The Burn Bag Podcast

This week, A'ndre chatted with Peter Singer, Senior Fellow at New America and Founder of Useful Fiction, about the social media coverage and the 'digital battlefield' that has surrounded the Israel-Gaza War and Ukraine, and what it means for future conflict. Peter provides his take on why the Israel-Gaza War has captured the attention of so many on social media, in addition to outlining what type of social media coverage occurred during the advent of the Russo-Ukraine War. Peter defines what the 'LikeWar' is, talking about how social media's 'digital battlefield' has evolved over the years, particularly focusing on why anger has the tendency to go viral, dominating newsfeeds. A'ndre and Peter talk about the power of narrative, and how governments, non-governmental groups, militants, and more have aimed to weaponize information, imagery, and other content (sometimes laden with misinformation, sometimes not).Peter's recent Foreign Affairs article on the social media in the Israel-Gaza War can be found here.

Over the holiday season, A'ndre caught up with his old friend John Schmidt to discuss John's work on governance issues around the Great Lakes, some of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world shared between the United States and Canada. John, who's a Program Manager with Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, provides his take on the national security implications that Great Lakes policy has, and how he coordinates among the many state governors and provincial premiers on water security issues. For example, A'ndre and John discuss a Department of Homeland Security report on the necessity of the Soo Locks, a piece of maritime infrastructure enabling vessel movement between the Great Lakes, and why DHS saw a potential domino-effect security threat if the Locks weren't bolstered and transportation subsequently shut down. A'ndre and John also chat about key issues in innovation on green and autonomous shipping, and the potential for threats from invasive species.

We're releasing this episode a few days early, given the fast moving nature  of the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana.This week, A'ndre chatted with The Crisis Group's Mariano de Alba on the recent tensions between Venezuela and Guyana over the resource-rich Essequibo region. Mariano, a Venezuela expert, discusses whether the concerns over a potential Venezuelan invasion of Guyana are real, and provides a history of the long-running dispute between the two countries over Essequibo -- a region that makes up more than 2/3's of Guyana's territory. The recent discovery of oil in 2015 reignited tensions over the territory, and Mariano provides his take on whether the conflict is truly about oil, or whether it's more about Maduro's election-related fears for 2024. Mariano also discusses the legitimacy of Venezuela's recent referendum to annex Essequibo, and what international involvement could look like in the event of an actual invasion.

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Rebecca Linder Blachly, director of the Office of Government Relations for the Episcopal Church, to talk about the role of faith advocacy in shaping American foreign policy decisions. An anonymous colleague of Kissinger remarked in late November that instead of dehumanization, "Imagine a chessboard in which each piece was actually a king or queen, or the pawns were children, and every time you sacrificed a pawn, a child was killed. You might play chess differently." Rebecca is one of those in the Beltway who aims to humanize the international relations chessboard and shape the conversation around morality in the field. The mission of the Office of Government Relations (OGR)  is to “represent the policy priorities of The Episcopal Church to the U.S. government in Washington, D.C. and help shape the discussion of political issues throughout the Church. It aims to influence policy and legislation on critical issues, highlighting the voices and experiences of Episcopalians and Anglicans globally.” Andrew and Rebecca discuss her prior role as a senior policy advisor for Africa in the U.S. Department of State's Office of Religion and Global Affairs, what day-to-day faith advocacy looks like in Washington, what some of the current policy objectives are for the Episcopal Church, and how interfaith networks support grassroots understandings of national security issues.

The Burn Bag will be covering the Israel-Gaza War over the course of several episodes, sourcing multiple perspectives on the conflict. The Burn Bag does not officially endorse any views expressed by our guests, but rather bring those perspectives to you, the audience. This week, A'ndre chatted with Carmiel Arbit, a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, on a range of topics relating to the October 7th Attacks, the Israeli Government, and the conduct of the War in Gaza. Carmiel, who has spent a career focusing on Israeli politics, security, and relations, provides a brief definition of the term Zionism and talks about what she views as some of the biggest myths around Israel right now. We briefly cover why efforts towards a Two-State Solution have failed, and the reasons as to why Hamas launched the attacks on October 7th. Carmiel talks about the significant controversies around why the Israeli Government was caught off guard by the attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's unpopularity, and how both the Israeli public and the broader Jewish community have viewed the attacks and the war. Carmiel also provides perspectives on the Israeli Government's conduct of the war, the significant civilian casualties in Gaza, and the practicalities of a long-term ceasefire. We close out the conversation by briefly discussing the future of U.S.-Israeli relations, and how the war may erode Israel's standing.

