Sounds Strategic

France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and the European Union have published Indo-Pacific strategies, all of which foresee a greater economic, political and security relationship with the region. Military engagement of European powers in the maritime domain has received significant attention in 2021, following the deployment of the US, UK and Netherlands navies in the Carrier Strike Group 2021 voyage, the deployment of the German frigate the Bayern, and a continued French naval presence in the region.    To discuss the realities, practicalities and prospects of European naval engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, host Meia Nouwens is joined by IISS experts Nick Childs, Euan Graham and Hugo Decis.   Topics include:  Where can European navies best contribute to security in the Indo-Pacific region? How can European powers coordinate their engagement better?  And how much has AUKUS derailed the possibility of collaboration between Europeans, the Americans and Australia in the future?    Guest speakers:   Nick Childs, Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security Dr Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security Hugo Decis, Research Analyst for Defence and Military Analysis  ________________________________________________________________ We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Date of recording: 17 November 2021 Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Meia Nouwens is joined by Sir Tom Beckett, Dr. Hasan al Hasan and Camille Lons to discuss the key themes from the 17th IISS Manama Dialogue, which was held in Bahrain From the 19th to the 21st of November 2021.   The Manama Dialogue is an annual international security and regional diplomatic summit held in Bahrain that brings together high level representation from governments and stakeholders from across the Middle East and beyond.   This year’s event covered key regional security developments ranging from questions about the US security commitment to the region, the growing relationship between the Gulf and Asia, the cautious optimism around de-escalation efforts, the potential role of minilateral diplomacy in the region, and a renewed focus on the Red Sea as a geopolitical arena with its own unique dynamics.   _________________________________________________________________We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on your favourite podcast platform. Date of recording: 25 November 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.To find out more, please visit https://www.iiss.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From a cooperation deficit to the prospect of conflict over Taiwan, Strategic Survey 2021 outlines the wide array of challenges faced by the international rules-based order, and shows that great-power competition is becoming more prevalent and complex.To mark the launch of the annual flagship publication and discuss the main themes and topics, host Meia Nouwens is joined byDr Nigel Gould-Davies | Editor, Strategic Survey; Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia Nigel Inkster | Senior Adviser for Cyber Security and China Dr David Gordon | Senior Adviser for Geo-Economics and Strategy _________________________________________________________________We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Date of recording: 25 October 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.To find out more, please visit https://www.iiss.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, mobility restrictions and calls from the UN for a global ceasefire, the number of conflicts hit a record high in 2020, with more active conflicts than at any time since 1945. To mark the launch of The Armed Conflict Survey 2021, host Meia Nouwens is joined by some of the team behind the annual flagship report exploring the political, military and humanitarian impacts of active armed conflicts across the world.  Whilst the world has been battling the coronavirus pandemic, a more familiar challenge has continued unabated – armed conflict. The coronavirus pandemic has caused huge economic damage and human suffering. This has added fuel to the fire of social and political instability, with a legacy that is likely to be felt for years to come. The Armed Conflict Survey raises important questions about how conflict is changing, who the main actors are and how conflicts can be resolved. It looks at new technologies and explores the trends and risks that are likely to shape conflict in the years ahead.   To discuss these important topics, Meia Nouwens is joined by:  Dr Irene Mia - Editor of the Armed Conflict Survey and Senior Fellow for Latin America and Conflict, Security and Development Dr Benjamin Petrini, Research Fellow for Conflict, Security and Development Dr Samir Puri, Senior Fellow in Urban Security and Hybrid Warfare _________________________________________________________________We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic.Date of recording: 13 September 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of Sounds Strategic to mark the opening of the IISS–Europe office in Berlin, we meet key members of our new European research team. From great-power competition to state-led influence operations, and arms control to emerging and disruptive technologies, they explain how the IISS will bring a unique perspective to the European strategic debate.   Joining host Meia Nouwens to discuss the strategic questions that the Institute’s new European research agenda seeks to address are: Dr Ben Schreer, Executive Director, IISS–Europe; William Alberque, Director of Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Policy; Dr Simona Soare, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis; and Thornike Gordadze, Senior Fellow for Statecraft and Influence Networks.     As Ben explains, with IISS–Europe now fully open for business, the Institute is uniquely placed to facilitate a debate on key strategic questions in Germany and Europe as a whole, and between policymakers and industry alike. William, Simona and Thornike each explain the research themes that will dominate their work in the coming months, including arms control and non-proliferation initiatives, great-power competition, setting rules and norms for outer space and the cyber domain, the uses and challenges of emerging and disruptive technologies, and the changing, multidimensional influence operations of revisionist states. _________________________________________________________________ We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Date of recording: 31 August 2021 Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, host Meia Nouwens is joined by Dr Samir Puri, IISS Senior Fellow in Urban Security and Hybrid Warfare, and Antônio Sampaio, Senior Analyst at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, to discuss how technology impacts urban security and the democratic landscapes of cities.  With over half of the world’s population living in cities, new technologies, such as smart cities or surveillance tech, have increasingly been leveraged to make life in cities safer and more efficient. This includes leveraging technology to combat crime and terrorism, to respond to natural disasters or to improve the quality of life of citizens. New technologies are also starting to play an important role in political landscapes, for example by connecting people in protest movements. But these technologies can also be leveraged to other ends: to suppress protesters and restrict freedom of speech. We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.Date of recording: 13 August 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Sounds Strategic episode, Meia Nouwens is joined by Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia, Strategic Survey Editor and former ambassador to Minsk, to reflect on the protest movement in Belarus and Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.One year after an implausible election result ignited mass protests across Belarus, Nigel joins Meia to discuss authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s rule, the relationship between Putin’s Russia and Lukashenko’s Belarus, and why the 2020−21 protests became so widespread. Can Lukashenko, the autocratic president of Belarus since 1994, regain the legitimacy he has lost? And what is his standing within the country today? We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.Date of recording: 5 August 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This special episode of Sounds Strategic explores the significance of the 40th Fullerton Lecture, which US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III delivered on Tuesday 27 July 2021. Podcast host Meia Nouwens is joined by James Crabtree, Executive Director of IISS–Asia, Dr Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security, and Aaron Connelly, Research Fellow in Southeast Asian Political Change and Foreign Policy.   Secretary Austin’s visit was the first to Southeast Asia by a member of US President Joe Biden’s cabinet. In his Fullerton Lecture on ‘The imperative of partnership’, the Secretary made the case for the United States’ role as a reliable partner in helping nations in the Indo-Pacific make their own choices and ‘build back better’ after COVID-19.  Watch the recorded lecture on our website - The International Institute for Strategic Studies (iiss.org) _________________________________________________________________  We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Date of recording: 29 July 2021  Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Sounds Strategic, special guest host James Crabtree is joined by Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Defence Policy and Military Modernisation, and Nigel Inkster, Senior Adviser for Cyber Security and China, to examine China’s domestic and international outlook. As China marks the centenary of its ruling party, James, Meia and Nigel assess what this anniversary signifies for the Chinese Communist Party and how strong the party is today.James, Meia and Nigel also discuss why the centrality of the party is so important to President Xi Jinping, where the relationship between the CCP and the People’s Liberation Army stands today, what to take away from Xi’s anniversary speech and where the party goes from here._________________________________________________________________We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.Date of recording: 21 July 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Exploring the challenges ahead for defence and security establishments, Meia, Ben and Shiloh also consider how NATO, the G7, the European Union and the United Nations Security Council have addressed climate risk, as well as Biden’s climate agenda and the UK Ministry of Defence’s climate change strategy.We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.Date of recording: 9th July 2021Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.