On the Cusp

Host Elisabeth Braw speaks to Kusti Salm, Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defence, about Zapad-2021, Russia's quadrennial military exercise. Salm previously served as the Director General of the Estonian Centre of Defence Investment.

Host Elisabeth Braw speaks to Ojars Kalnins, a member of Latvia's parliament and vice chair of its foreign affairs committee, about Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's escalating grayzone aggression against Belarus's European neighbors. Kalnins, a long-time parliamentarian, previously served as Latvia's Ambassador to the United States from 1993 to 2000.

Host Elisabeth Braw speaks to Staffan Truvé, co-founder and CTO of Recorded Future, on the threat of Chinese cyber-aggression and espionage and its Digital Silk Road Initiative. They also discuss how liberal democracies and private companies can limit their risk to cyber risks and attacks. Truvé previously served as CEO of the Swedish Institute of Computer Science and Interactive Institute. He holds a PhD in computer science from Chalmers University of Technology and an MBA from Göteborg University.

Host Elisabeth Braw speaks to Jānis Sārts, Director of NATO's Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, about how disinformation is changing (think AI and individually targeted disinformation). They also discuss social media platforms' obligations and what legislators can do. Sārts previously served as Latvia's State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and Chair of Latvia's National Cyber Security Board.

Host Elisabeth Braw, speaks to Member of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius about Belarus force landing a plan carrying Belarusian dissident journalist Roman Protasevich. They also discuss authoritarian leader Lukashenka flooding the Lithuanian border with Middle Eastern migrants in response to European Union sanctions. Mr. Kubilius is the chair of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy in the European Parliament.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to US Congressman Jim Langevin about how cyber aggression fissures belief in the government and derails our everyday lives. They talk ransomware, preparing the public for national emergencies, and dis-/mis-information campaigns that have impacted US politics. Rep Langevin is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, where he is the Chairman of the Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, and of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, discusses the vulnerabilities and risks impacting the global commercial shipping industry with Cormac Mc Garry, Senior Maritime Analyst at Control Risks, and Simon Lockwood, Head of Shipping at Willis Towers Watson.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to Mark Dickinson, Space Data Association Chairman and Executive Director, about the dark side of space start-ups, the dangers of overcrowding and space debris, the rise of space weapons, and why we need regulations or norms to guide behaviors in space.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to Ciaran Martin, founding chief executive of the UK National Cyber Security Centre, about Biden's response to the Solar Winds cyber attack, lessons we can learn from the Bank of Bangladesh heist about emerging cyber crimes, and cyber resilience.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks with Chris Inglis, nominee for the United States' first-ever National Cyber Director, about cyber aggression, how to create systems to encourage "good behavior" online, and how the private sector should be part of the solution.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to Major General (ret.) Ed Wilson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy in the Trump administration, about how governments can respond to cyber aggression, what deterrence works against cyber warfare, and the difficulties of attribution in the grayzone.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks with Professor Sir David Omand, former director of the UK's GCHQ, about cyber-espionage: how governments can defend against it, how should they retaliate, and how our adopting a spy mindset can help make the world safer.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks with Rear Admiral (ret.) Mark Montgomery, executive director of the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission, about the difficulties Western governments face in deterring Chinese and Russian aggression in the gray-zone, particularly economic coercion and cyber-attacks.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks with Kerstin Lundgren, third deputy speaker of the Swedish Parliament, about how and why China strongarms Western businesses... and what Western governments can do about it.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks with Hasit Thankey, Head of NATO's Civil Preparedness Unit, about NATO's new direction and its plans to help member states build civilians' resilience and prepare them against grayzone threats.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to former Estonian president and Stanford University fellow, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, about disinformation and why it has such power to destabilize our democracies.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to Edward Lucas, journalist and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), about the rise of #freedomwine to protect Australia's wine industry and the far-reaching implications of Chinese economic coercion.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, discusses the recent Solar Winds attack against US government agencies with Brigadier General (Ret.) Guy Walsh. Together, they examine the changing rules of cyber warfare and cyber deterrence and explain why it is more important than ever for the US military to partner with the private sector to protect civil society.

Host, Elisabeth Braw, speaks to Dr Kevin Casas-Zamora, Secretary General of International IDEA, about the 2020 US Presidential Election, how misinformation compromises our elections, and the future of democracy in the 21st century.

AEI's Elisabeth Braw in conversation with Lord Toby Harris, founder of the UK National Preparedness Commission and member of UK Parliament's Joint Committee for National Security Strategy, about moving from a "just-in-time" society to a "just-in-case" society and the value of redundancy.

Elisabeth Braw and Dr Pål Jonson, Chairman of Sweden's Committee on Defense, discuss Sweden's recent, radical hikes in defense spending and how the Nordic country is equipping to face 21st century threats.

