Podcasts about foreign policy advisor

Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge and is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society.

Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge and is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society.

Dr. Einat Wilf er en ledende tenker innen Israel, sionisme, utenrikspolitikk og utdanning. Hun var medlem av Israels parlament fra 2010 til 2013, hvor hun fungerte som leder av utdanningskomiteen og medlem av den innflytelsesrike utenriks- og forsvarskomiteen. Født og oppvokst i Israel, har Dr. Wilf tjenestegjort som etterretningsoffiser i Israels forsvarsstyrker, utenrikspolitisk rådgiver for visestatsminister Shimon Peres og strategisk konsulent hos McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf har en bachelorgrad fra Harvard, en MBA fra INSEAD i Frankrike og en doktorgrad i statsvitenskap fra University of Cambridge. Hun har også vært Goldman Visiting Professor ved Georgetown University. English info: Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. ►  ⁠BLI ⁠⁠⁠⁠MEDLEM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Fremover vil de som er støttemedlemmer få tilgang til episodene først. Da støtter du podcasten med det samme som prisen av en kaffe hver måned. Setter stor pris på om du blir støttemedlem. Tusen takk. ► VIPPS Om du ønsker å støtte arbeidet med denne podcasten, kan du bidra med et stort eller lite beløp, etter eget ønske. All støtte settes pris på, og du bidrar til arbeidet med å lage flere episoder. Bruk Vippsnummer: #823278 ► Du kan altså støtte podden ved å donere et beløp til: ➡ Vipps (lenke for mobil) eller bruk Vippsnummer: #823278 ➡ Eller bli MEDLEM og få tilgang til de nyeste episodene først. ► Omtale/rating: Legg gjerne igjen en omtale/rating på ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠.  Det hjelper podcasten med å bli synlig for flere. ► Linker: ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Nettside⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | Podimo | ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Apple

Go To https://rumble.com/user/MormonRenegade for free video & access to exclusive content. Renegade Supply Store: https://renegade-supply-shop.printify.me/products   Well given that the election day is just a few days away I wanted to do an episode not so much on the politics but on what could be at stake this election. To do that I think we need to take a look around the globe and see what's really happening. Now to help us get a feel on what's really happening I felt like I needed to talk to someone that is not only in the know, but someone who could provide context for all that is happening. For that heavy lift I reached backout to David Pyne. If you recall I had David on once before earlier this summer and he has an impressive resume where he was National Security Policy Director for Senator Mike Lee, and Defense & Foreign Policy Advisor for former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and that's just for starters. We have a fascinating conversation about what is really happening with all the conflicts around the globe, what those conflicts could mean for America as a country, what he thinks the likely outcome of the election will be and the ramifications of those elections here in America.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dave-kirkenbower/support

In the 3rd Hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show: * Vivake Ramaswamy says there isn't any institutionalized racism in America * Jim Carafano, National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor with The Heritage Foundation, joins the Marc Cox Morning Show, to discuss the Administration wanting to open an American Consulate in Palestine, North Korea supporting Russia's effort in Ukraine, and Kamala saying they are fighting for a Democracy in Palestine. * Ashley Hayek, Political Strategist and America First Works Executive Director, joins Marc & Kim to discuss what the Trump administration needs to do with 4 days left until the election, some of the happenings with voting machines, and why people shouldn't be to confident about the election until it's over. * Kim on a Whim, too! Coming Up: Mike Archer, Wes Martin, Ryan Wiggins, and First Responder Spotlight

“We live in a complicated world . . . We have to balance those tensions, and the way that we do that is not by running away from them and looking for simplistic answers, but actually by embracing that complexity.” In his new book of essays, “The Center Must Hold,” Yair Zivan, Foreign Policy Advisor to Israel's Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who heads Israel's largest centrist political party, argues for a return to centrist politics as an antidote to the extremism and polarized politics proliferating around the globe today. The essays, by authors including Israel's former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, American political commentator Jennifer Rubin, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and philanthropist Catherine Murdoch, call populism fatally flawed and prescribe centrism as the solution to political ire around the globe.  *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC. Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Yair Zivan Show Notes: Listen – People of the Pod: What the Unprecedented Assassinations of Terror Leaders Means for Israel and the Middle East Aviva Klompas is Fighting the Normalization of Antisemitism on Social Media On the Ground at the Republican National Convention: What's at Stake for Israel and the Middle East? Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Transcript of Interview with Yair Zivan: Manya Brachear Pashman:   Yair Zivan has served as an advisor to Israel's Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and President. Most recently, he has edited a series of essays that argue for a return to centrist politics as an antidote to the extremism and polarized politics we see proliferating around the globe today. The title of that book: “The Center Must Hold”. The essays by authors including Israel's former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, American political commentator Jennifer Rubin, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and philanthropist Catherine Murdoch, call out populism as fatally flawed and prescribe centrism as the solution to political ire around the globe. Yair, welcome to People of the Pod. Yair Zivan:     Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So let's start with the title of this essay collection, which is a spin, your spin on the line from the Yates poem The Second Coming. And that poem was written more than a century ago, also during a time of worldwide angst after World War One and the flu pandemic and the poem's opening line is, things fall apart, the center cannot hold. Why do you argue the center must hold? Yair Zivan:     So I think that the play on words there is about a kind of a fatalism that says it can't and saying, Well, we don't really have that luxury if we believe, as I do, that the center is the answer to the polarization and the populism and the extremism that's tearing us apart, then it simply has to hold.  Now that's not to say that it will automatically or by default. It means we have to go out and fight for it, and that's what I've been trying to do with the book and with the events around it, is to make the case that the center can hold if we go out and make that happen. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So what is centrism anyway? Yair Zivan:     It's a good place to start. I'll start with what centrism isn't. Centrism is not the middle. It's not a search for some point on a map between where the left and the right happen to be at any given time. That just leaves you getting dragged around from place to place by whatever the political winds are. It's not useful as a political idea. It's also not successful as a political idea.  Centrism says, here are a set of core values that we believe should be at the center of politics. They should be the things that are at the heart of our democratic political tradition, our political instinct. And you can trace it back to the early '90s, to Clinton and to Blair and the third way movement. You can trace it back much further, Oliver Wendell Holmes is often cited as a good example of a centrist political philosophy.  But at its core, what centrism says is we live in a complicated world, and we have to manage that complexity. We have to balance those tensions, and the way that we do that is not by running away from them and looking for simplistic answers, but actually by embracing that complexity. And by saying when we find the best balance between these competing tensions, and that's not to say split the difference and find the middle. There are times when we go more one way and more another, it's to say that is the way that we can best hold within us the complexities of running a country today. And there are some very core values at the heart of that liberal patriotism, this idea that it's good to love your country. It's good to be a patriot without being a nationalist, without hating others, without having to degrade other people in order to affirm your sense of love for your own country.  We talk about equality of opportunity, the idea that the role of government is to give everybody the best possible chance to succeed. It's not to guarantee an equality of outcome at the end, but it's to say we're going to make sure that children have a good education system and that their health care system gives them a chance to succeed, and they have a hot meal every day, and then people that want to work hard and take those opportunities and be innovative will be able to succeed in society.  It talks about the politics of hope, as opposed to the politics of fear and division, so creating a national story that people can rally around, rather than one that divides us inevitably into camps and separates us, which is what I think populists and extremists try to do.  So there's a whole host of them, and I would say one of the core ones, and maybe why it's so important and so relevant now, is that centrism is the place where you defend liberal democracy. It's fashionable today to talk about the death of liberalism and why liberalism can't possibly survive, and liberal democracy is an aberration in human history, and really we're meant to be ruled by kings and autocrats. And I say no, liberal democracy is good. It's actually the best system of government we've ever had, and we should work really hard to defend it and to protect it.  And the only place you can do that is in the political center. You can't trust the political right and the political left to defend the institutions of liberal democracy, because they only do it up until the point when it's uncomfortable for them. The right has taken on itself the mantle of free speech, and the right is really great at protecting free speech right up until the point that it's speech they don't like and then they're banning books in libraries.  And the left loves talking about protecting the institutions of liberal democracy until it disagrees with them, and then it's happy to start bending around the edges. The Center is the place where we say the institutions, the ideas, the culture of liberal democracy, is something that's worth defending and worth defending passionately and strongly. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So I'm curious, are these core values universal to centrism, or are they really up to individual communities? Is it, in other words, is it up to communities, nations to decide what centrism is in their region, in their neck of the woods, if you will?  Yair Zivan:     So there is always variety in any political idea, in any political approach, where people adapt it to their own systems, but the core principles have to be the same core principles. And one of the things I set out to do in this book is to say, actually, centrism is something that works across the globe. So Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian Prime Minister, and Andreas Velasco, a former presidential candidate in Latin America, and we have Argentinians, and we have a Japanese contributor, and the idea is to say centrism as the principles that I laid out as the core idea is the antidote to the extremism and polarization that we're seeing works everywhere, and that's actually a really important part.  Now, sure, there are different issues that you deal with in different countries. Also say the threat is different in different countries, if part of what we're doing is an alternative to extremism and polarization. Then in Latin America, people are more worried today about the rise of a populist far left, whereas in Europe, they might be more worried about the rise of a populist far right. And so the challenge is different and the response is different, but the core principles, I think, are the same and they are consistent. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So do you believe that this philosophy is eroding? I mean, it seems to be happening at the same time around the world, in various democracies, Europe, United States, Israel. But do you agree? I mean, is this eroding, or is that too strong a word? Yair Zivan:     Look, I think one of the problems with centrist is we're often not very good at talking about our successes and pretty down on ourselves, rather than actually taking pride in really good things that we've done and in places where we win and places where we do well, the test of a political idea is not if it wins every election. No one wins every election, right? That's part of politics as a pendulum. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but the more important thing is not whether you win every election. And don't get me wrong, I work in politics. I like to win. I like to get votes. I like to be in government so that we can do the things that we care about, right? That's why we're in politics. But the test of the idea is whether it can also survive, defeat, an opposition and a time when you're not in power and come back from that stronger. And I think centrism has done that, and can continue to do that. But part of the reason for the book is we haven't always been articulate enough, confident enough and coherent enough in the way that we present our case, and that's something that I hope this book will have some kind of role in changing. That is to say we need to be proud of our successes and our achievements. What happens when you have a successful centrist government, the next people in the political party that come along disavow it and move away from it. You saw it in Tony Blair's Labor Party. I would argue that new labor was an incredibly successful political project, and the thing that came next was a labor party that did everything it could to run away from that rather than embrace that legacy.  And as the Labor Party reembrace that legacy, not coincidentally, it also came to power again in the UK, and you see that across the world. I think there are places clearly where we're struggling and places where we need to do a better job, but I also think there are enough examples to show that centrism can work, and the kind of politics that we're pushing for can work and can be successful. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So where is it struggling and where is it succeeding the most?  Yair Zivan:     So look, I'll talk about something that is maybe close to our heart on this podcast, and that's the situation in Israel today, Israel is going through the most difficult time, I think, as a country that certainly in our lifetimes, if not since 1948 we October 7 was was the darkest day that any of us lived through. I'm a little reticent to talk about the political response to that, but one of the things that's interesting from a centrist perspective, is the response of the Israeli public has not been to move to the right. It's been to move to the political center. And if you look at opinion polls in Israel today, the next government, if elections were held today, would be a center center right government. And I'm confident that that will hold all the way through to whenever we have the next election. And I think that's because there is a sense in Israel that actually people want that type of governance. They want people who understand that you need to embrace compromise and moderation and pragmatism as values, rather than looking at them as kind of a political slur, as a vice, as something that we need to talk down about. And so I look at Israel as a place where, actually we lost the election.  In November '22 we elected a government that was, to my mind, very right wing. And populist and incredibly problematic. I think we've paid a very high price for that in the last 18 months or so, and now there is a move back towards the political center. Look, I think Emmanuel Macron has been an example of the success of political centrism. The fact that he struggled in the parliament in the most recent parliamentary elections is not an indictment of the fact that he managed to build a political center in France that wasn't really there before. And the test, I guess, will be whether in two years, there is a successor from his party or not. So there are plenty of places I think that I can look out for being successful and where centrism does well. I think there's been some really good examples of political centrism in the US as well, despite the popular media narrative that everything is polarized. You look at groups like the problem solvers caucus in Congress, and you say, here is a group of members of Congress who are determined to work together, who are determined to cooperate and to find solutions to complicated problems and approach it in a really centrist way. Would I like to see centrists winning more in bigger majorities everywhere? Absolutely. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Can you give an example of an issue, pick a country, any country, but an issue that would really benefit from that pragmatic approach, that pragmatic centrist approach, sir Yair Zivan:     Arne Duncan, who was President Obama's Secretary of Education, who writes about a willingness to take on teachers unions and a willingness to demand standards and a sense of what is the focus of education, right? Where the focus of education should be providing the best possible education to children, something we should all be able to rally around, and yet, something that we seem to have lost along the way. And I think education comes back again and again as a core centrist focus. That's one. The other one that I think is really interesting is the essay by Rachel Pritzker. Rachel writes about climate change and about environment, and in it, she makes what I think is a really compelling case that says we can't fight back against the need for energy abundance, because, particularly in the developing world, people need energy in order to improve their quality of life, and they need a lot more energy than they have now. And the idea that the solution to climate change is turning off the lights every so often for a bit longer, is just not practical. Now it comes from a perspective that says climate change is real and is a problem and it's something we need to address, but it kind of pushes away from, I think, most of the orthodoxies of much of the kind of climate change movement and the environmental protection movement, and says we need something different. And that thing is a focus on technology and on innovation that will allow people to create the energy that they need in order to raise their quality of life, rather than demanding that they use less. That is, I think, a really great centrist approach. It's not a splitting of the difference. It's clearly coming down on the side that says climate change is real and it's a problem and it's something we have to address. But it's rejecting orthodoxies and offering something I think that's different. Manya Brachear Pashman:   And this seems like such a no brainer, right? I mean, it seems like these are our values, our principles that everyone should be able to agree upon, maybe not the methodology, right? Maybe that's what's up for debate. But it seems like these are just not points of contention. Yair Zivan:     I think we're going against the grain of politics. I think today, people don't subscribe to a real full throated defense of liberal democracy, and people aren't really willing to defend free speech, including speech that they don't like. And people are taking advantage of feelings of patriotism and dragging them to a pretty ugly nationalism or rejecting patriotism altogether. And so I think a lot of the ideas are not the most natural grain of where politics is. I was on a panel a few days ago, and one of the panelists turned to me, looked at me deeply, and said, I don't think I've ever met a centrist before.  And I thought, I think you probably have, right? And if not, then, nice to meet you, hi, I'm a centrist. But the idea that actually it's going against the trend in politics is one that troubles me. Part of what I'm trying to do is to say to people, if you are a centrist, then speak up. And it's difficult when you're a centrist, you are the biggest threat today. The fight in politics today is not between left and right, it's between the center and the extremes.  And so what happens when you come out and say, I'm a centrist? This is what I believe, is you find yourself attacked by the extremes, and that's sometimes a difficult place to be. When I put the first tweet out about my book within half an hour, I was called every name under the sun. I was a communist and a Nazi all at once, depending on who was attacking me, right? You have to be able to withstand that too often. Centrists have been shy and have kind of hidden back and said, I don't really mean it, and actually, I don't want to have this fight. Or actually, let's not talk about politics now, rather than saying, here's a set of values I believe in, and I'm passionate about and I'm willing to fight for them, and you know what, I am as committed to them, I am as passionate about them, and I'm as willing to fight for them as the extremes are about theirs. And because I think the majority of people are centrist and are looking for that motivation, I think that allows us to win the political argument, because if we're proud enough, then people will line up behind us who already do agree with the principles, but maybe feel like they're alone or there aren't enough people that share their views. Manya Brachear Pashman:   In other words, they're kind of anti confrontational. They avoid confrontation, or perhaps too many centrists don't want to sound too passionate about their values, because. As perhaps passion equates to extreme.  Yair Zivan:     You should be able to be a passionate centrist. You should be passionate about defending liberal democracy. You should be passionate about being a liberal patriot. You should be passionate about trying to give children equality of opportunity, right? Those things are things that it's good to be passionate about, and you should care about them.  I just don't recognize in the centrism that I see being successful, this perception of timidity, or this perception of being scared, but what you have, I think, is too many centrists who have taken that path, and you have kind of backed off and backed away from being passionate about those arguments, and that's where we lose.  So my call to centrists is to be loud and to be proud and to be passionate about the things that we really care about and where there are places where people might feel a little bit uncomfortable with it and not want to be confrontational, because maybe it goes with the more moderate and pragmatic mindset. Is to say we have to overcome it because the issues are too important for us not to. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Do I also want to clarify, being a centrist is not at the exclusion of the right or the left, right? It's more a conversation between both, or a consensus or a compromise of both, whatever works right, whatever works best for the greater good?  Yair Zivan:     There is an element of a rejection of the left and the right, to some extent, right, particularly of the fringes, and I'm incredibly critical of even some of the more moderate left and moderate right, because they're too willing to appease the extremes on their side. They're very good at calling out extremism and populism from the other camp, but not always good enough for calling out on their own side, which I think is where the challenge really lies. The idea is not to find a compromise.  The idea is not to split the difference between old ideas. It is about saying we should be focusing on what works. And I write a line in the book, slightly glibly, that, if it works, and if it makes people's lives better, does it really matter if it comes from Marx or from Hayek, right?  The political philosophy behind it certainly matters less than if it works the way that compromise can be a successful political tool. And I think we all compromise in our lives all the time, and suddenly when we get to politics, we see it as a sign of weakness or non-committal-ness or something like that, whereas in our everyday lives, we see it as a part of being able to function as an adult in society. I think the goal of that, the way that you do that successfully, the way you compromise successfully, is by being really clear about what your values are and what your ideals are and what you believe. And only then can you go to a compromise. If I try to compromise with people without being very firm about what I believe and what's important to me, I'll just get dragged to wherever they are because they're passionate and I'm not. They're committed and I'm not. So you have to be really clear about what your values are.  And I actually think the real test about compromise is whether you do it when you're in a position of power, not in a position of weakness. In politics, people compromise because they have to. I say you should compromise because you want to. And I'll give a kind of an example, I guess. If I had 51% of the votes in Parliament, and I could pass anything I wanted, and I had a belief, a reform that I passionately believed and wanted to get through, and I could pass it 100% the way that I wanted, or I could take it down to 80% of what I want, and take 20% from other people and increase my majority from 51% to 75% I would do that because I think it's right, because I think building consensus builds more sustainable policy, because I think it creates a healthier democracy and a healthier political culture.  Because I have enough humility to say that maybe I don't know everything, and I'm not right about everything, and the other side has something useful to contribute, even to something that I'm really passionate about. That's the test of compromise. Do you do it when you don't have to, but because you think it's the right thing to do? And again, it's dependent on knowing what your values are and dependent on knowing what you're not willing to compromise on, because if you don't have that, then you don't have the anchor from which you take your political beliefs. Manya Brachear Pashman:   In other words, kind of seeding a little bit to the other side, not because you have to, but because you need that little percentage bump to pass your legislation, but because you'll just build more of a consensus and more support on both sides of the aisle, or both sides of eight aisles, whatever, however it works. But yeah, I mean, it's really about building a consensus among lawmakers for the greater good, rather than just claiming that slim victory.  Yair Zivan:     Yeah, it creates better policy and more sustainable policy. But there's also limits to it. You very rarely in politics get 100% support for anything. And often, if you've got to the place where everyone supports it, then you've probably gone too far with the compromise, right, and you've probably watered it down too much.  There are very rare moments in politics when everybody agrees about something, and there are cases, and there are cases when we can do that, but on the really big issues, it's rare for us to get to that level of consensus, and I don't think that's necessarily desirable either. But being able to build a little bit beyond your political comfort zone, a little bit beyond your camp, I think, is a really useful thing in politics, and there are models where it works really well.  Manya Brachear Pashman:   So let me ask you more specifically. Okay, what is eroding centrism? What forces really are working against it and in the places where the center is maintaining its hold, are those forces in reverse? In other words, have they found a way to conquer those particular forces, or have they found a way to conquer what works against centrism, or has it just not reached them yet? Yair Zivan:     So I'll start by flipping the question, I don't think it's about, does centrism work when other people aren't strong enough to attack it and to take it apart? Centrism works when it's strong enough, in and of itself, and it's defining the political agenda. The goal of what I'm trying to do with the book and with the arguments that I'm making is to say, we define what is at the core of democratic politics. Now everybody else is going to have to respond to us. So that's the first thing. Is that switch in mindset away from Are we able to withstand, where the extremes are, to a place where we say, actually, we're the solid anchor, and now we are the ones that are defining the political moment and the political issues. Where is it that we do well? Is where we're confident, right?  When we're able to stand up and be proud of ourselves, and then you're more easily able to rebuff some of those forces. Where do I think centrism struggles? One of the places where it struggles, and this is my criticism of my own camp, which I think is always important to have that kind of, I think, a little bit of self awareness. We're often not good enough at really connecting with people's fears and grievances and concerns that are genuine, right? People really are worried about technological innovation and the pace of automation, and people are worried about immigration. And you can be worried about immigration without being a racist and without being a person that should be shunned or that we should criticize.  There is a genuine reason why people are worried about these things, and we have to be better at really connecting to those grievances and fears that people have to really understand them, to really empathize with them. That is the cost of entry, to be able to suggest different policies to them. If I want to convince someone that populist politics aren't going to work, I have to show that I care about them as much as the Populists do, and not seed that ground. And I don't think we're always really good enough at doing that. Where we are good at doing that, there's a huge reward.  And ultimately, I believe that on every issue, the solutions that we offer from the political center are more successful than the solutions that are offered by the populists and by the extremists, but we have to be able to convince the public of that you can't disregard people who vote for somebody you find distasteful, even if you think that the candidate they're voting for is somebody that you have real problems with, and even if the candidate they're voting for is actually a racist or is actually illiberal and undemocratic. That doesn't mean all the people voting for them are and it doesn't mean you can afford to dismiss those people. It means you need to do a better job of listening to them and connecting with them and bringing them back to our political camp. When politicians fail to get their message across because they're not doing a good enough job, it's not because of the public. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Yair, thank you so much for joining us and for giving us a little bit of a pathway to expressing these kinds of views that aren't heard of a whole lot. Yair Zivan:     Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. Manya Brachear Pashman:   If you missed last week's episode, be sure to tune in for a conversation between my colleague Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC's Managing Director of Policy and Political Affairs, and Ron Kampeas, the Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.  

