Explore every episode of the podcast FDD Events Podcast

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/

For decades, American universities have served as engines of innovation, scientific discovery, and economic growth – institutions now targeted by the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to acquire technology, talent, and research with potential military applications. Through its military-civil fusion strategy, Beijing systematically works to eliminate the distinction between civilian and military research, enabling breakthroughs developed in academic settings to support China’s defense modernization and strategic ambitions.

Congress, federal agencies, and some university leaders have taken important steps in recent years to strengthen research security and improve transparency surrounding foreign funding, talent recruitment programs, and research partnerships. However, significant vulnerabilities remain.

To discuss the evolving research security landscape, please join FDD for a conversation featuring House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Senator Jim Banks (R-IN). Moderated by FDD Senior Fellow Craig Singleton, the conversation will examine the challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to leverage American universities for strategic gain and potential safeguards in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/07/14/countering-the-ccps-exploitation-of-us-academic-research/

As NATO leaders prepare to convene in Ankara on July 7-8, the alliance faces a set of questions that will shape its future stability and America's role within it. From the Trump administration's push to shift rather than share the defense burden to the level of Western support for Ukraine, the decisions made in Ankara will carry lasting consequences.

FDD experts Bradley Bowman, Sinan Ciddi, and Cameron McMillan brief journalists ahead of the summit, drawing on their work tracking America's force posture in Europe, Turkey's foreign policy, and the broader contest between the free world and the Axis of Aggressors: Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/07/02/previewing-the-nato-summit-in-ankara/

The Palestinian statehood narrative rests on a foundation that FDD’s Hussain Abdul-Hussain argues was constructed, not inherited. In The Arab Case for Israel, he traces Palestinian national identity to 1964 and inter-Arab rivalry, not ancient roots, and contends that the “lost state” narrative is a vision for a Middle East without Israel, not a recoverable past. U.S. pressure on Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah, and the demonstrated dividends of the Abraham Accords have cracked open a moment of genuine regional realignment. Hussain’s argument isn’t academic — it’s a call for Arab leaders to seize that window and embrace normalization publicly, before it closes.

Join FDD for a policy conversation on what Arab-Israeli peace actually requires, and whether the region is ready to get there. FDD research fellow and author Hussain Abdul-Hussain will be joined by Morgan Ortagus, former U.S. deputy Presidential Envoy to the Middle East, in a discussion moderated by David Schenker, Taube senior fellow and director of the Rubin Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/06/11/the-arab-case-for-israel-history-mythology-and-pathways-to-peace/

A new joint commission from FDD and CSIS has released findings and an implementation plan for standing up a dedicated U.S. Cyber Force, concluding that the existing service-based model for cyber force generation cannot meet the demands of an increasingly aggressive threat environment. The commission found that recruiting, training, and retention challenges across four separate services have left the Cyber Mission Force short on senior technical talent, while Chinese military and intelligence services are estimated to field roughly ten times as many offensive cyber operators. Featuring RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, FDD Senior Fellow and Senior Director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; LTG (Ret.) Edward Cardon, former commander of Army Cyber Command; Joshua Stiefel, former House Armed Services Committee professional staff member; and Lauryn Williams, deputy director of CSIS's Strategic Technologies Program. The call was moderated by FDD Senior Director of Communications Joe Dougherty.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/06/01/findings-of-the-commission-on-cyber-force-generation/

The United States is in the early stages of a generational energy buildout driven by soaring AI demand and accelerating digitization of the grid itself. But even as hundreds of billions of dollars flow into batteries, power electronics, and the embedded software that will give America’s electrical infrastructure its digital nervous system, the United States remains dependent on China for the tools to build it. Beijing dominates much of this “electrotech stack,” and that dependence is not only creating supply vulnerabilities – it’s threatening to undermine the very security advantages a modernized grid is meant to deliver.

The most pressing danger, however, may not be Chinese hardware but rather American policy paralysis: overcorrection that delays the technologies this buildout demands, or indecision that continues ceding strategic ground to Beijing. A new paper by FDD and Carnegie Mellon’s Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST), Electrotech Moneyball: An Industrial Strategy for Ranking Risk and Opportunity in Energy & AI Supply Chains, responds to this moment with a clear framework for achieving the greatest strategic return.

To discuss “Electrotech Moneyball,” FDD and CMIST will host an on-the-record discussion moderated by Harry Krejsa, director of studies at CMIST, featuring Phoebe Benich, non-resident fellow at CMIST; RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI); Jackie Siebens, vice president of public affairs at Helion Energy and non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council; and Dr. Emma Stewart, non-resident fellow at CMIST and lead for Idaho National Laboratory’s Center for Securing Digital Energy Technology.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/05/28/the-electrotech-stack-at-risk-china-ai-and-americas-energy-supply-chains/

As NATO Foreign Ministers convene and ceasefire negotiations remain unresolved, the state of Ukraine's military — its resilience, its vulnerabilities, and its strategic horizon — demands sober assessment from those who have seen it firsthand. RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery just completed two weeks in Ukraine, meeting with senior intelligence and armed forces leaders in Kyiv and Kharkiv, conducting pro-bono training with Ukrainian military units, and participating in an influence operations conference. His observations arrive at a moment when U.S. policy decisions are actively reshaping the conditions under which Ukraine fights.

As President Trump prepares to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, the summit arrives not as a diplomatic breakthrough but as a carefully managed pause in an accelerating strategic competition. FDD Senior Fellow Craig Singleton framed the meeting as a continuation of last fall's tactical trade truce — "stalemate with a stage" — in which both sides are protecting the trade and tariff lane while continuing to apply pressure everywhere else. Expected deliverables remain narrow by design: agricultural purchases, Boeing orders, and a Board of Trade mechanism to separate lower-risk commerce from sensitive technology sectors.

