International Security & Defense

Jay Mens asks: Why won't the U.S. admit that Iran's proxies, which include Hamas, are acting in concert?

The Cold War started earlier than we think — and maybe never ended at all. Historian Calder Walton says understanding the US-Soviet conflict prepares us for this era of tensions with Russia and China.

Calder Walton recounts how Russia and China are using their intelligence agencies to reverse the outcome of the Cold War

Calder Walton explains why, as the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq passes, it is useful to understand how China's intelligence and national security establishment reacted at the time.

Nathaniel L. Moir writes of historical cases in which a U.S. tendency to over-rely on military capabilities and American economic strength proved unwise and how such power eventually proved to be irrelevant. In addition to the Vietnam War as an example, the rapid collapse of the Republic of China and its large military forces in late 1948 and 1949 offers some parallels with the collapse of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Government, despite the United States investment of trillions of U.S. dollars.

Guest Mario Peucker joins Right Rising to walk us through the history of the radical right in Australia. Along with host Augusta Dell'Omo, Mario explores some of the critical issues for the radical right leading to the Christchurch terror attacks in 2019 and how Australian far-right activism has changed during the COVID-19 crisis.

David Kilcullen, a professor at the University of New South Wales, contributes to the debate of  whether contemporary great-power resurgence constitutes a second bi-polar competition by assessing resurging state and non-state competitors and the challenges they pose to the United States–led world order. While the emerging security environment might not be a new Cold War, Kilcullen contends it may be more dangerous than in the past.

Guest Natalie James joins Right Rising to breakdown the Prevent Duty, a controversial counter-terrorism program created by the United Kingdom. Along with host Augusta Dell'Omo, Natalie takes us on a deep dive into the Prevent Duty's evolution and how it demands individual responsibility for combatting radicalization. In today's discussion, Natalie and Augusta consider some of the Prevent Duty's controversial aspects, particularly the criticism that it disproportionately targets Muslim communities and how it identifies who is "vulnerable" to radicalization.

Jayita Sarkar explains why the Biden administration needs to re-conceptualize nuclear terrorism and act quickly.