The Burn Bag Podcast

In this episode of The Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Zhengyu Huang — former President of the Committee of 100 and author of Rethinking China — to examine the assumptions driving U.S. policy toward China.

The conversation covers U.S.-China competition across trade, technology, national security, and Taiwan, while examining where current policy debates may benefit from what Zhengyu believes are more evidence-based assumptions. Zhengyu also discusses economic decoupling, deterrence, the China Initiative, and the role of Chinese Americans in U.S. national security debates.

Together, A’ndre and Zhengyu discuss how Washington can think more clearly about competition with China while avoiding overreach, miscalculation, and unnecessary escalation.

For decades, wars targeted oil fields, pipelines, ports, and power grids. But in March 2026, that logic appeared to change when Iranian strikes reportedly targeted commercial cloud infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, damaging data center facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and disrupting digital services used by millions.

What happens when data centers become wartime targets? How vulnerable is the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and the global economy? And what could attacks on commercial compute hubs mean for markets, businesses, and ordinary Americans?

On this episode of The Burn Bag, A’ndre Gonawela speaks with Morgan C. Plummer about the growing strategic importance of AI infrastructure in an era of geopolitical conflict. They discuss why commercial cloud infrastructure is increasingly viewed as a high-value target, how disruptions to data centers could ripple through the global economy, and what governments can do to protect the digital backbone of modern life.

As geopolitical tensions spill into the Indian Ocean, smaller states in South Asia are finding themselves on the frontlines of crises they did not choose. From the sinking of an Iranian vessel off Sri Lanka’s coast to mounting pressure from major powers and a region-wide scramble for energy, countries like Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Bangladesh, and Nepal are navigating an increasingly complex strategic environment.

In this episode, Andre sits down with Nilanthi Samaranayake to unpack how these states are balancing great-power competition, maritime security challenges, and economic vulnerability. They explore how energy shocks spawned by the U.S.-Iran War are reshaping foreign policy decisions, the growing strategic importance of ports and sea lanes, and how smaller states are hedging to preserve autonomy amid intensifying rivalry between India, China, and the United States.

The conversation also examines India’s evolving role as a regional crisis manager and what the future holds for smaller states navigating an Indian Ocean that is becoming more contested, more strategic — and more consequential than ever.

In this episode of the Burn Bag Podcast, A'ndre Gonawela is joined by Mira Rapp-Hooper, a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at National Security Council, to break down the structural forces reshaping the global order.

Rapp-Hooper explains how the international system is undergoing a fundamental transition driven not just by political leaders like Donald Trump, but by deeper shifts in global power, technology, and economics. These changes are unfolding as the United States and China compete for influence, while allies and emerging powers chart more independent paths.

In this conversation, Rapp-Hooper explains:

• What the “international order” actually is—and why it’s so hard to define
• Why 2025 may mark the end of the post–Cold War global system
• How China’s rise and the diffusion of power are reshaping geopolitics
• Why U.S.–China competition is structural, but not a new Cold War
• Why there’s no going back to the pre-2016 or pre-2024 foreign policy status quo
• How alliances are evolving beyond military cooperation into tech and supply chains
• What burden sharing actually means—and why it’s often misunderstood

As global tensions rise and the rules of the international system are rewritten in real time, this episode provides a clear framework for understanding where the world is headed—and how the United States fits into it.

Who is Mojtaba Khamenei — Iran's new Supreme Leader? Who was the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

In this episode of the Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela is joined by Vali Nasr, the Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle East Studies and International Affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and one of the leading scholars of Iranian politics and Shia leadership structures.

Nasr breaks down the power structure of the Islamic Republic following the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the rise of his son Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s new Supreme Leader. The leadership transition comes as the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran continues to escalate, with Tehran threatening to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and expand attacks across the region.

In this conversation, Nasr explains:

• Who Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was and how he shaped modern Iran
• How the Supreme Leader actually governs inside the Islamic Republic
• The role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran’s power structure
• What Mojtaba Khamenei’s leadership means for the regime and the war
• Who is making wartime decisions inside Iran right now
• Whether the conflict represents an existential fight for the Islamic Republic

As the war intensifies and global energy markets react to tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, this episode provides a clear guide to how Iran’s leadership thinks — and what it means for the future of the conflict.

As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran escalates following the February 28 strikes, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper joined A'ndre for a quick chat to assess how the conflict is unfolding and what may come next. Esper discusses how President Donald Trump and his national security team may be evaluating the campaign, the strategic objectives behind the strikes on Iran’s leadership and military infrastructure, and what success might realistically look like for Washington and its partners.