Elaine Dezenski, senior director of FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power, identified China's dollar dependency as its structural Achilles heel and flagged the fentanyl front as largely unresolved, with roughly 97% of Chinese precursor chemical manufacturers now accepting cryptocurrency, shifting money flows beyond the reach of regulated financial institutions. On Iran, she noted Beijing's dual-track posture: publicly ordering Chinese firms to defy U.S. sanctions on Iranian refineries while quietly directing its largest banks to suspend new loans to those same entities.

RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, identified Taiwan as the summit's highest-risk variable, warning that any restraint on foreign military sales would be deeply damaging given a U.S. arms delivery backlog already exceeding $20 billion. He cautioned equally against any shift in declaratory policy toward opposing rather than merely not supporting Taiwan independence, which Beijing would immediately weaponize in a lawfare campaign against Taipei.

Craig Singleton is a senior fellow and senior director of FDD's China Program. Elaine Dezenski is senior director and head of FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power. RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery is a senior fellow and senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. The call was moderated by Joe Dougherty, FDD's senior director of Communications.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/05/07/previewing-the-trump-xi-summit/

The conflict in Iran reveals urgent lessons about AI as a weapon of war and statecraft. Led by one of Washington's top experts on Iranian strategy, military doctrine, and the IRGC, this panel provides an assessment of how the Iranian regime has used autonomous systems and machine learning to expand its reach; how AI tools have supercharged propaganda campaigns and cyber-enabled information warfare; and in the financial realm, how emerging technologies have enabled large-scale fraud and illicit funding of Tehran's proxies. What does the Iranian regime's battlefield experimentation reveal? And how can the policy, technical, and intelligence communities respond?

To explore these questions and more, join Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD's Iran Program; Max Lesser, senior analyst on emerging threats at FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI); and Max Meizlish, research fellow at FDD's the Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP), at the Special Competitive Studies Project's AI+ Expo.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/05/06/ai-on-the-front-line-lessons-from-the-iran-conflict/

Join Elaine Dezenski, CEFP senior director and head; Josh Birenbaum, CEFP deputy director; and Thomas Hill, as they break down a forthcoming CEFP memo, ‘A Gameplan for American Economic Security.’ This comprehensive and actionable economic security framework articulates how the United States can strengthen alliances, reinforce market transparency and accountability, and defend against growing economic coercion from adversarial states exploiting market vulnerabilities. The memo offers policymakers and the private sector new ways of addressing emerging economic and national security threats and opportunities. 

The conversation will begin with introductory remarks by Juan C. Zarate, CEFP chairman, and is moderated by the Washington Post's Warren P. Strobel.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/05/04/a-gameplan-for-american-economic-security-supercharging-u-s-statecraft-from-an-economic-pentagon-to-the-near-global-economy/

The UAE's decision to exit OPEC is not a procedural footnote — it is a structural rupture in the cartel that has shaped global energy markets and constrained American foreign policy for decades. The UAE was OPEC's third-largest producer, and its departure arrives on the heels of prior defections and years of Saudi unilateralism that have steadily hollowed out the cartel's ability to coordinate production and move prices. What remains of OPEC is a diminished institution whose most vulnerable member, Iran, will depend heavily on elevated oil prices to fund post-conflict reconstruction. But the cartel that once enforced that pricing floor is fracturing — and the UAE’s exit accelerates that fracture. That is not a coincidence. It is a strategic opportunity.

The UAE's exit is inseparable from the broader regional realignment triggered by Iran's retaliatory attacks against its neighbors and decision to close the Strait of Hormuz. Those actions drove the UAE toward closer alignment with the United States and away from any institutional arrangement that seats it alongside its chief antagonist. Leaving OPEC allows Abu Dhabi to pump freely, erodes the pricing floor Tehran requires, and adds economic pressure to nuclear negotiations at a moment when Iran's financial position is already precarious. For the UAE, this was not a difficult calculation.

The implications extend well beyond the Gulf. OPEC's core function has always been coordinating production cuts to artificially prop up the price of oil — a mechanism that has imposed real costs on American consumers and handed leverage to adversarial petrostate regimes for generations. That function requires internal cohesion OPEC no longer has. The question now is not whether the cartel can recover its influence, but whether the United States is prepared to openly welcome its decline and shape what comes next.

To walk journalists through the geopolitical, economic, and energy security dimensions of the UAE's exit, FDD hosts three experts: Richard Goldberg, senior advisor and head of FDD's Energy and National Security Program, who previously served on the White House National Energy Dominance Council and the NSC's Iran directorate; Elaine K. Dezenski, senior director and head of FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power, an expert on economic statecraft, illicit finance, and supply chain resilience; and Bernard Haykel, senior fellow and Princeton professor of Near Eastern Studies. The discussion is moderated by Joe Dougherty, FDD's senior director of Communications.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/04/29/the-ramifications-of-the-uae-leaving-opec/

U.S. and Israeli strikes under Operation Epic Fury have inflicted severe economic damage on the Iranian regime — damage that now shapes the landscape of ongoing ceasefire negotiations. FDD's Center on Economic and Financial Power has produced the first systematic, model-based estimate of Iran's economic losses, projecting that Tehran has lost roughly $144 billion, or approximately 40 percent of its pre-war GDP, in under two months. The losses are not evenly distributed: some sectors have been hit harder than others, and critically, much of what has been destroyed — including Iran's F-14 fleet, its nuclear scientific personnel, and its advanced centrifuge supply chains — cannot be replaced under continued sanctions. These are not recoverable line items; they represent permanent degradation of Iran's strategic and industrial capacity.

The economic picture was already dire before the war began. Iran's economy was in deep recession, its population bearing the cost of decades of mismanagement and sanctions pressure. The question now is how much more the clerical regime can absorb — and whether conventional assumptions about Iran's leverage, including its ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz, hold up under scrutiny. FDD's analysis suggests that leverage may be more of a weakness than a weapon.

