Explore every episode of the podcast FDD's Foreign Podicy

Richard Landes is a historian specializing in medieval millennial thinking. His 2022 book, “Can ‘The Whole World’ Be Wrong? Lethal Journalism, Antisemitism, and Global Jihad," documented a pattern in which Western newsrooms adopted the framing of jihadist groups—a pattern that, one year later, coverage of October 7 would exemplify. He joins Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to discuss the Hamas war, the Western media, the UN, the awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, “Pallywood,” and “infidel awareness.”

Leon Panetta has been there and done that. From joining theArmy in the 1960s, to serving in Congress for more than a decade and a half, to directing the Office of Management and Budget, to serving as the Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta has served our country with distinction for decades. He also serves on the board of advisors for the Center on Military and Political Power at FDD.

How does Secretary Panetta believe the threats to our country have changed? Why should Americans care about developments overseas? How does he view defense spending? And how do we build and sustain bipartisan consensus around necessary national security policies?

Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, guest hosts this Foreign Podicy conversation with Secretary Panetta.

Since declaring a blockade against Saudi Arabia on July 20, the Houthis have struck vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, fired missiles and drones at Saudi cities and, over recent weeks, seized Yemen's entire Red Sea coast, along with islands in the Bab al-Mandeb, the southern exit from the Red Sea.
FDD senior fellow Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former British ambassador to Yemen, and FDD research analyst Bridget Toomey tell host Cliff May everything you've always wanted to know about the Houthis but were afraid to ask.
They discuss also how an attempt to hijack and crash a flydubai passenger jet was foiled by an Indian pilot and Israelis passengers, and the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from their last base in Iraq.

Xi is in Washington, shaking hands and smiling as the People’s Liberation Army prepares for aggression in the Pacific. Putin continues to try to play the victim while continuing his unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine. The regime in Iran is severely weakened but continues to menace commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. And North Korean leader Kim Jong Unis responding to American concessions and South Korean conciliation with more ballistic missile launches.

Some Americans are familiar with the threats China, Russia,Iran, and North Korea pose individually. But how are these adversaries helping each other, and how does American action or inaction, strength or weakness in one region or against one adversary impact the others?

To explore these questions and more on Foreign Podicy,Lt. Gen. (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Ryan Brobst join guest host Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). H.R. McMaster is a former U.S. national security advisor to President Trump and serves as chair of the Advisory Board for CMPP, where Ryan Brobst is deputy director.

Russia is turning captured Orthodox parishes into tools of occupation while holding tens of thousands of abducted Ukrainian children as leverage in any ceasefire deal.  China and Iran continue to feed the Houthi militants in Yemen drone and satellite technology to terrorize Red Sea shipping lanes.

From election interference to drone incursions along the Baltics and Poland, these authoritarian regimes continue to test the will of fragile democracies and international order. 

U.S. Representative Joe Wilson (SC-2), chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and FDD’s Research Fellow Dr. Ivana Stradner join Foreign Podicy guest host RADM Mark Montgomery to unpack the Axis of Aggressors new generation warfare campaign against NATO and the West.

Sept. 11, 2001 began as a beautiful late summer day in New York City and Washington, DC.

Then, out of what was literally a clear blue sky, two hijacked passenger jets slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, another into the Pentagon just outside Washington. A fourth plane, thanks to the courage of the passengers aboard, did not reach its target but insteadcrashed in Pennsylvania.

Lewis “Scooter” Libby was in the White House. He tells host Cliff May what took place over the days – and years – that followed.

Relevant Link:  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/sep/8/cruel-awakening-911/

On August 26, an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 13 American service members and roughly 170 Afghans at Abbey Gate, one of the entrances to Kabul airport.

Four days after that, the last U.S. service member left Afghanistan.

Then, on Sept. 7, 2021, the Taliban declared the restoration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

These anniversaries have not sparked much media interest. One notable exception: A new documentary film from Wall Street Journal Opinion: 

“The Path to Zero: The Withdrawal FromAfghanistan,” looks at President Biden's April 14, 2021 order to draw American troop levels down to zero, and traces what followed.

The film's producer and director, Michael Pack, talks with host Cliff May about what happened back then and the lessons we should have learned by now.

