

CSIS Podcasts
Center for Strategic and International Studies
CSIS podcasts feature experts & scholars on a range of critical issues surrounding geopolitics, national security, defense, & international affairs topics.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 19, 2024 • 51min
Xi Jinping’s Plan for Taiwan
In this episode of Pekingology, Freeman Chair in China Studies Jude Blanchette is joined by Kharis Templeman, Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region. He is also a Lecturer at the Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University. They discuss Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te administration, and the strategy Beijing may adopt to govern its relations with the Taipei.

Sep 19, 2024 • 44min
Security and Governance in Nigeria
Mvemba is joined by Kemi Okenyondo, the Founder/Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Empowerment Initiative also known as Partners West Africa Nigeria, to discuss accountability for Nigeria's military and police and security issues in the country.

Sep 18, 2024 • 40min
Hussein Ibish: Popular Mobilization Since October 7
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a columnist for The National, and a regular contributor to The Atlantic. Together, they discuss popular mobilization across the Middle East since October 7th and what it indicates about regional politics. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Leah Hickert to discuss why some regimes chose to co-opt rather than suppress protest movements, and the ways in which the Arab world’s protests over Gaza differ from those in the past.Transcript, "Hussein Ibish: Popular Mobilization Since October 7," CSIS, September 17, 2024.

Sep 17, 2024 • 33min
Kiwi Crossroads: Navigating New Zealand’s Strategic Landscape
This week Mike and Jude are joined by David Capie, Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies and Professor of International Relations at the Victoria University of Wellington. They discuss New Zealand’s transitioning approach to its regional relationships.

Sep 16, 2024 • 33min
New Export Controls, the Draghi Report, and Plans to Block Nippon Steel Deal
On this week's episode of the Trade Guys, we discuss the Commerce Department's recent export controls on quantum computing and other advanced technologies, a new report on European economic competitiveness from Mario Draghi, and reporting that the Biden Administration plans to block Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel. Want to learn more about the intricacies of Washington? Sign up for Decoding D.C.: Policy, Power, and People, a CSIS executive education course featuring Trade Guy Scott Miller.

Sep 12, 2024 • 40min
China’s Evolving Energy Security: A Conversation with Dr. Michael Davidson
In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Michael Davidson joins us to discuss China’s energy security. Dr. Davidson gives an overview of China’s energy landscape and compares it to that of other countries, such as the United States. He explains how China’s energy priorities have evolved throughout the last decade, especially in response to factors such as climate change and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Dr. Davidson emphasizes the effects that the 2021 and 2022 power shortages in China had on senior Chinese leadership and the resulting elevation in importance of energy security, specifically in the power sector. Additionally, Dr. Davidson discusses China’s challenge in balancing energy security with its goals of reducing emissions and the resulting expanded definition of what energy security encompasses. Finally, Dr. Davidson speaks to how China’s evolving energy security affects its foreign policy and the potential risks for the U.S. and other countries in collaborating with China on clean energy. Dr. Michael Davidson is an assistant professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of the Jacobs School of Engineering. Michael Davidson’s research focuses on the engineering implications and institutional conflicts inherent in deploying renewable energy at scale. He is particularly interested in China’s energy system, which he has studied for over 15 years. Dr. Davidson was previously the U.S.-China Climate Policy Coordinator for the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He was a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow at the National Committee of U.S.-China Relations, is a current fellow with the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.-China Relations, and a former Fulbright Scholar. Prior to joining UC San Diego, Davidson was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program. He received his Ph.D. in engineering systems and a masters in Technology and Policy from MIT.

Sep 12, 2024 • 4min
“Strategic Equilibrium: The United States’ Manufacturing Resurgence and the Role of Natural Gas in a Carbon-Competitive World”: Audio Brief with Joseph Majkut
A short, spoken-word summary from CSIS’s Joseph Majkut on his white paper with Jane Nakano, "Strategic Equilibrium: The United States’ Manufacturing Resurgence and the Role of Natural Gas in a Carbon-Competitive World."

Sep 10, 2024 • 8min
Analysis: The Hostage Crisis in Gaza
Last week, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza. According to Israeli authorities, more than 60 living hostages, and the bodies of approximately 35 others taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on October 7th, are still in Gaza. Leah Hickert speaks with Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program and executive director of the CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention, about the tactics and implications of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza.

Sep 9, 2024 • 4min
“Diversifying, Not Decoupling: Taiwanese Industry Responds to Geostrategic Risks”: Audio Brief with Scott Kennedy
A short, spoken-word summary from CSIS’s Scott Kennedy on his report with Andrea Leonard Palazzi, Diversifying, Not Decoupling: Taiwanese Industry Responds to Geostrategic Risks.

Sep 9, 2024 • 27min
The China Challenge: Tariffs from Canada, Deepening Ties with the EU, and the Drawbacks of De-Risking in India
On this week's episode of the Trade Guys, we look at how diverse countries from around the world are managing their respective trade relationships with China. Topics include the recent Canadian tariffs on Chinese EVs, the EU's trade connections with China, and why de-risking in India may not mean a clean break from China. Want to learn more about the intricacies of Washington? Sign up for Decoding D.C.: Policy, Power, and People, a CSIS executive education course featuring Trade Guy Scott Miller.


