CNAS Podcasts

By Center for a New American Security

What's CNAS Podcasts about?

Brief chats about current events, recent reports, and the latest analysis from CNAS experts.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

CNAS Podcasts episodes:

02.25.2020
Countering Terrorists From Afghanistan to Cyberspace
From serving as a counterterrorism analyst for the Pentagon in Afghanistan to working on security issues at Facebook, Kara Frederick has spent her entire career confronting America's most dangerous national security challenges. Now a Fellow with the CNAS Technology and...
02.18.2020
A Front Row Seat to China's Rise
How have China's global ambitions sharpened under President Xi Jinping, and how should the United States respond? Dr. Kurt M. Campbell served in the Obama administration as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he...
02.11.2020
Grappling With the Costs of Combat
As a woman serving on the front lines in Iraq, Kayla Williams faced not only the perils of combat, but the ordeals of sexism and harassment. Some of her greatest challenges, however, lay at home—learning to care for a spouse...
02.04.2020
Working Advance for the U.S. State Department
When American diplomats travel abroad and meet with foreign leaders, who works behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly? What negotiations go into preparing for a state dinner with Kim Jong-il, and how is the pageantry of a...
01.28.2020
Building the World’s Biggest Budget
What do the Pentagon's decisions about military spending say about our priorities as a nation? What goes into the DoD's $700 billion budget each year? Former Pentagon official Susanna V. Blume, now Director of the CNAS Defense Program, joins Ilan...
01.21.2020
Working National Security on John McCain’s Presidential Campaign
Richard Fontaine spent years advising leading figures in American foreign policy, but working for the late Sen. John McCain was unlike anything he had experienced before. Now Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security, Fontaine sits...
01.17.2020
Preview: Stories from the Backchannel: Season Two
Now more than ever, Americans are interested in the people working behind the scenes on consequential national security decisions. In Season Two of Stories from the Backchannel, host Ilan Goldenberg sits down with experts from across the U.S. foreign policy...
08.27.2019
Women in National Security: Emma Moore
Emma Moore joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss changing the requirements for national service.
08.13.2019
Women in National Security: Maggie Feldman-Piltch
Maggie Feldman-Piltch joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss the gaps she sees in launching and advancing careers in national security. Maggie is the Managing Director of Unicorn Strategies and Founder of #NatSecGirlSquad.
07.30.2019
Women in National Security: Sina Beaghley
Sina Beaghley joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss security clearance reform. Sina is a senior international/defense policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She focuses her research on national security policy issues including...
07.16.2019
Women in National Security: Laura Junor
Dr. Laura Junor joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss how the government must change its personnel systems to bring in the right talent at the right time. She is Director, Research and...
06.05.2019
CNAS Tech: Discussing a Long-Awaited Executive Order on 5G Security
On May 15, President Trump issued an executive order designed to protect the United States from security vulnerabilities in the global communications technology supply chain. What took so long? Does the order go too far—or not far enough—in addressing threats...
05.22.2019
In or Out? What Should the U.S. Do in Syria?
Nicholas A. Heras asks three notable experts on U.S. national security decision making—Frances Z. Brown, Melissa Dalton, and Loren DeJonge Schulman—whether the United States should remain committed to maintaining a presence in Syria, and if President Trump is right that...
05.15.2019
Russia, Hezbollah, and Iran...Oh My!
Nicholas A. Heras asks three notable experts on Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict—Anna Borshchevskaya, Hanin Ghaddar, and Brian Katz—how the United States can engage with Russia to manage the situation with Israel and the Assad regime to...
05.08.2019
Counter-Terrorism in Syria: More Than Contain and Drone?
Nicholas A. Heras asks three notable experts on Salafist-jihadist organizations and the Syrian conflict — Jennifer Cafarella, Hassan Hassan, and Sasha Ghosh Siminoff — about how Syria became the largest recruiting ground for Salafist-jihadist groups in modern history and how...
04.30.2019
The Assad Dilemma
The Assad regime has been in power in Syria since 1970. For many analysts, the Syrian state could not exist without the regime, and the regime could not exist without the leadership of the Assad family. However, there still is...
03.15.2019
The Autocrat’s New Tool Kit
A new set of technological tools—some of them now maturing, others poised to emerge over the coming decade—seem destined to wind up in the hands of autocrats around the world. They will allow strongmen and police states to bolster their...
03.12.2019
CNAS Tech: How (Not) to Talk About AI & Lethality
The U.S. Army recently announced its new Advanced Targeting & Lethality Automated System, or ATLAS program. The announcement generated concern and media headlines about the level of autonomy in ATLAS. Paul Scharre, Kara Frederick, and Megan Lamberth discuss the Army's...
03.05.2019
CNAS Tech: "A Tale of Two AI Strategies"
Michael Kratsios and Dr. Lynne Parker from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy visited CNAS last week to discuss the Trump administration's American AI Initiative. Paul Scharre, Kara Frederick, and Megan Lamberth sit down to discuss the...
03.01.2019
The White House: Accelerating America's Leadership in Artificial Intelligence
On Thursday, February 28, Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President for Technology Policy, visited CNAS to discuss the President's Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.
12.20.2018
Quantum Hegemony
China is positioning itself as a powerhouse in quantum science, posing a challenge to U.S. national security and innovation leadership. Elsa B. Kania, an Adjunct Fellow at CNAS, and John Costello, former Co-Founder and Director Emeritus of the China Cyber...
12.18.2018
The Iran Nuclear Negotiations
Ambassador Wendy Sherman discusses her unlikely career, which began as an advocate for women's issues. Then, she went into politics, and eventually wound up at the State Department, where she was the lead negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal. In...
12.11.2018
Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
What happens when a Predator drone has as much autonomy as a Google car? Or when a weapon that can hunt its own targets is hacked? Although it sounds like science fiction, the technology already exists to create weapons that...
12.04.2018
When Middle East Peace Almost Happened
When Bill Clinton took over as President in 1992, his then Middle East advisor Martin Indyk told him he has a chance to partner with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to secure peace treaties with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the...
11.28.2018
Stories from the Backchannel
Stories from the Backchannel is a new CNAS podcast program that examines the stories behind some of America's most important national security moments. Hosted by CNAS Middle East Program Director, Ilan Goldenberg, the podcast invites listeners into the room as...
