Podcasts about csis commission

Last week, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza. According to Israeli authorities, more than 60 living hostages, and the bodies of approximately 35 others taken captive during the Hamas-led attack on October 7th, are still in Gaza. Leah Hickert speaks with Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program and executive director of the CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention, about the tactics and implications of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza. 

CSIS' Jon Alterman and Washington Post columnist Jason Rezaian, who serve as executive directors of the CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention, join the podcast to discuss the ongoing hostage situation in Gaza, lessons from the Israel-Hamas hostage deal, and how global thought and policymaking regarding hostage situations should evolve.

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman welcomes Jason Rezaian back to the podcast. Jason is a former hostage and alongside Jon, he is the co-executive director of the CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention. They speak about the growing phenomenon of hostile governments and groups imprisoning Americans to gain leverage against the United States, why it's becoming more common, and what the United States can do both to respond when an American is detained and to deter wrongful detention and hostage taking altogether. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Danny Sharp, speaking about the case of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student who was kidnapped in Iraq in March by groups close to the Iranian government.  Jason Rezaian, “Now the real work to end hostage-taking and wrongful detentions begins,” Washington Post Global Opinions, August 30, 2022.  Jason Rezaian and Danny Sharp, “Just Call Them Hostages,” CSIS, July 20, 2023.  Transcript, “Jason Rezaian: The Rise of Hostage Taking,” CSIS, July 25, 2023. 

On this 147th episode, we are offering the fireside chat, held on August 30 at CSIS, at which CDC Director Rochelle Walensky laid out her newly announced reform agenda, moderated by Julie Gerberding and Tom Inglesby. Julie is former director of the CDC and current director of the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health, and co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security. Tom is Director of the Johns Hopkins University Center on Health Security and co-chair of the Commission Working Group on CDC.  

Dr. Yanzhong Huang is Professor at Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Senior Fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, and co-chair of the US-China Working Group of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security.  He joined Steve Morrison in the our 133rd episode for a wide-ranging conversation: on China's huge immunity gap; its “dynamic Zero-Covid approach;” the spread of BA-2 beyond Shanghai to 45 cities affecting 25% of China's population and 40% of its GDP; the acute vulnerability of China's elderly; and the supply chain disruptions and huge economic consequences experienced inside China and, increasingly, felt across the globe. Deaths are underreported, and popular discontent has risen, even while it remains doubtful that majority opinion has shifted against Zero-Covid. While the Chinese government has made some modest adjustments to its fierce reliance on mass lockdowns, testing and quarantining, it has not fundamentally changed course. “Zero-Covid will continue.” Opposition is at the highest level -- at the Presidency itself: “the barrier is political.” It remains unclear when if ever the government will move to a mass campaign using a Western mRNA vaccine, a key step to creating immune protection and easing reliance on lockdowns. Successful development of a Chinese mRNA vaccine has thus far been elusive. 

