Deep Dish on Global Affairs

President Trump's "Maximum pressure" campaign could be working, or Kim Jong-un's playbook could be running the show. After an historic South-North summit, The Wall Street Journal's bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea, Jonathan Cheng, joins the Council's Karl Friedhoff to examine the drivers and developments leading up to President Trump's meeting with Kim Jong-un.

Iran's leaders may fear regime collapse enough to consider renegotiating the nuclear deal, but President Trump could walk away anyway. Expert Iran watchers Saeid Golkar and Ilan Goldenberg explore the ramifications of ending the Iran deal on this week's Deep Dish.

While China bolsters its military strength in the South China Sea, the US Navy is expanding its capability to enforce maritime norms across the region. "The US Navy will not be deterred," says Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, as he dives into the Navy's latest steps to challenge its near-peer rivals.

The United States, United Kingdom, and France launched coordinated air strikes against Syria's military on Saturday. To analyze the fallout, Council President Ivo Daalder and Greg Jaffe, national security reporter from The Washington Post, join this week's Deep Dish podcast.

National Security Council alums from both sides of the aisle sit down to look at what responsibilities and challenges President Trump's new National Security Advisor will face on the job. A National Security Adviser trying to implement the President's agenda might be tempted to run around any bureaucracy slowing down the President's impulses. With no congressional or public oversight, John Bolton may soon find himself taking national policy into his own hands. Former National Security Council members Ivo Daalder and Kori Schake join Brian Hanson to discuss the future of the NSC under John Bolton.

What can the president do in trade wars, and what restraints exist? This episode originally aired in 2017 but has become newly relevant as China and the US go tit for tat in opening trade skirmishes. Listen again to learn what powers the president has in true trade wars. Featuring Phil Levy and Gary Clyde Hufbauer.

Deep Dish often takes a strategic or policy-oriented view toward conflicts around the world. In this episode, we pause to consider the real human lives impacted by the headlines we read. Becky Carroll, who is in direct contact with people on the ground in Eastern Ghouta, co-founded the #StandWithAleppo social media campaign in 2016 and serves on the Ambassador Board for MedGlobal. Dr. Wendy Pearlman, whose new book, "We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled: Voices from Syria," reports first-hand testimonials of those affected by political violence in Syria. Dr. Pearlman is a political science professor at Northwestern University.

Social media, the internet of things, and the dark web are the latest battlegrounds in a new era of asymmetrical warfare. Premier cyberterrorism expert Gabriel Weimann joins Deep Dish to discuss how terrorists and bad actors use cyber networks to recruit members, spread propaganda, and cause physical harm.

Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, president of the American Foreign Service Association, joins Deep Dish to give voice to the members of the US Foreign Service. She talks State Department cuts, political appointees, military partners, and how members of the US Foreign Service cope with the challenge of forming and implementing US foreign policy.

President Donald Trump has accepted North Korea's invitation for direct talks with Kim Jong-un. North Korea expert Karl Friedhoff and national security expert Commander Thomas Bodine discuss what brought us here, what China, North Korea, South Korea, and the United States want out of these talks, and what to watch for next.