The conversation also examines the sustainability of the U.S.–Israeli air campaign, the role of munitions production and drone warfare, and how the United States can manage escalation as Iran retaliates across the region. Esper weighs in on the strategic implications of leadership decapitation following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the widening geographic scope of the conflict, including the U.S. strike on an Iranian vessel near Sri Lanka. He concludes with his assessment of how the conflict could end — and what advice he would give the president at this critical moment.

In this episode of The Burn Bag, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with former NSC Senior Director Javed Ali to unpack the rapidly escalating crisis between the United States, Israel, and Iran following the February 28 strikes that reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the ongoing exchanges of fire.

They examine how Tehran is likely interpreting the strikes, why this moment differs from past U.S.–Iran flare-ups, and what Iran’s retaliation ladder could look like across missiles, proxies, maritime disruption, and asymmetric tools. The conversation also explores the risks of regional spillover, why Iran is hitting the Gulf states, the leadership shock inside Iran, and whether any credible off-ramp still exists.

With tensions rising across the Gulf and no clear endgame in sight, this episode breaks down what policymakers, businesses, and observers should be watching next.

Read Javed's piece in the conversation here.

Iran is at a critical juncture as it faces a wave of nationwide protests driven by economic strain, political frustration, and societal exhaustion. In this episode of The Burn Bag, A'ndre Gonawela is joined by Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, to explore the internal fractures within Iran's regime and the potential for change.

As tensions between Washington and Tehran escalate, the risk of military confrontation looms large. Alex Vatanka provides an in-depth analysis of the regime's response to the protests, including internet shutdowns, mass arrests, and the use of force. He discusses the implications of these actions on regime stability and the risks of further escalation both within Iran and across the region. The conversation delves into the generational divide, the regime's ideological rigidity, and the potential for military defections.

Listeners will gain insights into the complex dynamics at play, including the role of the Iranian military, the influence of foreign powers, and the potential for regime change. This episode is essential for anyone interested in understanding the current crisis in Iran and its implications for the Middle East.

Follow Alex Vatanka on X @AlexVatanka and explore more of his insightful analysis on his MEI page.

Syria is at a pivotal moment. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the country’s new leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa is working to reunify a fractured state — and the biggest test is unfolding in the northeast, where the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have operated autonomously for nearly a decade.

In recent weeks, a fragile ceasefire and phased integration agreement has put Syrian Interior Ministry forces back into major cities like Hasakeh and Qamishli. On paper, the deal could mark the beginning of Syria’s re-centralization. However, that fragility was exposed in early 2026, when fighting broke out between the SDF and Syrian government forces, raising fresh doubts about whether integration can hold.

In this episode of The Burn Bag, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Charles Lister, Senior Fellow and Director of the Syria Initiative at the Middle East Institute, to provide a clear, ground-level primer on what’s actually happening — and what could come next.

Together, they unpack how Syria’s political map shifted after Assad’s fall and why the Syrian Democratic Forces remain central to the country’s trajectory. The discussion breaks down what the March 2025 integration framework actually required, why talks stalled ahead of the January escalation, and what Interior Ministry deployments into Hasakeh and Qamishli signal about Damascus’ return to the northeast. They also examine how Arab tribal defections reshaped eastern Syria, whether ISIS is quietly adapting, how the U.S. posture may evolve, and the most likely paths ahead — consolidation, hybrid control, or renewed conflict.

Follow Charles on X @Charles_Lister and check out his other work here.

In this episode of The Burn Bag, A’ndre Gonawela is joined by Dr. Iulia Joja, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, to examine Russia’s strategy in the Middle East in 2026 following major setbacks in Syria and Iran. The conversation breaks down how Moscow is adapting after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Iran’s military losses and internal unrest, and growing U.S. pressure across the region.

Dr. Joja explains how Russia is pursuing a long-term strategy focused on maintaining relevance rather than dominance, using selective military presence, economic engagement, energy diplomacy, and partnerships with regional actors including Iran, Gulf states, and eastern Libya. The episode also explores Russia’s coordination with Iran short of a formal alliance, its ties to regional proxies, and how footholds in Libya and the Red Sea expand Moscow’s leverage over Europe, NATO, and global trade routes.

This discussion offers a clear-eyed assessment of what Russia can realistically achieve in the Middle East, where its limits are, and what Moscow’s evolving approach means for U.S. foreign policy, regional stability, and great-power competition going forward.