The Cognitive Crucible is a forum that presents different perspectives and emerging thought leadership related to the information environment. The opinions expressed by guests are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or endorsement by the Information Professionals Association. During this episode, Suzanne Spaulding from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) explains why she thinks malign influence and disinformation are national security threats. She also discusses the Foreign Malign Influence Center, various United States authorities, and civics. Resources: IPA Members Only Social and Live Podcast Recording Phoenix Challenge Conference (last week of April 2022) Cognitive Crucible Podcast Episodes Mentioned #32 Treverton on Intelligence Global Trends and Technopolitics US delays intelligence center targeting foreign influence Beyond the Ballot Report Swedish Psychological Defence Agency Civics Secures Democracy Act Link to full show notes and resources https://information-professionals.org/episode/cognitive-crucible-episode-84 Guest Bio: Suzanne Spaulding is senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Suzanne has served in a variety of influential national security roles within the Intelligence Community, the Department of Homeland Security, and within the United States Congress. Likewise, her private sector experience covers a wide-range of legal, risk, and security issues. Suzanne Spaulding is senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She also served as a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Previously, she served as under secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she led the National Protection and Programs Directorate, now called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, managing a $3 billion budget and a workforce of 18,000, charged with strengthening cybersecurity and protecting the nation's critical infrastructure, including election infrastructure. She led the transformation of budget, acquisition, analytic, and operational processes to bring greater agility and unity of effort to an organization that had experienced dramatic growth through acquisition of new entities and missions over several years. Throughout her career, Ms. Spaulding has advised CEOs, boards, and government policymakers on how to manage complex security risks across all industry sectors. At DHS, she led the development and implementation of national policies for strengthening the security and resilience of critical infrastructure against cyber and physical risks, including the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and key presidential directives and executive orders. She worked with industry to establish CEO-level coordinating councils in the electric and financial services sectors, chaired the federal government's Aviation Cybersecurity Initiative to identify and address key cyber vulnerabilities in the national aviation system, and worked with many foreign governments on critical infrastructure and cybersecurity, including negotiating agreements with China and Israel. Ms. Spaulding also led security regulation of the chemical industry, biometrics and identity management, emergency communications, and the Federal Protective Service. As a member of the board of directors for the First Responder Network Authority, Ms. Spaulding helped oversee the complex and unprecedented effort to deploy the first nation-wide broadband network for public safety. She is currently on the board of directors for Defending Digital Campaigns and for Girl Security, and advisory boards for Nozomi Networks, Splunk, MITRE, Harvard University's Defending Digital Democracy project, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the Technology Law and Security Program at American University. She is a member of the Homeland Security Experts Group, sits on the council of executives for the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at Auburn University, and is on the faculty of the National Association of Corporate Directors. Following the attacks of 9/11, Ms. Spaulding worked with key critical infrastructure sectors as they reviewed their security posture and advised the CEOs of the Business Roundtable. In 2002, she was appointed by Governor Mark Warner of Virginia to the Secure Commonwealth Panel to advise the governor and the legislature regarding preparedness issues. She was managing partner of the Harbour Group, a principal in the Bingham Consulting Group, and of counsel to Bingham McCutchen LLP. Ms. Spaulding has served in Republican and Democratic administrations and on both sides of the aisle in Congress. She was general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and minority staff director for the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She also spent six years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she was assistant general counsel and legal adviser to the director's Nonproliferation Center. She was a member of the CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency, which developed a bipartisan national cybersecurity strategy in advance of the 2008 election; executive director of the National Commission on Terrorism and the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction; and a consultant on the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. She is former chair of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, founder of the Cybersecurity Legal Task Force, and was a member of Harvard University's Long-Term Legal Strategy Project for Preserving Security and Democratic Freedoms in the War on Terror. About: The Information Professionals Association (IPA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the role of information activities, such as influence and cognitive security, within the national security sector and helping to bridge the divide between operations and research. Its goal is to increase interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars and practitioners and policymakers with an interest in this domain. For more information, please contact us at communications@information-professionals.org. Or, connect directly with The Cognitive Crucible podcast host, John Bicknell, on LinkedIn.

Julie Gerberding, co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security and Executive VP, Merck, Inc, joined me at CSIS for a lively conversation with Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI.) Richard walked us through CEPI's genesis in 2017, its mission to accelerate vaccines against dangerous pathogens, its sudden emergence during the pandemic as a foundational element of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT-A), including its emerging role advancing innovative manufacturing, and its vision for how the world can use the lessons we're learning to prepare for the next pandemic. Of special timeliness: why is it in the U.S. national interest to deepen the U.S. partnership with CEPI? And what hope does he have for a post-pandemic consensus on managing health security risks and strengthening the design of preparedness and response institutions? You can also watch the event here: https://www.csis.org/events/cepi-20-critical-inflection-point

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), the senior House appropriator and a respected national leader on health security at home and abroad, has served on the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security since 2018. In this wide-ranging conversation, he reflects on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre of the Black Greenwood community; the “successful but mixed bag” of the rollout of vaccines in America; the impressive management by the Native American community of the vaccine challenges; and the continued need for bipartisan support of US health security leadership abroad. China's behavior on the origin of the virus looks suspicious, like a “coverup.” Attacks on Dr. Tony Fauci are a “dangerous phenomenon.” Dr. Fauci was wrestling in his emails with an evolving crisis. To attack him is like going after American nuclear scientists in the 1950s. Support for CEPI is “money well spent,” the “most modest of insurance.”   Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) is in his tenth term representing the 4th District of Oklahoma.