To walk journalists through their economic model and discuss the implications for nuclear negotiations, FDD hosts three experts from its Center on Economic and Financial Power: Elaine Dezenski, Senior Director and head of CEFP, Miad Maleki, Senior Fellow specializing in economic sanctions, and Daniel Swift, CEFP Senior Research Analyst. The discussion is moderated by Joe Dougherty, FDD's Senior Director of Communications.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/04/23/irans-economic-damage-from-operation-epic-fury/

Israel's military escalation against Hezbollah — an Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon that recently reignited conflict with Israel in solidarity with Iran — has created a rare opening for Lebanese sovereignty. The Lebanese government under Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has taken unprecedented steps, formally stripping Hezbollah of its long-standing "right of resistance" designation and voting to disband its military wing — the first Lebanese government in 30 years to do so. However, these decisions remain unenforceable: the Lebanese Armed Forces have declined to confront Hezbollah directly, the Iranian ambassador declared persona non grata remains in Beirut, and Hezbollah has responded with open defiance.

Iran is now attempting to bundle a Lebanon ceasefire into its own nuclear negotiations — a move rejected by both Israel and, notably, the Lebanese government itself, which is insisting on direct bilateral talks with Israel rather than being negotiated over by Tehran. This represents a generational opportunity: Israeli military operations have severely degraded Hezbollah, while U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have exposed the Islamic Republic's vulnerabilities and rattled its regional proxy network. The central question now is whether Lebanon can translate its political declarations into action — and whether the U.S. can help it do so — before a ceasefire allows Hezbollah to regroup and rearm, as it has done repeatedly since 2006.

To discuss these developments with journalists, FDD hosts three of its scholars: Jonathan Schanzer, executive director and Middle East scholar, David Daoud, senior fellow focused on Lebanon and Hezbollah, and Hussain Abdul-Hussain, research fellow on Israel and Gulf Arab states. The discussion is moderated by Joe Dougherty, FDD’s senior director of Communications.

As the war involving Iran reshapes the strategic landscape of the Middle East, Turkey finds itself navigating one of the most complex geopolitical dilemmas in its modern history. Sharing a long border with Iran and balancing its role as a NATO member with its regional ambitions, Ankara is attempting to manage the fallout of a conflict that could dramatically alter the balance of power across the region. Turkish leaders have condemned U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran while simultaneously warning Tehran against expanding the conflict, reflecting a delicate strategy of hedging between competing interests.

For Ankara, the stakes extend well beyond diplomacy. The prospect of regime collapse in Iran raises fears of refugee flows, border instability, and the emergence of new security threats along Turkey’s eastern frontier. At the same time, the conflict presents opportunities for Turkey to expand its regional influence and position itself as a mediator between global and regional powers. Meanwhile, recent incidents demonstrate how quickly the war could draw Turkey directly into the crisis.

What does Ankara want from this conflict? Is Turkey seeking to prevent the collapse of the Iranian regime, contain regional chaos, or exploit the turmoil to advance its own geopolitical ambitions? And how should the United States and its allies interpret Turkey’s actions at this critical moment?

For a timely discussion on Turkey’s priorities, anxieties, and strategic calculations as the war in Iran unfolds, FDD hosts Henri J. Barkey, adjunct senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; and Steven A. Cook, senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. The discussion will be moderated by Sinan Ciddi, director of FDD’s Turkey Program.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/02/26/beyond-erdogan-turkeys-political-future-under-new-leadership/

Authoritarian regimes are gaining influence over how Americans understand the world through the AI tools trusted to be neutral arbiters of information. By optimizing authoritarian propaganda for AI consumption, adversarial governments are shaping the narratives in AI tools relied on by millions for research, education, and everyday information. This event will explore how propaganda outlets are strategically filling legacy media’s void by positioning content to be cited by large language models, analyze Russia's campaigns to influence AI training data and embed Kremlin-aligned narratives into chatbot responses, and discuss the repercussions for the growing deployment of Chinese-built AI models in the United States.

To discuss these emerging vulnerabilities and the options available to policymakers, technologists, and the media ecosystem, FDD hosts Joseph Bodnar, senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of George Mason University’s National Security Institute. The discussion is moderated by Leah Siskind, FDD director of impact & AI research fellow.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/03/04/surveying-foreign-influence-in-ai-tools/

Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion have opened a new chapter in the Middle East — but whether the United States and Israel translate an unprecedented military campaign into a lasting political victory will define the region for a generation. This FDD media call examines the endgame of the combined U.S.-Israeli campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including how air superiority over Iran changes the calculus for regime change, and what it would take to hand Iran to its people rather than see it collapse into a failed state. The experts assess Iran's deliberate strategy of shepherding its ballistic missile and drone arsenals to erode Israeli and Gulf civilian morale over time, analyze the threat of Strait of Hormuz mining as Tehran's greatest remaining source of leverage, and examine critical shortages of defensive interceptor munitions. In addition, the experts discuss Hezbollah's underwhelming entry into the conflict, what Israel is doing to ensure it cannot regenerate again, and why Ali Larijani and the Supreme National Security Council — not Iran's constitutional leadership council — are now the most consequential institution inside the Islamic Republic.

To discuss these developments with journalists and creators, FDD hosts four of its scholars: Jonathan Schanzer, executive director and Middle East scholar, RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery, senior fellow and senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow and senior director of FDD’s Iran Program, and David Daoud, senior fellow focused on Lebanon and Hezbollah. The discussion is moderated by Joe Dougherty, FDD’s senior director of communications.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/03/02/operation-epic-fury-and-the-future-of-the-middle-east/

In the early hours of February 28, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated military campaign against the Iranian regime—Washington calling it “Operation Epic Fury,” Israel calling it “Operation Lion’s Roar.” Strikes hit sites across Iran, targeting ballistic missile infrastructure, IRGC facilities, intelligence headquarters, and senior regime leadership.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead. President Trump confirmed his elimination on February 28: “Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead.” U.S. officials told Fox News that the strikes were moved up after intelligence revealed Khamenei and dozens of senior Iranian officials were meeting at his compound. Among those killed: Defense Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani, IRGC Chief Mohammad Pakpour, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, and multiple other senior military and intelligence figures.

