Defense One Radio

In this episode, recorded on Thursday, June 7, 2018: • Ploughshares Fund's Joe Cirincione joins us to talk about nuclear expectations and grand strategy out of Tuesday's Trump-Kim summit in Singapore; • We’ll talk about what ISIS is believed to be up to in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago; • Then (at the 23:26 mark) we’ll hear from Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), who chairs the House's Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee. He tells us about his view of the Navy’s future — and his thoughts on the upcoming film, "Top Gun 2" — from his offices on Capitol Hill; • After that, (46:03) we’ll talk about the “War of Annihilation,” Amnesty International’s latest report on civilian casualties in the U.S.-led operation to drive ISIS out of Raqqa, Syria. We’ll also hear the coalition’s unhappy response to that report. And we end this week (57:00) with a commemoration of some borderline-lunatic heroism from the beaches and battlefields of D-Day, 74 years ago this week, with Army veteran Joseph Kassabian. Today's roundtable participants include:  • Joe Cirincione, president of Ploughshares Fund; • Kevin Baron, Defense One executive editor; • Brad Peniston, Defense One deputy editor; • Caroline Houck, Defense One staff correspondent; • And Ben Watson, Defense One news editor. References: Amnesty International's report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/syria-raqqa-in-ruins-and-civilians-devastated-after-us-led-war-of-annihilation/ The counter-ISIS coalition's response to that report: https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1541855/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-colonel-veale-via-teleconference-from-b/source/GovDelivery/

In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 24, 2018: • President Trump abruptly cancelled the June 12 meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un; • The Pentagon is accelerating the sales of weapons to allies and pals around the world; • After our roundtable, we’ll speak with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson from inside the Pentagon (at the 12:58 mark);  • And after that, we’ll travel all the way to a cafe on the banks of the Danube River in Bratislava, Slovakia. There, our Tech Editor Patrick Tucker talked about Iran, al-Qaeda and the war in Yemen with none other than Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash (at the 34:33 mark), he’s the Minister of State Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates. Today's roundtable participants include:  • Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor; • Brad Peniston, deputy editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 31, 2018: • The cancelled June 12 meeting in Singapore between President Trump North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un seems to be back on; • The Pentagon cozies up to India with a new combatant command name change; • We learn about the Special Operations Industry Conference last week in Tampa;  • And after our roundtable, (18:38) we’ll travel back to Bratislava, Slovakia, with our Tech Editor Patrick Tucker. He spoke with Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Nikonov of the Russian Duma, before pivoting to a discussion with Laura Rosenberger of the German Marshall Fund and the social media bot-monitoring project, "Hamilton 68"; • Then (41:45) we hear from the Atlantic Council's Elisabeth Braw, who explains how European countries are preparing for possible crises on the horizon.  Today's roundtable participants include:  • Kevin Baron, executive editor; • Brad Peniston, deputy editor; • Patrick Tucker, technology editor; • Caroline Houck, staff correspondent; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, recorded on Thursday, May 10, 2018, we discuss: • Bye, bye Iran Deal: Israel carried out a series of airstrikes inside Syria just two days after President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal; • U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo returned from North Korea with three released American prisoners — in just his second week on the job; • The president’s pick to lead the CIA traveled to Capitol Hill to interview for her new job; • Air Force officials spoke up about the rising number of crashes; • And seven months after it happened, we finally have a better picture of what happened in Niger back in October. • Then later, we’ll speak with two nuclear weapons experts — Melissa Hanham (33:49) and Joshua Pollack (39:00) — about the future of U.S. relations with Iran and North Korea.  Today's roundtable participants include:  • Kevin Baron, executive editor for Defense One; • Caroline Houck, staff correspondent; • Marcus Weisgerber, global business editor; • And Ben Watson, news editor. Tell us what you think! Send your questions or comments our way via [email protected], or call us at (757) 447-4596 and leave a voicemail! And thanks for listening!

This week on the program: • We’ll begin in Brussels, where NATO heads of state gathered this week for the 2018 NATO summit. On Thursday, Defense One Executive Editor Kevin Baron sat down with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. We’ll bring you that discussion (at the 1:45 mark). • Then (22:30) we’ll hear from former FBI Agent and counterterrorism specialist Clint Watts of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has a new book out called "Messing With The Enemy: Surviving In A Social Media World Of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, And Fake News." Defense One Tech Editor Patrick Tucker joins us as Watts explains how fear plays a big role in Russian so-called active measures campaigns across the world both today and in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election — and a whole lot more. Watch the full Ghani interview, with audience questions included, at the Atlantic Council's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmf-uk16ERs