National Security This Week

For his final episode, host Jon Olson talks with Tom Hanson, Diplomat-in-Residence at the Alworth School at the University of Minnesota - Duluth, about the state of global affairs at the end of 2023. Hanson was also the show's very first guest in January 2020. 

 Host Jon Olson talks with Dr. Jennifer Wistrand, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, about Central Asia and the Caucasus region. 

 This week, host Jon Olson welcomes Dr. Constanze Stelzenmueller from the Brookings Institution. They discuss EU and NATO security policy, the trans-Atlantic partnerships, and Germany’s evolving security policies. 

Host Jon Olson's guests are noted authors JJ Harrigan, David Bruns, and David McCloskey. They discuss the intersection of national security thriller novels and actual national security challenges and opportunities. JJ Harrigan is former state department Foreign Service Officer and was a political science professor, David Bruns served in submarines and is co-author with Jon Olson for their national security thrillers, and David McCloskey is a former CIA intelligence analyst and also served as a consultant. 

Host Jon Olson talks with Dr. Jeff Mankoff from the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. They discuss Central Asia, with a focus on the role Kazakhstan plays in the region. 

 Host Jon Olson talks with Devry Boughner Vorwerk, CEO of DevryBV Sustainable Strategies about the nexus of food security and national security. 

This week's guest is Christopher Townsend, President of the Navy League of the United States. He and Host Jon Olson discuss the maritime services and American national security interests in the maritime arena. 

 Host Jon Olson talks with Yuki Tatsumi from the Stimson Center about Japan’s defense policy and both challenges and opportunities for Japan in the Indo-Pacific region. 

 This week, host Jon Olson talks with Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Temur Umarov about the strategic significance of the Central Asian Republics. 

This week live from the 13th Annual Cyber Security Summit in Bloomington, Minnesota, host Jon Olson talks with Dr. Sylvain Leblanc and Dr. Sean Costigan about cyber operations and national security.