In this episode, Sounds Strategic host Meia Nouwens is joined by Ben Barry, Senior Fellow for Land Warfare, and Shiloh Fetzek, Associate Fellow for Conflict, Security and Development, to discuss the implications of climate change for global security and defence. With climate security rising on the global security agenda, Meia, Ben and Shiloh discuss the impact of climate change on the strategic environment, how existing security challenges are made worse by climate-related impacts and the importance of integrating climate change considerations into national and multilateral security plans. E ..read more

In this episode, Sounds Strategic host Meia Nouwens is joined by Irene Mia, Editor of the Armed Conflict Survey and Senior Fellow for Latin America and Conflict, Security and Development, and Amanda Lapo, Research Associate for Defence and Military Analysis, to discuss geopolitical developments in Latin America. How has the shifting global geopolitical environment impacted Latin America? Meia, Irene and Amanda examine geopolitical competition in Latin America and the region’s engagement with external powers. Irene argues that the Latin American order is no longer unipolar, highlighting China ..read more

In this episode, podcast host Meia Nouwens is joined by Tom Waldwyn, Research Associate for Defence Procurement, and Haena Jo, Research Analyst for Defence and Military Analysis, to discuss the increasingly diversified landscape of defence industry and defence procurement.   With successive governments in Turkey, South Korea, Brazil and Poland having invested heavily in their defence industries in recent years, could these countries soon provide greater competition for Western and Russian defence companies? While the big defence companies are still at the top of the pecking order, Tom and ..read more

In this episode of Sounds Strategic, Meia Nouwens is joined by Fenella McGerty, Senior Fellow for Defence Economics, and Henry Boyd, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis, to discuss the global defence developments identified in the latest edition of The Military Balance.   To mark the publication of The Military Balance 2021, launching today (25 February 2021), Meia, Fenella and Henry discuss recent developments in defence policy, military capability and defence economics. Highlighting the implications of the coronavirus pandemic and the landmark 2020 election in the Uni ..read more

In this episode, Meia Nouwens is joined by Dr Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security, and Joseph Dempsey, Research Associate for Defence and Military Analysis, to examine recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, including the current state of the relationships between the two Koreas and the United States, as well as other countries in the region. In this episode, Meia, Euan and Joseph discuss the tumultuous relationships between the US and the two Koreas under former president Donald Trump, as well as how these relationships might evolve as President Joe ..read more

In the first IISS Sounds Strategic podcast of 2021, to coincide with the audiobook release of Brendan Taylor’s Adelphi Series publication Dangerous Decade: Taiwan’s Security and Crisis Management, Meia Nouwens and Brendan discuss the geopolitical importance of Taiwan and the challenges it faces in the coming year and beyond. Starting with President Tsai Ing-Wen’s re-election in January 2020 and her government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that won international praise, the discussion moves to look ahead to potential security crises facing Taiwan. Brendan identifies US-China rivalry as a ..read more

In this week’s episode, Meia Nouwens speaks with Helena Legarda, Senior Analyst at Mercator Institute for China Studies, on NATO’s evolving, and often complex, relationship with China. Meia and Helena trace the history of the relationship, from the early antagonism following the 1998 Belgrade bombing of the Chinese embassy, through several years of tentative cooperation in the early 2000s, to growing hostility in the late 2010s as China’s global ambitions and capabilities expanded. Both Helena and Meia agree that 2019 was a critical turning point in NATO–China relations and explore why NAT ..read more

In the second part of our US election podcast, Meia Nouwens speaks with Nigel Gould-Davies, Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia, and Irene Mia, Senior Fellow for Latin America, on the policy challenges the incoming Biden administration will face in both Russia and Latin America. Nigel explains that the election of Biden will strengthen American resolve to counter Russian influence in Europe and elsewhere. Nigel predicts renewed US engagement in the ongoing crises in Ukraine and Belarus as part of the new administration’s wider efforts to bolster democracy and human rights internationally. H ..read more

The upcoming US presidential election between President Donald Trump and former vice president Joseph Biden may prove to be one of the most contentious in US history. In this episode, Dana Allin, Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs, and David Gordon, Senior Adviser for Geo-Economics and Strategy, discuss each candidate’s prospects and how the Trump administration has impacted the United States’ political system and international reputation. David and Dana agree that this election will prove pivotal for the future of America and its place in the world. They also disc ..read more

The recent dispute between Greece and Turkey has again raised questions around the sustainability of the NATO Alliance. However, one of the Alliance’s loudest critics in recent years has been US President Donald Trump, despite the United States' critical role within it. But are such criticisms political rhetoric or are they part of a wider strategic recalculation by the US as its national security concerns outside of Europe multiply? Meia Nouwens discusses this question with IISS–Americas Executive Director EJ Herold and Research Fellow Henry Boyd in this episode of Sounds Strategic. As Henr ..read more