Send us a Text Message.This week, A'ndre welcomed back to The Burn Bag Brian Morra, a retired Air Force Intelligence Officer and the author of The Righteous Arrows, a fictionalized account of U.S. proxy efforts during the Soviet-Afghan War. A'ndre and Brian discuss heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the mid-1980s, outlining the motivations behind why the U.S. Government decided to arm the mujahideen 'resistance' against the Soviet military. Bri...

Send us a Text Message.This week, A’ndre and Andrea speak with former SOF-CENTCOM commander LTG Michael Nagata and former senior State Department official Laurel Miller on a recent USIP report on counterterrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. LTG Nagata and Laurel discuss how the counterterrorism landscape has changed since 2021, outlining the different terror groups in the region, from al Qaeda and ISIS-K to anti-Pakistan and anti-India groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP...

Send us a Text Message.This week, Andrew interviews Eric and Greg Levesque, co-founders of Strider Technologies. Strider is a tech company that utilizes open-source data and AI methodologies to provide strategic intelligence to governments, corporations, and research institutions around the world to proactively identify and mitigate nation-state-directed IP theft, talent recruitment, and supply chain threats. Eric and Greg walk us through how open-source information capabilities have expanded...

Send us a Text Message.Last week, co-hosts Andrea Ochoa and Christina Oh attended the 2024 NATO Youth Summit, which was a collaborative event hosted by NATO, The Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute Romania, the Swedish Defence University and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. The event focused on global security issues and enhancing youth understanding of the transatlantic alliance, including how the alliance can address current and future security challenges. As part of the event, Bur...

This week, A'ndre and Andrew interview Dr. Gregory Stanton, founder of Genocide Watch on the process of genocide, genocide in modern warfare, and efforts towards reconciliation. Dr. Stanton has been a key figure in the genocide prevention movement for several decades, and walks the audience through his '10 Stages of Genocide' framework. Dr. Stanton outlines why he believes total war / 'carpet bombing' is an act of genocide, citing the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo, in addition to the atomi...

This week, A'ndre chatted with former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper on the recent strikes exchanged between Israel and Iran, Israel's conduct in Gaza, and the broader regional dynamics at play. Director Clapper, who served as DNI between 2010-2017, discusses his initial reactions to the October 7th Attacks, recalling his own visit to the Gaza border in 2014 and talking about why the Israeli Government may have viewed Hamas as a 'benign' threat. Director Clapper outlines his pe...

In this episode, A'ndre and Andrea welcome Jonna Mendez, a distinguished former Chief of Disguise in the CIA's Office of Technical Service, for an intriguing discussion on espionage, disguise, and Jonna's groundbreaking career. Known for her role that is sometimes akin to "Q" from the James Bond series, Jonna sheds light on her 27-year tenure at the CIA, where she specialized in clandestine photography and innovative disguise tactics in some of the most hostile theaters of the Cold War. ...

This week, A'ndre is joined by Lindsay Gorman, the Managing Director & Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s GMF Tech, to delve into the controversies surrounding TikTok and its implications for national security. Lindsay sheds light on ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, and discusses the concerns surrounding its data storage practices. A'ndre and Lindsay explore the concept of data sovereignty and discuss whether China can access ByteDance's data at will, and why it's different...

This week, Christina interviews Sophie Rutenbar (she/her), a visiting fellow in the Brookings Strobe Talbott Center and a Visiting Scholar at New York University's Center on International Cooperation, on the current crisis in Haiti and the emergence of gangs as leading political voices. With experience as the Planning Officer for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), based in Port-au-Prince, Sophie has extensive experience on the ground in the first African Republic....

This week, A'ndre is joined by Javed Ali, a former counterterrorism official who served as Senior Director of Counterterrorism on the National Security Council, to discuss Friday's horrific ISIS terror attacks at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia. Javed and A'ndre discuss what ISIS-K is, and how the Afghan-based group is different from the 'core' ISIS that has operated in Iraq and Syria. Javed outlines how ISIS-K has grown in recent years and their abilities to plot attacks outside of...

This week, A'ndre chatted with former Secretary of Defense (and CIA Director, and Chief of Staff, and Congressman!) Leon Panetta on a litany of key national security and foreign policy topics relating to the Israel-Gaza War, Russia-Ukraine, the U.S.-China relationship, and the 2024 Presidential Election. A'ndre and Secretary Panetta spent a good chunk of the interview discussing the ongoing War in Gaza, his views on a ceasefire, Benjamin Netanyahu, criticism of the Biden Administration, and...

The Burn Bag will be covering the Israel-Gaza War over the course of several episodes, sourcing multiple perspectives on the conflict. The Burn Bag does not officially endorse any views expressed by our guests, but rather bring those perspectives to you, the audience.  Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy returns to The Burn Bag to discuss his views and reactions to the ongoing War in Gaza, a potential ceasefire, a two-state solution, and Egypt's role in the conflict. A'ndre and Mr....