The US is currently suffering a crisis in democracy, and its effects are far-reaching. But how does it relate to the global rise in authoritarianism and conflict? In the wake of compounding concerns created by the recent Supreme Court immunity decision and increasing calls for Joe Biden to step down from the Presidential nomination due to his age, This Is Not A Drill assesses the stakes at play for global security.  America is in turmoil after the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. But worrying developments – from a Supreme Court decision that conceivably puts the US President above the law, to the Democrats' paralysis in the face of Biden's declining powers – point to a deeper crisis. If America can't function as a democracy, where does that leave the peace and stability of the world?  Emma Beals speaks to former U.S. Director of Policy Planning Richard Haass and former Foreign Policy Advisor to Bernie Sanders Matt Duss to explore whether the greatest threat to American democracy is no longer Donald Trump, but comes from within the Democratic Party itself.  Incogni keeps your private information safe, protects you from identity theft and keeps your data from being sold. There's a special offer for This Is Not A Drill listeners – Go to Incogni.com/notadrill to get an exclusive 60% off your annual plan. Support us on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Drill producing thought-provoking podcasts like this.    Written and presented by Emma Beals. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Assistant produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.   www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Einat Wilf is a leading thinker on Israel, Zionism, foreign policy and education. She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010 to 2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Wilf served as an Intelligence Officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company. Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was the Goldman Visiting Professor at Georgetown University. Dr. Wilf is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. “We Should All Be Zionists“, published in 2022, brings together her essays from the past four years on Israel, Zionism and the path to peace; the co-authored “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”, was published in 2020.

Go To https://rumble.com/user/MormonRenegade for free video & access to exclusive content. Renegade Supply Store: https://renegade-supply-shop.printify.me/products   https://dpyne.substack.com   So do ya ever feel overwhelmed with trying to keep up with what's               happening in the world? Well I know I do I mean there are only two active wars going on right now and the most contentious presidential                        election in history. I have been looking for someone who could give some perspective on this and was put in contact with David Pyne. Now Davids resume is impressive. Here are some of the highlights He has served in the U.S. Army, Studied National Security at Georgetown, Political Science at BYU, was a former state senate candidate, National Security Policy Director for Senator Mike Lee, and finally Defense & Foreign Policy Advisor for former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. So, you might not always agree with some of his takes but his analysis deserves consideration. We cover everything from the roots of the conflict in Russia and Ukraine, Chinas desire to control Taiwan. It's pretty insightful commentary that puts all of what is happening into a little bit more perspective. Finaly, we finish up by talking about what this all could mean for the upcoming months and what you and your family can do to prepare.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dave-kirkenbower/support

Born in America. Raised in the Holy Land. A devoted Jewish father and husband. An IDF veteran. A veteran of Israel's politics—having served as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Israel, as well as Bureau Chief and Foreign Policy Advisor. And now the author of a book about Israel that directly looks at the events that helped lead up to the ongoing war with Hamas.This is Ari Harow. Besides all of these accomplishments and experiences, Ari is also part of our Fellowship family—literally. Fellowship President and CEO Yael Eckstein is privileged that Ari is her brother-in-law. And now, having shared Shabbat dinners and family memories with him, Yael welcomes to the podcast this Israeli who has devoted his life to making life better for his country, God's people, Israel—truly his brothers' and sisters' keeper.Ari shares not only his own life story of making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) as a child from the U.S. to the moment when he knew he would devote his life to serving Israel—while serving as a 20-year-old in the IDF infantry in Lebanon. He also shares about his time serving under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the many situations he navigated in that role—including the 2014 kidnappings of three Israeli boys that led to Israel's last major war in Gaza.Listen to this insightful conversation with an Israeli who has devoted his life to serving the people of Israel.And read Ari Harow's new book about his life, his career, and how a moment in Israel's recent history set the course of today's events, My Brother's Keeper: Netanyahu, Obama & the Year of Terror & Conflict that Changed the Middle East Forever.For more information on today's episode visit mybiblicalroots.org.

In this episode, Ambassador Shota Gvineria will update us on the current situation in Georgia and give us some background on its relations with Russia and Ukraine, territorial integrity, its desire to join the EU and the rise of populism in Europe , that may explain how Georgia got on its current path. Biography of our guest : Amb. Shota Gvineria joined the Baltic Defence College as the lecturer in Defence and Cyber Studies in July of 2019. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Economic Policy Research Center since 2017. Earlier, Amb. Gvineria has been working on various positions in Georgia's public sector. Among other positions, Shota Gvineria served as the Deputy Secretary at the National Security Council of Georgia. He covered NATO's integration and security policy related issues as the Ambassador at Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In his previous capacity until August 2016, he held the position of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Georgia. Through 2010-14, he served as the Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2010, Amb. Gvineria waspromoted to the position of a Director of European Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to that, in he served as a Head of NATO Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the period from April 2006 until October 2008, Shota Gvineria was posted as the Counselor of the Georgian Mission to NATO. Amb. Gvineria holds MA in Strategic Security Studies from Washington's National Defense University. He also earned his MA in International Relations from the Diplomatic School of Madrid and Public Administration from the Georgian Technical University. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mediterranean-sustainable/message

Jim Carafano, Heritage Foundation's National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor, joins Marc & Kim to talk about the US meddling in other countries as well as going to war with a 'Woke' military

In the 3rd hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show:  Dr. Redfield admits there were complications caused by the COVID vaccine Jim Carafano, Heritage Foundation's National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor, joins Marc & Kim to talk about going to war with a 'Woke' military  Former Mo Sen. Dr. Bob Onder joins the Marc Cox Morning Show to discuss the utter failure of the MO Senate on passing IP Reform Kim on a Whim too Coming Up; Ryan Wiggins

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), arguably one of the most successful alliances in history. Yet, after the fall of the Soviet Union, some questioned whether NATO was still needed and relevant. Putin's 2022 unprovoked re-invasion of Ukraine, which instigated the largest war in Europe since World War II, put those questions to rest. Even as the United States attempts to address serious threats in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, Washington now confronts “a combination of challenges and threats in the Euro-Atlantic area that we have not seen in more than thirty years,” according to congressional testimony last month by the commander of U.S. European Command (USEUCOM).So why should Americans care about security in Europe? What are Russia and China up to on the continent? How is the war in Ukraine going? What's the status of the alliance and what investments are needed to strengthen readiness and deterrence?To discuss these questions and more, FDD's Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) hosts Lt. Gen. Steven Basham, Deputy Commander of U.S. European Command, and Ambassador Kate Marie Byrnes, the command's Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor. CMPP Senior Director Bradley Bowman moderates the conversation and Ambassador Eric Edelman, who sits on CMPP's board, delivers introductory remarks.To watch the conversation and for more information: fdd.org/events/2024/05/10/transatlantic-security-after-75-years-of-nato-a-conversation-with-us-european-command/

Jim Carafano, Heritage Foundation's National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor, joins Marc & Kim to talk about Israelis response to the attack by Iran and if Iran will attack again.

In the 3rd hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show: Trump Jurors will be famous after this trial  Jim Carafano, Heritage Foundation's National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor, joins Marc & Kim to talk about Israel's response to the attack by Iran and if Iran will attack again. S3 Dr. Bob Onder, former MO Senator, joins the Marc Cox Morning Show to discuss the St Louis Post Dispatches hit piece on the 'Decline to Sign' movement. Dr. Onder also gives his opinion on the movement to unseat Mike Johnson. S4 Stephen A. Smith gives his thoughts on the economy

Tom Fletcher, Former British Ambassador to Lebanon, and Foreign Policy Advisor to 3 British Prime Ministers: Blair, Brown and Cameron

Since October 7, we have heard from more and more friends in Israel who came of age -- politically -- in the 1990s. Some of these friends were key political figures on the Israeli Left and were committed to working on a two-state solution as the final resolution to achieve regional peace. Dr. Einat Wilf joins us to discuss the sobering of many of these figures and what it means for Israel's future. Einat also discusses an essay she penned for Sapir journal about the tendency of activists in other countries to project their political debates on Israel -- something happening today -- however disconnected from Israel those debates may be. Her essay is called "How Not to Think About the Conflict" and it can be found here: https://sapirjournal.org/social-justice/2021/04/how-not-to-think-about-the-conflict/ Einat was born and raised in Israel. She was an Intelligence Officer in the IDF. She has worked for McKinsey. She was Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and an advisor to Yossi Beilin, who was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Wilf was a member of the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) in the early 2010s, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. She has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University and is a lecturer at Reichman University in Israel. Einat is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. “We Should All Be Zionists“, published in 2022, brings together her essays from the past four years on Israel, Zionism and the path to peace; and she co-authored “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”, which was published in 2020. "THE WAR OF RETURN" -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-war-of-return-adi-schwartz/1131959248?ean=9781250364845

Today we look back at the history of Palestinian violence against the Jews in Israel (and in the pre-state Yishuv) -- from the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1917 through the myriad efforts to establish a Palestinian Arab State alongside a Jewish State in the 1930s and the 40s. In our discussion today, we follow this pattern all the way through the Second Intifada in the early 2000s, and now today. Each time a war or wave of terror is launched, and Israel perseveres, the Palestinian leadership tries to dictate the terms of what comes next, as though they were the victors in this defensive war, rather than the aggressors and the defeated. Why? And are we seeing that same mindset play out right now? Did Hamas actually think it would defeat Israel with this attack, and Israel would fold to its demands, or possibly even just disappear? To help us understand this important history, Dr. Einat Wilf joins us. Einat was born and raised in Israel. She was an Intelligence Officer in the IDF. She has worked for McKinsey. She was Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres and an advisor to Yossi Beilin, who was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Dr. Wilf was a member of the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) in the early 2010s, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. She has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. She was a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University and is a lecturer at Reichman University in Israel. Einat is the author of seven books that explore key issues in Israeli society. “We Should All Be Zionists“, published in 2022, brings together her essays from the past four years on Israel, Zionism and the path to peace; and she co-authored “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”, which was published in 2020. "THE WAR OF RETURN" -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-war-of-return-adi-schwartz/1131959248?ean=9781250364845

On this edition of Parallax Views, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s former foreign policy advisor James R. Webb, son of Sen. Jim Webb, joins the show to discuss U.S. foreign policy, Israel/Palestine, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, and the risks of the current Middle East turmoil escalating into a very nasty regional war. Webb recently resigned from RFK Jr.'s campaign over Gaza (you can read his resignation letter here). James served a Marine infantryman from 2005-2010 and has worked on the Hill, bringing him into contact with politicians like Bernie Sanders and working with Rand Paul. He'll bring those experiences to this conversation.

Kim Sengupta, World Affairs Editor, the London Independent and Tom Fletcher, Former British Ambassador to Lebanon, and Foreign Policy Advisor to 3 British Prime Ministers: Blair, Brown and Cameron

Tom Fletcher, Former British Ambassador to Lebanon, and Foreign Policy Advisor to three British Prime Ministers.

On the latest episode of Protecting America, Walid Phares, Mideast Expert, Former Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor and Author of "Iran: An Imperialist Republic and US Policy," discusses the history of terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah and how very dangerous they are to Israel and the world.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the third hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show S1: Elon Musk heads to the southern border S2 Jim Carafano, Heritage Foundation National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor, joins Marc & Kim to discuss what is going on at the Southern Border with fentanyl pouring in S3 US Congressman Jason Smith joins Marc & Kim to talks about the Joe Biden impeachment inquiry.  They discuss how Joe helped Hunter get millions of dollars as well as  S4 Senator Dianne Feinstein has passed away Coming Up: Joe Steiger, Ryan Wiggins, and What's on the Web

Jim Carafano, Heritage Foundation National Security and Foreign Policy Advisor, joins Marc & Kim to discuss what is going on at the Southern Border with fentanyl pouring in