Iran has retaliated. A ballistic missile penetrated Israeli air defenses and struck a residential building in central Tel Aviv, killing at least one woman. Over 200 missiles and drones were fired at Israel and U.S. bases across the region—striking the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and causing casualties in Dubai and Syria. Regional governments have condemned Iran’s strikes in the strongest terms.

Inside Iran, the response is electric. Videos show Iranians cheering in the streets. Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has called on the armed forces to defect and urged citizens to prepare to mobilize. The opposition is deploying secure communications, satellite broadcasts, and hacked regime infrastructure to sustain the moment. The regime is decapitated. The question now is whether it falls.

To assess fast-moving developments and their strategic implications, FDD hosts a timely SITREP moderated by FDD Executive Director and host of the FDD Morning Brief Jonathan Schanzer, featuring FDD CEO and host of The Iran Breakdown Mark Dubowitz, and FDD Senior Advisor and former White House National Security Council director Richard Goldberg.

Convened around the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s establishment of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC), FDD’s Energy and National Security Program hosts a symposium examining current U.S. energy policy and its implications for national security and foreign policy.

Opening with keynote remarks by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, this symposium assess U.S. energy policy over the past year. It analyzes how energy policy intersects with U.S. strategic interests across regions, examines efforts to accelerate AI power infrastructure buildout and stabilize the grid, and explores the administration’s approach to countering China’s influence over critical resources.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/02/04/the-state-of-american-energy-dominance/

At the recent trilateral summit in Jerusalem, leaders from Greece, Cyprus, and Israel advanced a shared vision of regional stability, prosperity, and cooperation. These nations, alongside the United States, are deepening coordination through mechanisms such as the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation (P-TEC), the 3+1 framework, and the Achilles Shield program. As Greece emerges as a pivotal partner in U.S. energy strategy, these initiatives are cementing Athens’ role as the linchpin of Eastern Mediterranean security.

To discuss Greece’s trilateral diplomacy with Israel and Turkey, the intersection of energy and security, and more, FDD is pleased to host Greek Minister for National Defense Nikos Dendias in conversation with FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/02/03/reimagining-mediterranean-security-with-greek-minister-for-national-defense-nikos-dendias/

China and Russia continue to deploy sophisticated information operations and systematic technology theft to undermine U.S. national security, reshape global norms, and influence public opinion across the West.

Both regimes have spent decades stealing American intellectual property, trade secrets, and advanced technology – and are now weaponizing artificial intelligence to accelerate their espionage and influence campaigns. As Beijing and Moscow’s influence campaigns expand and evolve, the U.S. and its allies must understand the methods employed by the authoritarian regimes and their real-world consequences.

To discuss where these adversaries collaborate and how Beijing learns from Moscow’s tactics, FDD hosts David Shedd, former acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of the newly published book, The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets, and Ivana Stradner, research fellow with FDD’s Barish Center for Media Integrity. The discussion will be moderated by Craig Singleton, senior director of FDD’s China Program.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/01/22/assessing-the-china-russia-threat-nexus-in-technology-and-information-warfare/

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sits at the forefront of efforts to detect, disrupt, and deter illicit finance – yet growing challenges are testing the limits of existing regulatory frameworks. As Congress weighs updates to the Bank Secrecy Act and the U.S. and Western allies debate new global standards through the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), debates over the Corporate Transparency Act, a steep rise transnational criminal networks, and the surge of ransomware attacks underscore the urgency of modernizing America's anti-money laundering infrastructure.

As illicit financial crime evolves, how can FinCEN rise to meet the challenge? How do cryptocurrency and AI impact financial crime and enforcement? What tools are available to combat sophisticated threats from cartels and Chinese money-laundering organizations?

To discuss the landscape of modern financial crime and the future of FinCEN, FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) hosts former FinCEN directors Kenneth A. Blanco, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, and Himamauli Das. This conversation is moderated by Juan C. Zarate, chairman of FDD’s CEFP.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/12/18/fincen-modernization-and-the-future-of-financial-crime-enforcement/

Recently, Greece hosted two important energy events: the Partnership for Transatlantic Energy Cooperation (P-TEC) and a historic 3+1 meeting of Greece, Cyprus, Israel, and the United States. As the U.S. seeks to implement its vision for energy dominance, Greece has responded by accelerating its own efforts to reshape the global energy system. From opening new LNG import terminals and signing long-term agreements with American LNG exporters, establishing the Vertical Corridor to supply American gas to Ukraine and other parts of Europe, partnering with Chevron to explore natural gas off Crete, and resuscitating the Great Sea Interconnector to link the grid from Europe to the Middle East, the pipeline to America’s global energy dominance increasingly runs through Athens.

To discuss U.S. energy investment and infrastructure projects, Greece’s unique position at the crossroads of an emerging energy dominance corridor, and more, FDD's Energy and National Security Program is pleased to host a fireside discussion moderated by its director Richard Goldberg featuring Greek Minister of Environment and Energy Stavros Papastavrou.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/12/05/advancing-energy-security-with-greek-minister-of-energy-stavros-papastavrou/

Taiwan imports roughly 98 percent of its energy, making it one of the world's most energy-insecure economies. This vulnerability creates an opportunity for Beijing to pursue its campaign to force Taipei’s capitulation through gray-zone tactics, using economic, legal, and cyber-enabled economic warfare to throttle Taiwan's fuel supply without firing a shot. A successful Chinese campaign to disrupt Taiwan's LNG supply would force the island into difficult choices between powering civilian infrastructure or maintaining industrial production – including the semiconductor manufacturing that produces a super-majority of the world’s advanced chips.

