The Burn Bag Podcast

In this episode, A'ndre and Ryan speak with Steve Blank, serial entrepreneur (often referred to as the 'Father of Modern Entrepreneurship') and Silicon Valley guru, about his thinking on defense innovation and how a civil-military alliance can help the U.S. maintain its technological edge. Steve, who spearheaded the creation of the 'Hacking 4 Defense' class at Stanford which soon became sponsored by the Department of Defense, provides us with examples for how business and government have worked together in the past to drive defense innovation, and how organizational structures in start-ups can and cannot work with the public sector. Steve also provides his thoughts on the security of Research & Development and corporate espionage, and how the U.S. Government needs to adapt to address new and emerging threats from the rise of technologies.

In the latest episode of our miniseries focusing in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we speak to Dr. Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian American historian who currently is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, on the history of the Palestinian people and Palestinian nationalism. Dr. Khalidi, the author of The Hundred Years' War on Palestine (2020) and Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness (1997), discusses the origins of Palestinian Nationalism and provides a primer on the development of the Palestinian identity, dispelling the myths and talking the realities of Palestinian Nationalism in both the Mandate and Pre-Mandate period (the 'Mandate' referring to British governance of the Palestinian region in the years preceding 1948). Dr. Khalidi discusses why early attempts at creating a Palestinian state failed, and what agency the Palestinians actually had in their own fate amidst the involvement of regional and foreign powers. Dr. Khalidi goes on to talk about the Palestinians as a political entity, with the rise of the PLO, and gives his take on why the Oslo Peace Process failed -- drawing on his own personal experience as an advisor to the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid and Washington peace negotiations between 1991 and 1993.

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan are joined by Javed Ali  to discuss the Biden-Putin Summit, the White House's National Domestic Terrorism Strategy, and the House vote to repeal the 2002 Iraq War AUMF. An'dre and Ryan also discuss the state of Israel's new coalition and the resumption of hostilities between Israeli forces and Hamas. The episode concludes with an overview of Iran's Presidential election set for Friday. Check out Javed's recent op-ed in Defense One on the National Domestic Terrorism Strategy!

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan talk with Ash Jain and Ambassador (ret.) Daniel Fried about the importance of democratic multilateralism. Ash and Amb. Fried advocate for expanding the G-7 into a D-10, which would be a broader forum for the world's leading democratic countries. They also discuss whether the world is currently defined by the divide between democracy versus autocracy, and how the United States can spearhead the advancement of liberal values on the world stage. The conversation concludes by emphasizing the importance of democracy both in the United States and around the world. To learn more about the proposed D-10, check out Ash's recent report with Matthew Kroenig, as well as our 100 Days episode featuring Ash's idea of creating a D-10 Steering Committee. 

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan discuss President Biden's trip to Europe where he will participate in the G7 before heading off to Geneva to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They also breakdown President Biden's democracy-centric foreign policy and how the "Macron Slap" is a symptom of populism and the growth of the far-right. The conversation touches on Myanmar before concluding with an update on Israel's domestic politics and the effort to oust PM Netanyahu. 

In this special episode of The Burn Bag Podcast, we speak to former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (2011-2013) about a range of national security 'flashpoints' that stand to affect the United States and the Biden Administration in the coming years. Secretary Panetta, who oversaw the Bin Laden Raid as CIA Director, reacts to President Biden's decision to withdraw from Afghanistan, while also discussing a potentially new Iran Nuclear Deal. The Secretary also discusses his view on the threats facing NATO and why President Biden needs to draw 'clear lines' when dealing with Putin's Russia. We revisit Secretary Panetta's service in the Obama Administration in contextualizing the current state of Chinese assertion in the Indo-Pacific, and Secretary Panetta recounts his meeting with Xi Jinping almost a decade ago. Secretary Panetta uses that story to outline how the United States needs to engage multilaterally while also bolstering its military capabilities to meet the challenge of China. Secretary Panetta also discusses the emergent, if not current, threat posed by cyber-warfare, and how the U.S. military needs to adapt to meet the dangers posed by the newest domain of warfare. We close out the conversation with a brief discussion on the defense budget -- a topic Secretary Panetta is intimately familiar with, not only because of his time as Secretary of Defense, but also due to his former position as Director of the OMB and as Chairman of the House Budget Committee.Secretary Panetta co-founded the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, and is the author of Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace, his New York Times best-selling auto-biography.

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan are joined by Javed Ali to discuss the recent ransomware attack against JBS, the largest meat processing company in the world. They also discuss the broader implications of cyber crimes and how the Biden Administration is responding. A'ndre and Ryan then discuss the Israeli opposition coalition that is set to oust PM Netanyahu. The episode concludes by highlighting developments in Sri Lanka, Iran, Belarus, and Ethiopia. 

In this special episode, A'ndre and Ryan speak with Nabil Fahmy,  Founding Dean of the American University in Cairo's School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and former Egyptian Foreign Minister. Dean Fahmy shares his perspective on the recent Gaza War and Egypt's historical role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dean Fahmy digs into Egypt's relationship with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, while giving his prognosis on the path ahead in the more than seventy year conflict. He also discusses Egypt's unique geopolitical position as an African and Asian power, and how this informs its foreign policy and relationship with regional and international actors, such as the United States. The conversation concludes with a discussion on Egypt's future and how the younger generation can bring positive change.

In this week's episode, A'ndre and Ryan speak with leading North Korea expert Dr. Sue Mi Terry about the "Hermit Kingdom". Dr. Terry, who served as a CIA analyst, Deputy National Intelligence Officer, and NSC Director, provides her assessment of the Trump-Kim Summits and how the Biden Administration will approach the Kim regime. She also breaks-down the vertical of power in North Korea and outlines why Kim Jong Un and his family have maintained power since the country's inception. Dr. Terry also recounts her conversations with defectors to illustrate the extent of North Korea's repressive system and how this prevents the North Korean people from altering their political situation. The conversation concludes with an analysis of the North Korean nuclear threat and the potential for meaningful denuclearization. 

In this special release, A'ndre and Ryan speak with Dr. Jess Ghannam, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Global Health Sciences at the UCSF School of Medicine, about post-conflict trauma and the importance of incorporating this trauma into larger conversations about national security. Dr. Ghannam, who is Palestinian-American and hails from Detroit, speaks on how "the juxtaposition of pain and curiosity" motivated him to learn about and work on the impact of trauma, in order to address health inequalities at home and abroad.  Dr. Ghannam recounts his on-the-ground experience in working in creating medical clinics in Gaza and the public health crises he observed there as a starting point to contextualize the broader conversation from a global standpoint. We have a conversation on the different types of trauma that children and adolescents experience, how mental health gives way to physical and other symptoms, and why Western ways of thinking about PTSD may not be adequate in describing the heavy trauma that civilians in conflict zones face. We discuss how a focus on chronic illnesses (non-communicable) and mental illnesses, such as depression, do present a security risk for the United States and the global community, and the interventions that the public health sector is engaging in to address these huge health issues.