FDD Events Podcast

With the midterm elections over, FDD experts joined journalists on Nov. 5 for a media call, "After the Midterms: What's Next for US and Iran?" as President Trump weighs possible strikes on Iran's Pickaxe Mountain. Behnam Ben Taleblu, Miad Maleki, Andrea Stricker, and Bradley Bowman discussed strategic thinking in Washington and Tehran, the economic leverage available to the administration, the status of Iran's nuclear program, and the military realities the Pentagon must weigh before any strikes.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/after-the-midterms-whats-next-for-us-and-iran/

As Israelis went to the voting booth, violence by a small group of Israeli extremists continued in the West Bank. FDD's Jonathan Schanzer and Jonathan Conricus discuss why the problem has re-emerged, whether the Shin Bet is too stretched to stop it, and how Israeli politics and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s response have influenced the situation. They also address Palestinian militant groups and their backers and the growing international pressure on Israel.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/settler-violence-a-new-israeli-government-and-return-to-u-s-israel-iran-war/

FDD experts Elaine Dezenski and Max Meizlish discuss what the Atlanta G20 meeting signals about China’s economic model, Russia sanctions enforcement, and American economic statecraft, and what it means for the December leaders’ summit in Miami.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/previewing-the-g20-foreign-ministers-meeting/

FDD's RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery and Craig Singleton give a readout of recent high-level meetings in Taiwan with senior political and defense officials. They discuss findings from a tabletop exercise simulating how the CCP might target Taiwan's satellites, ground networks, and subsea cables through cyber-enabled economic warfare. The exercise also examined how the United States and Japan could support Taiwan's response.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/10/06/findings-of-taiwan-china-war-game/

The United States leads the world in frontier artificial intelligence. However, cutting edge technology used by a limited number of people is a trophy, not a capability – and the contest with China will not be decided only at the frontier. History is unambiguous on this point: the nations that rise during technological revolutions are not always those that invent the breakthrough, but rather the ones that adopt it fastest across their institutions. For the U.S. military, that distinction is now the central question of its advantage.If the most sophisticated technology on earth reaches only a fraction of the force, how much advantage does it confer? How is the Pentagon moving from procuring AI to diffusing it across the force? What cultural and organizational changes does an “AI-first” military require? And how does the United States build and keep the technical talent inside government, turning tools into outcomes before its competitors close the gap?To discuss these questions and others, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) hosts a conversation with FDD Visiting Military Analyst Major Megan “Napalm” Hainline, F-16 instructor pilot and AI leader; FDD Adjunct Senior Fellow Isaac “Ike” Harris, executive director of the Frontier Security Institute; and Leah Siskind, FDD AI research fellow. The discussion will be moderated by RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/10/01/winning-the-adoption-war-diffusing-ai-across-the-us-military/

NATO’s power projection depends on the civilian digital systems and physical infrastructure that enable military movement across roads, railways, ports, and airfields. Yet since the end of the Cold War, Europe’s investment in defense-related infrastructure has not kept pace with the demands of a changing security environment.Russia’s war against Ukraine has made the stakes clear. In a conflict with NATO, Russia is likely to target the transportation, energy, and communications networks allied forces would rely on to deploy, reinforce, and sustain operations across the continent. At the same time, Chinese state-linked companies have acquired stakes in strategically important European critical infrastructure, including ports and energy grids, even as Chinese hackers have penetrated the same systems in the United States. Europe has begun investing in military mobility and streamlining cross-border movement, but major gaps remain between NATO’s battle plans and the infrastructure needed to execute them at speed and scale.To examine these challenges and the steps NATO and its allies should take, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hosts a conversation with Tom Goffus, FDD adjunct fellow and former NATO assistant secretary general for operations and former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy; RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director, FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; and Jiwon Ma, senior policy analyst, FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. The conversation will be moderated by Daniella Cheslow, National Security Daily anchor at Politico, with opening remarks by Bradley Bowman, senior director, FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/09/28/planes-trains-and-military-mobility-strengthening-nato-through-critical-infrastructure-security/