This summer, teams from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and the Taipei-based Centre for Innovative Democracy and Sustainability (CIDS) at National Chengchi University conducted a tabletop exercise examining how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might escalate military, diplomatic and economic pressure towards an unacknowledged quarantine, interrupting and potentially blocking Taiwan’s energy imports. The exercise revealed that while Taiwan must urgently address its energy vulnerabilities, coordinated actions by the United States, Japan, Australia, and European partners can significantly impact Beijing's strategic calculus.

For a discussion on the findings from this tabletop exercise and actionable steps Taiwan and its partners can take to build resilience and strengthen deterrence, FDD hosts a panel of exercise participants including Kenan Arkan, managing director of commodities origination at J.P. Morgan; RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI); and Craig Singleton, senior director of FDD's China Program. This conversation is moderated by Politico China Correspondent Phelim Kine. 

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/11/17/power-under-pressure-the-fight-to-protect-taiwans-energy-lifelines-from-beijings-aggression/

Following the 12-Day War and the United States’ strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Trump administration has reiterated that U.S. policy remains unequivocal: Tehran will not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon. With the regime weakened, but not defeated, Washington appears to be embracing a broad containment strategy anchored in military deterrence, maximum-pressure sanctions, and diplomatic isolation following the UN snapback sanctions to constrain Iran and prevent its network of proxies from rebuilding.

The return to containment raises an important question: What are the lessons to be learned from the last time Washington pursued this policy against an anti-American, oil-rich autocrat in the Middle East who repressed his own people, pursued weapons of mass destruction, and targeted Israel with ballistic missiles?

To examine the parallels between Iran in 2025 and Iraq after the First Persian Gulf War, FDD hosts Reuel Marc Gerecht, FDD resident scholar and former CIA Iranian targets officer; and Kenneth M. Pollack, Middle East Institute vice president for policy and former NSC director for Persian Gulf affairs. Moderated by FDD’s Iran Program Senior Director Behnam Ben Taleblu, the discussion will analyze how Washington’s mix of deterrence, sanctions, and diplomacy aims to recalibrate U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic while preventing a 2003-style Iraq War outcome with Iran.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/11/05/containment-redux-persian-gulf-war-lessons-from-iraq-for-us-strategy-toward-iran/

In the wake of the attacks of October 7 and the successes of its multi-front campaigns against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies, Israeli leaders are assessing how to turn battlefield successes into strategic gains amid rapidly shifting regional and global dynamics. Israel now faces a critical juncture in redefining its national security doctrine to address the emerging challenges and opportunities.

What insights do recent events provide for Israel’s long-term strategy? How can Israel balance its goal to remain a global center of innovation with the demands of confronting a nuclear-ambitious regime in Iran, countering an emerging Turkish-Syrian axis, and pursuing regional normalization?

Benny Gantz, chairman of Israel’s Blue and White – National Unity Party and former Oct. 7 War Cabinet Minister, will outline "Israel’s Security Vision 2040," his roadmap for national resilience, strategic cooperation, and sustained empowerment. The conversation will be moderated by FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/11/04/israel-2040-benny-gantzs-vision-for-security-and-cooperation/

America’s ability to achieve and sustain energy dominance is central to both economic growth and national security. The newly established National Energy Dominance Council is charged with ensuring reliable, affordable energy at home while leveraging U.S. resources to project strength abroad. This mission is critical not only to fueling and capitalizing on the artificial intelligence revolution, but also to strengthening America’s capacity to deter – and, if necessary, defeat – the Chinese Communist Party, while countering threats from Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, and other adversaries.

Join FDD for a conversation featuring The Honorable Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, on the Trump administration’s energy policies and his role as chair of the National Energy Dominance Council. The discussion will be moderated by Richard Goldberg, FDD senior advisor and director of FDD’s newly established Energy and National Security Program.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/10/24/powering-us-energy-dominance-with-secretary-of-the-interior-doug-burgum/

For five years, the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s (CSC) recommendations have served as a benchmark for measuring America’s cybersecurity progress and the commitment of policymakers to sustaining it. Today, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are all working to exploit persistent vulnerabilities in U.S. critical infrastructures, defense systems, and institutions and the adversary technology involved is outpacing efforts to ensure national cyber resilience. This year’s CSC 2.0 Annual Assessment reveals a troubling trend: America’s ability to defend itself and its allies from cyber threads is stalling – and in some areas, slipping. For the first time since the CSC 2.0 project began assessing the Commission’s recommendations, there has been a reversal: nearly a quarter of fully implemented recommendations have lost that status. 

Which CSC recommendations remain unfulfilled, and why? What steps are necessary to reverse these trends and protect critical infrastructure? And how can Congress and the White House defend America’s critical infrastructure, advance resilience, and preserve the U.S. competitive advantage in cyberspace? 

FDD and CSC 2.0 host a conversation with Commission Co-Chair Hon. Mike Gallagher; CSC 2.0 Advisor Hon. Jim Langevin; assessment author Jiwon Ma; and former CSC Executive Director RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, who leads CSC 2.0 and serves as senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI). Commission Co-Chair Sen. Angus King (I-ME) will provide keynote remarks.

The event coincides with the release of the fifth annual assessment report and is moderated by Politico cybersecurity reporter Maggie Miller.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/10/22/americas-cyber-resiliency-in-2025-lessons-from-the-fifth-csc-20-annual-assessment/

The latest twist of fate in Russia’s war on Ukraine, precipitated by President Trump’s comments in New York, underscores the drastically changed nature of this conflict. The Trump Administration is considering improved intelligence and weapons support for Ukraine, including long-range cruise missiles, and is calling for increased tariffs on nations that buy Russian energy. This was preceded by Russian drone violations of NATO airspace – stretching from the Baltics to the Black Sea – which led Ukraine to propose a joint air and missile defense network with European partners.

