Geopolitics Decanted by Silverado

Explore the implications of the alleged death of Prigozhin, leader of Wagner, on the group's structure, command, and operations in Africa. Discover the uniqueness of Wagner as a private military company and the predictions for its future. Learn about the founding members and evolution of Wagner, including their combat experiences and transformation from a support-focused PMC to an elite infantry force. Hear discussions on rumors surrounding Prigozhin's time in prison and attacks on his family. Speculate on the implications of Prigozhin's death for Russia's future in Africa and the role of Wagner in establishing relationships. Understand the choices available to Russian soldiers and the significance of quality personnel. Analysis of the commander's history, loyalty, and potential role in the military police is also discussed.

Dmitri Alperovitch, Patrick Gray, and Illia Vitiuk discuss Russia's cyber attacks on Ukraine, including turning off the power grid in 2015 and hacking satellite communications. They explore Ukraine's successful defense strategies, collaboration with Western companies, intelligence collection on battlefield systems, and tactics used by Russian intelligence operatives.

Geoeconomist Douglas Rediker discusses the enduring dominance of the US dollar, the lack of viable alternatives, and the limitations of the Chinese renminbi. The podcast also explores seizing Russia's Central Bank Reserves for Ukrainian reconstruction and the economic repercussions for China if it invades Taiwan.

This podcast explores the shift in European security architecture and discusses Germany's investment in military reform. It analyzes Europe's dependence on the US military and potential integration of Finland and Sweden into NATO. The challenges of complex weapon systems and the importance of integration are also discussed, along with the lessons learned from the Ukrainians in terms of innovation and interoperability.

Dmitri Alperovitch discusses the evolution of AI with Teddy Collins (former Assistant Director for Technology Strategy at the White House, Research Scientist at Google’s DeepMind and co-author of "Teams of Teams" with General Stan McChrystal): - The AI triad of Talent/Algorithms, Data and Compute which has driven so much improvement in the last 5 years - How AI could disproportionally benefit the large and rich technology platform companies - The challenge of Sim2Real jump and why using AI to solve many real-world problems in the physical world could still be years away - Why AI is unlikely to give an edge to attackers or defenders in cybersecurity - The dark side of AI - And what might be the most profound implications for societal change driven by AI