The world seems like it is staring into the abyss, with conflicts breaking out across Eurasia. Does this mean that we are entering a new global conflict where the three great powers – the United States, Russia, and China – are entering into direct conflict? What role are smaller powers such as Israel and Iran, playing in all of this? And what do the political systems in the great powers tell us about what comes next?

These are the big questions that Dr. Kamran Bokhari tries to answer in this conversation. Dr. Kamran Bokhari is the Senior Director of the Eurasian Security and Prosperity portfolio at the New Lines Institute. He served as Director of the Analytical Development Department from 2019 to 2023. Dr. Bokhari is also a national security and foreign policy specialist at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute.

Some of the recent pieces of analyses he has written are worth a read:

- https://newlinesinstitute.org/political-systems/post-khamenei-iran-the-future-of-evolutionary-regime-change/

- https://geopoliticalfutures.com/irans-regional-position-is-crumbling/

- https://geopoliticalfutures.com/southwest-asias-shatter-belt/

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

1:45 Are we in a third world war?

13:10 Evolution of warfare

22:10 Role of smaller powers

31:30 Critiquing the Washington Beltway consensus

43:30 Assessing China and Russia

59:02 Future scenarios

1:15:30 US elections and foreign policy