The Truth of the Matter

In this episode, Andrew invites Heather Conley and Steve Morrison to give an update on the unfolding COVID-19 crisis in Italy and Europe. Heather Conley is senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic and director of the Europe program at CSIS. Steve Morrison is senior vice president and director director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS.

In this episode, Andrew invites CSIS's Samuel Brannen to discuss decade-long trends of mass political protests around the world. Sam draws on the new CSIS report The Age of Mass Protests: Understanding an Escalating Global Trend, which he co-authored, to explain factors that could increase the rate of protests, the suppression of movements in certain countries, and the U.S.'s failure to develop a systematic response to the increasing trend of global protests. Samuel Brannen leads the Risk and Foresight Group at CSIS and is a senior fellow in the International Security Program.

In this episode, Andrew invites CSIS's Steve Morrison, Jude Blanchette, and Stephanie Segal to discuss how the coronavirus outbreak, also known as COVID-19, is directly affecting the global economy, health security, and international politics.Steve Morrison is senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center. Jude Blanchette holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies. Stephanie Segal is senior fellow of the Simon Chair in Political Economy.

In this episode, Bob and Andrew invite Bulent Aliriza, director of the CSIS Turkey Project, to unpack the worsening conflict in Libya. Bulent explains who the U.S. is supporting, the impact of other foreign powers in the region, and what the main interests are of the long-standing civil war.

In this episode, Bob and Andrew welcome back CSIS's Heather Conley, senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic. Now that Brexit has happened, everyone is wondering: what comes next for the UK? Heather discusses many of the challenges the UK will still have to face, why the U.S. should care, and what will go into the making of a trade agreement between the U.S. and the UK.

In this episode, Bob and Andrew invite former executive editor and vice president of The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. Leonard describes his time supervising the Post's Watergate coverage, as well as the Post being first to report the Monica Lewinsky story. The three also discuss the current state of the media and how the Trump administration may be affecting the public's view of the news.

In this episode, Bob and Andrew invite Stephanie Segal, senior fellow of the CSIS Simon Chair in Political Economy, to give a forecast of the global economy in 2020. They unpack President Trump's recent address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the U.S.'s growing national debt, as well as the current state of the economy and where it might be heading.

In this episode, Bob and Andrew invite CSIS's "Trade Guys," Bill Reinsch and Scott Miller to discuss the "Phase One" trade agreement between the U.S. and China that was signed on Wednesday. They give insight on specifics of the agreement, who is impacted the most, and what it might reveal about the future of the U.S. and China's economic relationship.Bill Reinsch holds the Scholl Chair in International Business at CSIS and is a senior adviser at Kelley, Drye & Warren LLP. Scott Miller is a senior adviser of the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy at CSIS and held the Scholl Chair in International Business from 2012-2017.

In this episode, Bob and Andrew invite CSIS’s Seth G. Jones, Harold Brown Chair, director of the Transnational Threats Project, and senior adviser to the International Security Program. They discuss the latest news about the Ukrainian aircraft that was shot down by Iranians, as well as President Trump’s address to the nation, and Iran’s vulnerabilities.This episode was recorded on January 9th at 2pm, prior to The House of Representatives approving a war powers resolution that would prevent President Trump from taking military action against Iran without congressional consent.

In this episode, Andrew invites a team from the CSIS International Security Program (ISP): Kathleen Hicks, Andrew Hunter, and Todd Harrison. They discuss Defense 360's "Bad Ideas in National Security" series that highlights brief articles written by CSIS and outside scholars on a number of bad ideas in the defense and foreign policy space. In addition to analyzing their own pieces, they nominate their frontrunners for what might be considered the "worst" bad idea.Kathleen Hicks is senior vice president at CSIS, Henry A. Kissinger Chair, and director of the ISP. Andrew Hunter is director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group and a senior fellow in the ISP. Todd Harrison is director of Defense Budget Analysis, director of the Aerospace Security Project, and a senior fellow in the ISP.