Documentary Links:

https://www.wsj.com/video/series/opinion-docs/wsj-opinion-the-path-to-zero/2EB4BA30-CF99-462F-BB52-222870D4F002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wwzv_B9x-k

In late Summer of 2001, the UN hosted what it called the “World Conference on Racism” in Durban, South Africa.
Instead of combating racism, the conference incited it, becoming the worst international manifestation of Jew-hatred since World War II and the Nazi Holocaust.
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro accused Israel of “genocide.” Yes, way back then.
Gerald Steinberg, the founder and president of NGO Monitor, a think tank focused, as its name suggests, on non-governmental organizations, talks to host Cliff May about how and why those poisonous seeds were planted, and what they’ve grown into more than two decades later.

Joby Warrick, a fine storyteller and longtime national security correspondent for the Washington Post, has written a biography of the most infamous terrorist of the second half of the 20th century.

“The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World’s First Super-Terrorist,” relates the life story of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez – the Venezuelan-born Communist who enjoyed tailored suits, fine wine, beautiful women, and murdering in support of anti-capitalism, anti-Zionism, and other sundry causes for which he was well-paid.

The seizure of the OPEC ministers in Vienna. Two French intelligence officers shot dead in a Paris apartment. The capture in Khartoum that finally ended his run.
Since 1994, Carlos has been behind bars. In 2003, from his cell, he wrote a manifesto, L'Islam révolutionnaire, praising Osama bin Laden’s 9/11 attack, and urging revolutionaries of every stripe — leftists, atheists, all of them — to accept Islamist leadership.

Today, Carlos sits in Poissy, a prison housed in a former monastery, where Joby interviewed him. In this episode of “Foreign Podicy,” Joby tells host Cliff May that the Jackal is no longer the wild animal he once was.

FDD’s RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery is a travelin’ man. He’s just back from Taiwan and Ukraine.

He joins host Cliff May to debrief what he saw and heard abroad—and offer his analyses. They also discuss North Korea’s role in Russia’s war, cyberattacks—almost certainly by Iran’s rulers—on water utilities in Minnesota and Michigan, the Strait of Hormuz, the Houthis and the Bab el-Mandeb, and cognitive warfare.

A week ago, President Trump seemed to have decided to hit the Islamic Republic of Iran hard – to destroy what’s left of its missile arsenals, its military-industrial base, its command-and-control headquarters and perhaps the commanders themselves.

Then the President heard that Iran’s rulers were finally ready to make a deal. Soon after, Iran’s rulers announced they were not. President Trump called that “unbelievably duplicitous.”

FDD’s Reuel Marc Gerecht and Behnam Ben Taleblu join host Cliff May to discuss where the conflict stands and what would be the best way forward.

The United States faces the most complex geostrategic threat since 1945: an Axis of Aggressors — China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — increasingly aligned across economic, cyber, technology, and military domains to diminish American power. Their most alarming tactic may be to trigger simultaneous major wars to stretch U.S. resources past the breaking point.

Bradley Bowman, Elaine Dezenski, and RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery — senior leaders at FDD's Centers on AmericanPower — join Cliff May on Foreign Podicy to discuss their new book: "Axis of Aggressors: Countering the Cooperation of China, Russia, Iran & North Korea" — the result of two years of research, examining the threat and laying out a grand strategy to strengthen America, bolster its allies, and weaken this emerging axis.

Learn more about Axis of Aggressors: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/axis-of-aggressors/

Order the book: https://www.amazon.com/Axis-Aggressors-Countering-Cooperation-Russia/dp/1968919554/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0

Two places we need to watch carefully right now: the United Kingdom, which has just installed its seventh prime minister in a decade, and Yemen, where the Houthi rebels have declared anaval blockade of Saudi Arabia and resumed strikes on tankers transiting the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Edmund Fitton-Brown, FDD senior fellow and former British ambassador to Yemen, joins Cliff May on FDD’s Foreign Podicy to discuss the new government in Blighty and what’s driving theHouthis on the Arabian Peninsula.

Forget nukes and stealth jets — the next war may just be won with algorithms, drone swarms, and who spends smarter, not bigger.

FDD Research Analyst and Foreign Podicy guest host, Mariam Wahba sits down with Aaron MacLean, host of the School of War podcast, to unpack how AI and rapid decision cycles are rewriting the rules of modern warfare — with Iran and Ukraine as live case studies. From strategic miscalculation and munitionsshortages to the death of old "theories of victory," they discuss why America's tech edge alone won't be enough to win the next war.