What kind of support could, or should, Washington provide? What would the integration of Ukraine into European air defense networks look like? And what type of reform is needed to prepare Ukraine for integration into Western security architectures?

To assess recent developments in Ukraine, FDD hosts Admiral Ihor Voronchenko, former inspector general of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, former commander of the Naval Forces of Ukraine, and an Army division commander in the 2014 conflict; Col (Ret.) Andy Bain, executive director of Ukraine Freedom Fund in Kyiv; Maj Gen (Ret.) Charles Corcoran, former assistant deputy chief of staff for U.S. Air Force Operations; and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. The conversation will be moderated by Tara Copp, journalist at The Washington Post, with introductory remarks by ADM (Ret.) Lisa Franchetti, former chief of Naval Operations and commander, Sixth Fleet.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/10/14/supporting-ukraines-defense-today-tomorrow-and-in-the-future/

The Axis of Aggressors — China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — are pursuing “unprecedented levels of cooperation,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine testified in June, “driven by a desire to challenge U.S. interests and stability around the world.” These adversaries are cooperating not just in the military domain but also in the “cyber, economic, and informational domains.”

What are the threats from each of these adversaries, and what are the implications of their cooperation? How should the United States and our allies respond? As the Trump administration finalizes its new National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Global Posture Review, how can Washington align ends, ways, and means to ensure Americans and our interests are protected?

To discuss these questions, FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP) hosts a conversation with CMPP Chairman and former U.S. National Security Advisor LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster, and GEN (Ret.) Laura Richardson, a member of CMPP’s board of advisors who served in the U.S. Army for 38 years and commanded U.S. Southern Command from 2021 to 2024. The panel is moderated by CMPP Senior Director Bradley Bowman.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/10/09/countering-the-axis-of-aggressors-with-ltg-ret-hr-mcmaster-and-gen-ret-laura-richardson/

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted a targeted strike against senior Hamas operatives based in Doha, Qatar. Reported targets include longtime leaders Khaled Mashal, Muhammad Ismail Darwish, Khalil al-Hayya, Mousa Abu Marzook, and Zaher Jabarin. These men are directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis and Americans and have overseen Hamas’s global operations for decades, including serving as key architects of the October 7 massacre.

The strike highlights Hamas’s dependence on external safe havens — and the challenge Israel faces in confronting a terrorist organization whose leaders operate from luxury in Muslim Brotherhood-sponsoring states like Qatar while directing violence against civilians. Key questions remain: How effective was the strike? How might this bold action shape Israel’s security and war strategy? And what are the implications for U.S.-Israel relations, given Qatar’s status as a Major Non-NATO Ally and host of the largest American military base in the region?

FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg, and Senior Fellow Jonathan Conricus will assess the implications for Israel’s counterterrorism campaign, regional security, and U.S. policy.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/09/09/fdd-sitrep-idf-strikes-senior-hamas-leadership-in-doha/?_thumbnail_id=274720

South Africa is emerging as a key enabler of authoritarian influence. From hosting joint military exercises with Russia and China to serving as a sanctions evasion hub and a vocal defender of Tehran, Pretoria is positioning itself in direct opposition to U.S. strategic interests. At the same time, South Africa is spearheading a campaign of legal warfare against Israel at the International Court of Justice – doing the bidding of Hamas while undermining the credibility of international legal institutions. All of this comes as the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money laundering watchdog, considers whether to remove South Africa from its grey list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring.

For a discussion on how Washington is reexamining its relationship with South Africa, FDD hosts Max Meizlish, senior research analyst, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Joshua Meservey, senior fellow, Hudson Institute; and Benji Shulman, executive director, Middle East Africa Research Institute. Moderated by FDD Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer, this panel will unpack the nature of South Africa’s foreign policy shift and outline what a credible and consequential U.S. response could look like.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/08/26/reexamining-the-us-south-africa-relationship/

The terrorism challenges facing U.S. are significant — and widening. A dangerous network of independent and adversary-backed groups pose a grave danger to the United States, with America’s critical infrastructure, global supply chains, economic assets, and citizens vulnerable to cyber, drone, and conventional attack. More than twenty years after the ‘War on Terror’ began, Sunni extremism also persists, joined by radical Islamists that are aligned and cultivated by the regime in Iran. Proliferating across Central and South America, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, Southeast Asia, and beyond, strong and integrated U.S. counterterrorism strategy is needed today no less than after the attacks of 9/11.

In such a landscape, what can be done to address existing and emerging threats in this space? What is the Trump administration’s strategy to keep Americans safe from terrorism? Join Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s executive director, and Dr. Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the President and senior director for counterterrorism, for a discussion on U.S. counterterrorism strategy, including forthcoming efforts to safeguard American security and policy options to combat the domestic and international threat landscape.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/07/23/surveying-the-us-counterterrorism-landscape-with-dr-sebastian-gorka/

China has developed a state-led policy of weaponizing critical supply chains against rivals, raising serious economic security and national security concerns for the United States. Nowhere is this strategy more apparent than in advanced battery and critical mineral supply chains, where China controls upwards of 80% of the supply of graphite, cobalt, manganese, battery anodes, and the essential material for battery cathodes. China’s dominance of these supply chains represents a clear and present danger to the security of U.S. military supply chains and core industries, and the efficient functioning of market economies around the globe.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have taken important steps to bolster domestic production of minerals, components, and batteries, but much more can and should be done to unlock private sector funding and innovation, support ally-shoring and allied capacity, stabilize pricing and streamline permitting. The U.S. must also develop strategies to push back against a wide range of Chinese non-market practices that it uses to establish supply chain dominance, create resource dependencies, undermine foreign rivals, concentrate economic power, and destabilize American and global economies.