The United States is confronting one of the most dangerous geostrategic environments since 1945. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are deepening cooperation across economic, cyber, technology, and military domains. That cooperation is making each adversary more formidable and increasing the odds the United States will confront simultaneous major wars. Many longstanding U.S. policies and assumptions are now dangerously outdated.How have China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea been cooperating? What are the consequences of that cooperation? And what grand strategy must Washington adopt to strengthen American security, bolster allies and partners, and weaken the Axis?The newly released book, Axis of Aggressors: Countering the Cooperation of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, answers these questions.Axis of Aggressors has been widely praised by foreign policy experts. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the book provides “a clear understanding of this Axis of Aggressors, as well as the urgent steps our nation must take to deter our adversaries.” Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security advisor, calls the book “a gift to concerned citizens, strategists, and lawmakers,” noting that “[i]f Washington had heeded a book like this in the 1930s, we might have forestalled much of the bloodshed of the 1940s.”To discuss Axis of Aggressors and the growing threat posed by America’s authoritarian adversaries, FDD hosts a fireside chat with Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The fireside chat will be followed by a panel featuring Bradley L. Bowman, Elaine K. Dezenski, and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, all senior leaders at FDD’s Centers on American Power and authors of Axis of Aggressors. The panel will be moderated by NBC News’ Dan De Luce with introductory remarks delivered by Ryan Brobst, deputy director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.

President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to meet in Washington on September 24 to address technology, AI, rare earths, Taiwan, and major security crises — a summit that observers expect to manage the current U.S.-China stalemate rather than resolve it, as both sides use the present lull to position for future leverage. FDD's Craig Singleton, senior fellow and senior director of FDD's China Program, and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior fellow focusing on China's regional military expansion, will preview the summit on a media call, addressing Washington's and Beijing's competing goals, including how a possible delay in the next Taiwan arms package could be read as a temporary pause by Washington but as precedent by Beijing.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/09/16/previewing-the-trump-xi-summit-2/

The global economy has entered a period of fundamental realignment. As the Trump administration deploys tariffs to reshape trading relationships and redefine economic alliances, policymakers worldwide are adapting to a new reality in which economic security and national security have become inseparable. At the forefront of this effort are America’s tools of positive economic power – the institutions that are already mobilizing U.S. public and private capital, financing critical infrastructure, and expanding trade relationships. Yet new capabilities are essential, including coordinated interagency economic packages designed to stabilize transitioning regimes in countries such as Venezuela, and potentially Iran and Cuba – with clear guardrails to ensure that U.S. economic engagement advances strategic objectives without compromising American values or long-term interests.How is positive economic power evolving in response to the current moment? How can the responsible agencies complement sanctions and export controls, and more seamlessly integrate their responses? And what tools and capacities does the United States need to deploy economic power effectively?To discuss the evolving architecture of American economic statecraft, please join FDD for a fireside chat with Ben Black, CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Subcommittees on Financial Services and General Government; National Security and International Trade and Finance; and State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development. The conversation will be moderated by Elaine Dezenski, senior director and head of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power, with introductory remarks by Daniel Swift, senior research analyst at FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/09/15/us-economic-statecraft-in-a-realigned-world/

As the 2026 UN General Assembly convenes in New York, FDD experts will preview the administration's UN reform priorities and the major issues on this year's agenda. Richard Goldberg will discuss implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 establishing the Board of Peace, the Secretary-General selection process, and U.S. efforts to close agencies like UNRWA and consolidate overlapping UN bureaucracies. Ben Cohen will assess Zelenskyy's prospects for rallying support at UNGA and the UN's response to Iran's human rights crisis ahead of an October Fact-Finding Mission briefing. Richard Goldberg is an FDD Senior Advisor specializing in international organizations who previously served in senior roles at the White House National Energy Dominance Council, the Interior Department, and the White House NSC. Ben Cohen is an FDD Research Fellow focusing on international organizations, including the UN, and a former foreign correspondent who reported from conflict zones across Europe, Asia, and Africa.For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/09/10/previewing-the-2026-un-general-assembly/