The Burn Bag will be covering the Israel-Gaza War over the course of several episodes, sourcing multiple perspectives on the conflict. The Burn Bag does not officially endorse any views expressed by our guests, but rather bring those perspectives to you, the audience. This week, A'ndre spoke with Zaha Hassan, a Fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on Palestinian politics, human rights challenges, and goals around statehood. Zaha, who advised Palestinian negotiating teams during the early 2010s, outlines her views on why prior peace negotiations had failed, and what the key blockers to the Two-State Solution are. Zaha provides insights into how the Palestinian Authority functions and defining what Palestinians mean when they refer to Israeli 'Occupation'. Zaha also discusses Hamas' control of Gaza, how they factor into discussions on statehood, possible motivations for the October 7th Attacks, and what the 'day after' may look like in Gaza. We get Zaha's take on what a potential ceasefire would mean for broader opportunities for peace, U.S. engagement in the conflict, and key humanitarian challenges in the present and aftermath of the War.

[ORIGINALLY RECORDED ON 10/5] This week, Christina interviews Dr. Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, a leading expert on Gender and Genocidal Violence, on the renewed violence in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and what looks like an end to the decades-long struggle. Christina and Dr. von Joeden-Forgey discuss the language of genocide, the media's role in the conflict, and what the political landscape of the world looks like moving forward. 

This week, A'ndre and Andrea spoke with Stuart Reid, Executive Editor of Foreign Affairs, on his new book The Lumumba Plot, which investigates the CIA's role in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically-elected leader of the DRC in 1961. We profile Lumumba with Stuart, and describe the then-Republic of Congo's colonial history, discussing what the process of decolonization between Belgium  and the Republic of Congo (chaotically) looked like. Stuart chats about Belgian involvement in post-colonial Congo, and why the CIA's paranoia of Soviet influence led to the sanctioning of a plot to assassinate Lumumba. We reflect on how the Lumumba assassination has reverberated throughout the DRC's history, and lessons to be learned for U.S. foreign policy.

This week, Burn Bag co-host Andrea Ochoa sits down with Roderick Jones and Vice Admiral (Ret.) Michael LeFever from Concentric Advisors, a risk management firm providing security services and intelligence solutions to clients worldwide. For Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Roderick and Vice Admiral LeFever bring years of experience to the table and discuss cyber across all fronts -- from its usage as an offensive weapon by adversaries and adversarial groups, to building cyber resiliency from both government and industry perspectives. The discussion reviews the evolution of cyber attacks and its applications in modern conflicts, as well as government response and reactive measures towards this type of warfare. Roderick and Vice Admiral LeFever touch upon public policy and our National Cybersecurity Strategy, which work to address threats and defense approaches in the cybersecurity realm. We wrap our discussion with an overview of Concentric Advisors and both guests' work in the security management space for clients worldwide.Roderick and Vice Admiral LeFever have co-authored a book entitled 'End Game First: A Leadership Strategy for Navigating Crisis and Business,' which you can purchase here. 

On this week's episode, Andrew sits down with Profs. Erik Gartzke and Jon Lindsay about the complexity, importance, and limitations of cybersecurity and cross-domain deterrence at the Great Power level. Profs. Gartzke and Lindsay are leaders in the academic The two trade stories about their experience making sense of the phenomena and their applicability in European deterrence, counterterrorism, and homeland security. Gartzke and Lindsay offer a deep dive into why "cyber" is so misunderstood by both decision-makers and the American public, and help shed some light on how we ought to view the evolving field in the decade to come.Erik Gartzke is a Professor of Political Science from the University of California, San Diego and specializes in the impact of information on war. Jon Lindsay is an Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and teaches cybersecurity and international relations. Together they have written numerous articles and recently co-edited the book “Cross-Domain Deterrence: Strategy in an Era of Complexity” which serves as one of the leading sources of modern cross-domain scholarship.