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CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies

A weekly analysis of the complex policy issues driving the news.

The Truth of the Matter

CSIS’s Jon Alterman joins the podcast to discuss the dramatic developments in Syria, the external actors involved, and potential U.S. approaches.

Syria: Moment of Maximum Hope

CSIS’s Natasha Hall joins the podcast to discuss the rot inside the Assad regime, the country’s new power center and the internal tensions that remain.

Syria’s House of Cards

CSIS’s Norman Roule, who served for thirty-four years in the Central Intelligence Agency, managing significant programs relating to the Middle East, joins the podcast to discuss the actors that enabled the Assad regime to survive for so long, how bureaucratic rot in Russia and Iran enabled Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to move south so quickly, and actions the U.S. can take to support peace in the region.

Piecing Together What Happened in Syria

Eva Dou, technology policy reporter at The Washington Post, joins the podcast to discuss her new book, House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company, as well as U.S. suspicion of the company and why it worries policymakers.

House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company

This podcast episode of The Truth of the Matter features Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The discussion covers bipartisan efforts to address U.S.-China competition in technology, economics, and national security, including TikTok's legal challenges, the risks of Chinese-made technology, and strategies to deter aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi on bipartisan efforts to counter China

Vincent Rigby, former national security and intelligence adviser to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and non-resident senior adviser in the CSIS Americas Program, joins the podcast to discuss Trudeau’s announcement of his resignation, why it happened, and what comes next for Canada.

Trudeau’s Dramatic Resignation

In this crossover episode with the AI Policy Podcast, we break down the release of the Biden administration's Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion. We discuss the rationale for this latest control (0:52), and its reception among major AI and semiconductor firms (8:14), U.S. allies (17:15), and the incoming administration (19:48).

AI Diffusion Framework - Emergency Podcast

In this special crossover episode with the AI Policy Podcast, Andrew, Greg, and CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program Director Joseph Majkut discuss the Biden administration's Executive Order on Advancing United States Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure. They consider the motivation for this measure and its primary goals (1:07), its reception among AI and hyperscaler companies (12:18), and how the Trump administration might approach AI and energy (17:50).

Executive Order on AI and Energy Infrastructure - Emergency Podcast 2.0

Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins the podcast to discuss the results of CFR’s 2025 Preventive Priorities Survey, which predicts more serious and more likely conflict contingencies than any other survey in its 17-year history.

A Rising Barometer for 2025

Catherine Nzuki, associate fellow in the CSIS Africa Program, joins the podcast to discuss the impact of new policies—like U.S. withdrawals from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement—on Africa, how African nations can use great power competition between the United States and China to their advantage, and her new CSIS podcast, The Afropolitan.
Please listen to the African tunes Catherine shared with the Truth of the Matter 
Afropunk Playlist 
Afropop Playlist

Africa Policy in the Second Trump Administration

Aram Nerguizian, CSIS senior associate and an expert on the Levant, joins the podcast to discuss the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah’s current political and military capabilities, and the impact of the conflict on the Lebanese people.

A “Negative Spiraling Cycle” in Lebanon

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