The Asia Chessboard

In this episode, Mike is joined by Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. They discuss how regime survival concerns among the Indo-Pacific’s authoritarian powers are shaping their foreign relations and the region's broader strategic competition. They explore the agency of authoritarian leaders influences grand strategy, the role of domestic political considerations in foreign policy decision-making, and how the United States and its allies and partners can prevent their efforts to sustain credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific from being leveraged by authoritarian regimes to advance their political and security narratives at home and abroad.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Randall Schriver, Chairman of the Board at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (January 2018-December 2019), to take stock of America’s strategy in Asia. They explore the forces shaping Washington’s approach to the region, the challenges accompanying Asia's shifting strategic landscape, and how U.S. allies and partners are influencing — and being influenced by — the United States' strategic calculus.

Mike is joined by Professor Vipin Narang, the Frank Stanton Professor of Nuclear Security and Political Science and inaugural director of MIT SSP’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy (CNSP). From March 2022 to August 2024, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. They discuss the future of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the strategic implications of nuclear proliferation among U.S. adversaries and allies, and the future of U.S. extended nuclear deterrence in Asia.

What does a more uncertain transatlantic relationship mean for Europe’s role in the Indo-Pacific? Mike sits down with Dr Gorana Grgić, Head of the Global Security Team at ETH Zürich’s Center for Security Studies and Non-Resident Fellow at the United States Studies Centre, to explore how Europe is adapting to a shifting strategic landscape. They discuss the outcomes of the latest NATO summit in Ankara; the future of NATO’s Indo-Pacific partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand; and why these transregional relationships remain critical to confronting shared security challenges across Eurasia. 

In this episode, Mike is joined by Dr Arzan Tarapore, Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. They unpack the Pentagon's decision to revert the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) name back to Pacific Command (PACOM). They explore the strategic and political rationale behind the change; its implications for security dynamics in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific; and what it reveals about U.S. conceptions of the Indo-Pacific as an operational theatre in U.S. defence planning. 

In this episode, Mike sits down with Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, about whether the United States is prepared for a major conflict in the Indo-Pacific. They examine how recent technological developments in drones, autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and precision strike capabilities are transforming the battlefield; the role of defence industrial capacity and contested logistics in sustaining military operations; and unpack the lessons from recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East for deterring and, if necessary, fighting a future war in Asia.

In this episode, Mike is joined by Ambassador Laura Stone, who most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and previously held senior leadership roles at the U.S. Department of State, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Mongolia. They discuss the role that the Marshall Islands and the broader Pacific Islands play in U.S. engagement with the Indo-Pacific, how they factor into U.S.–China strategic competition, and how the United States can work more effectively with its allies and partners to strengthen its approach to the region.

This week, Mike hosts Professor Minxin Pei, the Tom and Margot Pritzker ‘72 Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College, and author of the recent book The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism. They discuss how China's political developments since the 1970s, culminating in the rise of Xi Jinping, has shaped U.S.–China relations and strategic competition in Asia.

Mike sits down with Justin Bassi, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, to examine Australia’s latest 2026 National Defence Strategy and what it reveals about Canberra’s evolving strategic outlook. They examine how the strategy aims to address Australia’s most pressing security challenges, how it differs from previous defense planning approaches, and explore emerging opportunities and considerations ahead as Canberra seeks to implement its objectives. Mike and Justin also explore the role of Australia’s broader policy community in shaping national defence debates, and how think tanks and other expert networks influence Canberra’s choices as it navigates an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific security environment.

Mike joins Dr. Choi Kang, President of the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, to break down the latest results from the Institute’s annual public opinion poll and what they reveal about how South Koreans view today’s most pressing security challenges. Why is Japan’s Prime Minister the most popular global leader among South Koreans? What’s driving record-high support for the U.S.–ROK alliance? And why is backing for an indigenous nuclear deterrent simultaneously rising to unprecedented levels? Mike and Dr. Choi unpack the data and what it means for South Korea’s strategic direction on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.