Is a war for Taiwan “winnable” and is it possible for that war to be short? What is the future of pairing humans with AI systems on the battlefield, and what remains of the enduring nature of war given the state of emerging technology? How effective is the US strategy of “strategic ambiguity” in the face of modern threats to Taiwan?   Check out our latest episode as hosts Miriam Pasternak Jorgensen and Gareth Smythe sit down with Major General (ret.) Mick Ryan, a former Australian solider and renown author, strategist, and historian, for a discussion of Mick’s new book, White Sun War from Casemate Publishers. White Sun War is a fictionalized account of a war in Taiwan fought in the near-future told through the eyes of the American, Chinese and Taiwanese caught up in the struggle. White Sun War can be purchased from Amazon.

Today, host Shawn Rostker speaks with Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, about his lab’s groundbreaking report documenting Russia’s systematic effort to steal and harbor at least 6,000 Ukrainian children throughout the war. They discuss Russia’s network of over 40 facilities, stretching from Crimea to Siberia, in which children are subjected to political indoctrination, cultural reeducation, and in some cases military training, and identify the state levers that enable it. The plight of the children, as well as the parents desperate to reunite with them, is told in vivid detail through documented instances of war crimes.Russia’s theft of Ukraine’s children represents the largest such campaign since the Nazi kidnappings of Jewish children during WWII that became the first prosecutions at Nuremberg. Executive Director Raymond explains the legal framework that implicates Russia in these war crimes and explains what must come next to identify and return the thousands of Ukrainian children currently being held by Russia.

What is the “Quad,” and how does it serve to foster a Free and Open Indo-Pacific region? What are the main strategic challenges and opportunities that the four Quad member nations hope to use the Quad to address? Which country should be included in the Quad to help further the foreign policy goals of the member nations?  Check out our latest episode as host Gareth Smythe sits down with Professor Mark Seip, an adjunct faculty member of the Georgetown Security Studies Program and retired Naval officer and strategist, for a discussion covering the Quad and the US’ bi- and multi-lateral relations in the Indo-Pacific region, including Japan, Australia, and India.  

Join our host, Chris Bull, as he sits down with Mike Sexton to discuss career and life advice for SSPers in the first of a new series with SSP and Georgetown alumni.

Check out Part II of host Gareth Smythe’s discussion with Dave Diaz, currently the Director of a State Department Interagency Task Force and formerly the Director of African Affairs at the National Security Council. Dave and Gareth discuss the role of education in the national security profession and how to successfully create a long-term plan for a career in foreign policy and security. The two also walk through Dave’s Patented Ten Keys of Public Service Leadership, an incredibly useful framework to orient oneself around what is required to be successful in public service.