NOTE: Shebhaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, was sworn in as Prime Minister on 3/4. This episode was recorded several days before, on 2/29. This week, A'ndre chatted with Uzair Younus, Principal at The Asia Group and host of Pakistonomy, about Pakistan's recent elections involving jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, recently-unexiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and the military actors who may ultimately call the political shots. Uzair provides a general history of Pakistan's...

This week, Andrew is joined by Dave Sterling, CEO of Royce Geo. Royce Geo, based in Arlington, Virginia, supports mission partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community with geospatial analytics and training platforms. Andrew and Dave discuss the usefulness of geospatial information in decision-making, the growth of the commercial industry supporting GEOINT capabilities, and what the future looks like in the geospatial analysis field.

This week, A'ndre chatted with Bonnie Glaser, one of the country's premier Taiwan experts and the Managing Director of the German Marshall Fund's Indo-Pacific program, on all things related to Taiwan. Bonnie provides a quick overview of Taiwan's contemporary history, outlining how the U.S. and China have engaged with Taiwan's Government, the U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity, and why China aims to claim Taiwan as its own. Bonnie discusses why she believes that China will NOT invade Taiwan in...

This week, Andrea and Andrew sit down with Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware to discuss their new book God, Guns, and Sedition. Hoffman and Ware are both fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations specializing in counterterrorism and share their insights regarding the evolution of domestic terrorism in the United States, motivations behind acts of terrorism, organizational tactics, and how to combat disinformation. Check out God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America here.

This week, Andrea speaks with Matthew McKnight, General Biosecurity Manager at Ginkgo Bioworks. Matthew and Andrea discuss the multitude of opportunities available for developments in biotechnology and mitigating national security threats through biological innovation. A new form of intelligence collection, BIOINT, is threaded into the conversation and posits a new way of identifying biological threats. Learn about all of this, including government and private sector biological security...

Ian Bremmer, President of the Eurasia Group, returns to The Burn Bag for a chat with A'ndre on his Top Risks 2024 report -- Eurasia Group's annual forecast of the top geopolitical risks most likely to play out over the coming year. A'ndre and Ian started the conversation with the #1 Risk, the "United States vs. Itself," as Ian outlines why the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election will test American democracy to a point unseen since the Civil War. The Middle East Tinderbox, in the wake of the...

Over the holidays, A'ndre chatted with AUKUS Defense Investor Network Co-Chairs Heather Richman (U.S.), Adrian Jones (U.K.), and Jamie Watson (Australia) about how AUKUS, the trilateral security partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, aims to fill key gaps in critical technologies. We talk about what AUKUS is, how it works, and why it is unique as a defense technology sharing agreement. The three co-chairs summarize the differences between Pillar I and Pillar...

In light of the recent U.S./U.K. air strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, A'ndre chatted with Dr. Michael Knights (The Washington Institute) about the Yemeni militant group that has been launching attacks at ships in the Red Sea since the advent of the Israel-Gaza War. Dr. Knights, a long-time expert on Middle East militia groups, breaks down who the Houthis are, discusses their supremacist ideology, their history, and what their popular support has generally looked like. A'ndre and Dr. Knights...

This week, Curtis Fox speaks to Christina about his new book, Hybrid Warfare: The Russian Approach to Strategic Competition and Conventional Military Conflict. As an expert on Russia and military strategy, Curtis is able to give us insight into the workings of the Russian military, how its longstanding corruption helps Putin maintain power, and the successes of the Kremlin's propaganda campaigns around the world. Fox also provides a somewhat pessimistic outlook on the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian...

This week, A'ndre chatted with Peter Singer, Senior Fellow at New America and Founder of Useful Fiction, about the social media coverage and the 'digital battlefield' that has surrounded the Israel-Gaza War and Ukraine, and what it means for future conflict. Peter provides his take on why the Israel-Gaza War has captured the attention of so many on social media, in addition to outlining what type of social media coverage occurred during the advent of the Russo-Ukraine War. Peter defines what...

Over the holiday season, A'ndre caught up with his old friend John Schmidt to discuss John's work on governance issues around the Great Lakes, some of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world shared between the United States and Canada. John, who's a Program Manager with Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers, provides his take on the national security implications that Great Lakes policy has, and how he coordinates among the many state governors and provincial premiers on...

We're releasing this episode a few days early, given the fast moving nature  of the dispute between Venezuela and Guyana. This week, A'ndre chatted with The Crisis Group's Mariano de Alba on the recent tensions between Venezuela and Guyana over the resource-rich Essequibo region. Mariano, a Venezuela expert, discusses whether the concerns over a potential Venezuelan invasion of Guyana are real, and provides a history of the long-running dispute between the two countries over Essequibo -- a...