There are strategies and solutions to break China’s battery chokehold that the U.S. should prioritize. In a new monograph, “Unplugging Beijing: A Playbook to Reclaim America’s Advanced Battery Supply Chain,” FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) examines the non-market practices driving China’s battery and critical mineral dominance, and explores policy responses that America and its allies can use to escape China’s economic gravity.

To discuss the report’s findings, FDD’s CEFP hosts a panel discussion with industry experts led by Elaine Dezenski, CEFP senior director and head, with keynote remarks by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX).

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/07/22/breaking-chinas-chokehold-securing-americas-advanced-battery-supply-chains/

After days and weeks of uncertainty, the United States struck Iran’s most fortified nuclear site — the crown jewel, Fordow — along with Natanz and Esfahan. The attack capped a week of Israeli operations that shattered key components of Iran’s nuclear program and eliminated top IRGC commanders and nuclear scientists. Are we witnessing the final chapter of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program unfold before our eyes?

Tune in to FDD’s Emergency SITREP with Executive Director Jonathan Schanzer, CEO Mark Dubowitz, Deputy Director for Nonproliferation and Biodefense Andrea Stricker, and Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation Senior Director RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery for real-time analysis of the fallout.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/06/21/fdd-sitrep-us-bombs-iran-nuclear-sites/

For malign actors seeking to undermine U.S. global leadership and economic prosperity, AI is the latest battleground. To learn how U.S. adversaries leverage AI to advance their military, cyber, and malign influence capabilities, join RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI); Matt Pottinger, chairman of FDD’s China Program and CEO of Garnaut Global LLC; and Leah Siskind, AI research fellow and director of impact at FDD.

This panel will discuss how the government and private sector innovation base can collaborate to combat national security threats, counter adversarial AI use, and expand the innovation capabilities of America and its allies around the world.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/06/04/battleground-ai-us-national-security-and-adversarial-use-of-ai/

To help protect the United States and its allies from the rising threat of missile and drone attacks, FDD is excited to inaugurate its new Air and Missile Defense Program, housed within the Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP).

This state-of-the-art program conducts rigorous, timely research regarding the air and missile defense capabilities necessary to protect the United States, its forward-deployed forces, and its allies and partners from adversary missiles, aircraft, and drones. The development, procurement, and fielding of cutting-edge air and missile defense capabilities — in sufficient quantities — by the United States, its NATO allies, Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and others can bolster deterrence and enhance collective defense against evolving threats.

Join FDD for a kickoff discussion of the systems, policies, and infrastructure critical to empowering the United States and its allies to meet these challenges. The panel features program co-leaders Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s CMPP and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI), as well as Lydia LaFavor, CMPP research fellow. The conversation will be moderated by Pentagon reporter at Politico, Paul McLeary.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/04/22/fdds-air-and-missile-defense-program-launch/

The current economic “moment” is seeing a generational re-ordering of global trade, alliances, and capital. The Trump Administration is unleashing an unprecedented and muscular use of economic power, with tariffs on historical allies and adversaries alike, ramped up sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, new investment incentives and reviews, and willingness to endure economic pain to remake the global order. The framework and objectives for this new use of economic power, however, continue to evolve.

What tools are available for advancing America’s strategic interests and what doctrinal guardrails should govern their use? How can the U.S. and partners limit emerging geoeconomic risks? What new models of economic integration, trade, investment, and development should we be pursuing? Which pathways are available to counteract adversarial challenges, and what strategic alignments are required among allies to sustain U.S. and global prosperity? As questions abound, the United States and its partners face choices about how to safeguard domestic interests while fostering global economic resilience and security.

To examine these questions and more, FDD hosts an on-the-record expert panel including Brian Hook, vice chairman of Cerberus Global Investments; and Elaine Dezenski, senior director and head of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP). Juan C. Zarate, chairman and co-founder of FDD’s CEFP, will moderate the discussion.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/04/21/the-trajectory-of-us-economic-statecraft/

The U.S. military has a vested interest in the security of the nation’s critical transportation infrastructure. During a conflict, America’s adversaries are likely to attack U.S. critical infrastructure in an attempt to constrain Washington’s policy options, including its capacity to mobilize the armed forces. Over the past year, the intelligence community has revealed how deeply Chinese hackers known as Volt Typhoon penetrated U.S. transportation, energy, and water systems. Meanwhile, other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) malicious cyber operations, including Flax Typhoon, hijacked cameras and routers. Salt Typhoon burrowed deep into U.S. telecommunications networks; Silk Typhoon compromised U.S. Treasury networks.

These hacks have uncovered a dangerous truth: the cybersecurity of the critical air, rail, and maritime infrastructure that underpins U.S. military mobility is insufficient. In addition to enabling disruption, compromising critical infrastructure would allow U.S. adversaries to amass information about the movement of goods and military equipment – and impede America’s ability to deploy, supply, and sustain large forces.

To explore these themes and more, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hosts Gen. (Ret.) Mike Minihan, former commander, Air Mobility Command; RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director, FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; and Annie Fixler, director and research fellow, FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. The conversation is moderated by Bradley Bowman, senior director, FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/04/17/persistent-access-persistent-threat-ensuring-military-mobility-against-malicious-cyber-actors/

Iran’s nuclear program is escalating, its economy is worsening, and Tehran’s terror-regime ties with other authoritarians are tightening. As a result, the United States has an unparalleled opportunity to operationalize alternative policy options that marry maximum support for the Iranian people with maximum pressure against the Iranian regime.

To advance these ideas, FDD and the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI) host a symposium featuring a keynote address by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) followed by an exclusive fireside chat with HIH Reza Pahlavi, crown prince of Iran, and Cliff May, FDD founder and president. An expert panel featuring Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD’s Iran Program senior director, and Cameron Khansarinia, NUFDI vice president, will unpack the current state of play with Iran and how maximum support can be paired with maximum pressure; Negar Mojtahedi, Iran International correspondent, will moderate.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/04/07/maximum-support-operationalizing-the-other-iran-policy/

Israel’s tech ecosystem plays a pivotal role in strengthening US-Israel relations, particularly collaborative innovations, economic partnerships, and geopolitical ties. These dynamics, notably in defense technology, align with U.S. national security interests and foster normalization with Gulf states by enhancing regional stability and economic resilience. Through the lens of innovation, these unique opportunities for collaboration and diplomacy have the potential to reshape regional dynamics and foster lasting peace.