This week the CSIS Schieffer Series hosted a high-energy exchange on “The Next Phase Of Covid-19.” Steve and Andrew were joined by Jeremy Konyndyk, executive director of USAID’s Covid-19 Task Force, who delivered a stirring keynote address outlining USAID’s vision for addressing the burgeoning pandemic crisis while simultaneously investing in long-term health security preparedness in acutely vulnerable low-income countries. A roundtable followed on the historic legacy of US presidential leadership amid global health crises -- and the lessons for the escalating urgent demands unfolding in South Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. Steve, Andrew, and Jeremy were joined by Julie Gerberding, co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security and executive vice president and chief patient officer of Merck; and Gary Edson, president of the COVID Collaborative and former White House official under President George W. Bush who played a pivotal role in launching PEPFAR and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).  

We crossed much sensitive and difficult ground in our extended conversation with Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK). President Trump’s bout with Covid-19, the proliferation of White House cases, the claim that the virus is not dangerous: how to make sense of all of this this, and the implications? Why have negotiations over the next Covid-19 emergency spending bill broken down? And how bad are the consequences? How to protect CDC and FDA? Do we need a national conversation on the value and merits of vaccines, and the need to rebuild popular trust and confidence? Should Congress support Gavi to bring vaccines to low and middle income countries? Give a listen.  Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) is leading force in Congress advocating for strong bipartisan US leadership in health security, at home and abroad. He is the former Chair and now Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies. He is Ranking member of the Rules Committee and Deputy Whip of the Republican Conference. He is also a member of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security.

 In the global scramble for Covid-19 vaccines, dominated by aggressive nationalist approaches, COVAX has emerged as a promising, nascent, international initiative to develop and equitably distribute Covid-19 vaccines to benefit all countries. In this episode, Steve is joined by Nikolaj Gilbert, President and CEO at PATH; Peggy Hamburg, former Commissioner of the FDA; Kendall Hoyt, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth University's Giesel School of Medicine; and Nicole Lurie, Strategic Advisor to the CEO at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) for a discussion about COVAX and its prospects for success. How does it work? What will it cost? What will it take for COVAX to succeed? What role can the United States play in that effort? The panelists discuss these issues and the implications they may have on the trajectory of the pandemic in the United States and around the world. This episode is a condensed version of an August 11 event hosted by the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security: “The Scramble for Vaccines and the COVAX Facility.”

In this episode, Steve and Andrew speak with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) on the most pressing health issues before America. What is driving the astonishing resurgence of Covid-19 in the south and west, and what is now required? Why are we as a nation still hung up politically over masks and failing to reach the true level of testing we need? What should guide the U.S. in the race for a vaccine? In the current environment, is it possible to avoid a collision between science and politics?  Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has served in the Senate since 193. She is ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Commission, a senior member of Senate Committees on Appropriations, Budget, and Veteran Affairs, as well as a member of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security.

In this episode, Steve and Andrew are joined by Congressman Ami Bera (D-CA07) to talk about his work on the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security and his impressions of Covid-19, as both a doctor and an elected representative.  They discuss how difficult it’s been to get Congress to spend resources on preparedness, and the work Rep. Bera is doing to build a crisis workforce. His main concerns: when the vaccine is found, how can we ensure the vaccines are distributed equitably to all countries, and who should get it first? Where would the supplies and workforce come from? Congressman Ami Bera has represented California’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013. Before joining Congress, Rep. Bera had a twenty-year medical career as a physician, hospital administrator, professor, and as Sacramento County’s Chief Medical Officer. He is also a Member of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. Find his recent letter proposing a Covid-19 crisis corps here.

Former Senator Kelly Ayotte, co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security, joins Steve and Andrew in explaining how the Commission’s November 2019 core recommendations remain compelling and essential in the midst of the pandemic, if we are to, once and for all, break the cycle of crisis and complacency. She offers her thoughts on the shocks we did not anticipate, such as our weak supply chains, which will now need to be strengthened for the future. Senator Ayotte also discusses China’s highly problematic role in the pandemic, and how the U.S. can reconfigure its dependence, along with a similar rethinking needed to strengthen and reform the World Health Organization. 

