FDD's Foreign Podicy

Richard Landes is an historian and author who specializes in medieval millennial thinking. His interests include media manipulation intended to defame, demonize, and de-legitimize the Jewish state. He joins host Cliff May to discuss his new book: "Can The Whole World Be Wrong? Lethal Journalism, Antisemitism, and Global Jihad.”

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Wagner Group? They’re Russian mercenaries. They claim they’re not taking orders from Vladimir Putin, but you should be skeptical. At this moment, the Wagner Group is fighting on Putin’s side in Ukraine — but not as effectively as many expected. Less well known is the Mozart Group, which consists mostly of special operations soldiers from 11 countries who are training, advising, assisting, and equipping Ukrainians as they attempt to defend their independence and freedom against an imperialist and colonialist tyrant who also, by the way, regards America as his enemy. The Mozart Group is led by retired United States Marine Corps Colonel Andrew Milburn. In his last assignment, Col. Milburn served as the Deputy Commander of Special Operations Command Central, the headquarters responsible for all U.S. special operations in the Middle East. He and Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, join host Cliff May to discuss Russia's war in Ukraine. 

Refusing to be silenced, even by brutal crackdowns, the freedom-seeking people of Iran have now surpassed six weeks of nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman murdered by the so-called "morality" police. Filling in for host Cliff May, FDD Senior Fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht is joined by Mariam Memarsadeghi — founder of Tavaana and the Cyrus Forum — to discuss why this round of protests is different and how "what we're watching this time around is a revolution."

Americans must be prepared to defend themselves from hostile armies, navies, air forces – and, not least, soldiers in cyberspace. With that in mind, in 2019, Congress created the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, the CSC. Its mission: “to develop a strategic approach to defending the United States in cyberspace against cyber-attacks of significant consequences.” The CSC operated successfully for two and a half years, publishing its flagship report in March 2020. It issued more than 80 recommendations to reform U.S. government structures and organization, promote national resilience, operationalize public-private collaboration, and preserve and employ military instruments of national power. Many of those recommendations have been implemented — but not all. At the CSC’s planned sunset, the commissioners launched "CSC 2.0" to support the implementation of outstanding recommendations, provide annual assessments of progress, and conduct further research and analysis on cybersecurity issues. It’s a critical project because there are still many gaping holes in America’s cyberspace defense capabilities. To better understand what is being done and what still must be done to defeat this evolving threat, host Cliff May is joined by RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery — former executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, now senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, CCTI, which houses “CSC 2.0” — and Jiwon Ma, a program analyst at CCTI, where she focuses on this new project.  They recently co-authored the project’s 2022 Annual Report on Implementation which examines the progress of efforts to harden our national security in cyberspace.

North Korea is again launching missiles, Iran continues inching towards a nuclear weapons capability, Russia is escalating its aggression in Ukraine, and China is sprinting to field a military capable of invading Taiwan and defeating any effort by Washington to intervene. Considering these extraordinary threats, what kind of Air Force does the United States have — and what kind of Air Force does it need? Which aircraft should be retired, and which should be fielded without delay? The Air Force oversees two legs of the U.S. nuclear deterrent triad. So, with Russia and North Korea rattling their nuclear sabers, what about bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles? Would the Air Force also have a role in sinking ships in a contingency in the Taiwan Strait? What does the war in Ukraine tell us about the importance of Air Force capabilities? To get answers, FDD's Bradley Bowman — filling in for host Cliff May — asks Lieutenant General Richard G. Moore of the U.S. Air Force. Lieutenant General Richard G. Moore Lt. Gen. Richard G. Moore is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs at the United States Air Force, where he focuses on building the Air Force of the future to support the National Defense Strategy.  Bradley Bowman Bradley Bowman is the Senior Director of FDD's Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP).

The Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB, says its mission is to “improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean,” support countries “working to reduce poverty and inequality,” and “achieve development in a sustainable, climate-friendly way.” For the past two years, for the first time in its 62-year history, the IDB has had an American president: Mauricio Claver-Carone. His goals have included implementing policies beneficial to the United States and countering Beijing’s push for influence and privileges at the bank. He also ended the practice of Latin American governments using the IDB for patronage jobs – a place to park cronies and politically connected but mediocre economists including those from the region’s socialist and anti-American countries. His reward: He’s been fired — by the Biden administration. China’s rulers and the leftist regimes of Latin America are undoubtedly celebrating. Mr. Claver-Carone joins host Cliff May to tell his story and discuss what he thinks is happening at the IDB. More on FDD.org: https://www.fdd.org/podcasts/2022/10/07/bank-shot/ 

Since 1989, Ali Khamenei has been the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He has outlasted and outplayed everyone else within the first revolutionary generation. His men now control all the critical institutions in the state. He out-negotiated the United States and western Europe in nuclear talks despite severe sanctions. He has pushed Iran's atomic program ever closer to a bomb. He defeated the United States in Iraq. And, as has become even more obvious as the Iranian people repeatedly rise up in nationwide protests against the theocracy, he has also pushed Iranian society to a breaking point. Filling in for host Cliff May is FDD senior fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht, and he's joined by Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss "the most accomplished — and, perhaps, most consequential — dictator in the middle east since World War II, Ali Khamenei."

Washington and Beijing are engaged in an increasingly intense contest spanning nearly all domains of power — and the stakes could not be higher. It’s a competition between the world’s leading constitutional democracy and the world’s leading authoritarian power. While this contest between the U.S. and China is a global one, it’s most acute in Taiwan where the free people there are confronting the very real prospect of military aggression by the Chinese Communist Party. Indeed, if there is to be a war between the United States and China, many expect that it would begin in the Taiwan Strait. To help illustrate why Taiwan matters and exactly what steps the U.S. must take to defend Taipei and counter Beijing, guest host Bradley Bowman — senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power — is joined by top experts RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery and Elbridge Colby. RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery is the senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. After his 32 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer, Mark served as the policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the leadership of Senator John McCain and later as the executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Elbridge Colby is the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development, and he spearheaded the development of the 2018 National Defense Strategy. His recent book “The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict” extensively and expertly details the China threat — and what the U.S. response should be.

Ilan Berman is Senior Vice President of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington. He’s an expert on regional security in Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. He’s consulted for the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and for the intelligence community. He’s the author of quite a few books, most recently: Wars of Ideas: Theology, Interpretation and Power in the Muslim World. He joins host Cliff May to talk about the death of Mikhael Gorbachev, the status of Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, and an incisive scholarly article he recently wrote: “The Sources Of Russian Conduct.”

Host Cliff May says Wall Street Journal‘s Michael Gordon is, “without a doubt, one of the best reporters I’ve ever known — and I’ve known many reporters over many years.” Decades ago, they sat in the same bullpen at The New York Times’ Washington bureau, where Cliff says Michael, “covered defense, national security, and international affairs better than anyone else in town.” Michael has reported on numerous conflicts, both from inside Washington where the decisions are made and from the battlegrounds where the blood is spilled. He has served as a Times bureau chief in Moscow, and as a roving correspondent based in London. He’s currently a national security correspondent for the Wall Street Journal. A few years ago, he was Writer-in-Residence at FDD where he worked on his most recent book: Degrade and Destroy: The Inside Story of the War Against the Islamic State, From Barack Obama to Donald Trump. In this episode, Michael joins Cliff for a discussion on America’s fight against the Islamic State.