09.21.2018
Quantum Hegemony? China’s Ambitions and the Challenge to U.S. Innovation Leadership
Paul Scharre, Director and Senior Fellow of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, hosts a discussion with Technology and National Security Adjunct Fellow Elsa Kania on her new report about the basics of quantum technology, China’s related efforts,...
07.25.2018
Strategic Competition in an Era of Artificial Intelligence
Kara Frederick hosts a session with Paul Scharre and Gregory C. Allen on the third report of CNAS’ AI and International Security series, “Strategic Competition in an Era of Artificial Intelligence.”
07.11.2018
Artificial Intelligence and International Security
Kara Frederick, from the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, hosts a discussion on the basics of artificial intelligence and its impact on national security with Paul Scharre, Gregory C. Allen and Edoardo Saravalle. The experts also discuss the...
06.29.2018
Stories from the Backchannel
Stories from the Backchannel is a new CNAS podcast program that examines the stories behind some of America's most important national security moments. Hosted by CNAS Middle East Program Director, Ilan Goldenberg, the podcast invites listeners into the room as...
06.08.2018
“Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War” featuring Paul Scharre
Join Kara Frederick from the CNAS Technology and National Security Program in a discussion with Paul Scharre on the national security implications of robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence in “Army of None.”
06.07.2018
China's Economic Coercion and the Potential U.S. Response
Neil Bhatiya, Research Associate in the Energy, Economics, and Security Program, leads a discussion on China's use of coercive economic measures and how the United States can respond with Elizabeth Rosenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the EES Program, Peter...
06.06.2018
Analysis on UN Certain Conventional Weapons Convention
Join Kara Frederick, from the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, in a discussion with Mary Wareham, Paul Scharre, and Elsa B. Kania on the key takeaways of the fifth meeting of the UN GGE for the CCW in...
05.11.2018
Analysis of the Trump Administration’s Drone Export Policy
Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, discusses the Trump Administration’s recent Drone Export Policy and its relationship to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) with CNAS Adjunct Senior Fellow Dr. Michael...
04.27.2018
Under Pressure: Chinese Overseas Influence Operations
Anthony Cho interviews Harry Krejsa on Harry's new report, "Under Pressure," which examines how China is influencing rivals and competitors overseas through subversion and other means.
04.11.2018
Ethics and the Future of Artificial Intelligence
Join Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, in a discussion with Amir Husain about the ethical implications of artificial intelligence on human existentialism, the future of work and war, and technological...
03.28.2018
The US Pursuit of Competitive Advantage in Artificial Intelligence
Join Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, in a discussion with Bob Work and Amir Husain on the launch of the Artificial Intelligence Task Force, an important cross-sector collaboration to discuss...
03.27.2018
American Strategy for a New International Order
As part of the Zak Grand Strategy lecture series, CNAS welcomes Rebecca Friedman Lissner of Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania and Mira Rapp-Hooper of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School to discuss their new...
03.22.2018
Women In National Security: Morgan Ortagus and Samantha Vinograd
Samantha Vinograd and Morgan Ortagus join the CNAS Women in National Security podcast to discuss their careers in national security, the private sector, and media, their evolving understanding of the concept of security, and how their long (and bipartisan!) friendship...
03.15.2018
Women in National Security: Jennifer Griffin
Launching the second chapter in the Women in National Security podcast series, Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin talks with CNAS Senior Fellow Loren DeJonge Schulman about her career as a journalist, how she views being a woman in...
03.14.2018
The Intersection of Commercial and Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence in the U.S.
Join Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security Program at CNAS, in a discussion with Brendan McCord and Gregory C. Allen about the challenges and opportunities facing the United States’ private sector and national security...
03.13.2018
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Grand Strategy
As part of our Michael J. Zak Grand Strategy Lecture series, Senior Fellow Loren DeJonge Schulman hosts four experts to discuss some fundamentals of grand strategy that are too easily glossed over: definitions, audiences, perceptions, diversity, and implementation. Guests:...
03.05.2018
The Future of Fighting Terrorist Financing
Elizabeth Rosenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program leads a discussion on new strategies and tools to counter terrorist financing. Since 9/11, the nature of terrorist threat has changed, requiring a new approach by government...
02.28.2018
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the United States Air Force
Join Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS, in a discussion with Capt Michael Kanaan about how artificial intelligence and machine learning is being incorporated into the United States Air Force (USAF)...
02.13.2018
What's Next for Artificial Intelligence?
Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director, Technology and National Security interviews Dr. Andrew Moore, Dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University on the most important progress being made in Artificial Intelligence.
02.09.2018
The History and Future of Heartland Security
In his new report, Heartland Security, Bacevich Fellow, Harry Krejsa, argues foreign policy pays off for the middle class when domestic policy *makes* it pay off -- and national security professionals took their eye off the ball. He and CNAS...
02.02.2018
Artificial Intelligence’s Transformative Effects on Society
Join Paul Scharre, Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS in a discussion with Helen Toner, Senior Research Analyst, Open Philanthropy Project and Jack Clark, Strategy and Communications Director, OpenAI about the most significant...
01.04.2018
Women in National Security: Nicole Pilkus
Nicole Pilkus, Deputy Director of the Maritime Safety Office National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency talks with Julie smith about her career in the defense industry, experiences that have shaped her career so far, and advice she'd give to young women entering this...
01.03.2018
The Iran Protests: What Do We Know?
CNAS expert Ilan Goldenberg breaks down the past week of protest in Iran and its global implications, with a focus on its impact on the future of the Iran nuclear deal. Hosted by Neal Urwitz.
12.21.2017
Women in National Security: Amanda Sloat
Amanda Sloat of the Brookings Institution shares what it's like working as a woman in national security.
12.21.2017
CNAS experts break down Trump's new National Security Strategy
CNAS Deputy Director of Studies dives into the Trump administration's National Security Strategy, talking strategy development, messaging, and implementation with CNAS experts Jerry Hendrix, Ilan Goldenberg, and Dan Kliman.

