From serving as a counterterrorism analyst for the Pentagon in Afghanistan to working on security issues at Facebook, Kara Frederick has spent her entire career confronting America's most dangerous national security challenges. Now a Fellow with the CNAS Technology and National Security Program, Frederick joins Ilan Goldenberg to discuss how terrorists and bad actors have used digital technology​, how governments and private companies have responded, and what digital security challenges lie ahead.

How have China's global ambitions sharpened under President Xi Jinping, and how should the United States respond? Dr. Kurt M. Campbell served in the Obama administration as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he helped lead the administration's "Pivot to Asia." Now Chairman and CEO of The Asia Group, Campbell joins Ilan Goldenberg to discuss his front row seat to President Xi's rise to power, the future of U.S.-China relations, and more.

As a woman serving on the front lines in Iraq, Kayla Williams faced not only the perils of combat, but the ordeals of sexism and harassment. Some of her greatest challenges, however, lay at home—learning to care for a spouse with a traumatic brain injury, overcoming PTSD, and fighting for VA reform. Kayla, now Director of the CNAS Military, Veterans, and Society Program, joins Ilan Goldenberg to discuss her time serving as an Arabic linguist in the U.S. Army and the human costs of armed conflict.

When American diplomats travel abroad and meet with foreign leaders, who works behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly? What negotiations go into preparing for a state dinner with Kim Jong-il, and how is the pageantry of a diplomatic visit used to further U.S. policy objectives? Price Floyd, a veteran State Department public affairs official and former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, speaks with Ilan Goldenberg about his most remarkable—and bizarre—experiences abroad on diplomatic advance teams.

What do the Pentagon's decisions about military spending say about our priorities as a nation? What goes into the DoD's $700 billion budget each year? Former Pentagon official Susanna V. Blume, now Director of the CNAS Defense Program, joins Ilan Goldenberg to discuss what the composition and size of the defense budget reveals about America’s national security priorities.

Richard Fontaine spent years advising leading figures in American foreign policy, but working for the late Sen. John McCain was unlike anything he had experienced before. Now Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security, Fontaine sits down with Ilan Goldenberg to discuss Senator McCain's legacy, detail stories from his time working on Capitol Hill and the 2008 McCain presidential campaign, and recount lessons learned from a storied American statesman.

Now more than ever, Americans are interested in the people working behind the scenes on consequential national security decisions. In Season Two of Stories from the Backchannel, host Ilan Goldenberg sits down with experts from across the U.S. foreign policy landscape to discuss their experiences and roles on the front row of history. From working on major presidential campaigns to crafting the world's largest budget, this season's guests will shed light on the places where key national security decisions happen.

Emma Moore joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss changing the requirements for national service.

Maggie Feldman-Piltch joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss the gaps she sees in launching and advancing careers in national security. Maggie is the Managing Director of Unicorn Strategies and Founder of #NatSecGirlSquad.

Sina Beaghley joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss security clearance reform. Sina is a senior international/defense policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She focuses her research on national security policy issues including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber strategy, security clearance reform, and surveillance policy and privacy. Beaghley came to RAND after more than a decade of service in the federal government developing and implementing national security policies.

Dr. Laura Junor joins the CNAS Women in National Security podcast mini-series on human capital to discuss how the government must change its personnel systems to bring in the right talent at the right time. She is Director, Research and Strategic Support at the National Defense University, Institute for National Strategic Studies. Prior to her arrival at NDU, Dr. Junor was confirmed as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. Dr. Junor previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, the Chief of Staff for Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, and as a deputy team leader for readiness at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA).

On May 15, President Trump issued an executive order designed to protect the United States from security vulnerabilities in the global communications technology supply chain. What took so long? Does the order go too far—or not far enough—in addressing threats to America's 5G security? Paul Scharre and Elsa B. Kania join Megan Lamberth to discuss what the order means, how it might affect U.S. partners in Europe and companies like Huawei, and more.

Nicholas A. Heras asks three notable experts on U.S. national security decision making—Frances Z. Brown, Melissa Dalton, and Loren DeJonge Schulman—whether the United States should remain committed to maintaining a presence in Syria, and if President Trump is right that all that remains for the U.S. in Syria is "sand and death."

Nicholas A. Heras asks three notable experts on Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah in the Syrian conflict—Anna Borshchevskaya, Hanin Ghaddar, and Brian Katz—how the United States can engage with Russia to manage the situation with Israel and the Assad regime to prevent Iran and its Hezbollah network from launching a war against Israel from Syria that could have region-shattering consequences for the Middle East.

Nicholas A. Heras asks three notable experts on Salafist-jihadist organizations and the Syrian conflict — Jennifer Cafarella, Hassan Hassan, and Sasha Ghosh Siminoff — about how Syria became the largest recruiting ground for Salafist-jihadist groups in modern history and how the United States should approach its counter-terrorism policy in Syria to meet this challenge.

The Assad regime has been in power in Syria since 1970. For many analysts, the Syrian state could not exist without the regime, and the regime could not exist without the leadership of the Assad family. However, there still is a debate whether an alternative power to the Assad family could run the Syrian state, in a hypothetical transition period from Bashar al-Assad's rule. Alexander Bick, Research Scholar at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Faysal Itani, a nonresident senior fellow with the Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, and Kaleigh Thomas, the Research Associate for the Middle East Security Program at CNAS, join Nicholas Heras to discuss.

A new set of technological tools—some of them now maturing, others poised to emerge over the coming decade—seem destined to wind up in the hands of autocrats around the world. They will allow strongmen and police states to bolster their internal grip, undermine basic rights and spread illiberal practices beyond their own borders. Paul Scharre hosts a discussion with Richard Fontaine and Kara Frederick on their recent article in The Wall Street Journal on these illiberal practices: “The Autocrat's New Tool Kit."

The U.S. Army recently announced its new Advanced Targeting & Lethality Automated System, or ATLAS program. The announcement generated concern and media headlines about the level of autonomy in ATLAS. Paul Scharre, Kara Frederick, and Megan Lamberth discuss the Army's rollout of the program, the language used in the announcement, and how the DoD responded.

Michael Kratsios and Dr. Lynne Parker from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy visited CNAS last week to discuss the Trump administration's American AI Initiative. Paul Scharre, Kara Frederick, and Megan Lamberth sit down to discuss the event and the American AI Initiative, as well as share their reactions to the Department of Defense's newly released strategy on AI.

On Thursday, February 28, Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President for Technology Policy, visited CNAS to discuss the President's Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.