On this Washington Roundtable episode of the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast, sponsored by Bell, our guests are Dov Zakheim, PhD, former DoD comptroller, now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Bob Hale, former Pentagon comptroller, Byron Callan of the independent equity research firm Capital Alpha Partners, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute, Michael Herson, President and CEO, American Defense International and Jim Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO who is now with the Center for a New American Security.

Topics:

— Update on congressional deliberations on infrastructure spending, House Budget Resolution, mark ups and repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001

— Key takeaways from testimony by DoD and military leaders on the Biden administration’s 2022 defense budget request

— Analysis of President Biden’s first foreign trip including efforts to organize democracies to more collectively push back against authoritarian nations like China and Russia

— Whether a new spirit of collective pressure will deter China or other authoritarian states as Beijing presses ahead with “wolf warrior” diplomacy

— What the meeting between Biden and Vladimir Putin accomplished

— New Chinese misbehavior off Taiwan

— Eventful first week for Israel’s new coalition government

— Views on the testy exchange on race and American history between Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations