David's Politics Show

One of the most salient and interesting aspects of the war in Ukraine is the seemingly omnipresent threat of what is still a relatively new technology: the drone. Whether Bayraktars or Lancets, small reconnaissance drones or long-range strike ones, both the Ukrainian and Russian armies have designed, bought, and deployed an stonishing variety of these new weapons.

What does the proliferation of this new platform tell us about the role or roles drones are likely to play in the future? And what can we extrapolate, from the rapid evolution of drone technology and tactics, about the shape and dynamics of major state-on-state warfare in the coming decades?

To discuss all this and more I’m delighted to be joined again by a previous guest on this podcast, Dr. Mauro Gilli, Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology’s Center for Security Studies in Zurich.

Two years on since Russia’s full-scale re-invasion of Ukraine, I’m joined by Dr. Andreas Umland from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs to take stock both of the current military situation in Ukraine and of the politics of the war in Ukraine, Russia, and the West.

Now that we’ve reached the 100-day mark in Israel’s war against Hamas, where does the Israeli operation in Gaza stand, both militarily and politically? And lifting our eyes to more distant horizons, how is the strategic force field changing in the Middle East as a result of the historic caesura that October 7 already represents?

To discuss all this and more I’m delighted to be joined on the podcast by Dr. Ahron Bregman, senior teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London.

The nature of undersea warfare is changing and the “silent service” has to evolve to meet today’s and above all tomorrow’s challenges – but just what will that adaptation look like? How is the role played by the submarine changing in an increasingly contested undersea environment? And how should the U.S. Navy, in particular, think about choosing platforms and a force structure that will meet the non-trivial challenges posed by the PLAN’s increasingly sophisticated and already quite numerous submarine force?

With me to discuss all this is Bryan Clark, senior fellow and director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute in Washington D.C. A former submariner himself, he is an expert in naval operations, electronic warfare, and autonomous systems, and has led studies for the DoD Office of Net Assessment as well as DARPA on new technologies and the future of warfare.

Three weeks have passed since the dramatic events of the 7th of October. What kind of failure did October 7 represent? What are Israel's options now and what are the possible risks? And is there a sliver of hope that this dramatic crisis will create an opening for a better future in the region? With me to discuss all this and more is the noted Iraq and Hezbollah expert Amatzia Baram, Professor Emeritus at the University of Haifa.

Pakistan is mired in crisis, economic and political. With a caretaker government having been nominated but elections as yet still uncertain, how is the latest saga in Pakistani politics, centered this time around Imran Khan, likely to play out? And what are the consequences for India and the wider region? I’m delighted to have had Sushant Sareen of the Observer Research Foundation on the podcast to discuss all this and more.

Israel is on the verge of celebrating 75 years of independence, yet finds itself in a state of unprecedented domestic discombobulation. How did it come to this, what is at stake, and to what extent is the internal upheaval beginning to impinge on Israel’s national security? I’m delighted to have Professor Chuck Freilich back on the podcast to discuss all this and more.

Almost exactly a year has passed since the start of Russia’s second invasion of Ukraine in less than a decade – and what a year it’s been, marked first by jubilation at the unexpected success of the Ukrainian armed forces, then by consternation at the realization that this was going to turn into a long, grinding, attritional war.

To take stock of the current military and political situation at the one-year mark I’m delighted to be joined again by the noted Russia and Ukraine expert Dr. Andreas Umland from the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.

The scale of Chinese naval modernization in the past three decades has been staggering. Whereas in the 20th century the Chinese navy played second fiddle to the army, in the 21st they have become a force to be reckoned with in their own right.

My guest today has spent decades closely watching the PLAN’s development. Captain James Fanell is a retired naval intelligence officer whose most recent assignment was as the Director of Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He previously also served as the Senior Intelligence Officer for China in the Office of Naval Intelligence.

We talk about Chinese progress in ballistic- and cruise-missile technology, their plans for a maritime information architecture, undersea warfare, and what all this means for Taiwan and for the ability of the U.S. Navy to maintain deterrence in the western Pacific.

Do we need to privilege or at least revalorize the methods of the historian, as opposed to those of the political scientist or theorist of international relations, when thinking about and studying American foreign policy, especially American nuclear statecraft? Was the history of the Cold War, for example, really coterminous with the history of the nuclear revolution? And what might an interdisciplinary approach, blending the historian’s craft with the theoretical ambitions of security-studies scholars, look like? I’m delighted to have had Professor Francis Gavin on the podcast for the first time to discuss his book, “Nuclear Statecraft: History and Strategy in America’s Atomic Age”.

Has India struck the right political and diplomatic balance since Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine began, almost eight months ago? How are Russia’s blunders and difficulties on the battlefield likely to affect India’s geopolitical room for maneuver? With me to discuss all this and more is noted Indian foreign-policy expert and returning guest on this podcast, Professor Rajesh Rajagopalan.