This week, Iran's rulers fired on commercial vessels attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz -- an egregious violation of the Memorandum of Understanding which now appears to be a dead MOU. That doesn't surprise Zineb Riboua who has always been skeptical of attempts to forge "peace deals" with the Islamist revolutionaries in Tehran. Ms. Riboua, research fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East and founder of the China in MENA Project, sitsdown with host Cliff May to discuss Iran, Morocco (where she was born), France (where she was went to school), Russia, China, Latin America and the rising ideology -- including in the U.S. -- of Third Worldism.

As NATO members head to Ankara, the Alliance is under strain — clashing over defense spending levels, the Russo-Ukrainian and US-Iran wars, and the shrinking U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump comes to the table with real leverage, but both Europe and America have real grievances, and the outcome may hinge on which one drives his approach.

On this episode of Foreign Podicy, guest host RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, senior director of FDD's Center on Cyber and Innovation Technology, is joined by John Hardie, deputy director of FDD's Russia Program; Peter Doran, FDD senior adjunct fellow; and Cameron McMillan, senior research analyst at FDDs Center on Military and Political Power. Together, they assess what's at stake in Ankara and whether Trump can secure strong wins from allies or risks mismanaging the moment.

A century of failed diplomacy, hostage crises, secret arms deals, war and even murder. Dr. Tevi Troy, an American presidential historian and senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, joins host Cliff May to unpack his WashingtonExaminer article, "The Presidents and Iran: A History." From the Persian shahs to the Islamic Republic, Troy and May trace 100 years of U.S.-Iran conflict and ask the uncomfortable question: why does each new commander in chief refuse to learn from his predecessor's mistakes?

A memorandum of understanding with Iran isn't peace – it's a fragile ceasefire with a regime whose ideology traces back to 1,400 years of jihad. While Tehran projects strength and defiance, U.S. negotiators face an impossible choice: lock in a deal that leaves the most dangerous issues unresolved or hold the line and risk escalation.

On this episode of Foreign Podicy, FDD military experts RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Bradley Bowman join host Cliff May to break down why the 60-day negotiation window with Iran isn't just a diplomatic deadline; it's a crux in the global conflict between free nations and their sworn enemies.

In this episode of Foreign Podicy, host Cliff May sits down with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik — once the youngest woman ever elected to the House and its highest-ranking female member — to discuss her new book, Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities. Stefanik gained national attention after her landmark December 2023 congressional hearing, where she pressed the presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT on whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated their campus policies —and none would give a clear answer.
Joining the conversation is Brandy Shufutinsky, director of FDD's Program on Education and National Security, who brings her expertise in international and multicultural education to examine the deeper implications of ideological bias and double standards at America's most prestigious institutions. Tune in for a frank discussion on antisemitism, academic freedom, and the urgent need to reform elite higher education.

Taiwan makes 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors — and China wants to take it without breaking it - using economic coercion if they can. If Beijing succeeds, the global tech economy becomes weaponized.

FDD CCTI Senior Director and Senior Fellow RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Stanford Hoover Institution Fellow Eyck Freymann break down the military, economic, and diplomatic strategies the U.S. and its allies must deploy right now to deter China — and what happens if they fail.

A new UN Watch investigation exposes ideological bias, foreign funding, and ethical misconduct among UN Special Rapporteurs — raising urgent questions about UN accountability and the urgent need for reform. The shocking new report, "From Watchdogs to Ideologues," reveals a long list of Special Rapporteurs who routinely exhibit extreme ideological bias, take payoffs from authoritarian states, and engage in conduct that in any other professional setting would end careers. Host Cliff May discusses the report with Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch.

America’s spy chief visits Havana, the U.S. Justice Department announces the indictment for murder of former Cuban dictator, Raul Castro, Cuba’s current rulers are reported to have received more than 300 military attack drones from Moscow and Tehran while ordinary Cubans suffer power outages, medicine shortages, and soaring food prices.

Guests Carrie Filipetti of the Vandenberg Coalition and Connor Pfeiffer of FDD Action join host Cliff May to discuss how these developments add up and whether the liberation of the Cuban people from the zombie Castroite regime is finally possible.