For an insightful conversation on technology’s power to shape diplomacy and drive peace in the Middle East, FDD hosts Eyal Hulata, senior fellow, FDD and former Israeli National Security Advisor; Ilana Sherrington Hoffman, director of global partnerships, Startup Nation Central; and Seth Spergel, managing partner, Merlin Ventures. Nave Shachar, director of innovation diplomacy, Startup Nation Central, gives keynote remarks. The conversation is moderated by Bradley Bowman, senior director, FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/04/03/israeli-innovation-and-defense-tech-strengthening-ties-and-regional-normalization/

Cyber threats are evolving – but U.S. cyber policy coordination is still lagging behind. Four years after the establishment of the Office of the National Cyber Director, the Trump administration has a unique opportunity to establish stronger central coordination and drive meaningful improvements in how the federal government secures and defends cyberspace. How should the administration clarify and reinforce the role of the National Cyber Director? How can the administration create a more structured and accountable interagency cyber community? How can these structures set clearer national priorities and achieve the goals of deterring adversaries and advancing national resilience in cyberspace?

To discuss these issues and more, FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) hosts a virtual conversation with former National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and John Costello, senior advisor to CSC 2.0, an initiative housed at FDD to continue the work of the congressionally mandated Cyberspace Solarium Commission. The conversation is moderated by RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of CCTI and former executive director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission with introductions by Dr. Samantha Ravich, Chair of FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/03/12/coaching-thecyberteam-the-future-of-the-office-of-the-national-cyber-director-and-cyber-governance/

Nations pursue access to reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy that will sustain their national security objectives. While the China-Russia led alliance continues to rely largely on fossil fuels, Western countries increasingly seek to replace these traditional energy sources with renewable offerings, leading to less reliable and more expensive electricity. This has profound national security implications.

International organizations such as the United Nations and the International Energy Agency promote the existence of an “energy transition” to renewable energy, despite no signs that a transition is imminent. This is dangerous. Simultaneously, the United Nations promotes diversion of trillions of dollars from the West to China and the Global South to promote climate policies and renewable energy use.

Future energy policies based on reliable energy supplies must necessarily include a full consideration of the national security implications.

What are the potential dangers of operating and enacting energy policies based on future ideals as opposed to current realities? What is the position of the Trump administration on these matters? What is the role of the United Nations in promoting energy policies that will weaken the West?

To explore these questions and more, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies hosts Dr. Brenda Shaffer, senior advisor for Energy at FDD; Michael Ratner, energy specialist at Congressional Research Service; and Ken Moriyasu, Washington correspondent at Nikkei Asia. The conversation is moderated by Clifford D. May, FDD founder and president.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/03/04/powering-national-security-energy-policy-in-the-us-and-beyond/

After nearly a year and half of war following Hamas’s brutal October 7 attacks, Israeli society has proven its resilience and strength. The IDF has had a series of military successes against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and in Iran – though substantial challenges remain, in particular the return of all the hostages from Gaza.

Paired with global political realities, Israel’s military successes present Jerusalem a window of opportunity. What could this opportunity look like? How should Israel turn its military successes into strategic victories and ensure lasting peace and security? Critically, what should Israel do about the future of the Gaza Strip and how can it work together with the U.S. administration to continue down the path of the Abraham Accords and advance normalization with Saudi Arabia?

Yair Lapid, former Israeli Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and current Leader of Opposition of the Knesset, joins FDD to deliver a new proposal for the future of Gaza as part of his strategic vision for a peaceful and prosperous Israel and Middle East. FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz will moderate an exclusive fireside chat following a presentation by Leader Lapid.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/02/25/the-day-after-yair-lapids-vision-for-a-peaceful-middle-east/

Over the last two months, Turkey has thrown its weight behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the victorious Syrian rebel group who ousted Bashar al-Assad’s government from power. Westen countries have labeled HTS a terrorist organization – yet, despite HTS’s jihadi roots, Turkey has argued the group is capable of establishing a state that brings law and order and is dedicated to serving Syria’s diverse population. For Syrian Kurds and other communities opposed to HTS governance, Erdogan’s embrace of the Sunni government foreshadows a grim future where Turkey is the dominant foreign power in Syria. For Turkey’s neighbors, Western allies, and fellow NATO members, Erdogan’s actions are a warning sign that Turkey is trying to fundamentally restructure and reshape regional boundaries.

In light of its ambitions for the Middle East and Arab world, how can Turkey’s expansionist ambitions be best understood? What are the potential consequences for Turkey’s neighbors in the Mediterranean? Will Turkey’s NATO status mean less as the U.S. changes its relationship with the alliance? Can Turkey be trusted to be an honest power in Syria, or will Turkey’s dreams yield a new sphere of influence?

To explore these questions, FDD hosts a sideline session during the 6th Annual Delphi Economic Forum featuring the Cohen Chair in International Relations at Lehigh University and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Henri J. Barkey; FDD Non-Resident Fellow and expert on Turkish domestic politics Sinan Ciddi; former Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece and current member of the Greece-Cyprus-Israel-US Interparliamentary Committee Dimitris Kairidis; and FDD Executive Vice President Jon Schanzer. The panel will be moderated by Lena Argiri, Washington correspondent for Greek Public TV (ERT), with introductions by Endy Zemenides, executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council.

For more, check out: https://www.fdd.org/events/2025/02/10/turkeys-neo-ottoman-resurgence/