Tina Ramirez has championed religious freedom and human rights all over the world for her whole working life. She now brings that experience, knowledge and passion to the US political scene by standing for The State Senate in Virginia. She has extensive political experience from her role as a foreign policy advisor for numerous Members of Congress. Her boldness in speaking up on issues such as Critical Race Theory, even when she was advised that it was too contentious shows desire to speak truth irrespective of the consequences. This is one lady who truly believes what she stands for so join us this episode to be inspired as you listen to Tina as she shares how she will make a difference in the Virginia Senate. Whether crafting legislation, securing the release of imprisoned victims, or engaging foreign dignitaries, Tina Ramirez has worked diligently to bring greater freedom and dignity to people around the world. From her early days as a high school teacher, through recent years in charge of an international non-profit organization, she has committed her entire life to service and to the preservation of human rights for all people. While working for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, she developed policies to improve religious freedom in several countries. As a Foreign Policy Advisor for numerous members of Congress, she helped start and direct the bi-partisan Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus. In 2013, she used her experience to create Hardwired Global, an organization that addresses the root causes of religious conflict and works to defend the rights of the oppressed. She has since worked in more than 30 countries and trained hundreds of journalists, lawyers, religious leaders, and teachers. Tina's work has provided a simple, inexpensive way to counter persecution and build respect for religious freedom globally that is working. She has testified before the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, and the African Union, and has published several articles and books related to her work on human rights and religious freedom. Tina was raised near her mother's large, extended family in Powhatan County, Virginia where her father founded a medical practice and her mother ran a midwifery practice. Her parents, both second-generation descendants of Mexican and Czech immigrants and both Air Force Veterans, influenced Tina's passion for service, freedom, and work with people worldwide. For Tina, Chesterfield is more than home: as the birthplace of religious freedom in America, it embodies her life-long work and calling. Tina now lives in Chesterfield with her daughter, Abigail. Follow and Support Tina... WEBSITE: https://tinaramirez.com/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TinaRamirezVA?s=20 FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TinaRamirezVA/ Hardwired Global... WEBSITE: https://www.hardwiredglobal.org/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/HardwiredOrg?s=20 Interview recorded 26.4.23   *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin and Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBoschFawstin?s=20  To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more... https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Please subscribe, like and share! Transcript (Hearts of Oak) Hello Hearts of Oak, and welcome to another interview coming up with Tina Ramirez, who is a candidate for the Virginia Senate, the 12th district. I first met Tina last year when I was over stateside, and I followed her work on foreign policy, on religious engagement, regarding democracy in many other countries. I mean, she's worked all over the world in training individuals up to try and bring peace and stability to many countries. And she's bringing that experience to the U.S political environment, to the Senate there, the state Senate in Virginia. So we talk about a range of issues that she is passionate about. There's no end to that. But we only took four. Talk about CRT, critical race theory, why she's been so vocal on this. Years ago, I remember reading pieces of her discussing this. She's been warned off it. But no, she's this is vital to speak about this. So we talk about that and the impact on children in the education system in America. We talk about the economy, how there are so many issues with the economy and how the Democrats seem to be purposely wanting to destroy it. We talk about crime, homelessness, drugs and the mess that some of the cities are in America. So she talks about her passion on fixing that, on addressing some of those underlying issues. And then we end up with election integrity. and that's one of her issues on her website. You can click that and get the list, securing elections, making sure they're fair and free. And she talks about why this is such a vital area and what needs to be done to make sure that elections are free and fair for every US citizen. I know you'll enjoy listening to Tina. She has inspired me with her foreign policy work and maybe if you're stateside in Virginia, you'll even be able to vote for her. So here's Tina. Tina Ramirez, thank you so much for joining us today.   (Tina Ramirez) Peter, thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be on your show. Oh, it's great, and I had the privilege of meeting you last year. We'll get into that. But for the viewers, you can find Tina @TinaRamirezVA. TinaRamirez.com is the website, the campaign website, and we're going to get into that. But Tina is the founder of Hardwired Global that addresses the root causes of religious conflict trains and equips local leaders around the world and the other part of her many talents that we will focus on today is that she is a senate candidate for Virginia's 12th district. Now Tina I said I had the privilege of spending time with you the end of last year and our US viewers may know you but for the sake of our UK viewers could you just take a moment or two and introduce yourself?   Absolutely. Thank you, Peter. So I, as Peter mentioned, I run an organization called Hardwired Global. We believe that everyone is hardwired to be free and we fight for religious freedom and the freedom of conscience around the world and helping governments and people that want to have freedom secure that freedom through laws and educational policies that promote their fundamental rights. And so I work all over the world, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, many countries that that are failing their people and where the people need to secure their freedom. But I also work in the United States to help secure freedom here as well. I train teachers across the United States to counter woke indoctrination and Marxist ideas and to ensure that people have really the constitutional freedoms here in America that we understand preserved and protected in future generations through education. The religious freedom is something I've built my life upon and I want it secured not just around the world, but I want it to remain protected here in America, and so I've fought throughout my life for that. I worked at the US Congress building a caucus on religious freedom and travel globally, Defending persecuted people and worked for the Becket fund which defended hobby lobby before the supreme court, 90 protecting the rights of conscience of businesses against being forced to provide abortifacient drugs So I have a long history and background, but right now I'm also running for the state senate in Virginia, And this is a critical election because as many of your viewers know the states are really the determiners of fair election laws and, What's going to happen moving forward in our country? And so I am running for a Senate seat That's pivotal to ensuring that we have the majority here in Virginia for the Republican Party to protect those conservative values.   Excellent. Thank you so much for that before we jump in if I can just play your I think your campaign ad, which I saw on your Twitter feed, just came out earlier this month, but let me play this 30-second for our viewers. (video plays) Over 100 years ago, my great-grandparents came to this country legally, the right way, to pursue the American dream. My grandfather proudly served during World War II to protect American freedom, and it, was my grandfather's service that inspired me to found an organization that defends religious freedom in America and around the world. Today, do-nothing career politicians are failing to defend our conservative freedoms in Virginia. I'm Tina Ramirez. Like you, I've had enough. As your state senator, I'll be your conservative fighter. Now, there are a whole load of areas we could get into, but I think we'll just aim for maybe three or four issues. One of them is CRT, critical race theory. And I remember looking back and you'd written a piece saying critical race theory divides families and you're a mom with a biracial child. And that, I guess, brings a personal concern to this debate. Maybe you want to tell us why you've been so vocal against CRT. Yeah, thank you, Peter. Well, I'm a single mother as well. And so, you know, many people saw during COVID and the shutdown of our schools, how parents were becoming more and more aware of what was going on in the classroom because our kids were sitting in front of computer screens. And we were seeing first hand through Zoom classroom sessions that children were essentially being indoctrinated in a woke ideology that was rooted in Marxist theory. And this is critical race theory. And I've read all of the articles that they were promoting throughout Virginia in our school system on this, and they were very open about the fact that it was rooted in Marxist theory and Marxist ideology, and that they were set on overturning the white heterosexual male Christian establishment to elevate minority people, regardless of any kind of merit or justification just based on the colour of their skin and to suppress the other group really with justification for any violence needed to overthrow the other category of people. And I just, I saw, I started reading this and seeing it, seeing it in our schools. I had a local junior high school here where they showed a video of a young boy, a white male child apologizing for his whiteness, apologizing to females, apologizing for so many things that this young student had never been responsible for, but this was part of the indoctrination that was taking place in schools across Virginia. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. But I was very vocal about this a few years ago when it erupted. I was one of the first people running for office to expose what was going on and to speak out on the news about it. And I remember even other Republicans saying to me, don't talk about this. Don't touch it. It's, you know, it's not a good thing for you to do politically. And I just thought, are you kidding me? I'm a Hispanic mother of a biracial child. And yet, because of the colour of my skin, you want me to allow the public school system to teach her that I am somehow oppressive and an oppressor and need to be violently overtaken within our country because of the colour of my skin, which is essentially what they were teaching. And they were dividing my family. And I wasn't going to have anything to do with that. So I did speak out vocally. I think it's a travesty here in Virginia that, this was happening, but it wasn't just happening here. It was happening all across the United States where it really comes out of, I think, a lot of what we saw with the Obama administration where he went on this apology tour around the world saying, I'm so sorry for America being so great, as though we should somehow apologize for our greatness and for the freedom that we've brought millions of people around the world, trillions of people. It's freedoms that I fought for around the world that we've been given the blessing of being able to fight for because of the freedom we have here. So to see those freedoms trampled on and then Marxist theory promoted in our classrooms, which I studied human rights as a conservative. I fought for human rights around the world for people that don't have it. And human rights is based in an idea of inherent human dignity and value. So to see that thrown out the window for Marxism, which we literally fought a world war against, to me, it was just unconscionable. And that's why I've spoken out so much against it. And there's so much more I can talk about, but I'm sure you've seen it too, Peter. And Virginia really was at the precipice of this fight here in America. And so we had to, as parents, as mothers, as citizens, we had to fight against this. Well, no, it's a big issue, obviously. It's not as big a concern here in the UK, and I live in London, which is a very mixed city, and you, friends, colleagues, neighbours from all over the world, every background, ethnicity, and my concern, certainly having two children as well, growing up here, is that this divides, is that this puts them and us and makes people see, makes children see their friends through the colour of their skin and not just as being a friend. Right. Well, and Martin Luther King taught us to not judge people based on the colour of their skin, to see beyond that, to judge them on the value of their character. And this completely turned that thought out of its head, but it really was just the beginning. So under the Northam administration here in Virginia, a Democrat, the previous governor of Virginia. He started implementing policies where he was promoting this thing called the Critical Inquiry Initiative across Virginia. And so seven different school districts across Virginia or counties adopted critical race theory in the training of their teachers and in their school curriculum. And the small, very rural country town that I grew up in, Powhatan, right next to where I live right now, adopted this training program and was implementing these really racist ideas and Marxist ideas into their classroom. So we began to see children extremely confused, but also beginning to lack the ability to have critical thinking about differences of opinion and belief now I fought for religious freedom and the freedom of conscience around the world so my whole my whole life for the last 20 years of my career has been built upon, teaching people how to have very challenging diverse opinions brought out into open form of a public debate in this marketplace of ideas and not to be afraid of different ideas but to allow them to flourish because that's where freedom and civil society and and civil discourse and and our freedoms really evolve is within that free public space of ideas, But they wanted to shut that down here in Virginia and then people that disagreed with them were being labelled hateful, racist, oppressors essentially and so, you know, that's not that's not what America is all about that's not what a civil discourse is all about. That's how you shut down freedom. That's how you force people to conform and that's really the end of any kind of civil freedom in our society and so that's why we had to fight against it. But when we started to see what was happening, parents started speaking out in northern, Virginia I helped a woman who's actually, you know a Democrat not even a Republican but she essentially I think saw the light because she was in, she was an Indian woman whose son was going to one of the top schools here in Virginia it was a science and technology school and the Northam administration wasn't just teaching critical race theory and, that being problematic in the school and as an Indian American she was then put in the category of an oppressor, which was insane. But because her socioeconomic class was higher than Hispanics and Blacks, they then began to put in place equity policies in the schools. And in her school in particular, which was a very advanced governor's school, like a charter school here in Virginia and we only have seven. The new policies would have promoted Blacks and Hispanics above other categories of, Virginians, so Indian Americans, Caucasian Americans, etc, even if they didn't excel on their on their scores to get into the school as well as the others did so they're basically going to promote people that without merit, Over people that had actually worked so hard to get into these schools like her son so she I helped her and she filed a lawsuit against the state of Virginia for basically a violation of the Civil Rights Code, in title 9 which which goes against any kind of inequalities and racism which is essentially what they were promoting my daughter obviously is black I'm Hispanic and so I don't think that we need them to lower the bar for us to get into a school I find that offensive, I find it offensive for my daughter and I think many people of diverse backgrounds find it offensive and you know Blacks and Hispanics shouldn't be promoted over Indians or Caucasians or vice versa in any way this is racism and that's what the Northam administration was promoting and then as we began to, unpackage not just that but everything else in Virginia we started seeing that they were promoting pornography in the schools and children's books that were promoting paedophilia even as low even into our elementary schools with kindergartners that could have viewed these images, and the democrats in charge here in Virginia were justifying all of this and saying that we as parents didn't have a right to challenge teachers or to challenge what was happening in the classroom and so I fought very hard over the last few years to promote school choice to promote freedom in our education to promote parents rights in our education because I don't think kids and any kids, not just my own, should be taught what to think. They should be taught how to think. They should be taught critical thinking. And it was all rooted back in this woke Marxist ideology that we've seen just run rampant here in Virginia and cause so much chaos and confusion amongst our children. And so that's what we've been fighting here in Virginia. But I'm sure your viewers have seen this is not just a fight in Virginia. It's gone all across the United States where parents have woken up and seen what's going on in the classroom and they're fighting against it. You know, I've seen many of those school board meetings and I wish we had those in the UK, but we don't. That's another story. But there's school board meetings of parents standing up and saying this is not acceptable. How does it fit in with elected officials? So the position of the Senate there. Can they then hold those schools to account, those school governors to account? How does it work? Because it has to be a partnership. It's the parents standing up in those school board meetings, but it's also the parents watching, listening, voting well, so that they get elected officials who can actually stop this happening across the schools.   Right. Well, so we've been very involved in helping to bring together those parent voices and organize and fight back. And so here in my area in Chesterfield County, we were able to organize a rally with over 200 parents overnight that just showed up and ensure that our board of supervisors then issued a vote to, or we put pressure on them, so they issued a vote to overturn critical race theory in our schools. And so at least here in Chesterfield County, we were somewhat protected, but there's so much more work that needs to be done. And then we helped over the last few years identify and support and get candidates to run for school board and the Board of Supervisors across Virginia to to help overturn these really bad decisions at the local level in our schools. And so that's been a critical area that I've been fighting over the last few years. And now obviously I'm running for state Senate. And in the Senate, a lot of these policies have been pushed at the administrative level from the, um, just by government bureaucrats in the Department of Education and elsewhere. And so our job is to hold them accountable and to reverse those policies. They have policies, for instance, on transgender, transgender policies in the schools that promote essentially that children can be indoctrinated in a lot of ideologies about their sexuality without parents knowing or having any say over what their, what the children are doing or being taught in schools. And so there's, there's so much ambiguity in the rules and the laws that the Northam Democratic administration previously had put in place that we have to reverse. But in Virginia, we won an election in 2021 with Governor Yunkin and the Lieutenant Governor and the Attorney General winning. So we have a Republican administration, we have a Republican House of Delegates, but we do not have a Republican Senate. And so over the last year and a half, they've been working extremely hard within the Republican Party to pass better laws and to reverse a lot of these bad policies in the schools, but they can't do it because everything gets blocked in the Senate. Essentially the democrats in the senate have said that there will be a brick wall against these policies that these conservative policies that governor Younkin and our republican majority want to pass and so, this election the reason it's so critical is that when we win this year and win my seat, which is one seat we have to flip and then another seat will need two seats to flip we will have the majority in the house in the senate we can start reversing, so much craziness that's been going on both in our schools, but also with our election system, and our ability to support the police and in so many other areas. So this election really is critical for that. And to make sure that we get back on track, you probably, some of your viewers probably saw a man whose daughter was raped in school and he protested at a school board meeting and then was dragged out and then labelled a terrorist by the Biden administration and literally had the FBI going after him to be a domestic terrorist because he was somehow disturbing the peace in the school board meeting. Well, he wasn't. What came out later was that his daughter had been raped. The school board tried to cover it up and he was protesting that and, he was, his voice was shut down. And so there's now a lawsuit out over this case I mean this father deserved his right to protect his child and in Virginia schools children aren't being protected and the rights of parents aren't being protected and there are a lot of laws and policies that have put in place under the Democrats that we need to reverse, protecting children from being raped in the schools, it was a transgender person that had gone into the bathroom and had raped his young daughter. These kinds of things have to stop. And so until we have people in office that can fight back against that and change or reverse these policies, our children aren't safe. And we, as parents, we're very concerned. I think it's vital, again, just to repeat what you said about taking that majority and why exactly it's fallen along party lines so much, similar actually to the UK, across Europe as well, is another conversation. But it's good to know that parents, as they vote, they can actually make a difference. Because sometimes I think the public think possibly their vote isn't worth anything and things just happen as normal. But I think voting correctly and voting for you in the 12th district, And that puts someone in who will stand up for their values. Let me add there a couple of others. One, of course, is the economy, which affects every American, every Brit, every person, and it's the the cost of items. And that's what really surprises people and affects people. And when you have to make those choices and we have sky high inflation, you have it there. Government spending like there is no tomorrow. How do you approach this issue as a candidate? Yeah, Peter, every day I talk to people on the phone, at the doors, when I'm door knocking for the campaign, when I'm out about at the grocery store. Every day I meet people who are really struggling to just pay their bills. Yesterday I was at an antique store and a gentleman came in and was selling off two of his older electric guitars and I had a conversation with him and he said, look, before we never, my daughter never heard us talk about how we had to strap the belts up a little bit and and save money and struggling to pay for things. She never heard those conversations, you know, from 2016 to 2020, the economy is great under President Trump. And in the last couple of years, people like this, like this man have been selling things out of their home to just try to make ends meet and put food on the table to pay for gas. It's shocking that in a country where we have so much wealth and prosperity and we have so many opportunities that the average American is literally having to sell goods just to pay to put food on a table. They can't even afford gas to get to work sometimes because gas has gone so high. It's really hurting the American family. The tax policies are hurting the average American family who don't have places to hide it like big corporations or like, or who are not, or they're just, they're being overtaxed. I mean, our tax rate is at least 30% in middle America. And so a third of your income is going out the door, but when prices are twice as high or three times, four times as high as they used to be, you can't afford to live anymore. And I'm meeting people at every socioeconomic level now that are struggling to make ends meet and to do the just the normal things that they did with their families and so it's really heart-breaking to hear and it's even more heart-breaking then to see the not just the federal government but our local government here in Virginia. They had a surplus for several years during COVID, and they spent it. Did they think of saving for the future? Did they think of maybe things wouldn't be as, no, they just spend it. They spend it as though it's just going to be this constant stream that they can take from us and spend without recourse and responsibility. And the problem is Americans are hurting now. Virginians are hurting now. We don't have the resources that we had two to three years ago and our families are hurting and they need a relief. And when the governor tried to put forward a relief in the tax bill on cars and gas, the Democrats said, no, we're not gonna do it. And they voted against it. And so, two Democrats to the majority of Virginians voted against any kind of relief on our tax bill this past year. And this is hurting families. So we see inflation, but every day I'm hearing from people that they really, they can't make their food bills anymore because food is twice as expensive. I talked to farmers today, I talked to a farmer who was, he's in the middle of his wheat harvest, planting season. The cost of equipment just to plant has quadrupled. The cost of fertilizer has quadrupled. I have friends in the tire industry and auto industry. The cost of oil to do oil changes on cars has quadrupled. The cost of every commodity across the country has gone up two, three, four times. And they have to begin putting those costs back on customers. I talked to a restaurateur this week who said, Tina, we're just making ends meet. We can't continue to survive. I mean, restaurants were shut down during COVID. They are just trying to get out of it, but they can't afford to raise their cost four times as much for their customer, because then they'll lose all their customers, but they're bearing the cost and they can only survive for so much longer because reality is food is a lot more expensive now. These are just the everyday things that I'm hearing. And our government seems to have no clue that anyone's hurting and to just keep spending, as you said, like there's no tomorrow. And that's a major problem because it's not just, we're seeing that that's having an effect on the global situation with China and other countries trying to devalue the dollar and take greater control over other countries and resources globally, and put America and Western countries in a very, very difficult situation. And this is really a threat to democracy and human freedom everywhere in the world. And there's so many areas that I was surprised each time of being over the change in fuel costs filling up, but then I was really surprised going to supermarkets and seeing the price of food items. I thought we had it bad in the UK, but it seems to be much higher there. But again, when you look at the debate, I'm kind of confused. The Democrats don't seem to want to address it at all. And it's happening before your eyes. You drive past the fuel pumps and you can see the prices. You fill up your shopping basket, your shopping trolley, and you realize it's gone up by 10% than it was a month ago. Special offers are not there. And then on top of that, you've got the impact on the economy of, I guess, your southern border and what's happening there. But there's so many issues. And to me, and then on top of that, debt relief the different groups. And then when we mentioned CRT about payments to those who may be affected by slavery hundreds and hundreds of years ago, none of it has joined up thinking it seems to be the Democrats simply are just destroying, crashing the economy and Americans are just, basically cannon fodder. They're just in the middle, they're getting hit. And it's really strange when you look at it from the UK and you look at what's happening policy-wise and you think everything that's being done is just seemingly making the situation worse. I think the thing that's most frustrating to me is I'm a single mother. I run a business. I have to balance my budget I have to make cuts to provide for my family and to ensure that I can take care of my daughter and I, have to make sure that my business has enough money going for the next year or two years, etc. Like I have to do this as an average American every American does but the government doesn't seem to think that they need to and when then when they talk about well we want to pay for the student loans of students that can't afford them, or we want to give out more handouts, or we want to let more people across the border to put a burden on our hospital and police system and everything else. They want to give everything away for free. They don't, and then they want to hurt the people in the middle like myself and most, average Americans that are the ones footing the bill. They have no concern for the average family that is struggling just to survive and take care of their family and do the right thing. I think that's what's so insane. I pay for my student loans. I am a single mother. I pay for my daughter. I take care of our family. I'm not looking for a handout. Why is it that the people that work hard, that pay their taxes, that take care of their families, that are running their businesses and creating wealth and opportunities for others are the ones suffering and struggling so that they can give things out to people that don't want to work, that want to come across the border illegally, that are not willing to go out and get a job, why is it that we're the ones being attacked? I am pro-family, I am pro-worker, I am pro-people, businesses that want to help the economy grow. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has abandoned people that want to work and have merit. It goes back to the education conversation we just had. Under the Northam administration here in Virginia, we didn't know about this until just this year. It was exposed that for two to three years now. Schools were not allowing students that had been given merit awards for their excellence in education. They were they were, hiding their merit awards. They weren't telling the students about them, So they hid them because they thought that it was maybe racist or inequitable I don't know what their word was to tell students that over performed or that performed highly that they were given these merit awards, so these students who excelled were then entering into colleges and and not getting the scholarships or the advancement that they deserved, that they earned in college and paying for it themselves because the government said, well, it's inequitable. We want to lower the bar for you. We don't wanna give you a merit award. We've become a society where merit is being devalued. And as soon as that happens, you have an economy that's gonna crumble because who's gonna work in a system where hard work isn't valued anymore. The American society was built upon hard work and grit and opportunity. That's what people come here for. And so as soon as we lose that, what do we have as a society? And so I am absolutely fighting against these liberal woke policies that are destroying our country and the idea even that de Tocqueville talked about of the greatness of America. Tina, when you're talking there, it's the American dream that I'm thinking of. And of course that's been impacted massively by the financial hit, the economy hit, the debt burdens we talked about, but also it's crime is another way. I think when I went to LA for the first time back in April, I, it was the one city I felt unsafe in and looking at the homelessness, tent cities everywhere. Just actually on, yeah, in Europe we use trains, using the underground, the metro system, and there was a fight, bottles getting smashed, and it was just quite alien to me. And then seeing the drug issue, people lying on the pavements or the sidewalks and high on drugs. And it's I'm wondering, politicians seem to be oblivious to the the dangerous situation. And I'm wondering kind of how you see that. Virginia did seem to be safer, certainly I'd be there. But every state has their issues. And as that is happening in one area in the US, I guess it then spreads out and will affect other parts. So tell us about your kind of concern about crime and those issues which Americans face. Well, crime is one of my top concerns here in Virginia and across the United States. We see cities taken over by liberal policies to defund our police, really destroying the protection of the rule of law, which is really the most fundamental aspect of our society and what allows us to be free, is having a rule of law legal system, a system that people respect and, and live under, because when you don't have the rule of law, you have these, you know, banana republics, like what I work around in all over the world, you have failed democracies, failed States. When you don't have that rule of law, when you don't have institutions that people respect and protect. And sadly in America, you know, we've seen this for several years now, but especially in the last few years since COVID and the George Floyd riots, we've seen this defund the police movement, attacking our law enforcement professionals. I was endorsed by the Virginia Police Benevolent Association here in my race. And one of the reasons they endorsed me was because of my staunch defence of their right to have the resources that they need to provide a civil defence and the rule of law protection here in our community. We've seen that police have been defunded, that they have removed police resource officers in schools so that our schools are less safe. I mean, I don't know why they, you know, they're concerned about gun violence, but they wanna get rid of the school resource officers that actually protect the schools. It doesn't make any sense. Police are leaving the forces in droves in different cities, like in the city of Richmond, the capital of Virginia, the police are all leaving. They're coming to Chesterfield, where I live, because the police department here actually wants to ensure that they have fair pay that they are that they have the support that they need and that's something that I want to continue expanding on but we see in cities across across the United States like Seattle, Portland you know, Los Angeles you name it and and even more in recent days. We've seen that these young youth groups are coordinating and are just doing flash mobs on on cities attacking businesses. And in Chicago and in New York, this is happening. And no one's doing anything about it. It's just, they're letting these young people run rampant and just attack the police, attack businesses. It happened even here in the city of Richmond during the George Floyd riots, even African-American businesses were attacked. They were indiscriminately just attacking businesses. There was no moral justification for what they were doing. It was really just violence gone rampant and there's no there's no protection And so if we if we defund the police, we're not gonna have the protection we need in our communities and that's what's happening another big thing that we see here in Virginia is, that Democrats don't only just want to fight the police and strip away their resources which the police have been fighting against and I'm supporting them in that effort but they've also been trying to strip the gun rights of gun owners. And so, Democrats when they were you know controlling all the houses of legislature and the administration tried to pass these red flag laws. And the red flag laws would essentially allow gun owners, just normal citizens like you and I to have their guns taken away if a neighbour feels in some way threatened by them, a feeling. So we based laws based on facts. We don't base laws on feelings. And the justice system is there to protect, did something happen or did it not happen? It addresses facts, it doesn't address feelings. And feelings are subjective. And so under these red flag laws. That in fact one of my opponents actually voted for, supposedly a Republican and the other opponent actually used the red flag laws that she purportedly is against against her own staff. People, average normal law-abiding citizens are having their guns taken away by, law enforcement because of some purported fear and I think that this puts law enforcement in a very precarious situation situation. In Chesterfield, they've said they wouldn't enforce these. But it also puts average Americans at risk of losing their constitutional freedoms. The First Amendment protects their freedom of speech and expression. Second Amendment protects their gun rights. The Fourth Amendment protects their right to be free from unwarranted search and seizure. So no one has a right to come into my home and to take my guns away unless there is a reason, a justifiable cause, an objective cause, not a subjective one. And that's what's happening here in Virginia. So I'm running against two opponents that don't take these things seriously. And obviously I think that's why the Police Benevolent Association has endorsed me because they understand that they need people that have their back to ensure that police have the support they need to enforce the rule of law, to protect citizens and to ensure that law abiding citizens aren't having their constitutional freedoms taken away. And that's, you know, that's something I fought for my entire life, but it's something here in Virginia I want to protect and preserve. Because I understand what happens in countries when the government doesn't allow individuals to protect themselves or doesn't have a legal rule of law system where the police can be trusted to defend you. And so we have got to secure our ability to have police and law enforcement fully supported and respected so that they can operate as they need to.   Let me, the one other topic I just wanted to ask you about and it's on your issue, so people go to your website and they click on the issues is securing our elections and I think of kind of election integrity, a lot being discussed of that, massive subject with a wide scale of issues to address. Obviously many people had questions over what happened in 2020, drop boxes, no ID, it goes on and on. But how do you address this issue as someone who's actually standing for public office and going to the electorate?   Well, I think that election integrity is really critical here in America. A lot of countries look to us as kind of the pinnacle of what fair pre-elections should look like, and I think that we've called that into question with, with the way things have been going the last few years. We have to restore confidence in our election system. And that's only going to happen when we have better laws in place that protect our elections. And first and foremost, that means that no one should be voting without an ID. Here in Virginia, you can go and you can vote without having an identity card, without having your driver's license or some other form of physical ID, which is crazy. So somebody could go and vote for me as long as they know my name and address in my place, and I would have no recourse. And I think this is a huge threat to free and fair elections I think that every American should be concerned about it. It's not just a republican or democratic issue, so voter id is first and foremost one of the most critical things we also, I mean one thing that I see around the world is you know people go and they vote on one day and they often have a, an ink stamped on their on their finger one person one vote and they'll run they'll walk for miles to go and vote on that day I've been to Iraq and Sudan and so many Nigeria so many countries where I've where I've seen them voting and having their one vote counted and unfortunately here in Virginia we have 45 days of early voting and..   45 days, wow   45 days of early voting and I find it offensive as an Hispanic woman and as I said as my daughter's is black that they think that somehow minorities like myself of my daughter are too stupid to vote on one day or to know how to fill out an absentee ballot to get it in ahead of time with a justified reason. You know, that was always the case that we were able to, but to say that somehow, well, we can't vote without our ID or we need 45 days of early voting and anything else would be unfair or discriminatory is just insane. This is, you know, I work with people all over the world who are minorities from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, et cetera, who don't have a problem, literally risking their lives to go and vote on one day and get their finger stamped. There is no reason. That the Democrats are pushing these kinds of policies for any other reason than to cheat and to make, to overburden our registrar system here It not just in Virginia, but around the country and so that's what we see and we need to reduce early voting we need to get back to you know, one day of voting and, the absentee ballots that we used or the you know when people have a justified reason of using an absentee ballot of getting back to that but, but this, this free for all that we see is putting a huge burden on our registrars that are trying to work in counties for six weeks of early voting. As somebody that's running for office, my election will be on June 20th, but in reality, it starts May 5th, next Friday, because that's when early voting starts. And so for six weeks, I will be campaigning as though it's election day, which puts also a huge burden on people running for office and getting out the vote. There's no reason for this. I think that it's an unnecessary burden on every part of the electorate from the registrar down to the voter. Americans have been blessed with the right to vote, with the ability to vote. It is our public duty to vote. It is something that we should be grateful for and that we should not think it a burden to go out on that one day and to put aside a little bit of work and to go vote. That is our public duty. It's our civic duty. And so, around the world, I've been not just advocating for religious freedom, but I've been working in countries like South Sudan to restore agency in that part of the world and other parts of the world where people haven't had elections held in years and decades and they need the right to vote. And so I've been training South Sudanese how to prepare for their national election, which hasn't taken place in about 10, 12 years. And so I come home and I think, gosh, you guys need 45 days to vote and it's still not enough. And you have every excuse under the sun why you can't have an ID card and you can't have this and you can't have that. I mean, people die for the kind of freedom that we have. We should be. We, it's it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. I mean, I think that's the only way to say it. And so, yes, in the State Senate, I'm going to be fighting to ensure that we have laws that are that are common sense. Maybe you need to learn from the motherland here in the UK. We can do all our voting between 7 a.m and 10 p.m and we can have it all counted by 2 a.m the next morning. And there's a I've been at election, many, many, many election counts and there was a rush from all the areas to get them in to be the first to be counted. It's a competition, a rush, and America seems to be the opposite, where actually you win if you're the slowest. Six weeks later, you're still counting. It's a strange concept.   It's horrible, but it's not a Republican policy. These are things that have been put in place by Democrats that want to subvert our election integrity and Americans are, you know, over 50% of Americans saw what happened in the last election, and don't feel comfortable with the results. And, you know, when you lose that kind of confidence in your election system, it puts America in a very different position, you know, internationally and globally. And so we're not at the forefront, we're not the leader of democracy in this respect. And we need to get back to a system where our people respect and trust the system, let alone the rest of the world where they're struggling to have free and fair elections. Just, if I can just, a few minutes, I just wanna just finish off, touch on an area that's not, well, it's not necessarily in terms of you standing as a candidate, but you've touched on it, your work abroad, and your work on foreign policy all over. And I know you were over in Iraq for their 20th anniversary. You've talked about teaching others how to vote. I mean, you bring a wealth of experience from working in other countries on seeing how they do things and seeing transitions to a democratic process. Just, can we finish on that and how you bring that expertise and experience and knowledge to the Senate? Absolutely. I think that we are at a really important juncture here in America and in Virginia. We see so many of our institutions and processes failing and people not understanding the values that our country was founded upon. The value of the First Amendment, freedom of speech, of expression, of religion, of conscience, of association, so many of our fundamental rights, now to the point where they don't want to allow police to associate and fight for their ability to have higher pay and have the resources they need to actually protect our rule of law system, protect our Constitution. We have the Second Amendment under attack. We have the Fourth Amendment and search and seizures under attack. So many of our fundamental freedoms that, freedoms that I've fought for around the world for people in places like Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, I mean, you name it, are now at risk here in America. And I've seen this, I saw this happen, you know, 10 years ago when we fought Supreme Court on the Hobby Lobby case just to protect the right of businesses to operate according to their conscience. These are things that I expect in other countries. They're not the things that I expect here in America. And so whenever I come back from a country like Iraq or South Sudan where I've been helping them develop an educated public to understand the importance of religious freedom so that a group like ISIS doesn't just re-emerge and brainwash the kids again. We've been training children in Northern Iraq to become resilient against terrorism and extremism. In South Sudan, we've been training members of parliament and citizens across the country in how to have agency and how to understand their rights and freedoms in a democratic system so they can actually have a free and fair election. When I go overseas to do this and I come home, I don't take those kinds of freedoms for granted. But I do see an American public that is increasingly being taught by woke ideologues to abandon those freedoms, to abandon those principles for ideas that have failed around the world, Marxist ideas that have failed. And that is very concerning because America cannot be the beacon light of freedom around the world for people that are desperately searching for it if we abandon the principles that made us great as a nation. And so I, every day as I'm in this race, I'm fighting for the America that I love, the America that I've been blessed to grow up in, the America that has allowed me to fight for freedom people around the world that don't have it. I'm fighting for the future of my daughter who's eight years old who just because of the colour of her skin shouldn't be turned against her mother or be taught to think of people in a category of oppressors and oppressed based on the colour of their skin. I'm fighting for her to grow up and to have optimism and hope and to stand up for the values that I've stood up for and to see people based on their character versus on the colour of their skin. That's the America that I'm fighting for here and the values that I'm fighting for. And because I've seen what happens when you don't have these freedoms in other countries and what, and how people can suffer. I will fight tooth and nail for it because I know how valuable and how worthwhile it is. So I just am grateful to be able to be on your show, Peter, and share what we're doing here in Virginia. There's so much to fight for. And I don't want people to be discouraged by the elections or by what's happening and just to give up, because it's so easy, I think, to give up. But when I'm meeting with people around the world that literally are risking everything, to gain the kind of freedom we have, I feel like it's even more incumbent upon us who have the freedom and haven't completely lost it to fight even harder to preserve it and protect it. So thank you for having me and letting me share. And I look forward to continuing to get to know your viewers and I hope they'll reach out to me on my website and support this campaign however they can so that we can have leaders in office that will stand up for them. Well, thank you, Tina. I've been in, I think I've been in Virginia more than any other place in America. So it does feel, it actually feels like the nice English countryside driving there. So thank you for coming on. I know our viewers can follow you on Twitter, can go to the website, can sign up, can support you financially, your campaign, can sign up to newsletters and follow what's happening. And I know us in the UK will be wishing you the best, praying for your success. And those watching, listening who are stateside in Virginia can actually use their vote to count if they live in that 12th district. So thank you for your time today, Tina. Thank you, Peter. Well, I look forward to being with you again. Just appreciate all of your viewers reaching out to us at tinaramirez.com. We look forward to having you on as a Senator.

