The Precision-Guided Podcast

The DPRK’s nuclear missile program is growing every day. The DPRK has conducted a number of missile tests against the ROK and Japan recently. Does the growing threat of the DPRK’s missile program destabilize the security balance in Northeast Asia? Does China’s nuclear program threaten nuclear non-proliferation in Northeast Asia? Should Japan and the ROK gain their own nuclear arsenals? Iku Tsujihiro (SSP’24) invited Dr. Keir Lieber to discuss the emerging threat of the DPRK’s nuclear missile program, and how it is changing the security perception in Northeast Asia. 

The destabilizing effects of global climate change represent key security challenges for the United States. These challenges are manifested at both the strategic level, in how climate impacts are fueling global trends like instability and mass migration, and at the tactical level, as climate change threatens critical national security infrastructure like military installations. How the United States adapts to the impacts of climate and works to mitigate further climate change has key implications for military readiness, industrial policy, and the resilience of communities across the country and around the world.  To discuss the key intersection between climate and security, host Gareth Smythe sat down with Kate Gordon, who just completed a two-year tenure as the Senior Advisor to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. Kate has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of climate change, energy policy, and economic development, and is a prominent voice knitting these important aspects together into a cohesive response. Kate and Gareth discuss the place-based impacts of climate change, how climate impacts present strategic and tactical challenges to security, the role of the military in climate adaptation and resilience, how the Department of Energy’s place at the forefront of America’s 21st Century Industrial Policy can support the Department of Defense’s industrial policy work, and the role of US allies, partners, and even potential adversaries in advancing climate security. 

Join host Juan Carlos Solano for a discussion with Georgetown Professor Alan Tidwell on the geopolitics of Oceanian.

Join host Stephanie Cannon for a discussion with SSP professors Kari Bingen and Stephen Kitay as they discuss the future of space policy.

Join us for a discussion with Ms. Chidi Blyden, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs. During this episode, co-hosts Stephanie Cannon and Donald Small speak with Deputy Assistant Secretary Blyden about key security issues in Africa and her career journey. Ms. Blyden also teaches a course at the Security Studies Program called African Security Issues and Policies (SEST-570). 

Join our co-hosts Josh O’Day and Stephanie Cannon as they talk with Dr. John Arquilla about the new, emerging environment of cyber war. In this episode, Dr. Arquilla discusses his new book, Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare, and what it means for strategists to grapple with this new, fluid realm of warfare. Dr. Arquilla also discusses vulnerabilities and risk mitigation in this type of war, and offers career advice based on his own experience. Link to purchase Bitskrieg: The New Challenge of Cyberwarfare - https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Bitskrieg%3A+The+New+Challenge+of+Cyberwarfare-p-9781509543625

There’s no better way to kick off the GSSR podcast’s third season than with the Georgetown Center for Security Studies and Security Studies Program’s very own Director Dr. Keir Lieber!  In this episode he will dive into the value the Security Studies Program (SSP) places on the “inextricable link between theory and policy,” a phrase SSP students have all heard and perhaps even adopted into their own vernacular. Dr. Lieber also addresses some of the greatest looming national security challenges, including nuclear deterrence and competition with China. He concludes the episode discussing the focus of education for current and future national security professionals and the goals and vision of the SSP, placing special emphasis on increasing the diversity of voices and perspectives in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. To contact the podcast, email us at: gssrpodcast@georgetown.edu

In Episode 16, Josh Chang is joined by co-host Josh O'Day as the two take to the air to interview Donald Small, a student originally from Atlanta who is now in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Donald graduated in 2014 with a BA in Biology and French from Valdosta State University. After graduation he volunteered with the Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa as an Education Volunteer and taught chemistry to middle school-aged children until being evacuated due to Ebola virus cases in the region. In December of 2014, he enlisted in the US Navy as a technician and operator of weapons systems aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. After 6 years he separated from the Navy to join the Security Studies Program and is in the International Security concentration pursuing an African Studies Certificate to become a Sub-Saharan Africa specialist. To contact the podcast, email us at: gssrpodcast@georgetown.edu.

