We take a look at how officials around the region are carrying on with business as usual despite Israel's war with Hamas.

Guest:

• Audrey Decker is a Defense One staff reporter, where she writes about air and space.

This episode, we discuss the daunting task of clearing Gaza City of Hamas as well as Israel's goal of crushing the group once and for all.

Guests:

• Ret. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, distinguished senior fellow on national security at the Middle East Institute (beginning at the 2:15 mark);
• And Barak Mendelsohn, Professor of Political Science at Haverford College in Philadelphia (at 15:52).

Guests:

• Mark Kitz, program executive officer for command, control and communications-tactical (interviewed by Defense One's Lauren Williams, beginning at the 1:10 mark);
• And Army Brig. Gen. Guillaume Beaurpere of the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, as well as Maj. Gen. Christopher Eubank of Network Enterprise Technology Command (with Defense One's Patrick Tucker) at the 9:38 mark).

Defense One staff explain some of the major themes from this year's annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington.

Guest:

• Sam Skove, Defense One staff reporter;
• Patrick Tucker, Defense One science and tech editor.

Read more from our AUSA coverage at any of the links below:

• Army eyes munitions stockpiles amid focus on longer wars
• Army orders loitering munition for testing as soldier-borne tank-killer
• The Army doesn’t know where a lot of its excess arms and gear are
• Ukraine wants West's help in training NCOs and officers
• How the war in Ukraine is reshaping US Army modernization
• New 155mm round exceeds range of some rockets, can be fired by standard Army artillery
• AUSA Conference Wire: 'Drones everywhere'
• AUSA Conference Wire: 'Magazine depth'
• AUSA Conference Wire: 'A critical juncture'

We review the history of FISA Section 702 ahead of its possible expiration at the end of the year. 

Guests:

• Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation;
• And Joshua Geltzer is Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor at the National Security Council.

Read over a copy of the recent Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board report on recommended changes to FISA Section 702 (PDF), here.

You can also find a transcript of this episode here.

Staff reporter Sam Skove shares some of the highlights from his recent trip to Poland, Estonia, and the UK. 

Read more from Sam's European trip at any of the links below:

• How a tiny Polish airport became a key node for Western aid to Ukraine
• Polish support for Ukraine brings lessons, but also risks
• EU plans to arm Ukraine bearing fruit, but more is needed, Estonia says
• Estonia plans loitering-munitions unit to hunt enemy air defenses
• Europe’s defense spending sluggish despite Ukraine war
• Navies face ‘dreadnought moment' as Ukraine destroys more Russian warships, British admiral says
• Ukraine learns to fight with a hodge-podge of foreign artillery
• Beset by Russian airstrikes, Ukraine looks to make its weapons abroad

This episode we review several things we learned at the Air & Space Forces Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber conference.

Guests:

• Audrey Decker, Defense One’s air and space reporter (beginning at the 0:46 mark);
• Lauren Williams, senior editor at Defense One (at 7:48);
• And Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor at Defense One (at 14:26).

Read more of our coverage from this year's AFA conference here.

We dig into the U.S. military's new Replicator initiative, and explore Anduril's recent UAV-firm acquisition. 

Guests:

• Patrick Tucker,science and technology editor at Defense One;
• Chris Brose, chief strategy officer for Anduril Industries.

Related reading:

• “‘Hellscape’: DOD launches massive drone swarm program to counter China,” by Patrick Tucker, reporting August 28, 2023; 
• Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' Remarks: "Unpacking the Replicator Initiative" at the 2023 Defense News Conference; 
• “The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare,” by Chris Brose (published 2020);
• And “Anduril buys drone maker Blue Force Technologies amid Pentagon push for autonomous aircraft,” by Marcus Weisgerber, reporting September 7, 2023.

How much of America's nuclear history does the three-hour film pack in and how much did it leave out? 

Guest:

• Martin Pfeiffer, a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of New Mexico.

From Cold War-era distrust of the Soviets to Beijing's recent silo buildup, we review some of the ideas and methods that have helped China become the nuclear power it is today.

Guests:

• Decker Eveleth, graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California (beginning at the 1:47 mark);
• And Joseph Cirincione, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a national security analyst with 40 years of experience in Washington, D.C. (at the 20:05 mark).

Read Eveleth's recent report on Chinese nuclear forces, here. And you can find Cirincione's 1999 review of the Cox Report, here.

See also a new report from the Chicago Council entitled, “Majority in US Want to Learn More about Nuclear Policy.”