Jun 30

The New Great Game in the Pacific Islands

In this episode, Mike is joined by Ambassador Laura Stone, who most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and previously held senior leadership roles at the U.S. Department of State, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Mongolia. ... Show More

46m 1s

Jun 18

The Power Politics behind Xi’s Grand Strategy

This week, Mike hosts Professor Minxin Pei, the Tom and Margot Pritzker ‘72 Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College, and author of the recent book The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism. They discuss how China's politi ... Show More

43m 56s

May 26

Grand Strategy Down Under

Mike sits down with Justin Bassi, Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, to examine Australia’s latest 2026 National Defence Strategy and what it reveals about Canberra’s evolving strategic outlook. They examine how the strategy aims to address Australia ... Show More

53m 23s

Oct 2023

Is peace in the Arctic melting?

Climate change and the war in Ukraine is transforming the geopolitics of the Arctic. Melting ice opens up the possibility of new trade routes making the region more valuable. Tensions in the area are rising as Russia turns to China for cooperation. China in return wants to positi ... Show More

23m 48s

Nov 2022

COP27 and Europe's climate role — A new Cold War?

On this week's episode, host Suzanne Lynch in Brussels speaks with Karl Mathiesen, POLITICO's senior climate correspondent, at the COP27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. And we discuss whether we are entering a new Cold War with historian and author Professor Mary Sa ... Show More

38m 32s

Sep 2019

The fight to control the Arctic

Who owns the Arctic? There are several countries who think they have a right to the North Pole or the rich territory around it. Russia has a military presence close by, and recently fired two missiles from the Arctic Ocean as a show of strength. Mike Pompeo, the U.S. secretary of ... Show More

20m 29s

Aug 2024

CLASSIC: The Race to the Arctic: Who will control the poles?

Across the span of modern human history, the Arctic has been a desolate, dangerous wasteland of freezing ice, inaccessible waters and more than a bit of myth. Yet as the ice recedes, countries and corporations around the globe are already gearing up to take possession of the regi ... Show More

1h 1m

Mar 2023

The US is obsessed with China

There’s rare bipartisan consensus in Washington: China is a threat to be countered. Cornell professor Jessica Chen Weiss says the American approach could lock both countries into an escalatory spiral. This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, fact ... Show More

26m 6s

Sep 2020

A Moment of Global Adjustment: China’s Ambitions in the Wake of Covid-19

In this episode of Building the Future, Dan Runde is joined once again by Dr. Jonathan Ward, author of China’s Vision for the World, to discuss how China’s relationship with the rest of the world has changed in the last 18 months. This time around, the pair analyze the growing re ... Show More

15m 31s

Aug 2021

China’s Strategically Irregular Approach: The Art of the Gray Zone

How does China operate in the space between war and peace to gain strategic advantage in Asia and globally? What do these gray zone activities look like, and how do they facilitate China’s influence in the region? What are the consequences of inconsistent US policy and posture in ... Show More

55m 42s

Deep Freeze: The Arctic's Role on the As...