Africa's coastline is over 18,900 miles (30,500 km). With 2023 marking the 10-year anniversary of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct and the first ever African Maritime Forces Summit in Cabo Verde, the time to discuss key threats, threat management frameworks, and strategic partnerships to the African maritime space is critical.  This week on Into Africa, Mvemba is joined by Rear Admiral Chase Patrick, Director of the U.S. Naval Forces Maritime Headquarters to Europe-Africa and the U.S. Sixth Fleet and Mr. Mark Schapiro, Foreign Policy Advisor of the U.S. Naval Forces to Europe-Africa. They discuss threats faced by key anchor countries for U.S. maritime security engagement such as Djibouti and the Gulf of Guinea, the amplification of multilateral maritime partnerships to combat ‘sea-blindness', economic challenges posed by maritime security, and more.

Event recorded live at IWP, DC, on February 21, 2023. About the Lecture In his State of the Union Address of 1941, President Roosevelt proclaimed “Four Freedoms.” Eighty years ago this month, the publication of four paintings by the Vermont artist Norman Rockwell inspired Americans. The Office of War Information launched a major information campaign directed at both domestic and foreign publics. The Four Freedoms became shorthand for the war goals of the Allies. Both FDR's Four Freedoms and the famous paintings by Norman Rockwell are, however, fading from public memory. Mr. Bishop will review the campaign's antecedents, the State of the Union address of 1941; the impact of Norman Rockwell's four paintings; elaboration of Four Freedom themes in sculpture, music, and film; OWI's messaging directed at domestic and foreign audiences, and the impact of the Four Freedoms in the postwar period. About the Speaker An Air Force Vietnam veteran who also served in Korea and on the Air Force Academy faculty, teaching history, Mr. Bishop joined the U.S. Information Agency as a Foreign Service Officer in 1979. During a 31-year career in USIA and State, he served in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Capitol Hill, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and twice in China. At the Pentagon, he was the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commandant of the Marine Corps and then the USAF Chief of Staff before a final year at the American Embassy in Kabul. He is now a Krulak Center Distinguished Fellow at Marine Corps University in Quantico. Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academic-programs/ Make a gift to IWP: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=18

Symbolism or solution? Do special advisors on race, religion, or gender actually change minds or are they simply political gestures? Former foreign policy advisor Omer Aziz on how politics works - or doesn't! The author of Brown Boy on this week's No Nonsense.

Title : Hybrid war in contemporary security segments : 1. Hybrid warfare 2. Cyberspace considerations 3. Information ecosystem. Bio : Amb. Shota Gvineria joined the Baltic Defence College as the lecturer in Defence and Cyber Studies in July of 2019. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Economic Policy Research Center since 2017. Earlier, Amb. Gvineria has been working on various positions in Georgia's public sector. Among other positions, Shota Gvineria served as the Deputy Secretary at the National Security Council of Georgia. He covered NATO's integration and security policy related issues as the Ambassador at Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In his previous capacity until August 2016, he held the position of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Georgia. Through 2010-14, he served as the Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2010, Amb. Gvineria waspromoted to the position of a Director of European Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to that, in he served as a Head of NATO Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the period from April 2006 until October 2008, Shota Gvineria was posted as the Counselor of the Georgian Mission to NATO. Amb. Gvineria holds MA in Strategic Security Studies from Washington's National Defense University. He also earned his MA in International Relations from the Diplomatic School of Madrid and Public Administration from the Georgian Technical University. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mediterranean-sustainable/message

Photo: Jerusalem Day is an Israeli national holiday that commemorates the reunification of East Jerusalem with West Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967. #Israel: The meaning of Jerusalem Day. Dore Gold, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.  Malcolm Hoenlein @Conf_of_pres @mhoenlein1   https://jcpa.org/jerusalem-day-correcting-a-historical-injustice/ Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016, he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously, he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. .. Permissions Jerusalem Day parade (Flags dance) - Jaffa Road, 44 (Khalifa Shoes), at the corner with Ha-Rav Kook streetעברית: ריקוד דגלים (או ריקודגלים) בירושלים Date | 18 March 2007 (original upload date) /  Source | de-wiki Author | Hoheit, to commons uploaded Daniel.baranek 11:10, 6 May 2007 (UTC) . This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Germany license. | You are free: to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work; to remix – to adapt the workUnder the following conditions: attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Title : Hybrid war in contemporary security segments : 1. Hybrid warfare 2. Cyberspace considerations 3. Information ecosystem. Bio : Amb. Shota Gvineria joined the Baltic Defence College as the lecturer in Defence and Cyber Studies in July of 2019. He is also a non-resident fellow at the Economic Policy Research Center since 2017. Earlier, Amb. Gvineria has been working on various positions in Georgia's public sector. Among other positions, Shota Gvineria served as the Deputy Secretary at the National Security Council of Georgia. He covered NATO's integration and security policy related issues as the Ambassador at Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In his previous capacity until August 2016, he held the position of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Georgia. Through 2010-14, he served as the Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2010, Amb. Gvineria waspromoted to the position of a Director of European Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to that, in he served as a Head of NATO Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the period from April 2006 until October 2008, Shota Gvineria was posted as the Counselor of the Georgian Mission to NATO. Amb. Gvineria holds MA in Strategic Security Studies from Washington's National Defense University. He also earned his MA in International Relations from the Diplomatic School of Madrid and Public Administration from the Georgian Technical University. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mediterranean-sustainable/message

Driving substantive change socially, economically, and politically is grounded in a foundation of national security. Today, we are excited to introduce Schuyler Moore whose passion for women's education led her to work at an all-girls school in Afghanistan and build a career circling the problem of national security from different perspectives (her website). Schuyler works at the intersection of national security and emerging technology as a Senior Defense & Foreign Policy Advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was also a member of the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 class. She previously served as the Director of Science & Technology (S&T) on the staff of the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering. Schuyler was also a Senior Analyst at an aerospace & consulting firm, with a special focus on defense budget forecasting and emerging technologies. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Technology & Security from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Harvard University. Most recently, she just received confirmation that she will be mobilizing with the Navy Reserve to Bahrain to support Task Force 59, which focuses on integrating unmanned systems and AI into the fleet. In this episode, we talk about the universality of the sassiness of 13-year-olds, abandoning the linear path to crafting a career based on collecting diverse perspectives, combining a willingness to learn with deep humility and the importance of getting comfortable with saying ‘I don't know' and ‘I'm not sure'. Her advice for our listeners? Chase skills, not titles, set yourself up to maximize good luck and mitigate bad luck; and protect your small kernel of idealism which will give you the motivation to keep fighting to effect change, while also staying pragmatic, practical, and happy in the longterm. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

In this week's #Forum2000online Chat, Svitlana Zalishchuk, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine on European Integration and Advisor to the CEO of Naftogaz Group, joined Martin Ehl, a journalist and Chief Analyst at Hospodářské noviny (ihned.cz), to talk about the ongoing crisis resulting from Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This war of aggression launched by the Kremlin represents much more than an attack against an independent nation like Ukraine. It is a blow to Europe and to the entire global liberal order. In the interview, Ms. Zalishchuk recounts the current situation and then explains what measures have been taken by Europe and the world and what other actions are expected. Svitlana Zalishchuk states that the counteraction to the Russian aggression must be effective enough to stop the war and that it is necessary to "mobilize all our forces to make it painful for people around Putin”. Svitlana Zalishchuk says that "Putin was very clear in his messages, in his statements, that he directs this war, that he directs this massacre in Ukraine”. The interview was recorded on March 3, 2022, and moderated by Martin Ehl, a journalist and Chief Analyst at Hospodářské noviny (ihned.cz). For more information about our activities follow our web and social media: Web: https://www.forum2000.cz Twitter: https://twitter.com/Forum_2000

Creative Community For Peace Presents Dispelling the Myths   A series of conversations with Director Ari Ingel and thought leaders in the Jewish and Israeli world.   This weeks session is: with Dr. Einat Wilf, discussing her latest book, The War of Return, as we explore UNRWA and the Right of Return.   Dr. Wilf has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge.    She was a member of the Israeli Parliament from 2010-2013, where she served as Chair of the Education Committee and Member of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.    She has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Adjunct Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and was a Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres.    She has written 6 books, including being the co-author of “The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace”   For More Information on CCFP:    Web: https://www.creativecommunityforpeace.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccfpeace/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/ccfpeace   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creativecommunityforpeace   You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/creativecommunityforpeace   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ccfpeace?

President Biden has now been in office for one year; Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders, joined co-host Tom Collina to reflect on Biden's foreign policy decisions over the course of this year. Topics include: US military policy and withdrawal from Afghanistan. On Early Warning, Tom Collina takes double duty as co-host and sits down with Sharon Squassoni, co-chair of the Science & Security Board at The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. She discusses the Doomsday clock and why it was decided to keep it at 100 seconds to midnight.

Long before there was a catchphrase called “foreign policy for the middle class,” a Vermont mayor was on C-SPAN fighting for exactly that thing. Now he's a US Senator. And Bernie Sanders has pretty much spent his entire career in Washington questioning whether government decisions really serve working people … or, the 1%. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we sit down with Sanders' Foreign Policy Advisor Matt Duss, because we wanted to know, from the perspective of someone whose boss has been thinking about these ideas for such a long time... Is Biden's foreign policy for the middle class anything more than a slogan? GUESTS: Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor, Senator Bernie Sanders ADDITIONAL READING: Who Is Matt Duss, and Can He Take On Washington's ‘Blob'?, David Klion, The Nation

Today's guest is Qendrim Gashi, former Ambassador of Kosovo to France. Prior to his posting in Paris, Ambassador Gashi served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Kosovo, and Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Prishtina, a position he has resumed since ending his diplomatic service. In today's episode, we discuss the dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia, and what progress, if any, has been made over the past few years. In addition, we discuss the EU's role in the dialogue, as well as the EU's relationship with the broader Western Balkans region.

Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor to US Senator Bernie Sanders, joins Vassilis Ntousas, Senior International Relations Policy Advisor at FEPS, for an episode focusing on the Afghanistan withdrawal, the emerging US foreign policy doctrine under president Biden, the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and what recent developments mean for ‘the West' and the international liberal order, and the future of transatlantic cooperation after these momentous events.

To many people the U.S. Department of State (DOS) is as foreign as the countries in which our embassies are placed. Fortunately, we here at A BETTER PEACE know some people, and on this episode we welcome Andrea Gastaldo to share her experiences as the Director of the Department of State's Political-Military Bureau Office of State-Defense Integration (PM/SDI). That particular office may not be familiar to most military folks but the Foreign Policy Advisor or POLAD program that Andrea is responsible for probably rings a bell. She joins our own Associate Editor Amanda Cronkhite in the next installment of this multi-part series to discuss the details of a program that probably has more direct contact with the military and combatant command leaderships than any other office in DOS. Andrea has served as a POLAD to the Commanding General of U.S. Army North and has experience around the world in such places as South Africa, Belarus and New Zealand. Her current position finds her recruiting and mentoring future POLADs and that experience makes her the perfect guest to conduct the next installment of what we're calling DOS 101. TRANSCRIPT: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/21-094-DOS-101-FOREIGN-POLICY-ADVISORS-Transcript.pdf

Please join host Amir Oren for the second of a two-part interview with Dr. Uzi Arad, who formerly served for more than 2 decades as Director of Research and senior liaison at Israel's Mossad national intelligence agency. After being appointed as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dr. Arad participated negotiations with neighboring Arab states. He later headed the Israeli National Security Council, which he was instrumental in establishing. Dr. Arad's interests include strategy, decision making, diplomacy, energy and clandestine operations. You are welcome to join our audience and watch all of our programs - free of charge! TV7 Israel News: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... Jerusalem Studio: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7 Israel News Editor's Note: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... Jerusalem Prays: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7's Times Observer: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7's Middle East Review: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... My Brother's Keeper: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... This week in 60 seconds: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... Those who wish can send prayer requests to TV7 Israel News in the following ways: Facebook Messenger: https://www.facebook.com/tv7israelnews Email: israelnews@tv7.fi Please be sure to mention your first name and country of residence. Any attached videos should not exceed 20 seconds in duration. #IsraelNews #tv7israelnews #newsupdates Rally behind our vision - https://www.tv7israelnews.com/donate/ To purchase TV7 Israel News merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/tv7-isra... Live view of Jerusalem - https://www.tv7israelnews.com/jerusal... Visit our website - http://www.tv7israelnews.com/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/tv7israelnews Like TV7 Israel News on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tv7israelnews Follow TV7 Israel News on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tv7israelnews/ Follow TV7 Israel News on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tv7israelnews

Please join host Amir Oren for the first of a two-part interview with Dr. Uzi Arad, who formerly served for more than 2 decades as Director of Research and senior liaison at Israel's Mossad national intelligence agency. After being appointed as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Dr. Arad participated negotiations with neighboring Arab states. He later headed the Israeli National Security Council, which he was instrumental in establishing. Dr. Arad's interests include strategy, decision making, diplomacy, energy and clandestine operations. You are welcome to join our audience and watch all of our programs - free of charge! TV7 Israel News: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... Jerusalem Studio: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7 Israel News Editor's Note: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7 Israel: Watchmen Talk: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... Jerusalem Prays: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7's Times Observer: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... TV7's Middle East Review: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... My Brother's Keeper: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... This week in 60 seconds: https://www.tv7israelnews.com/vod/ser... Those who wish can send prayer requests to TV7 Israel News in the following ways: Facebook Messenger: https://www.facebook.com/tv7israelnews Email: israelnews@tv7.fi Please be sure to mention your first name and country of residence. Any attached videos should not exceed 20 seconds in duration. #IsraelNews #tv7israelnews #newsupdates Rally behind our vision - https://www.tv7israelnews.com/donate/ To purchase TV7 Israel News merchandise: https://teespring.com/stores/tv7-isra... Live view of Jerusalem - https://www.tv7israelnews.com/jerusal... Visit our website - http://www.tv7israelnews.com/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/tv7israelnews Like TV7 Israel News on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/tv7israelnews Follow TV7 Israel News on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tv7israelnews/ Follow TV7 Israel News on Twitter - https://twitter.com/tv7israelnews

Photo: Fire outside the al Aqsa Mosque (screen grab)..CBS Eye on the World with John BatchelorCBS Audio Network@BatchelorshowWhen you first heard the air raid sirens over Jerusalem? Dore Gold, @DrDoreGold. Malcolm Hoenlein @Conf_of_pres @mhoenlein1Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Related Articles https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-cease-fire-israel-and-hamas-see-gainstoward-differing-goals-11621610289 https://www.timesofisrael.com/blinken-israel-took-very-significant-steps-to-avoid-hitting-gaza-civilians/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-administration-adds-38-5-million-in-aid-to-the-palestinians/ https://jcpa.org/hamas-is-acting-as-an-arm-of-iranian-power/ https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210527-under-us-pressure-cairo-adopts-new-policy-with-hamas/  

In episode two of The 1MC, Master Chief Jason Vanderhaden speaks with Ms. Ann Cataldo - the Director of International Affairs and Foreign Policy Advisor for the Coast Guard as they discuss the services' global engagements, member opportunities, where the Coast Guard fits in, and where we continue to go as a service in a global domain.

Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor to Bernie Sanders, joins this episode of Vital Interests Podcast to discuss the Capitol Riots, Biden’s foreign policy challenges, and the legacy of 9/11. Vital Interests Podcast with Karen Greenberg is brought to you by the Center on National Security at Fordham Law.

While the focus of the world has been on the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has been busy preparing a war authorization for the incoming Joe Biden administration. In this episode, we examine the advice given to Congress in nine recent hearings to learn which countries are on the World Trade System naughty list, as Jen prepares to read the NDAA that's soon to become law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Click here to contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Click here to support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank’s online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536 Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Recommended Episodes CD208: The Brink of the Iran War CD195: Yemen CD191: The Democracies of Elliott Abrams CD190: A Coup for Capitalism CD186: National Endowment for Democracy CD167: Combating Russia NDAA CD131: Bombing Libya Bills H.R.526: Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019 Congress.gov H.Res.751: Reaffirming the partnership between the United States and the African Union and recognizing the importance of diplomatic, security, and trade relations. Congress.gov H.Res.1120: Urging the Government of Tanzania and all parties to respect human rights and constitutional rights and ensure free and fair elections in October 2020, and recognizing the importance of multi-party democracy in Tanzania Congress.gov H.Res.1183: Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging continued democratic progress in Ethiopia, and for other purposes. Congress.gov Articles/Documents Article: Belarus Will Be an Early Challenge for Biden, By Gregory Feifer, Slate, December 18, 2020 Article: Expanded "America Crece" Initiative Launch Event, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, December 17, 2020 Article: Court Finds Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in the Philippines, By Jason Gutierrez, The New York Times, December 15, 2020 Article: 2,596 Trades in One Term: Inside Senator Perdue’s Stock Portfolio, By Stephanie Saul, Kate Kelly and Michael LaForgia, The New York Times, December 2, 2020 Article: Africa: From caravan networks to investment projects, By Ahmet Kavas, Daily Sabah, November 25, 2020 Article: Ethiopia’s Problems Will Not End with a Military Victory, By Aly Verjee, United States Institute of Peace, November 24, 2020 Article: Tanzania: Repression Mars National Elections, Human Rights Watch, November 23, 2020 Article: DoD Policy Chief Quits As Leadership Vacuum Expands, By Paul McLeary, DefenseNews, November 10, 2020 Article: Biden landing team for Pentagon announced, By Aaron Mehta, DefenseNews, November 10, 2020 Article: Africa in the news: Unrest in Ethiopia, contentious elections results in Tanzania and Côte d’Ivoire, and a new UK-Kenya trade deal By Payce Madden, Brookings, November 7, 2020 Article: US doing its best to lock China out of Latin America By Vijay Prashad, Asia Times, November 4, 2020 Article: Ethiopia Proposes Holding Postponed Vote in May or June 2021: FANA By Addis Ababa, Reuters, October 30, 2020 Press Release: Crisis in Mali, By Alexis Arieff, Congressional Research Service, October 21, 2020 Article: América Crece: Washington's new investment push in Latin America By Jeff Abbott, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, October 8, 2020 Article: Ethiopian Region Holds Local Elections in Defiance of Prime Minister By Simon Marks and Abdi Latif Dahir, The New York Times, September 10, 2020 Article: IRI Expert Discusses COVID-19, Protecting Democracy in Europe and Protests in Belarus in Testimony to House Foreign Affairs Committee International Republican Institute, September 10, 2020 Article: Nile dam row: US cuts aid to Ethiopia, BBC News, September 3, 2020 Press Release: Belarus: An Overview, By Cory Welt, Congressional Research Service, August 24, 2020 Press Release: Rep. Omar Leads Letter to Condemn Trump Administration’s Plan to Invest in Controversial Projects in Honduras, Ilhan Omar, August 13, 2020 Article: China Dominates Bid for Africa’s Largest Dam in New Pact By Pauline Bax and Michael Kavanagh, Bloomberg Green, August 7, 2020 Article: Nile dam row: Egypt fumes as Ethiopia celebrates By Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC News, July 29, 2020 Article: Remarks by CEO Boehler at the América Crece Event With President Hernández of the Republic of Honduras U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, July 21, 2020 Article: Can Malian President Keita survive growing anti-gov’t protests? By Hamza Mohamed, Aljazeera, July 10, 2020 Article: Pundits with undisclosed funding from arms manufacturers urge ‘stronger force posture’ to counter China By Eli Clifton, Responsible Statecraft, May 14, 2020 Article: The Three Seas Initiative explained By David A. Wemer, Atlantic Council, February 11, 2020 Article: FORMER OBAMA OFFICIALS HELP SILICON VALLEY PITCH THE PENTAGON FOR LUCRATIVE DEFENSE CONTRACTS By Lee Fang, The Intercept, July 22, 2018 Article: Is John McCain's Pick to Lead the International Republican Institute a Strike Against Donald Trump? By Timothy J. Burger, Town & Country, August 10, 2017 Article: The River That Swallows All Dams By Charles Kenny and John Norris, Foreign Policy, May 8, 2015 Document: The Grand Inga Illusion By David Lunde, University of Denver, 2014 Article: Can DR Congo's Inga dam project power Africa? By Maud Jullien, BBC News, November 15, 2013 Article: A New Take on the 1961 Murder of Congo’s Leader By Slobodan Lekic, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2006 Article: How Biden’s Foreign-Policy Team Got Rich By Jonathan Guyer, The American Prospect Article: Christopher Fomunyoh Grabs Man Of The Year Award By Bama Cham, Eden Newspaper Article: Reform in Ethiopia: Turning Promise into Progress, Yoseph Badwaza and Jon Temin, Freedom House Article: Beijing and Wall Street deepen ties despite geopolitical rivalry, Financial Times Article: THE HISTORY OF DR CONGO TIMELINE, Welcome to the Congo Reform Association Article: Business: The Big Dreamer, By LOUIS EDGAR DETWILER, TIME, August 01, 1960 Additional Resources About The Jamestown Foundation Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. African Union Alyssa Ayres Council on Foreign Relations DEREK MITCHELL National Democratic Institute Douglas Rutzen International Center for Not-For-Profit Law Daniel Serwer, LinkedIn Daniel Serwer, Middle East Institute Daniel Twining LinkedIn Dr. Daniel Twining International Republican Institute Elbridge Colby, LinkedIn Elbridge Colby, The Marathon Initiative Elbridge Colby, Senior Advisor, Westexec Advisors Employment Timeline: Albright, Madeleine K OpenSecrets.org Eric Farnsworth, LinkedIn Eric Farnsworth Americas Society Council of the Americas Flagship Projects of Agenda 2063 African Union History: IDEA TO REALITY: NED AT 30 National Endowment for Democracy Investing in Development U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Jamie Fly The German Marshall Fund of the United States Jamie Fly U.S. Agency For Global Media Janusz Bugajski, The Jamestown Foundation Jon Temin Freedom House Joshua Meservey, LinkedIn Lauren Blanchard, LinkedIn Michael Camilleri, The Dialogue Mission Statement, Growth in the Americas Monica de Bolle International Capital Strategies Our Experienced Team McLarty Associates Philip Reeker, LinkedIn Summary: Albright Stonebridge Group OpenSecrets.org Susan Stigant, United States Institute of Peace Team, The Beacon Project, October 2020 Team ALBRIGHT STONEBRIDGE GROUP Therese Pearce Laanela, Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Yoseph Badwaza, Freedom House Sound Clip Sources Hearing: THE BALKANS: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION, Committee on Foreign Affairs, December 8, 2020 Watch on C-SPAN Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Madeleine Albright Chairman of the National Democratic Institute Chairman of the Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm Chairman of Albright Capital Management , an investment advisory firm Member of the Council on Foreign Relations 2003-2005: Member of the Board of Directors of the NYSE 1997-2001: Secretary of State 1978-1981: National Security Council Staff Daniel Serwer Director of American Foreign Policy and Conflict Management at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Former Vice President at the US Institute of Peace Former Minister Counselor at the State Department during the Clinton years Janusz Bugajski Senior Fellow at the Jamestown Foundation Former Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) Hosts a tv show in the Balkans Transcript: 40:03 Rep. Eliot Engel (NY): Serbia has been importing Russian fighters and tanks and conducting military exercises with the Russian Army. A US Defense Department report told us that Belgrade's drift towards Moscow has mostly occurred since President Vučić took power. The same time democratic space in Serbia has shrunk in recent years. Freedom House describes Serbia as a, 'hybrid regime', not a democracy because of declining standards in governance, justice, elections and media freedom. If Serbia wants to become part of the European Union, and the North Atlantic family of nations, it needs to get off the fence and embrace a Western path. 56:17 Madeleine Albright: As you know, Mr. Chairman, the President Elect has been personally engaged in the Balkans since his time in the Senate. And he was one of the most outspoken leaders in Congress calling for the United States to help end the complex and I was honored to work closely with him throughout my time in office. And I know that he understands the region and its importance for the United States. The national security team that President Elect Biden is putting in place is deeply knowledgeable and committed to helping all the countries of the region move forward as part of a Europe that is whole free and at peace. And that's important, because today this vision is in peril. The nations of the Western Balkans are suffering deeply from the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Corruption remains a serious problem, and nationalist leaders continue to stoke and exploit ethnic tensions. China and Russia are also exerting new influence in the region, with Serbia in particular the target of much anti Western propaganda. As the pandemic eases there will be an opportunity for the United States and Europe to help the region build back better, particularly as Western European countries seek to bring supply chains closer to home. And as new funds become available to invest in energy diversification and environmental protection. 59:36 Madeleine Albright: The answer is for the United States and the EU to work together to champion initiatives that help custom Bosnia and others build economic ties to Europe and the neighborhood while also pushing for needed political reforms. 1:00:00 Madeleine Albright: On Bosnia, the Dayton accords stopped a war and continue to keep the peace. But the governing arrangements are not captured by leaders among the three groups that negotiated the peace. They want to hold on to power even if it means holding their society back. While Bosnia is neighbors move toward EU membership, the United States and the European Union must focus their efforts in Bosnia on the abuse of government and state owned enterprises. Taking away the levers of power that keep the current system in place. 1:05:30 Daniel Serwer: Europe and the United States want a post state in Bosnia, they can qualify for EU membership. That Bosnia will be based not on ethnic power sharing, but rather on majorities of citizens electing their representatives. [?] entities as well as ethnic vetoes and restrictions we'll need to fade. the Americans and Europeans should welcome the prospect of a new Civic constitution. But no one outside Boston Herzegovina can reform its constitution, a popular movement is needed. The United States along with the Europeans needs to shield any popular movement from repression while starting the entities with funding and redirecting it to the central government and municipalities. 1:12:07 Janusz Bugajski: Moscow views Serbia in particular, and the Republic of Srpska in Bosnia as useful tools to subvert regional security and limit Western integration. 1:12:40 Janusz Bugajski: Western Balkan inclusion in the Three Seas Initiative and its North South transportation corridor will enhance economic performance and help provide alternatives to dependence on Russian energy and Chinese loans. 2:00:41: Rep. Gerry Connolly (VA): Why do you think longer term in the Balkans its Chinese influence we need to be focused on? Janusz Bugajski:Thank you very much for that question. Let me begin with why Russia is not a longer term danger. Russia is a country in serious decline, economic decline. Its economies size of a medium sized European state. China has the second largest economy in the world. Russia has internal problems with its nationalities with its regions, with increasing public unrest with increasing opposition to put in them even be power struggles during the succession period over the next four years, Russia faces major internal problems. China, on the other hand, unless of course, there is opposition to the Chinese Communist Party from within, is in a different stage. It continues to be a very dynamic country in terms of its economic growth. It doesn't face the sort of internal contradictions and conflicts that Russia does. And it's increasingly.. China's always looked at the longer term. In other words, they don't even have to look at succession cycles, because of the dominance of the Communist Party. They are looking eventually to replace Russia as the major rival of the United States. And the best way to do that is to increase their influence not only militarily in East Asia, South Asia and other parts of the world, but economically, politically, diplomatically, culturally, and through the media and that's precisely what they're doing, not only in Europe, but in other continents. 2:18:38 Madeleine Albright: I think that democracy and economic development go together also. Because as I put it, people want to vote and eat. Hearing: THE UNFOLDING CONFLICT IN ETHIOPIA, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, December 3, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Yoseph Badwaza Senior Advisor for Africa at Freedom House Former Secretary General of Ethiopian Human Rights Council Susan Stigant Director of the Africa Program at the United States Institute of Peace Former program director at the National Democratic Institute, focused on South Sudan Tsedale Lemma Editor in Chief and Founder of Addis Standard Magazine Lauren Ploch Blanchard Specialist in African Affairs at the Congressional Research Service Former East Africa Program Manager at the International Republican Institute Transcript: 35:32 Yoseph Badwaza: The devastating developments of the past four weeks have brought inmeasurable human suffering and the destruction of livelihoods and appear to have returned to yet another protracted civil war and nearly 30 years after it emerged from its last. These tragic events have also dealt a deadly blow to what would have been one of the most consequential democratic transitions on the African continent. 37:09 Yoseph Badwaza: A series of missed opportunities in the last two and a half years led to the tragic derailment of a promising democratic experiment. A half hearted effort at implementing reforms by a ruling party establishment reluctant to shape its deeply authoritarian roots. Roots stands in the way of a genuine inclusive political process. Hearing: U.S. DEFENSE POSTURE CHANGES IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER, Committee on Armed Services, September 30, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Dr. James Anderson Former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Department of Defense (resigned the day after Trump fired DoD Secretary Mark Esper) 2006-2009: Director of Middle East Policy for the Secretary of Defense 2001-2006 - Gap in LinkedIn resume 2000-2001: Associate at DFI International, a multinational consulting firm 1997-1999: Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation Lt. Gen David Allen: Director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy, Joint Chiefs of Staff Transcript: 17:14 Dr. James Anderson: As we continue to implement the NDS or efforts at enhancing our European posture beyond Eucom Combat Command Review, have shown recent successes, including the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Poland in August that will enable an increased enduring US rotational presence in that country of about 1000 US military personnel. Hearing: DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, September 30, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Christopher Fomunyoh Senior Associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs Has been at NDI since 1993 Has worked for the Cameroon Water Corporation and Cameroon Airlines Corporation Dorina A. Bekoe, PhD Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses Jon Temin Director of the Africa Program at Freedom House Freedom House gets most of its funding from the National Endowment for Democracy 2014-2017: U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff Director of the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Africa Program Member of the Council on Foreign Relations Non-resident Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Joshua Meservey Senior Policy Analyst for Africa and the Middle East at the Heritage Foundation since 2015 Former Associate Director of the Atlantic Council Former Field Team Manager for the Church World Service Resettlement Support Center Former Volunteer with the US Peace Corps Former intern for the US Army Special Operations Command Former Loss Prevention Coordinator for Dollar Financial Corporation Transcript: 7:13 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): I fear that 2020 may see an even greater decrease in democracy on the continent. Today's hearing is also timely, as elections are approaching next month in Tanzania and the Ivory Coast, both countries which appear to be on a downward trajectory in terms of governance and respect for civil and political rights. And I want to note that Chairwoman bass has introduced legislation with respect to Tanzania, and I'm very proud to be a co sponsor of it and I thank you for that leadership. 8:37 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): For example, was quite obvious to outside observers in the DRC that the declared winner of the latest presidential election held in late 2018. Felix Tshisekedi received less votes than Martin Fayulu low because of a corrupt bargain between the outgoing strongman Joseph Kabila Tshisekedi. The Constitutional Court packed by Kabila declared him to be the winner. What happened next was troubling, as our State Department issued a statement that said and I quote, 'the United States welcomes the Congolese Constitutional Court certification of Felix Tshisekedi as the next president of the DRC,' which was apparently driven by a handful of diplomats, including our ambassador. 9:26 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Elections in Nigeria were first postponed by sitting President Buhari and marred by irregularities in advance of the election date, quitting arson attacks on the independent national Electoral Commission offices in opposition strongholds in Buhari's his removal of Supreme Court Justice Walter Onnoghen. 10:40 Rep. Chris Smith (NJ): Before Sudan is delisted as a state sponsor of terrorism, I also believe there must be justice for all victims of its past bad acts including the victims of 911, many of whom live in my home state of New Jersey and in my district. 14:44 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): Most concerning is the situation in Tanzania, which I recently addressed in House Resolution 1120 where current leadership is repressing the opposition and basic freedoms of expression and assembly in a blatant attempt to retain power. 15:00 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): We see similar patterns in Cote d'Ivoire as the executive branch legalizes the deviation in democratic institutions to codify non democratic actions. We have similar concerns about Guinea and are going to be very watchful of upcoming elections there. And in Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Gabon, Ghana, Nigeria and Somalia. 15:57 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): What concerns me most is the democratic backsliding is not limited to Africa and we seem to be in a place of retreat from democracy that I only hope is an anomaly. In Europe, we see the egregious behavior of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who claimed success in a disputed August 9 election and sought support from extra national resources such as Russia to justify his claim to power. 17:28 Rep. Karen Bass (CA): President Duterte of the Philippines is accused of lawfare, or weaponizing the law to deter or defeat freedoms, personalities and establishments that promote human rights, press freedoms and the rule of law while also cracking down on individual freedoms. 24:39 Christopher Fomunyoh: NDI has over three decades of technical assistance to and support for democratic institutions and processes in Africa and currently runs active programs in 20 countries. 26:09 Christopher Fomunyoh: Notably, West Africa, previously commanded as a trailblazer region has seen serious backsliding, as Mali experienced a military coup, and major controversies have arisen about candidacies of incumbent presidents in Guinea, Conakry and Cote d'Ivoire. The Central Africa region remains stocked with the three with the highest concentration of autocratic regimes with the three longest serving presidents in the world. In that sub region, notably Equatorial Guinea forty one years, Cameroon 38 years, and Congo Brazzaville 38 years. 26:50 Christopher Fomunyoh: In southern and East Africa, continued persecution of political opposition and civil society activists in Zimbabwe and similar worrying signs or patterns in Tanzania since 2016 seriously diminished citizen participation in politics and governance and also stand my prospects for much needed reforms. 31:31 Dorina A. Bekoe: Mali's 2012 coup took place even though there was a regularly scheduled election just one month away. And the coup in August of this year took place despite the fact that in 2018 there was a presidential election and last year there were legislative elections. 38:44 Jon Temin: The United States should consider changes to term and age limits that allow incumbent leaders to extend their time in office as essentially a coup against the constitution and respond accordingly. These moves by leaders who have already served two terms are an usurpation of power, that deny the country and its citizens the many benefits of leadership rotation. 40:07 Jon Temin: In Sudan the long overdue process of removing the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism may soon conclude, but that is not enough. The United States needs to support the civilian component of Sudan's transitional government at every step of the long road toward democracy and do all that it can to revive Sudan's economy. 40:25 Jon Temin: In Ethiopia, there are deeply concerning signs that the government is reaching for tools of repression that many hoped were relegated to history. Nonetheless, Ethiopia remains on a tentative path to democratic elections that can be transformative. In this context, the decision by the United States to withhold development assistance from Ethiopia in a quixotic and counterproductive effort to influence Ethiopia's negotiating position concerning the grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is bad policy that should be reversed. 41:00 Jon Temin: Nascent democratic transitions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia and Angola also call for strong US support. 1:10:21 Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN): I want to start with Dr. Fomunyoh. In your testimony you discuss the massacres committed in the Anglophone region of Cameroon. Did the United States provide training funding or arms to the Cameroonian security forces who committed those massacres? 1:12:20 Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN): Did the Millennium military officers who led the recent coup [??] receive US military training? And if you can just say yes or no, because I have a few more questions and we have limited time. 1:29:23 Jon Temin: Freedom in the world, which we do every year rates every country in the world that includes the United States, the United States score was decreasing before this administration, we have seen a slow slippage of democracy in America for some time, rating based on our scores. That decrease has accelerated under this administration. 1:30:00 Jon Temin: I think part of it has to do with freedom for journalists. I believe there's been some concern there. Part of it has to do with corruption and some of the indications that we've seen of corrupt activity within government. I'll leave it there. We're happy to go dig into that and provide you more detail. And I'm sure that when we look at the scores again later this year, there will be a robust conversation on the United States. Hearing: THE ROLE OF ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN U.S. MILITARY STRATEGY AND OPERATIONS, Committee on Armed Services, September 23, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Christine Wormuth On Joe Biden's presidential transition team 2018- present: Director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation 2017-2018: Founding Director of the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience at the Atlantic Council 2017-2018: Senior Advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2010-2014: Various DoD positions, rising to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy 2004-2009: Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies 2002-2004: Principal at DFI Government Services, an international defense consulting firm Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges Center for European Policy Analysis Board of Advisors for the Spirit of America (not listed on hearing bio) Board of Directors is made up of CEOs of mulitnational corporations Board of Advisors is full of corporate titans and big names, including Michelle Flournoy, Jeh Johnson, Kimberly Kagan, Jack Keane, James Mattis, Stanley McChrystal, H.R. McMaster, & George Shultz 2014-2017: Commanding General of the US Army in Europe Elbridge Colby Principal and co-Founder of the Marathon Initiative Formed in May 2020 Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors (not listed on hearing bio) Co-Founded by incoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Michelle Flournoy, who told the Intercept in 2018, "we help tech firms who are trying to figure out how to sell in the public sector space, to navigate the DOD, the intel community, law enforcement." 2018-2019: Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security Northrup Grumman is one of its biggest donors, also gets funding from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Bell Helicopter, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Boeing, and DynCorp. 2017-2018: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Lead official in the creation of the 2018 National Defense Strategy 2010-2017: Center for a New American Security GWB administration (not listed on his LinkedIn) 2005-2006: worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2004-2005: President GWB's WMD Commission 2003: worked with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq Transcript: 17:14 20:08 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: Second point of emphasis requires us to place importance on the greater Black Sea where. I believe the great power competition prevents great power conflict, failure to compete and to demonstrate interest and willingness to protect those interests in all domains, power vacuums and miscalculations which can lead to escalation and to actual conflict. This is particularly true in the greater Black Sea region, where Russia is attempting to maximize its sphere of influence. The Black Sea region should be the place where the United States and our NATO allies and partners hold the line. The Black Sea should matter to the west in part because it [was to the Kremlin.] taking the initiative away from the Kremlin denies the ability to support the Assad regime in Syria and then to live will reduce the flow of rich into Europe, or General Breedlove called the weaponization of refugee. Limit the Kremlin's ability to spread his thoughts of influence in the Balkans which is the Middle East and North Africa. 21:28 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: We must repair the relationship between Turkey and the United States. And see Turkey [?] as an exposed ally at the crossroads of several regions and challenges. Turkey is essential for deterrence of the Kremlin in the Black Sea region. And it is a critical both against ISIS and Iran we need to consider this relationship to be a priority, [but] condone or excuse several mistakes or bad choices about the Turkish Government. There are times are very quiet, but we think long term. The current Turkish administration will eventually change. But the strategically important geography of Turkey will never change. 23:31 Elbridge Colby: Allies and partners are absolutely essential for the United States in a world increasingly defined by great power competition, above all with China. Indeed, they lie at the very heart of the right US strategy for this era, which I believe the Department of Defense's 2018 National Defense Strategy lays out. The importance to the United States of allies and partners is not a platitude, but the contrary. For the first time since the 19th century, the United States is not far and away the world's largest economy. More than anything else, this is due to the rise of China. And that has become very evident. Beijing is increasingly using its growing power for coercive purposes. 24:08 Elbridge Colby: United States faces a range of other potential threats, including primarily from Russia against NATO, as well as from transnational terrorists, Iran and North Korea. In other words, there exists multiple challenges to US national security interests. Given their breadth and scope, America can no longer expect to take care of them essentially alone. Accordingly, we must address this widening shortfall between the threats we face and the resources we have to deal with them by a much greater role for allies and partners. 24:59 Elbridge Colby: Because of China's power and wealth, the United States simply must play a leading role in blocking Beijing's pursuit of hegemony in Asia. This means that the US defense establishment must prioritize dealing with China and Asia and particularly vulnerable allies and partners such as Taiwan and the Philippines. 25:24 Elbridge Colby: In particular, we will not be able to dedicate the level of resources and effort to the Middle East and Europe that we have in the past. We will therefore need allied partners to do their part not just to help defend our interests and enable a concentration on Asia but to defend themselves and their interests. 26:00 Elbridge Colby: The contemporary threats to us interest stem from China across Asia. Transnational terrorists largely in the Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe, Persian Gulf area and North Korea in Asia. 26:11 Elbridge Colby: Yet the United States is traditional, closest and most significant allies are largely clustered in Western Europe in Northeast Asia. Many of these countries, especially Europe feel quite secure and are little motivated to contribute to more distant threats. This leaves wide areas such as South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East, for which long standing US alliances are of minimal help. The natural way to rectify this is for the United States to add partners and form necessary alliances to help address these gaps. 35:13 Elbridge Colby: In this effort, though, we should be very careful to distinguish between expanding our formal alliances or [?] alliances from expanding our partnerships, the former should be approached derivatively while the latter can be approached more liberally, when we extend an alliance commitment or something tantamount to it as in the case of Taiwan, we tie our credibility to that nation's fate. We should therefore be [cheery] about doings. In light of this, we should seek to expand our partnerships wherever possible. In particular, we should focus on increasing them in South and Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, where China otherwise might have an open field to [subordances] and add them to its pro hegemonium coalition. 