateral commitments, decades of European governments free-riding on American security guarantees, and a geopolitical reality that was already pulling U.S. attention toward...

Trump's approval rating tells a story his supporters don't want to hear — and the data backs it up. Pollster and journalist G. Elliott Morris joins me to break down Trump's poll numbers and explain why he may be one of the most unpopular presidents in modern American history. If that's true, how does he keep winning? We cover: - Trump's approval ratings vs. past presidents - Wh...

Putin spent two decades demanding a multipolar world. Now he's getting one — and it might destroy Russia. In this episode of The Next Best, I speak with Seva Gunitsky, professor at the University of Toronto and author of Aftershocks, about the irony at the heart of today's geopolitical shift: the global order Putin wanted may be far worse for Russia than the one he helped dismantle. We dis...

Is Congress irrelevant in U.S. foreign policy? Is bipartisanship a myth? And what happens when the biggest threat to a NATO ally might be the United States itself? This week on The Next Best, I'm joined by Elizabeth Saunders, professor at Columbia University and author of The Insider's Game: How Elites Make War and Peace. We unpack how American foreign policy really works — not in theory,...

Apple doesn’t just manufacture in China. It helped build the system that now holds it hostage. In this episode of The Next Best, I speak with Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee, author of Apple in China, about one of the most important – and least understood – geopolitical entanglements of our time. • How did Apple become dependent on the Chinese Communist Party? • Why can’t it simply move p...

How powerful is propaganda—really? In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus speaks with Gavin Wilde, a former White House official and U.S. intelligence analyst, about why we consistently overestimate the impact of fake news, disinformation, and "information warfare." From World War I and Edward Bernays to Russian hybrid warfare, social media bots, and AI-generated deepfakes, Wild...

Can Europe defend itself without the United States? The uncomfortable reality is that Europe’s security architecture is completely dependent on Washington—and that foundation is cracking. In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus speaks with Max Bergmann (Director at CSIS and former US diplomat) about the depth of this military dependence. They break down exactly what would have to change if...

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Tim Weiner joins Marcel Dirsus to discuss his book, The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century. This episode is a deep dive into the CIA, the failures of the War on Terror, and the future of modern warfare. Weiner traces the agency’s evolution from the Cold War through 9/11, revealing how fear drove the CIA into torture, secret prisons, and paramilitary operations t...

The Baltic region is Europe's most dangerous geopolitical flashpoint. From the Suwałki Gap to the stationing of German combat troops in Lithuania, we explore the geopolitical stakes of a potential conflict between Russia and NATO. Political scientist Marcel Dirsus speaks with Oliver Moody, Berlin correspondent for The Times, to analyze the strategic vulnerability of Lithuania, Estonia, and Lat...

How the U.S. turned banks, the dollar, and tech supply chains into a weapon that isolates entire countries without firing a shot. Edward Fishman is the author of "Chokepoints" and a former member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff. We discuss how the US transformed the global financial system into a weapon, the history of economic statecraft from naval blockades to sma...

We're now multiple years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and an end to the fighting isn't in sight. There are now negotiations, but where could these negotiations lead? What happens if Russia wins? And why did Putin decide to invade in the first place? To answer these questions, I speak to Michael Kimmage. Michael is the director of the Kennan Institute in Washington, DC and a profess...

My guest this week is Kori Schake. Kori has an incredibly impressive CV. She is currently the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, but she has also worked at the US Department of State, the Pentagon and the White House. She advised John McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign and she has taught at Stanford and West Point. Her latest book is called The S...

Earlier this year, I read a book called Death is Our Business and this week I spoke to the author John Lechner. John is an interesting man. He used to work in investment banking and then he decided to become a journalist. So he moved to Africa and started reporting on Russian mercenaries. John got kidnapped at some point, but along the way he learned quite a few languages. He speaks fluent Russian...

Hey, it's Marcel Dirsus and this is The Next Best. I spoke to Charles Hecker this week. Charles has spent 40 years traveling and working in the Soviet Union and Russia. He speaks fluent Russian and he just wrote a book called Zero Sum. At first glance, the book is about international business in Russia. And it is, but it is also a lens to look at political and economic developments more generally....