Great Power Podcast

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with David Shedd, intelligence veteran and author of the new book The Great Heist, about China's systematic efforts to penetrate the U.S. economy and steal intellectual property.

MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:

-- David R. Shedd and Andrew Badger, The Great Heist: China's Epic Campaign to Steal America's Secrets (HarperCollins, 2025), https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-great-heist-david-r-sheddandrew-badger?variant=43738689273890.

BIO:

David R. Shedd is the former deputy director and acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). He also served as chief of staff for the director of national intelligence and National Security Council senior director and as special assistant to the president for intelligence under George W. Bush. He began his intelligence career in 1982 immediately after his studies at Geneva College and Georgetown University, and served nearly thirty-three years in a wide variety of positions both inside and outside of the CIA during his career.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Priyank Mathur of Mythos Labs regarding the growing global focus on artificial intelligence, where America stands currently, and what it means for our Great Power rivalry with the PRC.

BIO:

Priyank Mathur is Founder and CEO of Mythos Labs, a company that uses AI and strategic communications to combat global security threats. He advises senior leadership of governments, the United Nations and technology companies on AI and emerging technologies. Previously, Mr. Mathur served as a Policy Advisor in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and as Global Consulting Director at Ogilvy and Mather. Mr. Mathur holds graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Boston University. 

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Hudson Institute Senior Fellow (and former host) Michael Sobolik about the new deal over wildly popular social media app TikTok - and why national security concerns surrounding the Chinese platform still persist. 

MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:

— The White House, “Executive Order: Saving TikTok While Protecting National Security,” September 25, 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/saving-tiktok-while-protecting-national-security/. 

BIO:

Michael Sobolik is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He specializes in United States–China relations and great power competition with a focus on geopolitics, net assessments, and competitive strategies. He is the author of Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance (Naval Institute Press, 2024). He is also an advisory board member at the Vandenberg Coalition and a contributing editor at Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy.

Prior to joining Hudson, Mr. Sobolik served as a senior fellow in Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC, where he ran the council’s Indo-Pacific Security Program. He previously served in the United States Senate as a legislative assistant to Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with AFPC Senior Fellow Alexander Gray about China's growing activities and interest in the Arctic region - and their implications for American security.

BIO:

Alexander Gray is a Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council, where his work focuses on U.S. security and defense strategy in the Indo-Pacific, U.S.-China competition globally, and U.S. defense strategy and modernization. He is also the CEO of American Global Strategies LLC, an international strategic advisory firm he co-founded with former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. Alex previously served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House National Security Council (NSC), overseeing daily operations, budget, personnel, and security. He was also Special Assistant to the President for the Defense Industrial Base at the National Economic Council and the first Director for Oceania and Indo-Pacific Security at the NSC.

China's Inroads In The Americas

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Evan Ellis of the U.S. Army War College about what China (as well as Russia and Iran) is up to, politically and strategically, south of the U.S. border.

BIO:

Dr. R. Evan Ellis is Latin America Research Professor with the U.S. Army War College, where his research is focused on China's engagement with Latin America and other regional security issues. In the first Trump administration, he served on the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff as the official responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as International Narcotics and Law Enforcement issues.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Israeli Brigadier General (ret.) Eran Ortal regarding Israel’s long-running “shadow war” with Iran, its current campaign to eliminate the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, and what it might mean for the region - and for Great Power Competition.

BIO:

Brigadier General Eran Ortal is a visiting scholar at the American Foreign Policy Council. He is the former commander of The Dado Center for Interdisciplinary Military Studies of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He is also the founder of the Dado Center journal, a publication focused on operational art and military transformation. His first book, The Battle Before the War, was published in Hebrew in 2022. His second book, Renewal, which tracks the run-up to Israel’s 2023-2025 war and the way ahead, will be published later this year. Ortal is also a senior fellow with the BESA center at Bar-Ilan university in Israel, and a special consultant for the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Joseph Asunka of Afrobarometer regarding political trends in Africa, and how the continent has become a vital arena of Great Power Competition between the U.S. and China.

MATERIALS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:

-- Afrobarometer's African Insights 2024 flagship report (https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/african-insights-2024-democracy-at-risk-the-peoples-perspective/)

BIO:

Joseph Asunka has served as CEO of Afrobarometer since April 2021. He was previously program officer in the Global Development and Population program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where he managed a portfolio of grants that support efforts to increase transparency and accountability in fiscal governance and foster citizen participation to improve public services in developing countries. Before joining Hewlett, Joseph was a lecturer in political science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he taught courses on African politics, political economy of development, research methods, and data analysis.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Eric Olander of the China-Global South Project about how Beijing is intensifying its engagement with South and Southeast Asia as part of a growing focus on its immediate periphery.

BIO:

Eric Olander is Editor-in-Chief of the China-Global South Project (www.chinaglobalsouth.com), a non-profit independent multimedia organization dedicated to exploring every aspect of China’s engagement with the Global South. He is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience reporting, producing, and managing newsrooms for some of the world’s leading editorial organizations, including CNN, FRANCE 24, and the BBC World Service, among others. He has an extensive background working in newsrooms and doing content production in the U.S., Europe, Africa, and Asia. China, though, has been the central focus of Eric’s professional career.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Amb. Ryan Crocker, former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, among other places, about how Great Power Competition intersects with a changing Middle East.

BIO:

Amb. Ryan Crocker served as U.S. ambassador to Lebanon (1990–1993), Kuwait (1994–1997), Syria (1998–2001), Pakistan (2004–2007), Iraq (2007–2009) and Afghanistan (2011–2012). He is a member of the Afghanistan War Commission, a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and holds the Distinguished Chair in Diplomacy and Security at RAND. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Ilan Berman speaks with Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation America, about how an emerging and increasingly ambitious India sees China, Russia, Iran, America and its own place in the world.

BIO:

Dhruva Jaishankar is Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America), which he helped establish in 2020, and is the author of Vishwa Shastra: India and the World (Penguin India, 2024). He previously held positions or affiliations with Brookings India, the German Marshall Fund, and the Brookings Institution. He is a frequent contributor to the Indian media, including for the Hindustan Times, and was educated at Macalester College and Georgetown University.