In Episode 15, Josh Chang is joined by new co-host Josh O'Day. The two take to the air to interview Amr Sayed, an SSP student from Egypt with extensive experience as a journalist. Amr has 11 years of experience as a journalist and TV reporter starting his career with the unfolding of the revolution in Egypt.  Amr currently works as a correspondent for Al Jazeera Media Networks in Washington D.C. and is a freelance contributor with the Global Investigative Journalism Network. He has covered stories worldwide, including Tunisia, Beirut, Hong Kong, Istanbul & London. He was the youngest TV presenter to ever host a show across Al Jazeera network. You can find Amr on Twitter @amrhsayed. To contact the podcast, email us at: gssrpodcast@georgetown.edu.

In a special episode of the PGP, Josh interviews the Honorable Matthew P. Donovan, former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness who has also served in a wide variety of policy-making positions such as Under Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) and Acting SECAF. The two discuss space security and U.S. military readiness in the age of COVID-19, speaking about the items such as challenges presented by adversaries in the space domain, opportunities for cooperation, and stories as to how DoD adapted to the global pandemic.  

In the third episode of Season 2, Josh discusses the declassified strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific, released in the waning days of the Trump administration, with Regan Copple, Josh's fellow co-worker at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and a mil ops concentrator at SSP. The two discuss their reactions to the strategy, the future contours of the Biden administration's approach to the region, and the general state of national security issues in the INDOPACOM AOR such as denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, cross-strait conflict between Taiwan and China, U.S. relations with ASEAN, and alliance management. 

In Episode 12, Josh discusses the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan with Noah Ringler (SSP '21), an SSP student with extensive travel and research experience in the Caucasus region. The two cover the history of the enmity between both countries, Russia and Turkey's regional policies in the Caucasus, and Turkish foreign policy under Erdogan.

In the first episode of the second season of PGP, Josh interviews Lexee Brill, an SSP student, programming director for Georgetown University's Wargaming Society, and wargamer for the Air Force's Warfighting Integration Capability (AFWIC). The two discuss the utility of wargaming in national security analysis, the challenges of "red-teaming" in wargaming, and the methodology of wargaming. 

Josh discusses Latin American security issues as a whole with Casey Wetherbee and Becky Twaalfhoven, two SSP 5-year students with a deep interest in the Western Hemisphere. The three Latin Americanists discuss topics like US-Latin American relations, corruption & governance, environmental and pandemic security, Chinese influence in the region, and institution-building. 

In Episode 9, Josh interviews special guest Dr. Ryan C. Berg, Latin America Research Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and previous guest contributor to the Georgetown Security Studies Review. The two discuss the ongoing political crisis in Nicaragua, examining the historical origins of the crisis, the ways in which democracy has eroded in the country, and policy recommendations for the incoming Biden administration.

In the eighth episode of the Precision-Guided Podcast, Josh interviews SSP student Emma Jouenne and SSP adjunct faculty member Professor Kyleanne Hunter on their paper regarding the weaponization of online misogyny as a form of information warfare. The three discuss gender norms in national security, online radicalization, and security within the digital space. 

In the seventh of episode of PGP, Josh and Alex Lenser (SSP '21), a former air force officer specializing in nukes/missile defense, discuss U.S. nuclear force modernization, counterproliferation policy with regards to North Korea and Iran, and the difficulties of missile defense.

Josh and Daniel Harris (SSP '21) carry the conversation into the Western Hemisphere to discuss a key national security and humanitarian issue in the form of Venezuela's ongoing political and economic crisis. The two discuss the country's modern political history, the Maduro regime's illicit revenue flows, and the upcoming Biden administration's approach to the crisis. 

In the fifth episode, Josh interviews Ido Levy, an alumnus of Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy and an associate fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  The two discuss ISIS's global network, U.S. counterterrorism operations, and the difficulty of foreign internal defense in countries affected by jihadist insurgencies. 

On the fourth episode of the Precision-Guided Podcast, Josh and Caitlyn Leong (SSP '21), the president of Georgetown University's Wargaming Society, delve into all things wargaming, including its utility in the national security sphere, the best ingredients for a solid wargame, and ways to break into this under-explored, but growing field within defense studies.