New York Times bestselling author Peter Schweizer joins host Cliff May to discuss his new book, "The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon." The two take a deep dive into the recent U.S.-China summit, comparisons between the Islamic Republic and the former Soviet Union, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Peter’s explosive discovery of a "Manchurian Candidate"-style weaponization of the U.S. immigration system.

The world is entering a more dangerous era.

China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are increasingly coordinating across every domain of power. Wars are expanding. Nuclear threats are rising. America’s alliances are under pressure. And President Trump is heading to Beijing.

Former U.S. ambassador to Finland and Turkey Eric S. Edelman joins guest host Bradley Bowman to break down the new age of great-power competition — from China and NATO to Iran, deterrence, and the growing risk of global conflict.

The Strait of Hormuz isn't just about Iran. It's a stress test for American will, allied confidence, and the deterrence architecture holding the Indo-Pacific together.
FDD's RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, fresh from a trip to Taiwan, and Craig Singleton, FDD China Program Senior Director, join Cliff May to connect the dots — from the naval blockade's economic pressure to the lessons Beijing and Taipei are both drawing, in real time, from the Iran war.

Negotiations between President Trump’s envoys and those of the Islamic Republic of Iran were postponed. Operation Epic Fury halts in an uneasy ceasefire as Operation Economic Fury begins cutting off Tehran’s revenue streams.

The Strait of Hormuz is not yet a safe space. FDD Research Fellow Max Meizlish, a former Treasury official, and Adjunct Fellow Joseph Zacks, a former CIA official, join host Cliff May to take stock.

Three shocks. Three fronts. One world shifting fast.

In Hungary, Péter Magyar topples Viktor Orbán’s grip. In Washington, Lebanese–Israeli talks edge beyond ceasefire toward something more consequential—rattling players from Hezbollah to Emmanuel Macron. And after failed diplomacy in Islamabad, U.S. Vice President JD Vance now faces a new phase: an American naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, squeezing Tehran’s lifeline.

Host Cliff May sits down with FDD experts Edmund Fitton-Brown and Simone Rodan-Benzaquen to make sense of a moment that may redraw the map.

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, Turkey offered a sliver of optimism in a region defined by turmoil — a Muslim-majority democracy, a NATO ally, and even a friend of Israel. But after more than two decades under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that Turkey is long gone. So, what happened? And what does it mean for America, NATO, Israel — and the future of the Middle East? FDD Turkey experts Sinan Ciddi and Jonathan Schanzer join host Cliff May to assess Turkey’s transformation, including the strategic consequences only now coming into focus.

As Washington prepares for a high-stakes Trump–Xi meeting, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party examines Beijing’s anti-American ambitions and strategies. Chairman John Moolenaar joins host Cliff May to discuss what can be done to counter them.

Fresh off the frontlines, FDD's Mark Montgomery recently returned from Ukraine and other hotspots abroad. He joins host Cliff May for an in-studio debrief on what he saw and what comes next. Also joining the conversation: FDD Action's Daniel Vaynshteyn, former Legislative Director in the U.S. House of Representatives and liaison to the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

For more than two decades at FDD, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May and Mark Dubowitz have tracked the evolution of America’s enemies—from al Qaeda to the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism in Tehran. Long before many grasped the threat, Mark focused on the Islamic Republic’s ideological war, its open commitment to jihad against the “Great Satan” and “Little Satan,” and a decades-long campaign too often misunderstood.

On the one-year anniversary of Mark's FDD podcast, The Iran Breakdown, Cliff sits down with him to unpack what too many still miss: what the regime believes, how it wages war, and why it matters now more than ever.

There has always been a Jewish case for Israel, a Christian case for Israel, and an American case for Israel. But what about the Arab case for Israel? FDD’s Hussain Abdul-Hussain lays out the arguments in his new book, appropriately titled: "The Arab Case for Israel." He sits down with host Cliff May to discuss the idea, the history behind it, and why a growing number of Arab and Muslim thinkers know he’s right.

For nearly half a century, Iran’s rulers have promised “Death to America.” It wasn’t just a chant — it was a policy. From the 1979 hostage crisis to terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of Americans, the Islamic Republic has spent decades waging a shadow war against the United States.

