Podcast
NatSec Matters
Hosted by Beacon Global Strategies LLC · EN
Formerly known as Intelligence Matters, the NatSec Matters podcast features former senior national security officials Michael Allen, Jeremy Bash, and Andrew Shapiro as they interview top leaders in national security, including intelligence officers, military leaders, and policymakers, on the most critical security challenges of our time. Their interviews offer insights into the world's most pressing problems and assess the effectiveness of U.S. policy responses. They also explore the biographies and careers of individuals who have devoted their lives to protecting our nation, offering listeners a rare glimpse into the inner workings of national security decision-making. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please email our team at bgs@bgsdc.com.
49episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Moscow's Economic Fragility and Kyiv's Strategic Edge: Glenn Corn
6d ago00:39:07Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by Glenn Corn, former CIA Chief of Station and foreign policy expert with over 34 years of experience across the U.S. intelligence, defense, and diplomatic communities. Returning from his latest trip to Ukraine, Glenn offers a candid, on-the-ground operational update on how Kyiv's military is reshaping the battlefield through mid-range FPV drone strikes, integrated AI battle management systems, and deep-strike campaigns targeting Russian oil refineries and supply lines. He also analyzes internal socio-political frictions within Russia as Moscow struggles to manage mounting casualties and economic strain.
Transcribe →Churchill's Choices in Ukraine and What's Next in the Strait of Hormuz: Adm. Mark Montgomery
2w ago00:40:39Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery, Senior Director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), who just concluded his seventh trip to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion. Mark delivers an operational update on his work training Ukrainian brigade commanders and assesses the strategic political reshuffle in Kyiv. He compares President Volodymyr Zelensky to a wartime Winston Churchill—brilliant yet fallible—and evaluates the new military leadership under Gen. Mykhailo Drapatyi. Finally, Mark draws on his naval expertise to argue why the U.S. Navy must commit to physical escort operations through the Strait of Hormuz to permanently break Iran's economic grip.
Transcribe →'The Nord Stream Conspiracy' - Sabotage, Spies, and the Baltic Sea Explosion: Bojan Pancevski
3w ago00:47:13Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by Bojan Pancevski, Chief European Political Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, to discuss his new book, The Nord Stream Conspiracy: The Inside Story of the Explosions That Shook the World. Drawing on direct conversations with German law enforcement and the Ukrainian saboteurs, Pancevski reveals how a six-person team used a rented yacht and a $250,000 budget to destroy Europe's primary Russian energy pipeline . Pancevski discusses the fallout of the operation , as well as the broader evolution of Ukrainian hybrid warfare, long-range drone strikes on Russian infrastructure, and the trajectory of the war .
Transcribe →Testing the Transatlantic Security Pact: Dr. Alina Polyakova & Peter Rough
4w ago00:58:30Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by Dr. Alina Polyakova, President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis, and Peter Rough, Director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute, to discuss how the recent NATO Summit in Ankara landed. The two explore the hidden friction points undercutting transatlantic unity, from software interoperability gaps to trade and digital policy disputes. They also focus on how Ukraine's decentralized, software-driven "operating system" has transformed Russia's immense geographic mass into highly exposed vulnerabilities, and how the sudden passing of Russia hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham is set to reshape Capitol Hill's approach to the war.
Transcribe →The New Era of Global Espionage: Anthony Vinci
Jul 800:43:48Tap to summarizeMichael speaks with Anthony Vinci, former career intelligence officer and the first Chief Technology Officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. They discuss Anthony's new book, "The Fourth Intelligence Revolution: The Future of Espionage and the Battle to Save America", which explores how artificial intelligence and intensive competition with China have transformed modern spycraft. Anthony explains his forecast where "machines are going to spy on machines," rendering legacy counterterrorism and Cold War operations obsolete. He warns that adversarial surveillance strategy now directly targets the digital lives of everyday Americans, demanding an urgent re-assessment of how Washington approaches economic espionage to protect national sovereignty.
Transcribe →The Geopolitical Stakes of Frontier AI: Dr. Dr. Divyansh Kaushik
Jul 100:56:22Tap to summarizeSpecial guest host Klon Kitchen, Managing Director for the Global Technology Policy Practice at Beacon Global Strategies, is joined by Dr. Divyansh Kaushik, machine learning expert and BGS Vice President, to analyze the trajectory of frontier artificial intelligence. They explore the rapid shift to reasoning models like Anthropic's Mythos, which autonomously solve complex software problems and uncover deep cybersecurity risks. They also discuss "recursive self-improvement"—the threshold where AI begins autonomously coding and training its own next-generation pipelines—as well as the strategic risks posed by Chinese open-source models and the national security challenge of the world's most advanced scientific labs being privately owned.
Transcribe →Deciphering the Iran Ceasefire: Amb. Jeffrey Feltman
Jun 2400:43:37Tap to summarizeAndrew Shapiro is joined by Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, whose distinguished diplomatic career includes serving as U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. Amb. Feltman, now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, discusses the fragile state of the U.S.–Iran ceasefire and progress toward talks for a long-term diplomatic agreement. He assesses Iran's core objectives, the strategic sidelining of Israel, and how Tehran's survival alters the calculus for Russia and China in global geopolitics. Amb. Feltman also maps out a "new normal" for the region defined by cliffhanging diplomatic extensions and localized proxy skirmishes rather than a definitive peace.
Transcribe →Backyard Hegemony - Reasserting U.S. Influence in the Western Hemisphere: David Shedd
Jun 1700:50:58Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by David Shedd, former Acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and a veteran intelligence officer, for a comprehensive look at the shifting geopolitical dynamics across Latin America. David discusses the structural collapse of Cuba and the outlook for U.S. intervention, the delicate execution of the administration's plan for Venezuela, and the profound strategic challenges posed by Chinese investments in the U.S. backyard. He also explores the sharp friction points surfacing within the U.S.–Mexico relationship and the reality of behind-the-scenes intelligence sharing.
Transcribe →'Leapfrogging' Diplomacy: Dr. Nadia Schadlow
Jun 1000:53:12Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by Dr. Nadia Schadlow, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy, to discuss the architecture of U.S. global power amid fast-moving crises in the Mideast, China, and Ukraine. Dr. Schadlow provides a compelling assessment of how the administration is utilizing a disruptive, iconoclastic approach to confront years of slow, multilateral processing and force rapid diplomatic end states.
Transcribe →The Price of Peace in Iran: Richard Nephew
May 3100:41:43Tap to summarizeMichael is joined by Richard Nephew, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University and former Director for Iran at the National Security Council, to examine the fragile state of the U.S.–Iran ceasefire and the looming terms of a potential memorandum of understanding (MOU). Richard shares his concerns about the current trajectory of negotiations, warning that Washington is at risk of overpaying with massive sanctions relief without securing a durable, verifiable nuclear agreement. Richard also helps unravel the strategic and economic fallout of the crisis, examining the potential long-term impact of costly oil and how the conflict has shifted Iran's strategic calculus toward a more aggressive, risk-tolerant posture.
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