CSIS Podcasts

On Tuesday this week, Saudi Arabia hosted the first set of high-level talks between the United States and Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Saudi Arabia’s role in facilitating the negotiations has drawn attention to Riyadh’s pursuit of an increasingly elevated status on the world stage. It also comes amid intensive U.S. efforts to win Saudi Arabia’s support for a normalization deal with Israel. Asher Grant-Sasson speaks with Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, to discuss what Saudi Arabia gains by hosting the talks and what this might signal about Riyadh’s next moves.

Gunfire on Haitian airports and an assault on the largest public hospital show that even the country’s critical infrastructure is not immune to gang violence. Massacres in November and December, claiming over 350 lives, prompted many aid organizations to pull up stakes. While the announcement of elections scheduled for mid-November this year sparked a glimmer of hope, past postponements, the deepening security crisis and the suspension of U.S. assistance to the Multinational Security Support Mission, cast doubts on whether they will ever materialize.In this episode, Christopher Hernandez-Roy sits down with Georges Fauriol, Senior Associate with the CSIS Americas Program and fellow with the Caribbean Policy Consortium. Together, they discuss recent political developments with the Haitian provisional government, and the future of the embattled MSS force. They also explore how the Trump administration will approach Haiti policy and the question of international security assistance.

Catherine Nzuki is joined by Dr. Chinasa T. Okolo, a fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and a recent computer science Ph.D. graduate from Cornell University.Dr. Okolo provides an overview of Africa’s AI industry (1:54); DeepSeek and what it means for AI startups (6:40); common misconceptions about AI development (7:54); how to make AI safer for the global majority (14:22); the AI safety landscape in Africa (16:52); developing benchmarks to measure AI safety in Africa (19:05); why reforming existing data governance is a pathway to AI regulation (21:50); ethical approaches to developing language models (25:00); the exploitation of workers that train and label AI models (27:00); and leveraging available language models to build African language models (35:00). Dr. Okolo’s AI safety initiative: A new writing series: Re-envisioning AI safety through global majority perspectives.February 19 event on AI Safety at Brookings: Globalizing Perspectives on AI Safety

Mike hosts Tarun Chhabra, former Coordinator for Technology and National Security on the Biden administration’s National Security Council. He was also formerly the NSC Director for Strategic Planning and Director for Human Rights and National Security issues in the Obama Administration. They discuss developments in U.S.-China technological competition.

Doug Irwin, John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, unpacks President Trump's trade strategies alongside historical insights from William McKinley. He dives into the intricate dynamics of open markets versus tariffs, revealing how they impact economic inequality. Irwin also addresses the repercussions of steel tariffs on U.S. manufacturers and the pressing need for international cooperation amid global overcapacity, particularly with China. Finally, he explores the shifting tides of trade policy, where the WTO's influence is waning, creating uncertainty for investors.

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Alessandro Accorsi, a senior analyst for social media and conflict at the International Crisis Group. Prior to joining ICG, he worked for five years at the European External Action Service, where he led a taskforce countering foreign interference and information manipulation in the Middle East. He also worked for five years as a freelance journalist in Cairo. Transcript: "Alessandro Accorsi: Disinformation Warfare in the Middle East," CSIS, February 13, 2025. Alessandro Accorsi's recent work: "How Israel Mastered Information Warfare in Gaza," Foreign Policy, March 11, 2024.

In this episode of Pekingology which aired on July 6, 2023, Freeman Chair Jude Blanchette is joined by Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a fellow for international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the book Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Its Global Ambitions. 

On this week's episode of the Trade Guys, we will talk about the announced but ultimately delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, along with the tariffs on China.

Betting on America: Winning the Global Tech Race explores how new and emerging partnerships between government and business are shaping the future of U.S. industrialization and the country’s prospects for winning the global tech race. Betting on America will dive into strategies and investments that government and business are pursuing together – sharing risks and generating returns – as they bet on the innovation, commercialization, and scaling of critical and emerging technologies across the country. These include climate technologies, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, bio technologies, and more. The podcast will feature in-depth discussions with policymakers, experts, and industry leaders on the most complex policy questions of the day.Hosted by Navin Girishankar, President, CSIS Economic Security & Technology Department

Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Bradley, President of Vassar College, shares her thoughts on the fusillade of Executive Orders signed by President Trump directed at educational institutions, including the apparent special animus toward elite private institutions. In this moment of heightened scrutiny across multiple fronts, the first step is to circle back to core values and the return on investment, to communicate strategy better beyond campus to the broader community, including elected officials of all persuasions, and to spotlight jobs and financial and other vital contributions. The threat of a dramatic increase in taxes on endowments, as part of a Congressional reconciliation measure this spring, “would definitely deal a blow.” Anti-foreigner rhetoric is having a “chilling effect” on recruitment and retention of international students. “Ambidextrous leadership” is essential: be proactive, have the data you need, don’t overreact, and be ready to act quickly when needed.