Now Washington is confronting Iran’s jihadist regime more directly — raising a larger question: what role might Xi Jinping’s China play in the conflict?

Cliff May sits down with former Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency David Shedd to examine the long war against Tehran’s jihadist rulers — and why Beijing may have more at stake than many realize.

Earlier this week, President Trump said of Iran’s rulers: “I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror — which they are, by far — to have a nuclear weapon." He also noted that the regime massacred “at least 32,000” unarmed civilian protestors in January and has previously “killed and maimed thousands of American service members.”

On Friday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told his embassy staff they might want to take a little trip abroad.

And the US State Department is advising American citizens that it’s best not to visit Israel right now.

Host Cliff May asks FDD's Reuel Marc Gerecht and Behnam Ben Taleblu: What happens next?

📺 | Watch this episode on YouTube here.

On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks and troops invaded Ukraine. Russian ruler Vladimir Putin expected a swift victory. Many Western observers did, too. After all, he had sliced two territories from Georgia in 2008 and seized Crimea and parts of Donbas in 2014 at little cost. 

Five years on, Ukraine’s fight — still led by President Volodymyr Zelensky — continues. To assess the state of the war, the role of the United States and Europe, and what support is most urgently required, host Cliff May is joined by his FDD colleagues RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery — currently on the ground in Ukraine — and John Hardie.

📺 | Watch this episode on YouTube here.

America confronts a daunting geo-strategic landscape: The Axis of Aggressors — China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — are cooperating across multiple domains in unprecedented ways.

Putin continues his brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. In return for North Korean troops and artillery shells for this war, Russian security assistance is flowing in increasing quantities to Pyongyang. The Chinese Communist Party is sprinting to field a military that it hopes can defeat the United States in the Pacific. And the Islamic Republic of Iran remains committed to terrorism and interested in nuclear weapons while murdering thousands of Iranians.

And now, the Trump administration has released a new U.S. National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy that signal significant shifts in Washington’s approach.

To assess the stakes — and whether America has the will to prevail — LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster joins guest host Bradley Bowman. General McMaster is the former U.S. National Security Advisor and now serves as Chairman of the Center on Military and Political Power at FDD, which Brad leads.

“God is great. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse on the Jews. Victory to Islam.”

The Houthi slogan isn’t just a chant — it’s a worldview. To understand who they are and what they want, Cliff is joined by former British ambassador to Yemen and FDD senior fellow Edmund Fitton-Brown, who gained firsthand experience dealing with senior Houthi leaders while serving as ambassador.

Washington just unveiled its new National Defense Strategy. But is it a serious blueprint for deterrence—or a dangerous exercise in wishful thinking? Host Cliff May is joined by Bradley Bowman and Mark Montgomery to examine whether America is underfunding its military on the brink of great-power conflict, why China’s cyber war is being soft-pedaled, and what the strategy gets right—and wrong—on Taiwan, Ukraine, Israel, and deterrence itself. 

📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here.

In addition to slaughtering Iranian citizens by the thousands, Iran’s Islamist rulers are waging a cognitive war. To conceal their brutal crackdown, the regime has shut down the internet inside Iran. Beyond Iran’s borders, one corner of the digital world remains fully operational — shaping much of the world’s perceptions of what’s happening inside the Islamic Republic. That corner is Wikipedia, now an integral node in a nefarious network that propagates Islamist disinformation while whitewashing Tehran’s human rights atrocities. Investigative journalist Ashley Rindsberg joins Cliff to unpack Wikipedia’s role in modern information warfare.

📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here. 

Iran is once again convulsed by nationwide protests — but this time, the regime has pulled the plug. With the internet shut down and security forces unleashed, the Islamic Republic is violently crushing dissent in virtual darkness, silencing both protesters and the outside world. 

As the Iranian people continue risking everything for freedom, will America finally put its money where its mouth is? When? How? 

Reuel Marc Gerecht and Behnam Ben Taleblu join host Cliff May to discuss.

📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here. 

The arrest of Nicolás Maduro was a complex operation that exposed the weakness of a narco-dictatorship and sent a clear signal to America’s adversaries. In short: it was a tactical success. But taking out a dictator is not the same as dismantling a regime — and Venezuela’s regime remains largely intact. 