Elisabeth Braw discusses American resilience with Craig Fugate of FEMA.

What can other countries learn from Estonia's defence against greyzone aggression? How to best involve youth in national security? And what was it like to do more than three years' military service in the Soviet Navy?   In the season finale, Elisabeth Braw speaks with General Riho Terras, until 2018 Estonia's chief of defence and now a member of the European Parliament.

Globalisation is the new frontline of great-power competition. What does it mean China has cornered the market for rare earth processing (think smartphones and electric car batteries)? What about global choke points that can be exploited by countries wishing to harm each other? Elisabeth Braw discusses with professors Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman.

Even with competitive national service, motivating soldiers is important. Elisabeth Braw discusses what motivates conscripts during their service with Nina Hellum, a social anthropologist at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment. Hellum specialises in soldier behaviour and has just completed a report on conscript motivation.

Ever heard the term SIM-jacking? If not, you should familiarise yourself with this growing form of cyber aggression. Victims include Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In this episode of On the Cusp, Elisabeth Braw discusses new forms of cyber aggression directed at individuals with Dr Markus Jakobsson, a leading cryptologist and former principal scientist at PayPal. Listen to the end for an interesting trail leading to a government.

Elisabeth Braw speaks with Stewart McDonald MP, the SNP's defence spokesman, who has followed up on Elisabeth's proposal for teenager resilience training and initiated a Resilience Scotland proposal. In McDonald's Resilience Scotland plan, people from all parts of society will be able to attend resilience training and as a result help themselves and their communities in crises.

Elisabeth Braw speaks with Senator Angus King of Maine, one of two independent members of the US Senate and the co-chairman of the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission, about how to deter cyber attacks. Plus, how to keep the economy going in case of severe cyber attacks? How to incentivise companies and citizens to play a larger role in cyber preparedness? And how will the Commission get its excellent proposals through Congress?

Elisabeth Braw speaks with British member of parliament and disinformation expert Damian Collins about why disinformation and misinformation keep spreading and whether parliaments should legislate to fix the problem. Plus: should other countries' parliaments be able to subpoena US social media executives, and what happens when growing parts of society only access news that's not vetted?

Elisabeth Braw speaks with Rear Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum, the Swedish Navy's new commander, about the challenges of defending a country with an enormous coastline, about greyzone aggression, citizens' trust in authorities, involving youth in national security and what it's like to command a submarine-hunting flotilla.

Latvia faces unenviable national security challenges, including a mighty neighbour to the East. But the country has an answer: in a new programme called Comprehensive Defence, the government is involving everyone from teenagers to businesses in national security. And it seems to be working. In this podcast episode, Elisabeth Braw discusses Comprehensive Defence with Latvia's defence minister and deputy prime minister Dr Artis Pabriks.

Despite massive efforts to improve cyber defence, cyber attacks are growing. Even hospitals are attacked. A central but little-discussed aspect are the legal implications for cyber victims. Listen to Elisabeth Braw's discussion with Jonathan Kewley, who as co-head of Clifford Chance's Tech Group leads more than 400 lawyers.

Elisabeth Braw speaks with Giedrimas Jeglinskas, NATO's Assistant Secretary-General for Executive Management, about what his job running NATO's headquarters entails, about NATO's efforts to help fight coronavirus and whether NATO should even do humanitarian work. Plus, is the alliance capable of innovating?

Cyber aggressors are not taking a break simply because countries are busy battling coronavirus – quite the opposite. In fact, despite governments and companies' efforts to deter cyber aggression it keeps increasing. Elisabeth Braw discusses what can be done in an interview with Dr Samantha Ravich of the US Cyberspace Solarium Commission, which has just published a major report with proposals for better cyber defence and deterrence.

Elisabeth Braw explores how insurance gaps impact major disasters with James Vickers, and finds there are enormous gaps.  Thanks to Willis Towers Watson for making this podcast possible. The podcast is produced by Tom Ascott. With help from Narrative Audio. Theme music is Bumbling by Pictures of the Floating World.

We need to get used to the idea that our convenient societies can't be convenient every single day. Could teenagers play a larger role in helping countries respond to threats? Elisabeth Braw and Per Brekke discuss.  Thanks to Willis Towers Watson for making this podcast possible. The podcast is produced by Tom Ascott. With help from Narrative Audio. Theme music is Bumbling by Pictures of the Floating World.

Elisabeth Braw talks with Dan Eliasson, Director General of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. They discuss how countries can help their populations prepare for a national crisis without knowing what exactly the contingencies will be.    Thanks to Willis Towers Watson for making this podcast possible. The podcast is produced by Tom Ascott. With help from Narrative Audio. Theme music is Bumbling by Pictures of the Floating World.