27:41 Elbridge Colby: I do not see a near term need to add any allies to the US roster. But I do think we will increasingly need to consider this as the shadow of Chinese power darkens over the region. 27:53 Elbridge Colby: Our effort to expand our network of allies and partners should really be focused on states with shared threat perceptions. It has become something of a common place that shared values form the bedrock of our alliances. It is true that such values help allies, but the most useful alliances generally proceed from shared fears. The best motivator to fight is self defense. The states that have a shared interest in preventing Chinese or Russian or Iranian hegemony selves have a natural alignment with our own. This is true whether or not they are democracies. 29:00 Elbridge Colby: In Asia, given the scale proposed by Beijing, we should concentrate most of our allies like Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan on readying to defend themselves alongside US Armed Forces and provide access to US forces in the event of a contingency. 29:16 Elbridge Colby: Meanwhile, we should assist partners like Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, with whatever means available to enable their defense against an ever more powerful China while concurrently seeking greater access and logistics support for US and other allied forces. 29:39 Elbridge Colby: Europe Finally, the overall us goal should be while preserving the fundamental us commitment to NATO's defense to have Europeans especially in northern and eastern Europe shoulder more of the burden of defending the Alliance from Russia assault. The reality is that given the stakes and consequences, the United States must prioritize Asia. United States must therefore economize in its second theater Europe. 35:13 Elbridge Colby: And move away from using these tools as leverage for key partners for domestic political reform or secondary geopolitical objectives. United States should always of course, stand proudly for free government that treats its people with dignity. We must keep our eye on the prize though China is the primary challenge to our interest in the world, including our government, both at home and abroad. Our top priority must therefore be to block its gaining predominance in Asia, which is a very real prospect. This means strengthening states in the region against Chinese power, whether or not they are model democracies. 35:15 Rep. Adam Smith (WA): When we should we just say, look, we're not going to worry about your domestic politics. We want to build the Alliance, however possible. How would we deal with extreme human rights abuses, as are alleged in the Philippines in terms of extra judicial killings, or in the case of India, and of course, we're dealing with this with Turkey and Europe as well, as you know, doing the arm sales with Russia, should we significantly back off on our sort of sanctions policy for those things? And if so, how do we signal that without without undermining our credibility? 40:55 Elbridge Colby: In a sense, what we're going to need to do to leverage this greater power of this network, you know, allies, partners, whatever their role is going to be interoperability, the ability to work to different standards to communicate with each other. That's partially a technical problem and an equipment problem, but a lot of it is human training and an organizational issue. And Taiwan, I think I'm very enthusiastic about the arms sales to Taiwan. And I know that one was recently reported, I hope it goes through because it's the kind of equipment that we want to see this kind of A2AD denial kind of capabilities to Taiwan, but actually, where I think would be really valuable to move forward with. And that's a sensitive issue, but I think this would be within the context of our trade policy would personally be on training, you know, and that's something we could think about with Vietnam as well. Obviously, the Indians have a very sophisticated military, but they're maybe we can offer there too. So I think that's a real sort of force multiplier. 42:00 Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX): Turkeys geography, history, critical role is always going to be important is certainly valid. And yet, not only are there human rights and governance issues, the current leader of Turkey has policies that contradict the, in many ways the best interests of the United States. So, take that specific example. We don't want to make enemies of Turkey forever. But yet, what do we do now? To to preserve that future when there's a different government, but yet make clear or in some way help guide them on a better policy path? 57:50 Christine Wormuth: We need to make adjustments to our posture in the region to be able to better deal with China. And so the announcement by Palau, for example, that it's willing to host US airfields and bases could be quite helpful to us. Even though they're relatively small. We do need to diversify our footprint. 1:24:52 Christine Wormuth: The challenge is that the many of the countries in the indo Pacific don't want to have to choose between the United States and China. They want to engage with China for very clear economic interests, while most of them lean towards the United States for security interests, and I think they're trying to sort of thread that needle. 1:32:07 Christine Wormuth: Turkey is a very challenging geostrategic problem. I was in the Obama administration when we were fighting ISIS, and we knew there was tension between the necessity to have partners on the ground and the Syrian Democratic Forces were what we had. We knew Turkey had issues with that. In my experience, however, the United States worked very hard and very closely with Turkey to try to assuage their concerns and nothing was ever enough for them. So we do have a challenge, they are very important in terms of where they are located, but the authoritarianism that Erdogan has turned to is concerning. So I think we have to keep the dialogue open and continue to try to keep turkey inside the fold, but at the same time, communicate that doing whatever they want is not acceptable. And the the S400 for example, is a key example of that. 1:34:07 Christine Wormuth: AFRICOM’s Zero Based review, I hope will shed light on which kinds of activities are helping us and helping our African partners. 1:35:36 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: The UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain all have extensive efforts going on in Africa. So this is an opportunity once again, where we can work with allies to achieve what our objectives are. 1:40:00 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: What for sure brings a lot of military capability air landed forces to the a lot and that if for some reason, you know that it would have to be filled by us or the state or other allied to then that's a problem right? Sorry. But more importantly is control the strokes that can help the blacks in the Mediterranean. And so having a NATO ally has control and sovereignty over the strait we have the mantra. Hearing: Stemming a Receding Tide: Human Rights and Democratic Values in Asia, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation, September 22, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Derek Mitchell President of the National Democratic Institute Returned to NDI in September 2018 after leaving in 1997 2012-2016: Former US Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) 2011-2012: U.S. Department of State’s first Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma 2009-2011: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA) 2001-2009: Senior Fellow and Director of the Asia Division of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 1997-2001: Special Assistant for Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense 1993-1997: Senior Program Officer for Asia and the former Soviet Union at the National Democratic Institute 1986-1988: Foreign policy assistant for Sen. Ted Kennedy Dr. Alyssa Ayres Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations Consultant for the Japan Bank for International Cooperation Senior Advisor for McLarty Associates A global consultant firm "at home in corporate board rooms & government cabinet rooms, anywhere in the world" Member of the United States Institute of Peace 2010-2013: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia 2008-2010: Founding director of the India and South Asia practice at McLarty Asssociates 2007-2008: Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Daniel Twining President of the International Republican Institute since 2017 Picked by outgoing President, Sen. John McCain 2009-2016: Former director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund 2007-2009: GWB State Department Policy Planning staffer 2001-2004: Foreign Policy Advisor to Sen. John McCain Transcript: 16:12 Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges: Last year I introduced the bipartisan Cambodia democracy act which passed the House overwhelmingly, it would impose sanctions on those in Cambodia responsible for undermining democratic rule of law in the country. We must be especially cognizant of democracies in Asia in danger of backsliding into autocracy, with China's help with their alternative to Western democracies, and that is Chinese socialism with Chinese characteristics that is communism, regardless of how they paint it and try to rename it. 21:10 Derek Mitchell: For nearly four decades, my organization, the National Democratic Institute, working alongside our partners at the International Republican Institute, and the National Endowment for Democracy has assisted the spread and institutionalization of democracy around the world. Let me say at the start that we can only do this work thanks to the sustained bipartisan support of Congress, including from this subcommittee. So for that we are truly grateful. 21:50 Derek Mitchell: Today NDI maintains nearly a dozen offices in the Indo-Pacific region. And last week we just received clearance from the Taiwan government to open an office in Taipei, which we will do soon. 30:07 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: Sri Lanka after a five year period of improvement is now moving in the other direction with the return of the Rajapaksa government. The new political configuration will not pursue progress on reconciliation and accountability for the end of the Civil War, and the newly elected parliament is already hard at work, the constitutional amendment to expand presidential powers. 34:21 Daniel Twining: Beyond China the past year has seen countries once viewed as bright spots for democracy like Malaysia and Sri Lanka, regress due to political infighting, personality politics and failure to deliver promised reforms. 1:48:50 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: I do believe that the creation of the DFC is important. It is my understanding that it is not quite up and running 100%. So we have yet to really see what it can do as a potential alternate to these kinds of infrastructure under writings. The other piece of the DFC is that is it in part designed to help crowd in private sector engagement and private sector investments. So that's another part of the story. I think we may need more time before we're able to see how effective this mechanism can be. 1:49:22 Dr. Alyssa Ayres: I would note that we also had another very effective source of US government assistance that depends on, his premise on good governance indicators. And that's the Millennium Challenge Corporation. And I would just caution that in the South Asia region, we have now seen two examples in Nepal and in Sri Lanka, were the long process of engaging toward a Millennium Challenge compact agreement, large investments, about 500 million in each case towards transportation and power infrastructure. These have actually been held up in both of those countries because of political concerns. The Nepali government doesn't want to be part of the US-Indo Pacific strategy or feel that it is somehow being brought into the Indo-Pacific strategy. The Rajapaksa government is suspicious of the US MCC. So I would just offer those two examples of cases where we've got a terrific tool, but it's run into some challenges for political reasons and the countries of concern. 1:50:29 Daniel Twining: Thank you, Congressman, you've been such a leader, including with your Cambodia democracy act. And you know, that's a reminder that we do have the tools and, and leverage. The Europeans in Cambodia have suspended trading privileges that they had offered to Cambodia. Cambodia is very reliant on our GSP still. So some of these economic instruments matter in both a negative sense, but also in a positive sense. When countries do well, we should be working with them on new trade and financial arrangements, the Chinese do come in and do this in their own way. And we should get back to that as a country. Sir, you mentioned, do we withdraw support when a country backslides, on democracy? You know, I would argue that most of our support for country should not go directly to their governments, should go to independent civil society, free media, independent institutions and not just go into a central coffer that disappears. In the past, we've gotten a lot smarter about this as a country, but in the past, a lot of us development assistance disappeared because we were giving it to friendly autocracies in some cases, who did not have any means of accounting for it. So let's make sure that we invest in these democracy and governance instruments because we want to make sure that US taxpayer money is being used well. Hearing: U.S. ENGAGEMENT IN THE INDO-PACIFIC AND BEYOND, Committee on Foreign Relations, September 17, 2017 Watch on C-SPAN Read Transcript Witnesses: Julie Chung Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department Philip T. Reeker 2019 to present: Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs 2017-2019: Civilian Deputy to the Commander of the US European Command 2014-2017:Principal Officer and Consul General at the US Consulate General in Milan, Italy 2011-2014: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State fo rEuropean and Eurasian Affairs 2008-2011: US Ambassador to Macedonia 2007-2008: Counselor of Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Iraq 2004-2007: Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Hungary 1999-2004: Spokesman for the US State Dept David R. Stilwell Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the State Department Transcript: 17:44 David R. Stilwell: For years, we in the international community credited Beijing's commitments that facilitating China's entry into the rules based international order would lead to increasing domestic reform and opening. Beijing's persistent flouting of these commitments has shattered those illusions. It is now clear to us and to more and more countries around the world that PRC foreign and security policy seeks to reshape the international environment around the narrow interests and authoritarian values of a single beneficiary. That is the Chinese Communist Party. 22:19 David R. Stilwell: We sincerely appreciate congressional leadership in establishing the new counter China influence fund in fiscal year 2020 Appropriations Bill. This very important provision provides the department with a flexible mechanism that will bolster our efforts to strengthen our partners resiliency to Chinese malign influence worldwide. The initial round of CCIF funding solicitation resulted in over 400 project submissions from around the globe, with demand far outstripping the appropriate funding. 29:57 Philip T. Reeker: By using platforms like the One Belt One Road initiative, the Chinese Communist Party endeavors to create dependencies and cultivate client state relationships through the 17 Plus One initiative which involves 12 countries that are both NATO and EU members primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, China aims to achieve access and ownership over valuable transportation hubs, critical infrastructure, ports and industries. 31:09 Philip T. Reeker: Using authorities granted by legislation members of this committee introduced, as mentioned the bipartisan Build Act and the European Energy Security and Diversification Act, we've been able to begin leveraging the New Development Finance Corporation to try to catalyze key investments in strategic projects. Most notable I'd point to Secretary Pompeo. His pledge at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year of $1 billion, a commitment to the Three Seas Initiative in the Czech Republic which Secretary Pompeo visited just last month, they have transformed from a target of Chinese influence to a leader in the European awakening. 33:29 Philip T. Reeker: Although China's GDP is about eight times the size of Russia's, Russia remains the primary military threat to Europe and the strategic priority for most of our allies and partners, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. Russia and China are more closely aligned strategically than at any point since the 1950s. And we see growing cooperation across a range of diplomatic, military, economic and information activities. 46:15 Julie Chung: In terms of [cepheus], and investment screening, we have extensive engagements in the region. We have been sending technical delegations to countries in the region to explain how public procurement processes and transparent processes work. We have helped governments build that capacity through the America Crece initiative. We have 10 mo use now signed with countries throughout the region. And that's part of the the tool to use in addressing the corruption issues that China is bringing to the region. How do we ensure the countries have the right tools in place, the practices in place, the procurement practices and regulatory framework to the private sector companies want to come and invest in those countries and ensure they have a level playing field to be working through the America Crece initiative. 47:17 Julie Chung: DFC has been a wonderful tool and resource that we've been able to now utilize more than ever, in from the former OPEX utilities, not expanding that broader base in Latin America and the Caribbean. So DFC in our region has already invested and has pledged to invest $12 billion in just the Western Hemisphere alone, and in Central America, $3 billion. So it's already invested in Central America, in El Salvador, for instance, on an LNG project, and other projects that are forthcoming. 1:17:16 Philip T. Reeker: Three Seas Initiative was developed by countries dozen countries in the Central and Eastern European region to provide alternatives particularly in a north-south direction for trade and infrastructure, and we have stepped in to support the Three Seas not as a member, but as an interested partner. And Secretary Pompeo outlined, as I mentioned, that the development Finance Corporation is offering up to a billion dollars in matching investment funds for opportunities throughout that region. 1:35:00 Julie Chung: Taiwan and the United States are working together in Latin America. So they announced financing to provide SME loan support for Latin American Central American region through the kabe. The Central American Bank of Government Integration. So that's one example of where we're providing that funding into the region. There's also a $26 million loan that DFCS provided to provide telecom towers in Peru and Ecuador 500 telecom towers, and this addresses both our strategic interest as well as a 5G telecommunications interest that where China is trying to take over and really control that that sector. 1:50:29 Julie Chung: In terms of DFC and working on digital authoritarianism, there's no better example in the region then in Maduro's regime, the authoritarian regime of Maduro and working in close concert with China, and China's ZTE has long had a relationship with the Maduro regime and providing the carnet de patria which spies on civil society and opposition leaders and determines how who gets what food allocations within that country. And so right now, of course, we are not engaging in DFC in Venezuela. But in a democratic future. When we have a democratic transition in that country. We would love to bring DFC into it and help rebuild. Hearing: THE HEALTH, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES FACING LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade, September 15, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Monica de Bolle, PhD Professor of Latin American Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics Senior Advisor with International Capital Strategies (not listed on her hearing bio) Former professor of macroeconomics at the Pontifical Catholic Universtiy of Rio de Janeiro Managing partner of Galanto MBB Consultants, a macroeconomic consultancy firm based in Brazil Former economist at the International Monetary Fund Michael Camilleri Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program for Inter-American Dialogue Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors since February 2018 (not listed on his hearing bio) The firm founded by the incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former Western Hemisphere adviser on Obama's Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and Director for Andean Affairs at the National Security Council from 2012-2017 Former human rights specialist at the Organization of American States Former senior staff attorney at the Center for Justice and International Law Member of the Council on Foreign Relations Eric Farnsworth Vice President of the Council of the Americas since 2003 Former Managing Director of ManattJones Global Strategies, a consulting firm from 1998-2005 Former member of the global public policy division of Bristol-Meyers Squibb, a multinational pharmaceutical company Former Senior Policy Advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1995-1998 Former Foreign Affairs Officer at the State Department from 1990-1995 Former Services and Investment Industry Analyst at the Office of the US Trade Representatives in 1992 Transcript: 25:10 Rep. Francis Rooney (FL): US international development Finance Corporation will play a crucial role in investments in the region, which I believe can help the recovery and also as long term economic well being 2:08:13 Eric Farnsworth: Notably, Washington is taking actions to build a forward looking economic recovery agenda. Among them the Americas Crece, a program announced at the end of 2019 and enhanced financing facilities through the newly minted Development Finance Corporation. 2:09:21 Eric Farnsworth: Economic Recovery must be at the forefront of the pending summit of the Americas. Latin America already suffers from one of the lowest levels of intra regional trade worldwide, for example. The gains from expanded intra regional trade would establish sounder economic footing while helping to moderate the cyclical nature of commodities markets, as well. Nations across Latin America and the Caribbean can focus more attention on improving their respective investment climates. Mr. Rooney, the ranking minority member has made this case effectively many, many times. For its part, the United States should come to the 2021 summit with a robust economic expansion initiative. Absent a massive economic financial package of debt relief and new lending, renewal of a hemispheric trade and investment agenda will be the best way to promote regional recovery, support US and regional economic interests and renew a regional strategic posture that China has begun to challenge. 2:11:03 Julie Chung: So how does the United States continue to advocate democracy in Venezuela? I say sham of legislative election and the end of Guaido's mandate are rapidly approaching. How do we do that? Well, I don't if know if [inaudible] wanted this question. 2:13:03 Eric Farnsworth: There are huge amounts of illicit money being made and moved in Venezuela through illegal activities, illegal gold mining, drug trafficking and the like. And one of the best ways I think to get at the regime is to stanch the flow of those financial resources. And frankly, to identify and to freeze those funds and then also to begin to seize them and take them back at once the economic incentives for illegal behavior are removed or at least reduced, perhaps the political dynamic in Venezuela will change that people will begin to see that they really have to find a way out from this mess frankly, that Nicolas Maduro has created. 2:14:14 Monica de Bolle, PhD: It will be very hard to get other Latin American countries to focus on the issues in Venezuela given that they have runaway epidemics in their own countries. And we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that amongst the 10 countries that have the largest or the highest per capita death rate in the world right now are all in Latin America. 2:16:00 Michael Camilleri: Unfortunately, the Guaido interim government, the the National Assembly, the G4 are not in the same position they were in a year or your half ago, the balance of forces on the ground in Venezuela has tilted in favor of the Maduro regime. And so that will that will require us to calibrate our own efforts and invite view we need to be realistic about the fact that some sort of negotiated pathway to free and fair elections ultimately is the most realistic and the most peaceful, frankly, path out of the the awful situation that the country finds itself in. 2:23:21 Monica de Bolle, PhD: Apart from corruption, which is certainly a problem in the oil sector as well as in other parts of the Venezuelan economy, there's also been dramatic underinvestment in the oil industry, which has now led the country to this situation where, rather than being a very big net oil exporter, as they used to be in the 1980s in the 1990s, they've now become a net oil importer, which shows exactly how much you can squander your country's resources and just basically run an economy to the ground. 2:33:58 Eric Farnsworth: And what we're seeing is some concern in the investor community about actions that have been taken perhaps on the backtracking on the reform agenda around energy in particular, but in other sectors as well, canceling contracts that have been previously agreed, and some other actions like that and the investment community is very cautious. Hearing: PROTECTING DEMOCRACY DURING COVID–19 IN EUROPE AND EURASIA AND THE DEMOCRATIC AWAKENING IN BELARUS, Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, Energy, and the Environment, September 10, 2020 Watch on Youtube Witnesses: Douglas Rutzen President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law Professor at Georgetown University Law Center Advisory Board member of the United Nations Democracy Fund Therese Pearce Laanela Head of Electoral Processes at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Joanna Rohozinska Resident Program Director for Europe at the Beacon Project at the International Republican Institute Senior program officer for Europe at the National Endowment for Democracy at least as of 2019. She has worked there for about a decade Jamie Fly Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Co-Director of the Alliance for Security Democracy Senior Advisor to WestExec Advisors Co-founded by incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken Former President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2019 & 2020 Former counselor for foreign and national security affairs for Sen. Marco Rubio from 2013-2017 Former Executive Director of the Foreign Policy Initiative from 2009-2013 Former member of GWB's National Security Council from 2008-2009 Former member of GWB's Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2005-2008 Transcript: 53:30 Joanna Rohozinska: Lukshenko must be held responsible for his choices and actions. Word mating strategies with transatlantic allies should be priority and to call for dialogue, immediate release of political prisoners and support for the political opposition's demands for holding elections under international supervision and beginning negotiations on a Lukshenko transition. 53:56 Joanna Rohozinska: Support for democracy requires patience as well as long term commitment and vision. This has been made possible with the support of Congress to IRI and the family. Thank you and I look forward to your questions. 1:03:05 Therese Pearce Laanela: Institutions that are as strong...What we are seeing... those that are able to safeguard and against disinformation for example, they are working in innovative ways because this isn't a challenge that existed really as much before social media and one of the things that we're seeing is a kind of interagency cooperation, a partnership between private and public. That's really hasn't been seen before. Let me just take Australia as a case, but the working together with social media companies and government agencies and security agencies and election officials for rapid reaction to anything that comes in and that kind of seamless communication between agencies, that is one of the ways in which we can protect. 1:04:15 Jamie Fly: We have tools. Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty has a Bella Russian language service Radio Svoboda which has significant of followers inside Belarus. The problem is that Lukashenko like many other authoritarians have realized that when they face significant pressure, they should take the country offline. And Belarusian authorities have done that on a regular basis, which makes it much more difficult to communicate and allow information to spread freely. So what they really need outlets like Svoboda and other independent media are access to internet circumvention tools, which are also funded by the State Department and the US Agency for Global Media. 1:09:57 Douglas Rutzen: China is providing surveillance technology to countries including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Serbia. They also provided a $2 billion dollar loan to Hungry to construct a railway which Hungry then classified as a state secret in terms of the construction. 1:19:28 Brian Fitzpatrick: In 2013, in 2000, and he saw large scale protests in Ukraine, following what many believed to be a falsification of elections by their federal officials. So my first question for the entire panel, do you believe that Belarus protests could lead to a revolution similar to the one we saw in Ukraine and secondarily, on Tuesday, President Lukashenko, refused to rule out the idea of holding new elections, and acknowledge that he may have overstayed his time at office, whether or not you see revolutions similar to Ukraine, do you think that these protests could lead to an actual change in leadership? Joanna Rohozinska: So I take it as a question to me. I mean, I think that things have been building up and I would say that with this similarity to Ukraine was that there was also a deep seated frustration with corruption. Here, it's less about corruption. But it's still meets, where you have the accountability and transparency aspect of it that I was mentioning in my testimony. And I think that the frustration with the lack of responsive government and being treated like animals, frankly, is what they say, is what finally boiled over, but there's been, there's been an uptick in protests in Belarus, if you watch these kinds of things over the past two years, over the parasite tax, for example, which was also was a special tax that was put on unemployment, and on to penalize people who are unemployed, is trying to target civic activists, but it ended up reaching far farther than that. So you can see things percolating below the surface for quite a long time. Now. You never know when it's going to blow. Here, I think that there was just the COVID, underlay everything and it mobilized such a broad swath of society, that the trigger event was finally the elections, which again, demonstrating a degree of hubris they decided not to put off right, they figured that holding the elections at the beginning of August was the best thing to do, because there is always a low torque turnout and all this, frankly, because people tend to go out to the countryside. So they simply miscalculated. They did not understand how the people were feeling

