The Looking Glass – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Welcome back to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. We’re your hosts Aaryaman Shah and Jiwon Lim. On May 15, al-Qaeda affiliated militants claimed to kill 200 soldiers during an attack on an army base in Djibo, a village in northern Burkina Faso. This attack is emblematic of the extent to which violent extremism has found a foothold in the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid land straddling the Sahara and coastal West Africa. There are several reasons for the emergence and sustenance of this extremist violence, including free access to weapons, political instability and longstanding ethnic rivalries. Here to help us make sense of violence in the Sahel is Dr Alexander Thurston. 

Dr. Alexander Thurston is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati. He is a scholar whose work specializes in the intersection of Islam and politics. Dr. Thurston is the author of a blog, Sawahil, on issues across West Africa, MENA, Islam and Politics. His work has been featured in prominent academic journals, including Journal of the American Academy of Religion, African Affairs, Islamic Law & Society. He has also written reports and articles for the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and more. He is also the author of Salafism in Nigeria: Islam, Preaching, and Politics and Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement. I hope you enjoy this episode of the looking glass podcast. 

Hosts: Aaryaman Shah and Jiwon Lim

Produced by Jiwon Lim

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Last month, Japan set history by electing their first female prime minister: Takaichi Sanae. In this victory, she must be ready to face old and new issues, ranging from domestic political and social instability to international tariffs. To discuss who Takaichi is, her platforms, and how she will navigate the ever changing international field, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Sheila Smith.

Dr. Sheila Smith is the John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, and the author of multiple books including “Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power” and “Japan's New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance”. Dr. Smith is chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and the U.S. advisor to the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange, a bi-national advisory panel of government officials and private-sector members. We hope you enjoy today’s episode of The Looking Glass Podcast.

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From the heart of the Arab world to the crossroads of Africa and Europe, Egypt stands at the center of some of today’s most complex and consequential shifts. Under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the country has undergone profound transformations—economic, political, and social. In this mini series, we step behind the headlines and take a closer look at Egypt’s evolving role on the global stage. We explore the choices it’s making, the pressures it’s facing, and how these forces are shaping its future. Over five episodes, The Looking Glass will offer an in-depth look into the architecture of modern Egypt under Sisi. 

In Episode 1, we unpack Egypt’s geopolitical landscape—how its strategic location has made it both a bridge and a buffer zone in a region gripped by conflict. We examine the ripple effects of the war on Gaza, the growing insecurity across the region, and how decades of instability have indirectly weighed on Egypt’s economy, governance, and global position. 

To explore these issues in depth, we are joined by Dr. Abdallah Al Dardari, the United Nations Assistant Secretary General and the Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States of the UNDP

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Welcome back to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I’m your host Vinayak Kalra. Sanctions are a misunderstood policy tool, rooted in a complex history, deemed by some as a lever of soft power and by others as a form of deadly warfare. In the 2020s, sanctions regimes continue to be implemented and enforced as a means of exerting influence on other nations, but often yield unexpected impacts upon sanctioned societies. To help us make sense of sanctions and the broader world of economic warfare, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Narges Bajoghli. 

Dr. Narges Bajoghli is a Media Anthropologist focusing on the Middle East at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is a scholar, public intellectual, and award-winning author whose work explores the intersections of media, power, and resistance in global politics. Narges’ work has been featured in prominent outlets, including Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair. She is the director of the film, The Skin That Burns, on survivors of chemical warfare, and her graphic novella, Sanctioned Lives, visually captures the everyday realities of life under sanctions. Most recently, Narges along with Vali Nasr, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Ali Vaez, wrote the book, “How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare,” a critically acclaimed, ground-up look, at the human impact of sanctions. 

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Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I am your host Jiwon Lim. Since 2022, the global media has heavily concentrated on two major conflicts—the Russia-Ukraine War and the conflict in Gaza. While these wars have significant implications, this narrow focus often obscures other conflicts that continue to shape international security, governance, and regional stability. On our Forgotten Wars series, to spotlight the conflict in Sudan since the 2023 civil war, what has changed since then, the international reaction and interference in its developments joining us on the podcast today is Mr. Ahmed Kodouda.

Ahmed Kodouda is a policy, advocacy, and governance specialist with an extensive background in conflict and post conflict settings. Between 2019 and 2021, he served as an advisor to the civilian-led transitional government in Sudan. He has over 15 years of experience working with, and consulting for, governmental, national and international non-governmental organizations in the US, Africa and the Middle East. His peer reviewed publications have appeared in the Journal of Democracy, World Development, and Demography, and his other writing and commentary have been showcased on Foreign Affairs and The Washington Post, among others. He was awarded fellowships from The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Political Science Association. We hope you enjoy this episode of the Looking Glass Podcast.

