The Call by the Global Intelligence Desk

Suzanne Maloney, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and one of Washington’s leading experts on Iran joins host Jay Sapsford for a conversation on Iran, escalation risk, and regional business implications 

The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has thrown Iran into its most consequential leadership crisis since 1979, with succession questions now emerging under intense pressure, and amid a relentless attack by U.S. and Israeli forces that shows little sign of abating. 

Much of Iran’s leadership was the target of a successful attack, posing a challenge to anybody running operations across the dynamic markets of the Middle East: 

Who will run Iran after the crisis? 

Is this a decapitation strike or nation building? And what are the scenarios affecting business, growth and investment?

Maloney breaks down the most plausible paths from here, what the succession mechanics mean in practice, where escalation risk is highest, and the signposts that matter most for business leaders trying to plan through volatility. 

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

Four years in, another round of U.S.-brokered talks have reached no breakthrough. Russia continues to make incremental gains in the east, Ukraine’s energy grid can meet only 60 percent of demand, and Trump is pressing Kyiv for concessions ahead of a June deadline.

Ukraine, however, has emerged as a leading innovator in drone and digital warfare, while Russia is increasingly reliant on what Kendall-Taylor calls the “axis of upheaval”: deepening military cooperation among Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, with significant implications for a shifting global order.

Former senior CIA analyst Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) joins Jay Sapsford to discuss the vital question: How long will the war in Ukraine last, and what will be its lasting impact on the global world order?

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

Mark Esper, former U.S. Secretary of Defense and now a Managing Partner at Red Cell Partners, joins us to examine the implications, risks and opportunities amid the expanding defense spending commitments across the world. The war in Ukraine has reshuffled the deck. The conflict underscores a shift in battlefield logistics, driving an unprecedented pairing of technology with kinetic capabilities across land, sea, air and space. This, combined with U.S. pushing Europe to increase its share of the collective defense burden, is driving defense commitments to unprecedented levels.It is a global phenomenon, with geopolitical tensions driving spending across regions. But for the defense industry, the greatest challenge may lie in the transatlantic relationship. Mark discusses with Jay Sapsford whether execution can match the ambitions, and whether this becomes a short surge or a durable project that reshapes industrial policy, budgets, and supply chains for the next decade. 

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

The U.S. incursion into Venezuela, and the deposition of President Maduro while leaving his government in place, sets a new model for a U.S. grappling with hostile governments. It leaves in place an existing governance structure and avoids the chaos of Iraq after the U.S. invasion.   

Now, many wonder whether Venezuela is a template, a model that might be applied to other hotspots such as Iran, another oil rich nation facing popular uprising stemming from significant economic mismanagement. And as an armada of U.S. war ships presses into Iranian waters, Elliott Abrams, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and former U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran, joins Jay Sapsford to discuss the pressing question: Is Venezuela a precedent for Iran? 

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

The dollar has been volatile and weak, falling by double digits over the past year. Equities are strong, rising to valuations that some see as unsustainable. Prices of key metals and materials – gold, copper - are gyrating amid shortages, while yawning deficits are driving sovereign debt, both in the U.S. and abroad, to levels unseen since World War Two.

All of which begs us to ask: Are global markets flashing warning signs?

Tim Adams, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs, and current President & CEO of the Institute of International Finance, joins us to discuss this vital topic. Few people can match Tim Adams’s insights into capital flows, sovereign risk, and the costs of erratic policies. He tells us what he’s hearing from institutions, what signals he’s watching, what this moment means for business leaders making decisions on how best to navigate the volatility.

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

What will be the U.S. role in the next global paradigm? 

We invited Robert O’Brien, former National Security Advisor during Trump’s first term, to help us define U.S. success amid a landscape that is shifting, often because of changes emanating from Washington. We delve into the National Security Strategy, the administration’s vision for alliances and trade, and how it sees the global interests of the world’s leading economic power. 

Most importantly, at a time when the U.S. policy shifts happen faster than planning cycles, we ask the former advisor to help us identify which signals matter the most for business.

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

For years, policy planners have operated on a green assumption: oil demand would eventually de-couple from economic growth. Electric vehicles, cheaper batteries, solar, wind -- all would combine to reduce demand and put us on a long glide path away from crude. Some even put a date on it: 2030 as the moment oil demand would “peak.”

So, is the ‘Peak Oil’ thesis still a thing? 

Robert McNally, President of Rapidan Energy Group and former White House energy adviser, joins host Jay Sapsford to bring his stellar predictive track record to this question, arguing fossil fuel demand could well be stronger than anticipated, while supply will be tough to grow, given the politics and the risk of geopolitical disruption. The upshot: A future in which oil – and energy – is structurally tight. In some cases, very tight.

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

China enters 2026 targeting 5% growth. But behind the numbers, it grapples with weak domestic demand, a property hangover, high local government debt, and growing external pressure on trade and technology. Beijing’s answer is increasingly framed around expanding ‘new economy’ investments in advanced manufacturing and clean tech. Will that be enough for China to achieve its growth targets?

Probably not, says Dan Rosen, co-founder of the Rhodium Group. He joins Jay Sapsford to discuss how these new strategic investments yield too little to compensate for the property bust or declining returns on infrastructure. That, in turn, leaves Beijing even more reliant on exports than ever before, with significant implications for the rest of the world. 

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

Amid a dramatically shifting global environment, Europe enters 2026 with pressure coming from every direction: security threats from Russia, economic threats from China, political fragmentation, a lagging digital sector, energy insufficiency, rapid aging, surging public debt, and a stagnant economy suffocating in red tape. The stakes for business will be significant, given the trade flows across the Atlantic, by some measures the biggest bilateral economic relationship in the world. U.S. demands over Greenland are the latest sign Europe can no longer rely on the United States for the balance of its hard security while focusing on ever more generous social programs.  

But what is Europe’s path to revival? Can it rise to the challenge? Featuring the U.S. Chamber's Senior Vice President, Europe, Marjorie Chorlins.

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk  

Washington policymakers will again navigate a dramatically shifting playing field in 2026, not least because of the midterm elections in November. We can think of no better guide than our very own Neil Bradley to help us understand not only the stakes of the election, but what to expect across the issues that matter most for business.  
 
 In this conversation, amid the continued uncertainty, we step back and ask: What will the world actually see out of Washington in 2026, and what does it mean for companies making long-term decisions today? We explore the outlook for tariffs and investment policy, the direction of U.S. leadership and alliances, the evolving debate over AI and innovation, and how domestic policy choices (from deregulation to immigration and tax policy) could shape competitiveness in the year ahead. 

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The Call is a series of live video conversations featuring expert guests from the U.S. Chamber's Global Intelligence Desk. Live access to The Call is a benefit to the Chamber’s members; however, we are pleased to provide recordings of the calls for wider listening thereafter.

Learn more about the Global Intelligence Desk: https://globalintelligencedesk.com/
Join the conversation on LinkedIn:   / global-intelligence-desk