You can download the e-reader friendly version here. U.S Foreign Policy in Transition The U.S. Elections have come at a complex time in international relations as several major global trends are at critical junctures involving the U.S. China competition, the increasing role of technology in foreign policy, the importance of public health, and the wider overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Pakistan and the South Asia region, the future of the Afghanistan conflict and the nature of US relations with Iran and Saudi Arabic necessitate important questions about how the Biden administration will navigate the challenges of a post-Trump international order. In keeping with Tabadlab’s consistent effort to engage important policy voices and try to understand key issues, Tabadlab Policy Roundtable 17 seeks to explore all of these questions with an august group of panelists. Featured Panelists Jonah Blank is an Author of ‘Mullahs on the Mainframe” and “Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God” and Former South & Southeast Asia Policy Director on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robin L. Raphel is a Former US Diplomat, Lobbyist, Ambassador Matt Duss is an American Political Activist and Foreign Policy Advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders Discussion Summary Biden’s Foreign Policy Direction How will domestic issues and Biden’s own political leanings impact the direction of his administration’s foreign policy? While U.S. progressives believe it is crucial to address domestic issues such as polarization, the COVID-19 pandemic, and white supremacy in order to have a robust and effective foreign policy, it is likely that Biden will try to reassert U.S. authority in the international domain and prioritize foreign policy. The Biden administration will try to have a bipartisan foreign policy wherever possible in a way that is both driven by realism and human rights values. US-China Relations The past decade has seen the rise of China as a global leader and a main focus in the foreign policy community. Our participants discuss how Trump laid bare several concerns about China in a manner that has paved the way for the next administration to openly recognize the set of challenges that China represents in a responsible manner. Although the U.S. needs to reclaim ceded ground and compete with China in the domain of global infrastructure, cooperation is also required for matters such as climate change and future pandemics. The Afghan Peace Process Will the U.S. Elections stall the Afghan peace negotiations? Our panelists recall how Biden has been consistent in his beliefs that the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan has failed and that tensions in the region cannot be solved by military intervention. The Biden administration has demonstrated a commitment to end prolonged war in a manner that both increases stability and ensures a robust political, economic, and diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan. However, the manner in which U.S. troops will disengage and whether or not American policy will leave an impact in Afghanistan remains uncertain. S. Policy in the Middle East Our roundtable discusses future U.S. relations with Iran, Saudi, and Israel. Biden’s commitment to rejoin the JCPOA, to obtain an improved version of the Iran nuclear deal, and to seek broader diplomatic engagement with Iran has also been shared by other Democratic candidates. Countries like the U.A.E. and Israel may attempt to prevent U.S. diplomacy with Iran, but the U.S. commitment to engagement with Iran will prove a litmus test for progressives. The Kashmir Conflict What stance on Kashmir can we expect from a Biden administration? The Trump presidency handled the rise of Indo-Pak tensions and regional instability in Kashmir in a manner that lacked clarity. While it is expected that the U.S. administration will continue to facilitate as opposed to mediate international conflict, the Biden administration may signal to India that recent developments in Kashmir have not been consistent with American values. Furthermore, it is anticipated that Biden will try to maintain strong relationships with both India and Pakistan. The U.S. and Europe Several trends in Europe, such as Britain’s exit from the EU and the rise of neo-centrism in France raise questions about how a Biden presidency will approach Europe. During the last decade, Europe has begun to feel the need to promote its own interests and independence, a need that was exacerbated during the Trump administration. Biden sees reestablishing the transatlantic relationship as a priority now that Europe begins to recognize itself as a bloc that is coequal with America. Technology and International Relations It is important to consider how countries, not just the U.S.’s adversaries, broadly use social media and how platforms like Facebook influence on-the-ground politics across the globe. There has been a rise of illiberal leaders promoting exclusivist politics through the use of social media, which has influence

You can download the e-reader friendly version here. U.S Foreign Policy in Transition The U.S. Elections have come at a complex time in international relations as several major global trends are at critical junctures involving the U.S. China competition, the increasing role of technology in foreign policy, the importance of public health, and the wider overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Pakistan and the South Asia region, the future of the Afghanistan conflict and the nature of US relations with Iran and Saudi Arabic necessitate important questions about how the Biden administration will navigate the challenges of a post-Trump international order. In keeping with Tabadlab’s consistent effort to engage important policy voices and try to understand key issues, Tabadlab Policy Roundtable 17 seeks to explore all of these questions with an august group of panelists. Featured Panelists Jonah Blank is an Author of ‘Mullahs on the Mainframe” and “Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God” and Former South & Southeast Asia Policy Director on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robin L. Raphel is a Former US Diplomat, Lobbyist, Ambassador Matt Duss is an American Political Activist and Foreign Policy Advisor for Senator Bernie Sanders Discussion Summary Biden’s Foreign Policy Direction How will domestic issues and Biden’s own political leanings impact the direction of his administration’s foreign policy? While U.S. progressives believe it is crucial to address domestic issues such as polarization, the COVID-19 pandemic, and white supremacy in order to have a robust and effective foreign policy, it is likely that Biden will try to reassert U.S. authority in the international domain and prioritize foreign policy. The Biden administration will try to have a bipartisan foreign policy wherever possible in a way that is both driven by realism and human rights values. US-China Relations The past decade has seen the rise of China as a global leader and a main focus in the foreign policy community. Our participants discuss how Trump laid bare several concerns about China in a manner that has paved the way for the next administration to openly recognize the set of challenges that China represents in a responsible manner. Although the U.S. needs to reclaim ceded ground and compete with China in the domain of global infrastructure, cooperation is also required for matters such as climate change and future pandemics. The Afghan Peace Process Will the U.S. Elections stall the Afghan peace negotiations? Our panelists recall how Biden has been consistent in his beliefs that the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan has failed and that tensions in the region cannot be solved by military intervention. The Biden administration has demonstrated a commitment to end prolonged war in a manner that both increases stability and ensures a robust political, economic, and diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan. However, the manner in which U.S. troops will disengage and whether or not American policy will leave an impact in Afghanistan remains uncertain. S. Policy in the Middle East Our roundtable discusses future U.S. relations with Iran, Saudi, and Israel. Biden’s commitment to rejoin the JCPOA, to obtain an improved version of the Iran nuclear deal, and to seek broader diplomatic engagement with Iran has also been shared by other Democratic candidates. Countries like the U.A.E. and Israel may attempt to prevent U.S. diplomacy with Iran, but the U.S. commitment to engagement with Iran will prove a litmus test for progressives. The Kashmir Conflict What stance on Kashmir can we expect from a Biden administration? The Trump presidency handled the rise of Indo-Pak tensions and regional instability in Kashmir in a manner that lacked clarity. While it is expected that the U.S. administration will continue to facilitate as opposed to mediate international conflict, the Biden administration may signal to India that recent developments in Kashmir have not been consistent with American values. Furthermore, it is anticipated that Biden will try to maintain strong relationships with both India and Pakistan. The U.S. and Europe Several trends in Europe, such as Britain’s exit from the EU and the rise of neo-centrism in France raise questions about how a Biden presidency will approach Europe. During the last decade, Europe has begun to feel the need to promote its own interests and independence, a need that was exacerbated during the Trump administration. Biden sees reestablishing the transatlantic relationship as a priority now that Europe begins to recognize itself as a bloc that is coequal with America. Technology and International Relations It is important to consider how countries, not just the U.S.’s adversaries, broadly use social media and how platforms like Facebook influence on-the-ground politics across the globe. There has been a rise of illiberal leaders promoting exclusivist politics through the use of social media, which has influenced the rise of authoritarianism. A Biden administration must both grapple with the influence of big tech through regulati

Today it is my honor and privilege to welcome Ambassador Susan Rice to the podcast!   Though Susan needs little introduction, she is an incredible woman and I would like to take the time to appreciate all of her auspicious accomplishments. From 1993-1997, Susan served as President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council staff. Then, at 32-years-old, Rice became the youngest person in U.S. history to serve as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the State Department (which she served from 1997-2001). As a former Brookings Institution fellow, Rice served as a Foreign Policy Advisor to Democratic presidential nominees Michael Dukakis, John Kerry, and Barack Obama. After Obama won the 2008 presidential election, Rice was nominated as Ambassador to the United Nations until 2013. From 2013-2017, she led the National Security Council Staff and chaired the Cabinet-level National Security Principals Committee.   Currently, Ambassador Rice is a Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow in the School of International Service (SIS) at the American University, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She also currently serves on the board of Netflix and is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group, American Academy of Diplomacy, and Council of Foreign Relations. I don’t know how she finds all the time!   In our conversation today, Rice shares about her life journey from a personal and professional perspective; the fascinating history of her incredible family and how they’ve persevered through prejudice; her recent book, Tough Love: My Story of Things Worth Fighting For; and her hopes for the future of America. Rice also shares what “tough love” means to her; how she has personally persevered through ageism, sexism, and racism throughout her career; and some of the many incredible highlights and stories from her and her family’s lives. Don’t miss out on this one.   Key Takeaways: [:39] About today’s fantastic guest, Susan Rice. [2:26] Welcoming Susan Rice to the podcast! [2:30] The story of how Susan and I first became acquainted. [3:48] Susan shares the meaning behind her book’s title, Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For. [5:42] Rice shares some powerful stories about how her family has overcome many trials and tribulations, and still managed to find incredible success. [12:17] How Rice and her brother found their paths through the help of their parents. [15:02] Did Rice (or her brother) ever feel pressured to find success just as their parents had? [15:48] Now a parent of two young adults, Rice shares about her early days of balancing family and her career. [22:12] Rice’s first conversation with Barack Obama where he asked if she would serve as his Ambassador to the United Nations. [23:54] Rice gives a current update about what her sons are currently doing and pursuing. [25:30] Rice speaks about the experiences in her career through the perspective of often being the only black woman in the room. She shares what she has learned from this perspective, how the lessons her parents have taught her have informed her, and how she handles being prejudiced against. [31:48] In Rice’s memoir, she is quoted to say that one of her most gratifying initiatives during the Obama administration was leading the NSC’s Principal’s push to diversify the national security workforce. She elaborates on why it is important for the national security workforce to reflect the diversity of America. [35:53] An expert of the afterword in Rice’s book, Tough Love, reads, “American presidents take responsibility. They lead. Especially in times of crisis.” Rice elaborates on this and spreads some hopeful and encouraging words about the ongoing pandemic and the future of America. [42:46] Thanking Susan Rice for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For, by Susan Rice Management Leadership for Tomorrow   About Fifth Dimensional Leadership & Ginny Clarke Fifth-Dimensional Leadership is a podcast about leadership — knowing yourself, speaking your truth, inspiring love, expanding your consciousness and activating your mastery. As an executive recruiter and career expert currently leading executive recruiting at a Fortune 20 tech company, Ginny Clarke is a passionate and authentic thought leader with a unique and deliberate perspective on work and life. She synthesizes aspects of her life as an African-American single mother who has successfully navigated corporate America for over 30 years. She has inspired, uplifted, and changed the lives of thousands and is intentional about bringing conscious awareness to people of all ages and stages.   Every other week, a new edition of Fifth-Dimensional Leadership will include fascinating guests, covering a variety of topics: power, personal branding, self-awareness, networking, fear, and career management   Stay Connected! To find more episodes or learn more, visit: GinnyClarke.com Connect with her on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Youtube

Israel has signed normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain. These are the first Middle East peace agreements in two and a half decades. Why now? What does each of the main actors in this drama stand to gain from these accords? Can Middle East diplomacy really bypass the Israeli Palestinian conflict as these agreements attempt to do?  And does the deal signal a new alignment of power in the region?  Dr. Ehud (Udi) Eiran is a Senior Lecturer (US Associate Professor) of International Relations, University of Haifa, Israel, and an (active!) Board member at Mitvim – a leading Israeli think tank. He is also a senior fellow at the center for the Research of Intelligence Methodology.  Dr. Eiran directed the University of Haifa’s center for national security, and was one of the co-founders of its center for maritime strategy. He also served as the academic director of Israel’s National Security College, (on behalf of the University). Dr. Eiran held research appointments at Harvard Law School, Harvard's Kennedy School, and Stanford’s Department of Political Science, and was a visiting lecturer in the Department of Political Science at MIT. Prior to his academic career Dr. Eiran held a number of positions in the Israeli civil service including as Assistant to the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Advisor. He is the author of two books and some fifty scholarly articles, book chapters, and policy briefs, as well as numerous op-eds mostly in American and Israeli outlets. His research interests include spatial technological and legal aspects of international conflict (mostly in the Arab-Israeli context), negotiation and conflict resolution, maritime strategy, and intelligence studies.      Udi is currently a visiting scholar at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a visiting professor of Israel studies at UC Berkley. 

