Sound Discussion

Dr. William J. Parker III, Chief Operating Officer of the EastWest Institute, sits down with Admiral James Stavridis, Operating Executive at The Carlyle Group and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, to discuss the present and future role of NATO, issues pertaining to Turkey and the impact of economic policy on national security.

"The degree to which the United States wants to maintain its security in the 21st century...will depend on its ability to maintain a network of allies, partners and friends around the world...NATO being on the top of this list," says Stavridis.

Marwan Muasher joins EWI’s Cameron Munter for a discussion on the conditions shaping the Middle East today – political and social currents, decline in oil prices, foreign actors, Syrian post-conflict prospects and the way forward for Jordan.

Muasher, former foreign minister of Jordan and its first ambassador to Israel, is vice president for studies at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Dr. William J. Parker III, Chief Operating Officer of the EastWest Institute, sits down with Admiral James Stavridis, Operating Executive at The Carlyle Group and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, to discuss the present and future role of NATO, issues pertaining to Turkey and the impact of economic policy on national security.

"The degree to which the United States wants to maintin its security in the 21th century...will depend on its ability to maintain a network of alies, partners and friends around the world...NATO being on the top of this list," says Stavridis.

The EastWest Institute's Global Vice President Bruce McConnell speaks with Latha Reddy, former deputy national security advisor of India, and Scott Charney, vice president for security policy at Microsoft, on the importance of introducing norms in cyberspace and the role of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) in building on this important initiative.

“Part of the goal of the commission [GCSC], and others working on norms…is how do you take what we’ve learned from the past and apply them to this new domain [cybersecurity], instead of just waiting for disaster to happen and then everyone saying ‘there should be a rule,'” stated Charney. “Maybe we know enough to start crafting some of those rules now.”

When asked about the objectives of the commission, Reddy said “For me, success would be if we could come out with five or six norms that make universal sense.” "There has been a lot of talk about whether the Internet is a global commons or not…I think this much is true: The Internet it is a public good, an international good…it has become a universal medium, so we have to find a universal way to regulate it.”

Latha Reddy has extensive experience in foreign policy and security, and has worked on strategic technology policies, particularly on cyber issues relating to cybersecurity policy, international cyber cooperation and Internet governance. She is currently a distinguished fellow at the EastWest Institute.

Scott Charney has received numerous awards during his career, including the Justice Department’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement and the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service. He currently serves on the President’s National Security and Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC).

The EastWest Institute's Global Vice President and cyberspace program chief Bruce McConnell speaks with Peter Altabef, EWI board member and chairman and CEO of Unisys Corporation. The two discuss the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) and the “Cybersecurity Moonshot” initiative, which is working to develop a robust set of recommendations for a broad plan for a safer, more resilient use of the Internet to deliver government and critical infrastructure services.

“We must take on cybersecurity with the same foresight, effort and intensity once reserved for national security,” Altabef argues. “Cybersecurity is national security.”

Kishore Mahbubani—professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and author of "Has the West Lost It?: A Provocation"—joins the EWI podcast to discuss how the West's centuries-old status as the center of global wealth and power is being challenged by the rise of Asian powers—namely China and India—offering a fresh perspective on today’s geopolitical realities.

Mahbubani states that "the West is not preparing itself for a world in which it can no longer dominate," and recommends specific structural adjustments to reflect changing circumstances.

EWI Senior Fellow Franz-Stefan Gady discusses European defense policy with Ulrike Franke, Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Franke provides her analysis on the prospects of a German nuclear bomb, German national interests and the concept of "strategic autonomy."

Franke says that "for too long, Europe—and in particularly Germany—have relied too much on the support and protection of the United States."

Sarah E. Kreps is an Associate Professor of Government and Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell University. She is also an Adjunct Scholar at the Modern War Institute (West Point) and a Faculty Fellow in the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity at the Cornell Tech Campus in New York City. Dr. Kreps joins the EWI podcast to discuss the relationship between taxes, war and democracy, which she analyzes in her new book, "Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy."

Recent wars have increasingly been financed by debt rather than taxes that impact the wallets of ordinary Americans. As this shift has impacted accountability, Dr. Kreps warns that unless there are more visible costs, policymakers will be able to continue conducting wars without much scrutiny.

Stephen Tankel—associate professor in the School of International Service at American University and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security—joins the EWI podcast to discuss terrorism, counterterrorism and his new book "With Us And Against Us: How America’s Partners Help and Hinder the War on Terror."

Dr. Tankel states that “just because the United States and another country share a threat, that other country won’t necessarily prioritize the threat the same way, and the U.S. will have difficulty convincing another country to make our threat perceptions, their threat perceptions.”

With the Trump-Putin summit recently concluded in Helsinki, Simon Saradzhyan—founding director of the Russia Matters Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs—joins the EWI podcast for a timely discussion on Russian national power.

Mr. Saradzhyan states, "If you look at Russia's vital interests and America's vital interests, they are not diverging greatly."