Host Cliff May is joined by Carrie Filipetti to assess what the operation changed, what it didn’t, and what comes next — from who still holds power in Caracas and the fate of political prisoners, to what Venezuela’s uncertain future means for U.S. strategy in the Western Hemisphere and beyond.

For more than three decades, Somaliland has functioned as a free, independent, Muslim, pro-peace, anti-Islamist republic on the Horn of Africa. Now, Israel has formally recognized it as a sovereign state. Somaliland’s bad neighbor, Somalia, and other Islamist regimes are furious. Britain also insists the people of Somaliland have no right to decide their future.

Meanwhile, Somaliland is looking toward America — and is eager to join the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords.

Host Cliff May is joined by Bashir Goth, Somaliland’s representative to the United States, and Middle East analyst Michael Rubin to discuss why Israel’s recognition of reality matters, why Islamists hate and fear a free and democratic Somaliland, and why too many in the West pretend this nation doesn’t exist.

This Christmas week, we're left to confront a hard truth: Christians are under attack in many corners of the world.

On October 10, the Chinese Communist Party arrested Pastor Ezra Jin, founder of Beijing’s Zion Church — along with 28 other leaders — in the largest crackdown on a Christian church in China in decades.

Pastor Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin Drexel, joins host Cliff May to scrutinize Beijing’s campaign against Christians and Christianity.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

China isn’t just competing economically — it’s coercing strategically. Drawing on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s latest report, guest host Craig Singleton is joined by Commission Vice Chair Randy Shriver and Commissioner Mike Kuiken to unpack how Beijing weaponizes its economic power — and why Chinese economic statecraft now sits at the center of U.S. national security.

Politicians love to tell Americans what we think about U.S. leadership, our military, our allies, and our enemies — but the data tells a different story. A new Reagan National Defense Survey cuts through the noise to reveal what Americans actually believe during a moment of strategic flux. To unpack the findings and what they mean for U.S. power, deterrence, and America’s role in the world — guest host Bradley Bowman is joined by Roger Zakheim, Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute and co-founder of the Reagan National Defense Forum. 

Guest host Behnam Ben Taleblu is joined by former U.S. intelligence official Norman Roule to examine Iran’s postwar moment: from puncturing the comforting illusion created by viral clips of loosened social activity (or, as Norm puts it, why “a few videos of dancing and hijab-free afternoons don’t outweigh 21,000 arrests and expedited executions”) to exposing the harsh reality of a regime so unpopular that its fragility may leave it with “no alternative but to crack down” and the rising pressure both guests describe as the Islamic Republic’s “greatest” — and “most dangerous” — long-term threat.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Africa rarely makes the headlines — but it should. Here are just a few: Islamist movements are expanding from Nigeria to Mozambique, Mali to Somalia. The French have been pushed out, Russian forces are moving in, while China is building influence and quietly extracting wealth from African earth and people. Ambassador Alberto Fernandez joins Cliff to explain how jihadist militias, local warlords, regional powers, and great-power competition are reshaping the continent — and why America ignores this at its own risk.

President Trump gave Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, A.K.A. MbS, a royal welcome to Washington. But beyond the flashy diplomacy, quite a lot of business was transacted. Host Cliff May is joined by Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss the visit, the future of U.S.–Saudi relations, the threat from Tehran and the Houthis, Turkey’s neo-Ottoman ambitions, and how a changing kingdom is changing the Middle East.

📺: Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Filmmaker Michael Pack joins host Cliff May to tell the extraordinary story of The Last 600 Meters, his gripping documentary on the battles of Fallujah and Najaf. Though the film was finished in 2007, it sat on a shelf for 17 years before PBS finally aired it this Veterans Day. From young Americans fighting al-Qaeda and Iran-backed militias in brutal urban combat to political leaders pulling the plug mid-mission and media outlets like Al Jazeera shaping the narrative, Cliff and Michael connect these lessons highlighted in the film to the wars of today — a long-buried film that tells a long-overdue story. 

📺: Watch The Last 600 Meters here.

Guest host and Senior Director of FDD’s Iran Program Behnam Ben Taleblu sits down with historian Ali Ansari to explore why the Islamic Republic is rewriting Iran’s past to justify its present, how Iranians are reclaiming their identity from the regime, and what the nation’s search for identity reveals about the Islamic Republic’s fading future.