Chain Reaction

On this week's special episode of the Bear Market Brief, Aaron Schwartzbaum sits down with FPRI Fellow Maximilian Hess to talk about his new book "Economic War: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West" (Hurst, 2023). This episode was recorded live on September 28, 2023. For more on the international economic order and the conflicts shaping it, check out Max's newsletter, Conflict & Credit. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

In a career spanning from the height of the Cold War to the fight against Al Qaida, Michael Vickers worked at every level of the US national security community. From his time as an Army Green Beret trained to parachute behind Soviet lines in Europe with a “backpack” nuclear weapon, to his final assignment as the senior official responsible for all Department of Defense intelligence activities, few people have accumulated as much experience. Join host Bob Hamilton as he talks with Dr. Vickers about his career and the lessons he draws for today’s national security practitioners.By All Means: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy by Michael G. Vickers Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Politically and socially, how are Ukrainians contending with a difficult, long war? Fabrice Deprez joins from Kyiv to give us an update on this week's Bear Market Brief. Check out Fabrice's newsletter, Eastern RadarSubscribe to the Bear Market Brief Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

How much do Moldovan politics rhyme with some of what we've seen in Ukraine? FPRI Senior Fellow Ecaterina Locoman sheds light on language politics, Ukraine war spillover, and frozen conflict. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

How do we remember tragedies? How do populations construct memories and memory institutions around these events? How can contemporary researchers begin to make sense of these complex landscapes? On this episode of Baltic Ways, Dr. Margaret Comer of University College London joins us to discuss heritage studies, dark heritage, and her fieldwork in Russia and Estonia. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 put the Black Sea region on the map in Washington, DC and Brussels after decades of relative neglect. Among regional countries Romania was an early, vocal and persistent proponent of greater US and NATO focus on the region and has emerged as a leader in the drive for greater regional integration and cooperation. To discuss Bucharest’s role in the region and its vision for regional security, Dr. Antonia Colibasanu joins host Bob Hamilton on Chain Reaction. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Two years ago this month, Taliban forces rolled into Kabul, completing their takeover of Afghanistan. After 20 years of U.S.-led effort and investment in the Afghan government and security forces, they collapsed almost instantly in the face of an enemy with less training and rudimentary equipment. To understand the sources of this strategic failure, Dr. Carter Malkasian, one of the foremost experts on the war in Afghanistan, joins host Bob Hamilton on this episode of Chain Reaction. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Clausewitz wrote that the first task of a commander is to establish “the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something that is alien to its nature.” After two decades of counterinsurgency operations, the US Army now finds itself observing – and supporting – Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s aggression. The war has turned into a grinding, attritional, industrial age struggle, the kind the US military had assumed was a thing of the past. In this episode of Chain Reaction, John Nagl joins to discuss whether the US Army is positioned to fight this kind of war, whether it wants to or not.Related Reading:A Call to Action: Lessons from Ukraine for the Future Force - Katie Crombe and John A. Nagl Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

Robert Hamilton and Rick Landgraf join Aaron to tackle (almost) every question you were too embarrassed to ask about the defense and security issues central to Ukraine. Term by term, concept by concept, jargon by jargon. No acronym is safe! Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe

How have Latvian and Lithuanian histories intertwined over the last millennium? Who was Queen Morta, a Latvian princess by birth who became the wife of Lithuania’s first and only king, Mindaugas? How close did we come to a Latvian-Lithuanian state in the early 20th century? How do Latvians and Lithuanians see their shared commonalities today? James Montgomery Baxenfield, Junior Research Fellow at Tallinn University School of Humanities, walks (literally) through this complex history. Baltic Ways is brought to you by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, produced in partnership with the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Get full access to FPRI Insights at fpriinsights.substack.com/subscribe