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Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. I’m your host Jiwon Lim.  From phishing emails to ransomware, cyberattacks may be a daily part of your and other people’s lives. However, when these attacks target not just your inbox but a whole industry, the conversation gets complicated. To discuss the actors and goals behind cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, their methods, and where we may be headed in the future of cyber attacks and defending against them is Dr. Jim Jones.

Dr. Jim Jones has been a cyber security and digital forensics practitioner, researcher, and educator for over 30 years in industry, government, and academia. Jim, his colleagues, and his students spend their days and nights examining digital systems of all types to understand how data persists and decays on these systems, and how such behavior and data can be used, manipulated, and verified to find malware infections and compromised systems, detect system and device misuse, link disparate devices and entities, effect and detect deception activities, and recover lost data. Past and current funded research sponsors include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the United States Department of Defense (DoD). We hope you enjoy this episode of The Looking Glass Podcast.

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Welcome back everybody to "The Libya Chronicles" the first series of the Maghreb Voices Mini Series, a special co-production of The North Africa Initiative and the SAIS Review Looking Glass Podcast. This series delves into the rich and tumultuous history of Libya, a land of ancient kingdoms, vast natural resources, and a complex political landscape. To discuss the transformation of Libyan society under Gaddafi and the following social and economic developments domestically and globally, joining us on the episode: A Nation in Flux is Stephanie Williams.

Stephanie Williams is a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Center for Middle East Policy, having recently served as special adviser on Libya to the United Nations secretary-general. Her research includes examining international mediation efforts in an era of global disorder and conflict resolution in failed states with a publication titled “Libya since Gaddafi” scheduled for April this year. She previously served as the acting special representative of the secretary general for Libya and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and before that, as the deputy special representative of the secretary general for Libya. She served in the U.S. Foreign Service for over 24 years, with a career focus on the Middle East region. She served in policy positions in the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau and was the recipient of several Superior Honor Awards during her tenure in the U.S. Department of State. We hope you enjoy today’s episode of “The Looking Glass Podcast”

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Facing the intangible nature of AI, its on the ground consequences can seem out of reach at the best of times. To shine light on the environmental aspect of the trade-offs and approaches towards environmental sustainability and AI joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Benjamin Lee.

Dr. Benjamin Lee is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering and the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a visiting researcher at Google in the Global Infrastructure Group. Dr. Lee's research focuses on computer architecture, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability. He builds interdisciplinary links to machine learning and algorithmic economics to better design and manage computer systems. He has held visiting research positions at Meta AI, formerly Facebook AI Research, at Microsoft Research, at Intel Corporation, and at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. We hope you enjoy today’s episode of The Looking Glass Podcast.

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As the breadth and depth of AI applications grow, so do concerns regarding its development and functioning. To discuss the historical cases of compliance failure in the tech industry, how the AI ecosystem can better prepare to comply with the best practices, and the norms and principles to avoid similar risks in the future, joining us today on the podcast is Mariami Tkeshelashvili.

Mariami Tkeshelashvili is a Senior Associate for Artificial Intelligence Security Policy at the Institute for Security and Technology (IST) where she leads AI Foundation Model Access Initiative and works on other projects within IST related to AI/Cyber and geopolitics of technology. Mariami was also a Fellow at Johns Hopkins University Emerging Technologies Initiative, where she explored transformative technologies like AI, biotech and quantum, and their profound implications for global affairs. Her recent publication includes the IST AI Compliance paper which came out December 11th.

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AI and semiconductors have been at the forefront of recent domestic and foreign policy conversations, yielding questions around national security and supply chains. To discuss what AI chips are, the national security risks associated with them, and the US position in the global market for AI chips, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Melissa K. Griffith.

Dr. Melissa K. Griffith is a Lecturer in Technology and National Security at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies with the Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies and a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity. She works at the intersection between technology and national security, specializing in cybersecurity, semiconductors, and AI with a focus on national risk and resilience models. 

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins SAIS, Dr. Griffith was the Director of Emerging Technology and National Security and a Senior Program Associate with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program, a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, and a Visiting Scholar at George Washington University's Institute for International Science and Technology Policy. We hope you enjoy today’s episode of The Looking Glass Podcast.

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