What's CNAS Podcasts about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

CNAS Podcasts episodes:

Countering Terrorists From Afghanistan to Cyberspace

A Front Row Seat to China's Rise

Grappling With the Costs of Combat

Working Advance for the U.S. State Department

Building the World’s Biggest Budget

Working National Security on John McCain’s Presidential Campaign

Preview: Stories from the Backchannel: Season Two

Women in National Security: Emma Moore

Women in National Security: Maggie Feldman-Piltch

Women in National Security: Sina Beaghley

Women in National Security: Laura Junor

CNAS Tech: Discussing a Long-Awaited Executive Order on 5G Security

In or Out? What Should the U.S. Do in Syria?

Russia, Hezbollah, and Iran...Oh My!

Counter-Terrorism in Syria: More Than Contain and Drone?

The Assad Dilemma

The Autocrat’s New Tool Kit

CNAS Tech: How (Not) to Talk About AI & Lethality

CNAS Tech: "A Tale of Two AI Strategies"

The White House: Accelerating America's Leadership in Artificial Intelligence

Quantum Hegemony

The Iran Nuclear Negotiations

Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War

When Middle East Peace Almost Happened

Stories from the Backchannel

Quantum Hegemony? China’s Ambitions and the Challenge to U.S. Innovation Leadership

Strategic Competition in an Era of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and International Security

Stories from the Backchannel

“Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War” featuring Paul Scharre

China's Economic Coercion and the Potential U.S. Response

Analysis on UN Certain Conventional Weapons Convention

Analysis of the Trump Administration’s Drone Export Policy

Under Pressure: Chinese Overseas Influence Operations

Ethics and the Future of Artificial Intelligence

The US Pursuit of Competitive Advantage in Artificial Intelligence

American Strategy for a New International Order

Women In National Security: Morgan Ortagus and Samantha Vinograd

Women in National Security: Jennifer Griffin

The Intersection of Commercial and Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence in the U.S.

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Grand Strategy

The Future of Fighting Terrorist Financing

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the United States Air Force

What's Next for Artificial Intelligence?

The History and Future of Heartland Security

Artificial Intelligence’s Transformative Effects on Society

Women in National Security: Nicole Pilkus

The Iran Protests: What Do We Know?

Women in National Security: Amanda Sloat

CNAS experts break down Trump's new National Security Strategy