Dr Alex Cooley, the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and Director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute, and Dr Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, discuss the recent Geneva summit between Presidents Biden and Putin and its implications for strategic stability between the US and Russia with host Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies. 

Originally published 23 June 2021

Varying perspectives on Chinese tech have hampered a transatlantic convergence.

In this episode, Veerle and Andrew Small, Senior Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Program, discuss the presence of Chinese tech in Europe and explore whether there is an alignment of views and policy approaches on mitigating the risks arising from some Chinese corporations. What role is there for NATO in this effort, and how can Europe cooperate with the US in third countries? With transatlantic differences on norms and policy priorities still prevalent, transatlantic convergence still has some ways to go.

In this episode, hosted by Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, Alexander Gabuev, Senior Fellow and Chair, Russia in the Asia-Pacific Programme at the Carnegie Moscow Center, and Dr Artyom Lukin, Associate Professor at Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University, discuss how Russia’s foreign and security policies in Asia are being affected by the Indo-Pacific regional concept and the Quad security grouping.

Originally published 9 June 2021

Although China does not recognise the term Indo-Pacific, it still appreciates the region’s strategic value.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Dr Bates Gill, Professor of Asia-Pacific Security Studies at Macquarie University and Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI, to discuss China’s interests, ambitions and strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. Despite Beijing’s dismissal of the term ‘Indo-Pacific’ as a US construct, China approaches the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a connected space that is critical to its national security and global presence. The question is: what role does it seek to play?

Originally published 2 June 2021

Concerns over China’s ambitions in outer space abound, but the transatlantic community is struggling to find common ground.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Marco Aliberti, Senior Research Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the priorities and interests of Europe and the US in outer space and to examine their stances and perspectives on Chinese ambitions in space. While transatlantic cooperation on outer space seems like a natural fit, the partnership is complicated by the debate over competition and cooperation with China.

In this episode, hosted by Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, Richard G Whitman, Professor of Politics and International Relations and a member of the Global Europe Centre at the University of Kent, and Sophia Gaston, Director of the British Foreign Policy Group, discuss how the UK has navigated European issues post-Brexit and what the 2021 Integrated Review signals about the UK’s future approach to European security.

In this episode, hosted by Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, Anna Wieslander, Director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council, and Dick Zandee, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Security Unit of the Research Department at the Clingendael Institute, discuss how Sweden and the Netherlands are seeking to balance their security interests around NATO and the EU as the European security landscape undergoes significant shifts. 

Originally published on 19 May 2021

The complexity of the South Pacific is key to understanding the region’s place in the broader Indo-Pacific concept.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Anna Powles, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University in New Zealand, to discuss how history, identity and geography help shape the complex geostrategic landscape in the South Pacific.

From secure supply chains of critical components like semiconductors to a push to promote liberal standards, the US and Europe are looking for ways to cooperate to ensure that the international digital domain remains free, open and secure. Will the Biden administration’s approach differ from that of Trump? How aligned are the US and Europe on tech cooperation, as well as norms and standards promotion? And where should the transatlantic community focus next?

In this podcast episode hosted by Dr Neil Melvin, Director International Security Studies, Jean-Pierre Maulny, Deputy Director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), and Alice Billon-Galland, Research Fellow at Chatham House, discuss the evolving French debate on European security, how France views its security partnership with the UK after Brexit, and French views on the regional and international security threats facing Europe.

Originally published 28 April 2021

Central to the transatlantic China dialogue is a wide-ranging and sometimes uneasy debate around tech.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Martijn Rasser, a Senior Fellow in the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), to discuss the ongoing transatlantic debate around technology and the digital domain.

From secure supply chains of critical components like semiconductors to a push to promote liberal standards, the US and Europe are looking for ways to cooperate to ensure that the international digital domain remains free, open and secure. Will the Biden administration’s approach differ from that of Trump? How aligned are the US and Europe on tech cooperation, as well as norms and standards promotion? And where should the transatlantic community focus next?