On October 31st, 2000, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, which reaffirmed “the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace building, the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution.” Resolution 1325 helped create the Women in Peace and Security program or WPS. A BETTER PEACE welcomes Ambassador Jean E. Manes as she shares her experience in the national security realm. She joins podcast editor Ron Granieri in the studio to explain how far the WPS program has come in the last two decades and where it needs to continue to go. Ambassador Manes is the Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. Southern Command, and in this unique position she has a wealth of real world cases that have benefited from the involvement of women.   When it becomes unremarkable and we don't even have to highlight it, or it's not even anything we notice, then I think we will have met the goal. Ambassador Jean E. Manes assumed duties as Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. Southern Command, Miami, FL, in October 2019. She is a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the Department of State, having joined in 1992 and has served under five Presidents. Throughout her 27-year career she led large scale operations, focusing on empowering people and prioritizing resources. Ron Granieri is an Associate Professor of History at the U.S. Army War College and the Editor of A BETTER PEACE. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense or Department of State. Photo Description: (L) Rosie the Riveter is a widely known symbol of American women's contribution to the U.S. defense industry  of WWII.  She was the sign of changing attitudes in the nation over 70 years ago. (R) Ambassador Jean E. Manes, Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. Southern Command, represents how far women in peace and security have come—and what the nation needs more of. Photo Credit: (L) J. Howard Miller, Office for Emergency Management, War Production Board. (R) U.S. Southern Command

In this episode of Intelligence Matters, host Michael Morell speaks with Antony "Tony" Blinken, former deputy Secretary of State and current Foreign Policy Advisor for the Joe Biden for President campaign. Morell and Blinken discuss a potential Biden administration's foreign policy priorities and its likely approach to top global security challenges, including climate change, armed conflicts, and strategic threats from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Blinken also details the Vice President's likely approach to the U.S. intelligence, diplomatic and military communities. A corresponding interview request has been extended to the Trump White House, and is pending.

Retired Diplomat & Foreign Policy Advisor, Jim Jatras, joins the show today to fill us in what is happening in Belarus. Further discussion on how this ties into the Liberal Democratic machine's overall pattern in the region. Support the show with Super Chats on Entropy: https://entropystream.live/app/Saints...Half of today's super chats benefit https://www.saintnina-monastery.org/If you miss us live, you can still support us by visiting https://www.saintsedwardmedia.com/ and pledging on https://www.patreon.com/SaintsEdwardBe sure to follow us on dlive.tv/michaelsisco and https://www.bitchute.com/channel/jMIi... (Probably our post censorship homes) https://twitter.com/MichaelSiscoSESupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/SaintsEdward)

To mark World Humanitarian Day, in this episode podcast we have Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Richard Albright. Within the US State Department, he’s responsible for humanitarian policy, advocacy and assistance programs, and directing nearly $2 billion US dollars for humanitarian response. The ICRC works with a lot of donors as a neutral and independent humanitarian organization which includes the United States through PRM. Mr. Albright has held many different titles around the world working for the US government. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations at the Department of Defense as well as roles as Coordinator for Economic and Development Assistance at U.S. Embassy Islamabad, Senior Humanitarian Coordinator at U.S. Embassy Baghdad, and as PRM’s Director for the Office of Asia and the Near East. We discuss humanitarian donorship, crisis response and the significance of World Humanitarian Day. Hosted by Niki Clark.

Reagan McCarthy is the Web Editor at Townhall.com and an alumna of The Pennsylvania State University where she studied Political Science and Broadcast Journalism. While at Penn State Reagan served as the President of the Penn State College Republicans and the Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans. TOPIC: President Trump Responds to Lawmakers' Negligence in Seattle!! Jerome R. Corsi, New York Times Best Selling Author, Investigative Journalist and Political Analyst. He worked as a Senior Staff Reporter for WND.com. Since 2004, Dr. Corsi has published over 25 books, seven of which were New York Times Bestsellers, including two #1 New York Times best-sellers. In 2018, NewsMax published Killing the Deep State: The Fight to Save President Trump, a New York Times bestseller. He has written a first-hand account of his experience with the Mueller Office of Special Counsel in his book Silent No More: How I Became a Political Prisoner of Mueller’s ‘Witch Hunt,’. TOPIC: The Plan to Remove Donald Trump from the Presidency DARIA NOVAK IS THE President of the Institute for American Politics & Center for Great Power Studies. Foreign Policy Advisor to Israelite Samaritans. Weekly columnist on foreign/defense policy for American Analysis of News and Media. Daria is the co-host of the Vernuccio/Novak Report, nationally both on broadcast radio and the web at amfm247.com. Daria also co-hosts of the “The American Political Zone,” Broadcast on AUN-TV and cable in eastern Connecticut. TOPIC: Responding to China

In the Season 2 premiere, we explore the geopolitics of the Arctic. As climate change continues to open up maritime routes across the Arctic, it will be critical for countries to work together to avoid conflict especially as China becomes more involved in the region. The United States faces unique challenges in the region and will need to collaborate with other Arctic nations to ensure peace and mitigate the effects of climate change especially as the region becomes more militarized. We interviewed Michael Young who retired as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State in 2019. His most recent tour was as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of Special Operations Command North in Colorado Springs, with a focus on Arctic security. He earlier served as the Arctic Affairs Officer in the Office of Oceans and Polar Affairs, where he worked for the U.S. Senior Arctic Official. In this role he also served as the U.S. Head of Delegation for the Sustainable Development Working Group on the Arctic Council. He was one of the key architects of the Arctic Council program during the U.S. Chairmanship from 2015-17. Other assignments as a Foreign Service Officer included tours in Kabul, Mexico City, and Toronto. Before joining the Foreign Service, Mike was an officer in the U.S. Navy for 15 years, where he Shipboard tours USS TRUXTUN (CGN-35) and USS CHANDLER (DDG-996). A native of Golden, Colorado, Michael graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a BSc in Engineering Physics and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Lauren Baer is a Democratic Strategist who is also a former State Department Official, and spent six years in the Obama administration, working as a senior adviser to secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power. Lauren Baer also ran for congress in Florida's 18th District, in 2018. Her campaign gained national media because she won more votes in the district than any other Democrat in the midterm elections. Support the Electorette Rate & Review on iTunes: https://apple.co/2GsfQj4 Support Electorette on Patreon for $2/month: http://bit.ly/Electorette-Patreon Also, if you enjoy the Electorette, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review on iTunes. Also, please spread the word by telling your friends, family and colleagues about The Electorette! Want to support the Electorette so that we can bring you more great episodes? You can help us produce more episodes with just $2/per month on Patreon. Every bit helps! Patreon.com/Electorette WANT MORE ELECTORETTE? Follow the Electorette on social media. Electorette Facebook Electorette Instagram Electorette Twitter The Electorette is a proud member of the DemCast Network! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simona Miculescu is the first woman in Romania's diplomatic history to be granted the rank of Ambassador. She is currently serving as Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office in Belgrade since July 2015. Prior to this, she was the Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations in New York, with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. She also served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Romania.

Richard Gowan, the UN Director in New York for the International Crisis Group, and co-author of Three Crises and an Opportunity: Europe's Stake in Multilateralism discussed the threats and opportunities for Europe to meet the current crisis of multilateralism. He believes the multilateral system in Europe faces three related crises of power, relevance and legitimacy. Mr Hikmat Hajiyev, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, discusses a number of foreign policy topics including: balancing major powers’ interests, contributing to the European Energy Security, impacting the Belt and Road Initiative from a regional perspective and existing security challenges due to the unresolved conflicts in the region.

Former Deputy Secretary of State and Foreign Policy Advisor to Biden for President, Tony Blinken, and Former White House Counsel to President Barack Obama, Kathy Ruemmler, join Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman on "Skullduggery." With multiple subpoenas in full flight, the group discuss in detail the process the Whistleblower took that got us where we are today. They also dive deeper into the July 25 phone call now that we know Mike Pompeo was listening in. Blinken also gives us an inside look into Biden and his son while Ruemmler explains what the Dems should keep their focus on if they want to see this impeachment through. No shortage of topics on this episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Retired U.S. Ambassador Dr. Susan Elliott tells us that back channel diplomacy is currently going on in ways unimagined by most citizens, through her organization, the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. She became the organization’s President and CEO in August 2018. Officially known as Track II Diplomacy, these closed­-door and off­-the­-record conferences provide opportunities for senior U.S. and foreign officials, subject experts, and scholars to engage in discussions designed to defuse conflict, build confidence, and resolve problems, including recent talks on North Korea. Says Ambassador Elliott, “Our organization is playing a critical role at a time when perhaps governments don’t talk to each other, we can help promote dialogue.” Ambassador Elliott gives us an inside look into the world of U.S. foreign policy and the current hot spots in the world from the perspective of her 27-year career in the foreign service, where she rose to the rank of U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan from 2012 to 2015. Dr Elliott also served as Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of the United States European Command, as well as Director of the Executive Secretariat Staff of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Bart Marcois joins Right on Point today to talk about the Trump administration’s strategic approach to foreign policy – especially with regards to looming concerns about Iran and China. Mr. Marcois is currently the director of the Richard Richard’s foundation. He previously served as deputy assistant secretary of energy for international affairs under President George W. Bush. More at rightonpointpodcast.com.

In this hard-hitting interview, Carter Page discusses the infamous Steele Dossier that was used to secure a FISA warrant to spy on him, and explains why he believes that the truth about the Trump-Russia collusion investigation will soon be uncovered. Page also reflects on whether the real purpose of the Russia-collusion hoax was to deflect attention from Hillary Clinton's illegal activities and help her win the 2016 election. He firmly believes that there have been so many lies told, and so much disinformation disseminated, that it's difficult to speculate on exactly what will be uncovered by William Barr’s investigation.Carter makes it clear that he believes the Mueller report is filled with half-truths and outright lies, and that Robert Mueller's July 17th appearance before Congress will shed light on all this. He also gives a specific example of the type of misinformation techniques that were used to justify the Mueller investigation.Regarding his speech in Moscow, Page sets the record straight and explains how a handful of incriminating words were cherry-picked from his 5,000 word speech, a speech that covered broad international political topics. He further explains how these cherry-picked words were cleverly used out of context to mischaracterize his statements, in spite of the fact that FISA Code 50 U.S. Code § 1861 (a) (2) (B) protects U.S. citizens from being subjected to such harassment.

DNI Dan Coats was surprised when he learned that Trump invited Vladimir Putin to the White House. But he hasn't left his job... yet. Will he? Will other members of the national security team watch as Donald Trump goes it alone? Guest host Chris Lu hosts to talk about the WIL D week that we saw with regards to foreign policy. He talks to Foreign Policy Advisor to the Clinton Campaign, Laura Rosenberger, Director of Policy at the Economic Policy Institute, Former Chief Economist at the US Department of Labor, Heidi Shierholz and Chief Counsel at Demand Justice, Chris Kang

See Diplomatic Dispatch videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1uUSrjSnB01cffzLv7A9tLLKcACZMS_c Amir Taheri is an Iranian commentator, living in exile in London, who is a harsh critic of the Iranian regime. He used to be editor of the Iranian daily newspaper Kayhan and has written multiple books on Iran, including a biography of Ayatollah Khomeini. This week, Amir Taheri wrote a tweet that was very harsh, but very insightful at the same time. He tweeted: President Rouhani exposes as a lie Obama's claim that there is a moderate faction in Khamenei's regime. Rouhani now threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz and endorses Khamenei's call for the elimination of Israel. The wolf sheds the lamb coat given to him by Obama. Why did Taheri give such an animated response? * * * Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. * * * “Diplomatic Dispatch” is a new series of video briefings on strategic issues that Israel faces today by Jerusalem Center President Dore Gold, produced by the Center’s Institute for Contemporary Affairs, founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation.

Laura Rosenberger, the Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a Senior Fellow of The German Marshall Fund, joins The Great Battlefield for a conversation on foreign policy and international relations. She explains why negotiations with North Korea are a diplomatic quagmire, recounts her work as Foreign Policy Advisor for Hillary for America, and details the many ways in which Russia is attempting to undermine our democracy. | Episode 131

I get asked all the time, “You wrote a book, we seem to remember, about Saudi Arabia’s contribution to the rise of global terrorism after 9/11. Yet you are now associated with the effort of the State of Israel and others to bring Saudi Arabia into the tent and to create a kind of new relationship – perhaps a reconciliation – between the Jewish state and the Saudi Kingdom. How do you explain that? Isn’t that an inconsistency.” The Israeli security establishment at the time estimated that between 50 and 70% of the Hamas budget came from Saudi Arabia. When Israel was forced to move into Palestinian cities during that period and entered into the headquarters of many of these organizations, it discovered Saudi documents in Hamas files. In those file drawers were canceled checks, from even Chase Manhattan Bank and from other financial institutions, which linked Saudi Arabia to these various terror organizations through certain financial arms. Saudi Arabia had large international charities like the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), and the Charitable Foundations of al-Haramain that are involved in terrorist financing from Bosnia to Indonesia. But something happened since then that changed this picture. In May 2003, Riyadh was struck by a triple suicide bombing attack – 18 people were killed and Saudi Arabia shifted from being on the side of those who were launching these terrorist attacks to those who were victims of terrorism. Basically, Saudi Arabia from that point onward was on the same side as the United States, Israel, and those countries of Western Europe that were being affected by the escalating wave of suicide bombing attacks that was striking all of us. We also got a clearer picture of where the ideology for these attacks was emanating from. While it was true that Wahhabi Islam – that entered the world stage in the 1700s – was associated with the revival of jihad in the Arabian Peninsula, the ones who were really behind the ideological push towards a renewed terrorism were organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, which had sought and received sanctuary in Saudi Arabia when it was attacked by Ba’athist Syria or Nasserist Egypt. So what is the situation today? What draws Israel and Saudi Arabia to the same side of the fence? *** Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

While international observers are rightfully looking at serious questions in the Middle East like the future of Syria and Iran’s interests in taking over that country, there is a crisis brewing to Israel’s south that has not gotten sufficient attention. I’m speaking about the Red Sea where at least a half a dozen countries are scrambling for influence, seeking bases throughout the area, and positioning themselves for perhaps even a future conflict. There are four flash points that should be the focus of our attention in the area of the Red Sea. First, the struggle between Egypt and its neighbors over the sources of the Nile River, particularly the sources of the Blue Nile, which runs through Ethiopia. Second, we have a consistent Iranian effort to gain entry to the Red Sea after having dominated the Persian Gulf. The third flashpoint which we should look at is what does it mean to have a Turkish entry into the entire area? The Turks have been busy in Somalia and in obtaining access to an island off of Sudan. And finally, the whole area is part of a great power rivalry we are now seeing in Djibouti virtually every major naval power with a base, all posed to be involved in the Red Sea including China with its first major overseas port. The first development that is causing a vast increase in tensions throughout this area is the struggle over the sources of the Nile River. For most of recent history, Egypt was the dominant actor over the Nile and, through various treaties negotiated by the British, the Egyptians also dominated the tributaries of the Nile. There, Ethiopia is planning what is called the “Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam, and by damming the Blue Nile, despite all the guarantees that Ethiopia can offer, Egypt is very concerned that its principal source of water for the Nile River may be denied. While the struggle over the sources of the Nile is transpiring, Iran is seeking positions of strength along the entire Red Sea, from the Suez Canal in the north down to Bab-el-Mandeb, the outlet of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean. In the critical Bab-el-Mandeb straights, the naval choke point at the bottom of the Red Sea, Iran has been using the Houthi militias, which are its proxies in the Yemen war. And it may get to a point where the Iranians will seek to block the flow of naval traffic through this sensitive point. While all this has been going on, Turkey has imposed itself as a new factor in the Red Sea and in the Horn of Africa. The Turks have been active in Somalia, where they’ve built a north-south highway and a major military base. More recently, the Turks have leased Suakin Island from Sudan and they intend to build a naval base right in the Red Sea. Of all the nations that are positioning themselves in the Horn of Africa, careful attention should be given to the presence of China in Djibouti where China has constructed one of its first naval bases at the gateway to the Middle East. Given the interests of all the actors appearing now in the Red Sea, the whole region has become far more combustible than it was in the past. With all the focus on Syria and Iraq in recent years, it may be necessary to give greater attention to the theater of the Red Sea which in the next decade could become a serious source of international conflict. *** Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

My guest today is Alon Liel. Alon Liel has served the Israeli Foreign Ministry in various positions: the head of the Israeli mission in Turkey (1981-1983), the Foreign Ministry spokesman and the member of the Israeli negotiating team at the Taba talks with Egypt (1985–1987), Ambassador to South Africa in (1992-1994), Director General of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (1994-1996), Foreign Policy Advisor to Ehud Barak (1997-1999), Director General of the Foreign Ministry (2000-2001). Liel is the author of several books, namely Turkey in the Middle East – Oil, Islam and Politics (1993), Black Justice – The South African Upheaval (1999), Turkey – The Military, Islam and Politics (1999), Turkey in the Middle East (2001), Demo Islam, Turkey’s New Regime (2003). He has taught courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University on Turkey and the Middle East politics. Liel was the board member of Gazit Inc. (biggest real estate company in Israel). He was the chairman of the Israel-Turkey Business Council between 2002-2006, and is the chairman of the Global Code Ltd. Liel was the president of the Jewish-Arab soccer club, Abu Gosh-Mevaseret. He is also the founder and the chairman of the Israel-Syria Peace Society.

In this week's episode of Intelligence Matters, former Acting Director of the CIA Michael Morell speaks to Laura Rosenberger, a name that may not be immediately recognizable but who at a young age rose the ranks to hold influential senior foreign policy advisor roles. Rosenberger talks about the events of 9/11 inspiring her to a civil service career, and the mentors and champions that helped propel her to the West Wing of the Barack Obama White House in the National Security Council. She talks about her time working as the Foreign Policy Advisor for the Hillary for America campaign, why she thinks Clinton lost the election and Russia's influence on the campaign.

Ambassador Dore Gold has served as President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs since 2000. From June 2015 until October 2016 he served as Director-General of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN (1997-1999), and as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Barry Nussbaum hosting on American Trends interviews Trump foreign policy advisor Dr. Walid Phares. They discuss the Trump plan for the middle east.

Art historian and national security advisor to Republican Presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, Dr. Victoria Coates sits down with Ben Weingarten of Encounter Books to discuss her new book "David's Sling: A History of Democracy in Ten Works of Art." During the interview, Dr. Coates and Ben discuss a wide variety of topics, including the indelible link between democracy and creativity, the significance of great works of art and architecture in the history of freedom from Michelangelo's David to the Parthenon and Picasso's Guernica, why the entrepreneurial art community endorses political stances anathema to the freedom that sustains it, and everything you would ever want to know about Sen. Ted Cruz's foreign policy vision. On this latter point, among other subjects Dr. Coates and Ben discuss the principles that form the Cruz Doctrine, who in the foreign policy sphere truly carries the mantle of Jeanne Kirkpatrick, what "winning" in the Middle East would look like for America under a President Cruz, Saudi Arabia vs. Iran, whether America has a responsibility under NATO to defend an Islamic supremacist Turkish regime against Russia, how a President Cruz would handle an ascendant Russia, the long-term threat posed by China and how to counter her, the greatest threat to America's national interest we are most underestimating or ignoring, and much more. Read 'David's Sling': http://tinyurl.com/h5uukxf 'Freeway' by Kurt Vile is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License. Download 'Freeway' here: tinyurl.com/p4tkyfb

Politics, art, history, and the state of the 2016 presidential campaign are the subject of The Halli Casser-Jayne Show, Wednesday, January 13, 3pm ET when joining Halli at her table are cultural historian, Dr. Victoria Coates, senior advisor for foreign policy on Senator Cruz' 2016 presidential campaign and the author of DAVID'S SLING: A HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY IN TEN WORKS OF ART, and Newsweek magazine's political editor, Matthew Cooper.Dr. Victoria Coates received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She has served as Director of Research in the Office of Donald Rumsfeld. Currently, she is a senior staff member for national security for the United States Senate and the senior advisor for foreign policy on Senator Cruz' 2016 presidential campaign. She is now the author of a new book DAVID'S SLING: A HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY IN TEN WORKS OF ART in which she explores the synergy between freedom and the highest level of human achievement – and demonstrates how Western values are crucial to the expansion of liberty in our time.Journalist and veteran White House correspondent, Matthew Cooper is known for his in-depth reporting and analysis from Washington. Mr Cooper has worked for some of America's most prestigious magazines including Time, The New Republic, National Journal and U.S. News & World Report. He wrote for Newsweek in the 1990s and rejoined the re-launched magazine in 2014. He has appeared on "60 Minutes," "Meet the Press," Hardball, The O'Reilly Factor and This Week with George Stephanopoulos.