Can the humble homing pigeon teach us something about what it means to return home, to be at home? Do the stories we tell and read about home influence our understanding of homes, homecomings, homelands? Do our experience and memory of homelessness, exile, and return have something to do with how we relate to the animal world as such? And could dwelling perhaps be the preferable alternative to thinking about and longing for home? I discuss all this and more with the author of a remarkable and charming book on pigeons, what home means to them, what home means to us.

“Pan-Asian Zionism” – to our twenty-first century ears the phrase sounds odd, even absurd. And yet the ideological position it represented in the early twentieth century was vigorously championed by a German-speaking Habsburg Jew, Eugen Hoeflich. Why did he think Zionism should take on a pan-Asian orientation? What became of his ideas? And what did he make of “official” Zionism? With me to discuss this fascinating if forgotten figure is the historian and noted specialist of Jewish intellectual history, Dr. Hanan Harif.

More than half a century has passed since Israel’s dramatic victory in the Six Day War, yet its after-effects are still with us. What were some of its long-run implications? Former Israeli deputy national-security adviser Chuck Freilich joins me to talk about the war and the latest developments in Israeli politics.

The Modi government’s “Agnipath” reform of the Indian military, if fully implemented, will determine a dramatic change in the way in which the Indian armed forces have been recruited and thus have related to wider Indian society. What was the genesis of this reform? Why has it been introduced? And what are its pros and cons? I discuss all this with former Indian Army Brigadier Rahul Bhonsle.

Ben Gurion and Nehru – two of the most important statesmen of the twentieth century. What can we learn about their respective countries from a detailed comparison of these two leaders’ lives and political careers? What were the ideological and historical factors underlying the complicated diplomatic dance between India and Israel in the first decades after independence? And what is the nature of the relationship now? Dr. Khinvraj Jangid, one of India’s foremost researchers on Israel and the history of Zionism, joins me to discuss all this and more.

We’ve now crossed the 100-day mark on Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Where do we stand, militarily and politically? What should the West’s policy goals be at this point? With me to discuss all this is returning guest and noted Russia and Ukraine expert, Dr. Andreas Umland.

How, historically, has India thought about its place in Asia? Which ideas and challenges have shaped its foreign policy since independence? And what kind of country will (should) India become? I discuss all this and more, including the importance of studying history and the value of books, with Indian ambassador and former national-security advisor Shivshankar Menon.

Putin’s war of aggression may seem absurd and incomprehensible, but evidently he considered it a gamble worth taking, which in turn raises the following questions: What are the intellectual origins of this war? And how does the answer to that question help us understand the nature and extent of Putin’s political objectives? With me to discuss all this, as well as Germany’s policy shift and the future of EU foreign and security policy, is the noted Russia and Ukraine expert, Dr. Andreas Umland.

Spy stories are all the more fun to read when they are not made up. David E. Hoffman’s “The Billion Dollar Spy” tells the true story of Soviet engineer Adolf Tolkachev, who spied for the CIA for half a decade without ever leaving Moscow. Join us for a thrilling story of Cold War intrigue, tradecraft, and betrayal.

How is China viewing Russia’s war in Ukraine? And what might the consequences of that war be for the Sino-Russian partnership? Dr. Jabin Jacob, one of India’s best China hands, joins me to discuss all this and more.

Day 12 of the Russian invasion and I am joined by a returning guest on the podcast, Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, to discuss the war: how it has unfolded so far, and what we should expect in the weeks and months ahead.

We continue our series on India by talking about the consequences for India of the Russia-Ukraine standoff with Professor Rajagopalan (JNU), one of the country’s foremost experts on Indian foreign relations.

What is behind the polarization that characterizes so much of American politics these days? And how would one go about reconstructing a sense of national cohesion, of common purpose? Could the answer lie in a reinvigorated “national” conservatism? And what would some of its policies be? With me to discuss all this and more is Christopher DeMuth, distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute and former president of AEI. Join us for an extended discussion about what has happened to the Left in America, what Trump got right (and what he got wrong), and about the need to resurrect a culture of civil debate.

In our ongoing series focusing on India, today we talk about the very interesting relationship between India and Israel. Both nation-states the product of decolonization, they initially remained far apart but in recent years have developed strong and even close ties. With me to discuss past, present, and future of the relationship is India’s foremost expert on Israel, Professor P.R. Kumaraswamy of the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

What comes “After Europe”? That was the intriguing title today’s guest gave to his 2017 book. Five years later, the question seems more pertinent than ever. Beset by unprecedented challenges all along its periphery, and deeply divided along numerous fault lines, the EU appears helpless, at the mercy of events beyond its control. Ivan Krastev joins me on the podcast to talk about the multiple crises facing the EU today and its possible futures.

Before the latest war in Afghanistan there was the one before: the Soviet one. Now largely forgotten, it set the stage for one of the U.S.’s most successful covert operations ever. Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution joins me to discuss the American role in defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan in the final years of the Cold War.

The India-Russia relationship. It's very warm – and has been for a long time. But what are its strengths and weaknesses today? And what future lies in store for the entente between New Delhi and Moscow? I’m joined by the distinguished Indian commentator Nandan Unnikrishnan to talk about past and present of India-Russia relations.

I discuss the life and times of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India with Dr. Benjamin Zachariah, the author of a brilliant biography of this important and fascinating protagonist of the 20th century.

How high is the risk of full-fledged war between Russia and Ukraine, as of mid-December 2021?

You might think that insider trading has been regulated away or is normally enforced with an iron fist in the United States. Not so, says my guest today, Professor Daniel Taylor of the Wharton School, an expert on insider trading and corporate governance. We talk about how much insider-trading abuse there still is, how it functions, what could be done to combat it – and even whether insider trading should be criminalized at all.

Populism – the word has been on everyone’s lips in the past few years. Populist leader here, populist uprising there. But what does this word, so often thrown about and so little understood, really mean? And what is its intellectual history? The acclaimed writer and historian, Thomas Frank (author of “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”), is here to tell us where and when this concept originated and to discuss his new book, a much-needed and thoroughly refreshing reminder of populism’s crucial role in American history, and of its continued relevance for progressive politics in our own time.

Shahin Vallée of the German Council on Foreign Relations is here to discuss the outcome of the recent German election and what it portends for the EU on a range of issues.

My thoughts on Sir Keir Starmer's speech at the British Labour Party's annual conference.

The AUKUS announcement and the first in-person meeting of the Quad, in rapid succession -- thoughts on a changing strategic landscape.

The First World War has been described with some justice as the seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century. It left behind, besides millions of dead and wounded, a legacy of bitterness, national and ethnic hatred. My guest on today’s episode, the historian Alexander Watson, has written a magisterial account of the war from the Central Powers’ perspective. Why did these societies’ elites risk war in July and August 1914? And, once war had begun, how and why did those societies endure, buckle, and finally collapse under the immense strain? Join us for a discussion about all this and about why the Great War is, in a sense, closer to us than ever before.

There is a lot of talk these days about which apple cart China may or may not decide to upset next in its neighborhood (looking at you, Taiwan). To have an informed conversation about that, however, it’s important to keep abreast of the latest military developments, which is why I’m delighted to be joined by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program and noted expert on the region’s armed forces. We discuss the rapid Chinese naval and strategic build-up, what Australia should (and shouldn’t) do to respond to this challenge, and what Biden’s withdrawal in Afghanistan might mean for the future of American power in Asia.

With all the cyber-espionage it’s been up to lately, surely China will be able to rapidly catch up with the U.S. and close the technological gap between the two militaries, right? Not so fast, says today’s guest, Dr. Mauro Gilli, senior researcher in military technology and international security at ETH Zurich. The latest stealth jet-fighter technology, drone proliferation, and the future of warfare – it’s all here. Strap yourselves in for a riveting ride.

Well, that sure happened fast. The Taliban have waltzed into Kabul, essentially unopposed. The so-called Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is no more. Was Biden right to pull out the troops or did he act too fast? Was something wrong with the intelligence assessments? And where does Afghanistan go from here? Professor John Mueller is back on the show to discuss all this and more.

On today’s episode I’m delighted to be joined by Professor Pieter Judson, whose most recent book, “The Habsburg Empire: A New History” is now available in paperback. Join us for a rich discussion about what made the Habsburg Empire so unique, what really brought about its demise, and why it remains more relevant than ever.

My guest today is the well-known Israeli journalist and writer, Gideon Levy. Join us for a lively discussion about the nature of Israeli society, why he no longer avoids the “A” word when talking about Israel, and what to make of (and expect from) the new government.

On today’s episode I’m delighted to welcome Michael O’Hanlon, whose new book, “The Art of War in an Age of Peace: U.S. Grand Strategy and Resolute Restraint,” is out now with Yale University Press. Join us for a lively discussion about the challenges facing U.S. foreign policy today, the role of historical thinking in crafting a grand strategy, how all this relates to American domestic politics, and much, much more.

On today’s episode I’m delighted to welcome a special guest: Professor John Mueller, whose new book, "The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency," is out now with Cambridge University Press. Join us for a lively discussion about U.S. foreign policy, the international state system, the use and abuse of concepts in political science and international relations, and much, much more.

New, surprising sounds are being heard amid the habitual noises of the chattering classes. All of a sudden, a little more state intervention in the economy and in society may not be such a bad idea after all. What is behind this remarkable shift? And what does it portend for the future?