Episode 65: The Year of Democracy and Democratic Backsliding, with Ambassador James B. Story

Thomas Woodside and Sunny Gandhi  worked on SB1047, a California bill focused on national security and public safety risks from advanced AI systems. We discussed their experiences advocating for the bill, speaking to legislators and industry experts, amending the bill in response to feedback, and reflecting on lessons learned for future AI policy efforts. Thomas Woodside is a policy analyst at the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, one of the co-sponsors of SB 1047. Before that, he was a junior fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown, where he wrote technical explainers for policy audiences and did some grantmaking. He did his undergraduate in computer science at Yale. Sunny Gandhi is the Vice President of Political Affairs at Encode Justice, an organization advocating for safe and responsible artificial intelligence where he has experience working in AI governance at both federal and state levels. Sunny has previously held technical roles at Deloitte and NASA and has worked with the US State Department and the law firm Mayer Brown. He graduated from Indiana University this past May.

In this episode of the Precision-Guided Podcast, University of Georgia and Georgetown University alumna Stephanie Cannon interviews Dr. Loch K. Johnson, Regents Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, to discuss the relationship between Congress and the intelligence community. Loch K. Johnson is Regents Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at the University of Georgia.  He received the Ph.D. degree in Political Science at the University of California, Riverside.  The author of over thirty books, among his most recent are The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy (Oxford, 2022); Advanced Introduction to American Foreign Policy (Elgar, 2021); Spy Watching: Intelligence Accountability in the United States (Oxford, 2018); National Security Intelligence: Secret Operations in the Defense of the Democracies (Polity, 2017); and A Season of Inquiry Revisited: The Church Committee Confronts America’s Spy Agencies (University Press of Kansas, 2015).  He has been an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow; a Visiting Fellow at Yale and Oxford Universities; a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar; and, for eighteen years (2001-2019), editor-in-chief of the international journal Intelligence and National Security.  He also served in the U.S. government as the senior aide to the chairman of the Church Committee on Intelligence in the Senate, as well as the chairman of the Aspin-Brown Commission on Intelligence in the White House.  He was the first staff director of the Subcommittee on Oversight in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  At the University of Georgia he led the founding of SPIA, established in 2001.  The consortium of universities that comprise the Southeast Conference (SEC) in the United States selected Professor Johnson as its inaugural “Professor of the Year” in 2012; and the University presented him with its Presidential Medal in 2022.

On this episode of the Precision Guided Podcast, Max Caplan sits down with three experts on civil-military relations: Dr. Alice Friend, Dr. Michal Robinson, and Dr. Heidi Urben. We discuss what civil-military relations is and the origins of American civilian control of the military. We touch on key topics including how our polarized political climate affects civil-military relations and what to look out for during this election cycle. Finally, our panelists discuss the state of the field and give reading recommendations for those who are interested in furthering their knowledge of civil-military relations.  **The views represented in this podcast belong to each individual and do not represent the views of Georgetown, the Georgetown Security Studies Review, the Department of Defense or any other institution.

Podcast host Zach Markenson speaks with the former Combatant Commander for United States Central Command, General McKenzie (R), about his recently published book “The Melting Point: High Command and War in the 21st Century.” General McKenzie provides detailed accounts of some of the most consequential recent military operations that he oversaw, including the U.S. strike that killed IRGC Quds force leader General Qassem Soleimani, the special operations raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, and the United States military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also discusses how CENTCOM has handled heightened tensions with Iran and offers his perspective on the long-term impacts of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.     

The United States withdrew from its two decade-long mission in Afghanistan in the summer of 2021. During the withdrawal,  a group of veterans, government employees, and everyday citizens banded together for an extraordinary rescue mission. Armed with nothing but their smartphones, the strength of their networks, and the conviction that no one should be left behind, this informal coalition embarked on an extraordinary mission. This is their story, the story of #DigitalDunkirk, the ad-hoc team that saved thousands of Afghan allies from the Taliban.  Check out our latest episode as hosts Miriam Pasternak Jorgensen and Gareth Smythe sit down with Mikael Cook, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and key member of the #DigitalDunkirk team, to discuss Mikael’s new book, Life and Death at Abbey Gate from Casemate Publishers. Life and Death at Abbey Gate tells the story of #DigitalDunkirk through the viewpoint of those who participated in the operation. The book chronicles the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike on the ground in Afghanistan, and the dedicated group of Americans working in the United States to get them out. 

Amidst the global wave of democratic elections in 2024, voters in six Latin American countries have already or will head to the polls to decide the future of their countries. Yet, for as much as this year marks an impressive milestone for democracy, emboldened authoritarian leaders and worrying trends in democratic backsliding threaten to derail democratic progress in the region. The Precision-Guided podcast sits down with U.S. Ambassador Jimmy Story to discuss democratization trends and analyze their implications for the future of democracy in Latin America.

The invasion of Ukraine has shone a light on how global leaders leverage historical narratives to suit the political moment. For leaders like Vladimir Putin, the popular memory of World War II is a useful propaganda tool to legitimize its invasion. In this episode, host Ryan Wisowaty sits down with Dr. Aviel Roshwald discusses the legacies of WWII historical myth making and separates the truth of Ukrainian experiences during WWII occupation from Kremlin fiction.

As great power competition extends into space, what will be the impact on nations’ behaviors and interests both on and around the Moon? Host Kellsie Herrmann sits down with space policy expert Kaitlyn Johnson, who walks through the political and scientific realities of the cislunar security environment.

In recognition of NATO’s upcoming 75th Anniversary, please join us for a special episode of the Precision-Guided Podcast featuring Professor Stephen Flanagan, a distinguished figure in the field of transatlantic security and defense. Professor Flanagan sits down with hosts Gareth Smythe and Miriam Pasternak to share his insights on the resilience and evolution of the NATO Alliance, its strategic shifts, and the challenges it faces today.  This episode serves as a preview for the upcoming Georgetown conference on April 8th, "NATO at 75: Charting a New Course," where Professor Flanagan will moderate a panel on NATO's future and deterrence strategies. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of NATO's significance at this milestone, the “transatlantic bargain”, and the strategic directions the Alliance might take amidst current global security challenges. And don’t forget to sign up for the conference itself: https://css.georgetown.edu/natoat75/.

The establishment of the U.S. Space Force, NATO's designation of space as an operational warfighting domain, and rising private sector participation signal a critical juncture. As more nations acquire space capabilities, the outer space domain appears poised to become the next frontier of international insecurity. Nicole Butler (SSP’25) hosts Jessica West, Senior Researcher at Project Ploughshares, to discuss space regulations, global governance and non-weaponization, the pros and cons of increasing private sector involvement, and the biggest threats to space security.