The Next Best with Marcel Dirsus

Russia was supposed to be isolated. But four years into the war in Ukraine, that hasn’t happened. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/DrMarcelDirsus Buy Hanna's book: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324117018 In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus speaks with Russia expert Hanna Notte about Russia’s place in the world — and why the country continues to maintain important economic, poli...

What happens when a senior KGB officer walks into the British embassy in revolutionary Iran and offers to spy for MI6? Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DrMarcelDirsus Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy is out now. Buy Redwood: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458783/redwood-by-macintyre-ben/9780241754801

Is Vladimir Putin running out of options in Ukraine—and could desperation push Russia into war with NATO? Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/DrMarcelDirsus In this episode of The Next Best, host Marcel Dirsus sits down with military analyst and author Anders Puck Nielsen (The Logic of War) to analyze the evolving dynamics of the war in Ukraine. They discuss how technological shifts like the "...

There is no "magic button" in war. From naval blockades in the Strait of Hormuz to precision air strikes and economic sanctions, military planners constantly search for a magic button — a way to achieve decisive political victory without mass casualties or drawn-out ground conflicts. But history shows that shortcuts in warfare rarely deliver on their promises. In this episode of The Next Best, Mar...

How do elite Russian spies operate? How are they recruited and trained, and what makes the life of these "Illegals" so miserable? Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/DrMarcelDirsus In this episode of The Next Best, host Marcel Dirsus sits down with Shaun Walker, foreign correspondent for The Guardian and author of "The Illegals". They dive deep into the b...

What happens when billionaires buy democracy? In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus speaks with author and investigative journalist Casey Michel about the rise of America’s oligarchs — and how enormous private fortunes are reshaping American politics, government and foreign policy. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DrMarcelDirsus Buy Casey's book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

What would actually happen if nuclear war broke out? Nuclear weapons expert Frank Sauer explains, step by step, how a nuclear war could begin, how world leaders would make life-or-death decisions in minutes, and what the consequences would be for humanity. Subscribe to Frank's podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@sicherheitspod We discuss:- How a nuclear war between Russia and NATO could realisti...

Why did the United States lose the war in Afghanistan? Why did the Taliban ultimately return to power? And what lessons should policymakers take from America's longest war? In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus sits down with Carter Malkasian — former adviser to the U.S. military and author of The American War in Afghanistan—to explore the origins of the Taliban, the failures of nati...

How does Kim Jong Un stay in power? In this episode of The Next Best, Marcel Dirsus speaks with journalist Anna Fifield, former Washington Post Beijing bureau chief and author of The Great Successor, about the inner workings of North Korea's dictatorship. They discuss Kim Jong Un's rise to power, the assassination of his half-brother, North Korea's relationship with Russia and China, t...

How much do ordinary Russians really support the war in Ukraine? Can Ukraine's drone strikes change the course of the conflict? And what happens after Vladimir Putin? In this episode of The Next Best, I sit down with Dr Jade McGlynn, one of the world's leading experts on Russia. A research Fellow at King's College London and the author of Russia's War, Jade explains why the Kremlin...

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,...