Wikistrat Insider – Details, episodes & analysis

For years, the Gulf States sold the world on stability, investment, and distance from the Middle East's wars. Two weeks of Iranian strikes have shattered that narrative, targeting population centers, energy infrastructure, and military installations across the Arabian Peninsula. On March 12, Wikistrat invited Gulf and Middle East geopolitics expert Dr. Neil Quilliam to examine how the GCC is absorbing the shock and what the post conflict landscape means for the region's security, economy, and diplomatic future

The U.S.-Israeli air campaign has entered its second week, and Washington is looking to declare victory. But the Islamic Republic is intact, a successor is in place, and Iran's strategic calculus is already oriented toward reconstitution. On March 10, Wikistrat invited expert Ahmad Hashemi to assess the regime's wartime resilience, the hereditary succession, the failure of the opposition, and why no amount of bombing will produce the political transformation that Washington and Jerusalem expect

Putin isn't losing the war in Ukraine, at least, not in his own mind. He believes time is on his side, that Russia can outlast Ukrainian resistance, and that the West's resolve will crack before his does. But is this confidence justified, or the product of an authoritarian system that can no longer tell him the truth? On November 5, Wikistrat hosted Mark Galeotti to examine the Kremlin's actual objectives, the forces shaping Russian decision-making, whether Moscow's strategy is working, and what might force Putin to change course

Leaders today face not one crisis at a time, but overlapping shocks that feed into each other, what scholars call a polycrisis, creating uncertainty that demands new ways of thinking. In the latest Wikistrat podcast episode, Prof. Benjamin Laker drew from cases of companies that rerouted supply chains to bypass sanctions and firms that leapfrogged competitors by hiring during recessions to present counterintuitive principles for navigating this uncertainty

Information warfare has evolved from leaflets and radio broadcasts to botnets, deepfakes, and AI-generated content. While the technologies have changed, the objective remains constant: shaping perceptions, sowing doubt, and undermining trust. On September 9, Wikistrat hosted information warfare and cyber operations expert Ari Ben Am to analyze one of the most pressing security challenges of our time

Is the four-day workweek a passing workplace perk, or the blueprint for how we will work in the future? As trials spread from startups to local governments, the question is no longer hypothetical. On September 8, Wikistrat hosted Professor Brendan Burchell, who led the UK’s groundbreaking 2022 trial, the world's largest four-day workweek experiment at the time, to share insights on what actually happens when organizations make this transition, from the psychological mechanisms that drive success to the implementation factors that determine whether companies thrive or struggle.

As agentic AI moves from research labs into real-world organizations, will it simply enhance how we work—or fundamentally rewrite what work means? On July 28, Wikistrat hosted Matthew Versaggi, White House Presidential Innovation Fellow in AI, to explore how cognitive agents, built on decades of neuroscience-inspired architecture, are reshaping leadership, strategy, and human relevance in the workplace. In a world where machines can reason, act, and collaborate, the line between tool and teammate is quickly blurring—and those who fail to adapt may be left behind.

Matthew Versaggi is a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow in Artificial Intelligence (AI), and a patent‑holding specialist in cognitive technology and quantum computing. He has led Fortune‑5 healthcare AI initiatives, founded the "College of Artificial Intelligence," and has over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur and technologist.

As Israel and Iran traded blows in a 12-day war, would Moscow and Beijing truly stand by Tehran if conflict escalated—or is the “Axis” narrative more myth than reality? On July 10, Wikistrat hosted Dr. Richard Weitz, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute, to assess how China and Russia reacted, what they learned, and what this reveals about the limits of their partnership with Iran. In a world of shifting alliances, the future of this axis may shape the balance of power far beyond the Middle East.

Following headlines of front-line shifts and rumors of a “new phase” in the Ukraine war, is the conflict truly evolving—or are these continuations of deeper, long-term trends? On July 3, Wikistrat hosted Keir Giles to assess Russia’s trajectory, Ukraine’s resilience, and Europe’s readiness in a grinding war that may shape the continent’s future. As the conflict slips from the headlines, the stakes for Europe’s security are only growing.

Keir Giles is a Senior Consulting Fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, specializing in Russian military strategy, information warfare, and cybersecurity. He is the author of Russia’s War on Everybody (2022), and co-author of the 2023 Chatham House report How to End Russia’s War on Ukraine.

Following Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, Tehran faces its most vulnerable moment since the Islamic Revolution. Its long-standing deterrence doctrine—built on proxies, missiles, and nuclear ambiguity—has been severely shaken. How will Iran’s leadership navigate this crisis while Khamenei’s frail rule nears its end? On June 30, Wikistrat hosted a podcast with Dr. Raz Zimmt to assess Iran’s post-war strategy, internal calculations, and regional trajectory.

Dr. Raz Zimmt is Director of the Iran and Shiite Axis Research Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) and a Research Fellow at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.