In this episode, Steve and Andrew are joined by Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-IN05) to talk about her work on the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security and her experience working through Covid-19. This week with Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA07), Rep. Brooks released a letter calling for the creation of a crisis response corps to manage the pandemic response. They discuss how this could include returned Peace Corps Volunteers, what essential duties this corps could cover, and how these workers could be protected from risk. From there, they move to how Rep. Brooks is now relating to her constituents under these new realities, how Hoosiers are experiencing the pandemic, and where she finds strength and hope.  Congresswoman Susan W. Brooks represents the 5th District of Indiana, and is a Member of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. Find her letter on a Covid-19 crisis corps here.

Today, Andrew and Steve talk to Dr. Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, foreign secretary of the National Academy of Medicine and member of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. They discuss what’s happened with testing in the U.S., the ‘global arms race’ to develop a vaccine, and how the U.S. and the world can develop, produce, and distribute any potential vaccine in an equitable way.  Dr. Hamburg is an internationally recognized leader in public health and medicine. She currently serves as the foreign secretary of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and 2018 president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Hamburg is a former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), known for advancing regulatory science, modernizing regulatory pathways, and globalization of the agency.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is closely watching the coronavirus outbreak, also known as COVID-19, as it spreads throughout China and around the world and the United States. As knowledge on COVID-19 evolves, Take as Directed will bring you the latest updates in this miniseries Coronavirus Crisis Update. In today’s episode, Steve Morrison speaks with Julie Gerberding, co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security and chief patient officer at Merck. Dr. Gerberding is also the former Director of the CDC (2002-2009). Dr. Gerberding testified on March 4th before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on “Confronting the Coronavirus: Perspectives on the Response to a Pandemic Threat.” They discuss the mood in Congress, the transition in the United States from a phase of containment to one of managing the spread of the virus, and her outstanding concerns and reasons for hope. 

Late last year, the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security released its final report on ending the cycle of crisis and complacency in U.S. global health security. This miniseries of Take as Directed will delve into the detail of some of the Commission's recommendations. In this final episode of the miniseries, Steve talks with Rebecca Martin, Director of the Director of the Center for Global Health at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They discuss the CDC’s work on training field disease detectives and laboratory workers worldwide, how the CDC works across the world to respond to outbreaks, and the Commission’s recommendation that the US re-invest in Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA). They also discuss the CDC’s role in communicating credible science and evidence to children and to parents on social media.

Late last year, the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security released its final report on ending the cycle of crisis and complacency in U.S. global health security. This miniseries of Take as Directed will delve into the detail of some of the Commission's recommendations. In this second episode of the miniseries, Steve talks with Ambassador Jimmy Kolker, former assistant secretary for global affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services and a member of the Commission; and Carolyn Reynolds, senior associate at the Center. They discuss trends in global investment in health security, how countries have been preparing themselves for an outbreak, and the Commission’s recommendation that the World Bank establish a Pandemic Preparedness Challenge, that could incentivize countries to invest in their own preparedness.

Late last year, the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security released its final report on ending the cycle of crisis and complacency in U.S. global health security. This miniseries of Take as Directed will delve into the detail of some of the Commission's recommendations. In this first episode of the miniseries, Steve talks with Dr. Richard Hatchett, CEO of Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI is a new model of partnership to finance and co-ordinate the development of technologies against high priority public health threats and emerging infectious diseases with pandemic or epidemic potential. Richard and Steve discuss the report's recommendation to systematically confront two urgent technology challenges: the need for new vaccines and therapeutics; and the public health communications crisis.

The National Academy of Medicine and the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security hosted a conversation on the unfolding debate as to whether human germline genome editing should be permitted, the types of applications which might be appropriate, the standards and criteria that should be followed, and what regulatory or governance framework is needed.

Stephen Morrison, the director of CSIS’ Global Health Policy Center and resident Korea expert Victor Cha, discuss Morrison’s documentary about the health crisis in North Korea. The Gathering Health Storm Inside North Korea was presented by CSIS’ Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. You can watch the documentary and find out more at https://healthsecurity.csis.org/articles/the-gathering-health-storm-inside-north-korea/. Download transcript here.

In this episode, Shannon N. Green speaks with Mark J. Penn, President and Managing Director of the Stagwell Group and member of the CSIS Commission on Countering Violent Extremism. Mark discusses the findings of CSIS's Global Perceptions of Violent Extremism Survey, which was conducted in eight key countries. During this conversation, Mark talks about how diverging perceptions of violent extremism's causes and manifestations have shaped the conversation surrounding CVE today.