Geopolitics Decanted with Dmitri Alperovitch

By Silverado Policy AcceleratorNews News Commentary

Geopolitics Decanted with Dmitri Alperovitch episodes

August 24, 2023 What the Death of Prigozhin Means for Wagner, Russia and Ukraine
Dmitri Alperovitch talks to Russian military analyst Rob Lee and Wagner Group expert Jack Margolin about the implications of reports of Prigozhin's fiery death in a plane crash in Russia.
Where does Wagner go from here?
What happens to Russian ambitions in Africa?
Does this event help restore Surovikin, Russia's most competent commander of this war, back to command one day?
And what impact this might have on the future of the war
Music: Richard Wagner's Funeral March
1 hr 5 min
August 21, 2023 How Russian Intelligence operatives have attacked Ukraine in cyberspace: Interview with Ukrainian Security Service
In this joint Geopolitics Decanted and Risky Business feature interview, Dmitri Alperovitch and Patrick Gray talk to Illia Vitiuk, the Head of the Department of Cyber and Information Security of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) about the cyber dimension to Russia's invasion.
From turning off Ukraine's power grid with a cyber attack in 2015, to the Viasat satellite communications hack in 2022, Russia's intelligence services are world renowned for executing creative destructive cyber campaigns.
Despite this, after a year and a half of Russia waging war on Ukraine its power grid is up, its telcos are functioning and its banks are still processing transactions.
How has Ukraine been able to withstand Russia's onslaught in the cyber domain? Illia Vitiuk joins us to reveal insights into how Russian intelligence services are operating in Ukraine, and how the SBU is countering them.
53 min
August 07, 2023 Why Reports of the US Dollar’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with geoeconomist Douglas Rediker (Senior Fellow at Brookings and formerly with the IMF Executive Board) about the enduring dominance of the U.S. dollar and why it won't change any time soon.
Why the dollar continues to have no realistic alternatives and why Chinese renminbi is not a viable replacement. Also, what are the prospects and obstacles for seizing Russia's Central Bank Reserves to pay for Ukrainian reconstruction and other budget needs. And is there anything that China can do to diminish the impact of any future U.S. sanctions if it choose to invade Taiwan?
39 min
August 01, 2023 Why Europe’s Dependence on the US Military Will Not Change
On the train ride to Kyiv, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Franz Stefan Gady, one of the premier European military analysts, about why American military involvement in Europe is unlikely to be significantly reduced in the coming years and the dangers that a US conflict with China may present to European security.
They discuss the slow pace of European military modernization, Germany's hesitancy to embrace AI and autonomy and why US remains an indispensable political and military power in NATO when it comes providing security in Europe.
Music: Ode to Joy by Ludwig van Beethoven
34 min
July 24, 2023 How Drones Are Changing the Nature of Warfare in Ukraine
On the train ride back to Poland from Kyiv, Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Andrey Liscovich (President of Ukraine Defense Fund, a charity that provides non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian military) about how various types of drones are used for artillery correction, target identification and strike missions in Ukraine.
They discuss why Chinese drones such as DJI Mavic and Matrice are superior to Western commercial alternatives, why Starlink is irreplaceable, why friendly fire is responsible for over half of commercial drone losses, and how electronic warfare is affecting drone navigation and communication and what countermeasures are being employed. Also, why developing jailbreaks for the latest DJI drone models is a critical need for the Ukrainian military.
Music: "I am Ukraine" by Nastia Kamenskikh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofspgP0cKbE)
57 min
July 14, 2023 Trip Report: What I Learned in Kyiv and Conversation with Mike Kofman and Rob Lee about Counteroffensive and Wagner
Guest host Patrick Gray interviews Dmitri Alperovitch about his recent trip to Kyiv and what he learned from his meetings with senior military and intelligence leadership there.
Dmitri also interviews Mike Kofman and Rob Lee during their train ride to Kyiv about the current state of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and their thinking on the fallout from the Wagner mutiny
Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saEpkcVi1d4
1 hr 6 min
June 26, 2023 Mutiny in Russia: Who Won, Who Lost and What Caused It
In this edition of Geopolitics Decanted guest host Patrick Gray interviews Dmitri Alperovitch about Evgeny Prigozhin's so-called "March for Justice". What was it all about? Did it fail or succeed? What does Putin's reaction tell us about what will happen next in Russia?
Music: Battle Hymn of PMC Wagner (https://rutube.ru/video/3152ef2154f8d3bd9aa0aeb82fa3d77d/)
49 min
June 08, 2023 Ukraine’s Offensive Has Begun: Analysis With Michael Kofman and Rob Lee
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with military analysts Michael Kofman and Rob Lee about this week's launch of Ukraine's counteroffensive: what are its objectives, how can we determine when it's successful, and what is likely to come next. Also covered: Why Kakhovka dam destruction is unlikely to have an impact on the counteroffensive, Prigozhin's trap for Russian Military leadership in Bakhmut, implications of attacks on Russian border regions in Belgorod, impact of Storm Shadow long range missiles and why Russia continues to avoid sending conscripts into the war.
Music: "Song about Berdyansk" by Oleg Kenzov (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZXdROLaHg)
49 min
May 02, 2023 How AI Will Transform Future Militaries (And Societies)
Dmitri Alperovitch discusses the evolution of AI with Teddy Collins (former Assistant Director for Technology Strategy at the White House, Research Scientist at Google’s DeepMind and co-author of "Teams of Teams" with General Stan McChrystal):
- The AI triad of Talent/Algorithms, Data and Compute which has driven so much improvement in the last 5 years
- How AI could disproportionally benefit the large and rich technology platform companies
- The challenge of Sim2Real jump and why using AI to solve many real-world problems in the physical world could still be years away
- Why AI is unlikely to give an edge to attackers or defenders in cybersecurity
- The dark side of AI
- And what might be the most profound implications for societal change driven by AI
58 min
April 25, 2023 How China Plans to Win the Chip War
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Chris Miller, author of the recent New York Times bestseller Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, about one of the central elements of the US-China confrontation: semiconductors. Topics discussed include:
- Which chips are more critical: advanced or foundational (aka mature)
- The history of how Taiwan's TSMC had become the world's #1 chipmaker and China's attempts to follow in their footsteps
- The effect of US export controls on China's semiconductor industry and China's retaliatory options
- Why Taiwan chose to undermine its own Silicon Shield strategy
- Whether the US is likely to attempt to destroy Taiwan's fabs if China succeeds in conquering the island
- Whether the US chips fabs can be price-competitive with Asian manufacturers?
- Why Korea will likely not become the new Taiwan as a world leader in semiconductor manufacturing
- And much more
Music: "Trade War" by Zhao Liangtian (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3012160/man-behind-viral-chinese-hit-trade-war-turns-volume-singing)
40 min

About Geopolitics Decanted with Dmitri Alperovitch

From the publisher's feed

In-depth conversations on the conflicts and rivalries shaping our world, explored in the detail the subject deserves. Dmitri Alperovitch speaks with the military commanders, intelligence officials, diplomats, historians, and strategists who shape events and study them closely — on the war in Ukraine, strategic competition with China and the future of Taiwan, nuclear deterrence, sanctions and semiconductors, and the changing character of warfare. Throughout, the aim is to understand not merely what has happened, but why — and what is likely to follow.