Government Matters

Department of the Navy’s plan for climate action Meredith Berger, assistant secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, discusses the Department of the Navy’s new “Climate Action 2030” strategy and initiatives for extreme weather preparation and reduction of emissions   Protecting networks and critical infrastructure Brandon Wales, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, describes what it was like to step in as acting director of CISA after the 2020 presidential election and deal with major cyber and ransomware attacksSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Top priorities of the Army chief of staff Gen. James McConville, chief of staff of the U.S. Army, discusses his biggest priorities, challenges and other topics including modernization, the Russia-Ukraine war, hypersonic weapons, budget, recruitment and clean energySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Taking down pandemic relief criminals Roy Dotson, assistant special agent in charge at the U.S. Secret Service, discusses his team’s work in successfully investigating and combating fraud related to Covid-19 relief funds   Recent North Korean missile tests Soo Kim, policy analyst at RAND Corporation and former analyst at the CIA, discusses the significance of North Korea’s recent missile test fires and the dynamic between North Korea, South Korea and the United States   Diversity of Capitol Hill staffers LaShonda Brenson, senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, breaks down research into the diversity of senior staff in Congress and recommendations for institutional changeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chinese reaction to Biden’s Asia trip Phelim Kine, D.C.-based China correspondent for Politico, discusses whether the president’s recent trip to Asia was successful in rallying Asian allies against China’s increasing influence   Understanding collapse of Afghan security forces Jonathan Schroden, director of the Countering Threats and Challenges Program at CNA, analyzes the factors leading to the collapse of the Afghan security forces and a recent report from the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction   Protecting sensitive defense data Jennifer Franks, director of information technology and cybersecurity at the Government Accountability Office, discusses her office’s review of the cybersecurity of DoD computer systems with sensitive and unclassified dataSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Inside EUCOM center delivering weapons to Ukraine Jack Detsch, Pentagon and national security reporter for Foreign Policy, describes the International Donor Coordination Center in Germany where American and British officials are working to get weapons to Ukrainians   Improving American military readiness LTG David Deptula (Ret.), dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, discusses his concern that the United States is heading down a similar path as Russia with respect to military capabilities   Technology needed for drone deliveries Lt. Col. Mark Jacobsen, professor of strategy and security studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, explains how ready the U.S. Defense Department is to deliver humanitarian aid by drone in war zonesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Managing the $9 billion space telescope project Gregory Robinson, program director for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA, discusses what the James Webb Space Telescope will enable and how he improved the management of the program   Army acquisition process improvement and modernization Young Bang, principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology for the U.S. Army, discusses accelerating the acquisition timeline, replenishing stock for weapons sent to Ukraine, upskilling the workforce and improving recruitmentSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mission of US Army space and missile defense LTG Daniel Karbler, commanding general of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, discusses Army space operations and the evolving importance of space to warfighting   Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Chief Warrant Officer 5 Mohammed Badal, chief of the Contingency Construction and Operational Energy Branch in the U.S. Army, shares his story of starting out in the Army as an immigrant and progressing in his career to his current positionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Evacuating 120,000 people from Afghanistan Hila Hanif, director of Afghanistan strategy and policy at the Defense Department, and Holly Herrera, chief of domestic resettlement at the State Department, recount their experiences helping coordinate the evacuation and resettlement of thousands of Afghan refugees last summer   Leading Covid-19 treatment research at NIH Dr. H. Clifford Lane, clinical director at NIAID at NIH, discusses Covid treatment guideline development and his work combating AIDS and EbolaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Learning from Russia’s logistics failures Mike Watson, associate director of the Center for the Future of Liberal Society at the Hudson Institute, discusses how prepared the United States is for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific and what the Defense Department can do now   Wargaming Chinese attack on Taiwan Becca Wasser, fellow for the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security and co-lead of its Gaming Lab, describes lessons and recommendations for the Pentagon from an operational wargame simulating a Chinese attack on Taiwan in 2027   Possible impasse on Covid funding Adam Cancryn, healthcare reporter for Politico Pro, explains the opposing positions of Congress and the White House on Covid-19 response funding going forward and contingency planning that is currently underwaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Christopher Scolese, director of the NRO, discusses the office’s unique mission and history, major space threats, use of commercial satellite imagery, international collaboration, climate monitoring, hiring, the pandemic and the war in UkraineSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Biden authorizes troop deployment to Somalia Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of FDD’s Long War Journal, discusses the threat posed by the Somali terror group al-Shabab and President Biden’s decision to deploy hundreds of troops to the country   Reorganizing NATO for better deterrence Bruce Ackerman, professor of law and political science at Yale University, discusses the idea of raising a European army and revising the NATO treaty in order to better deter Putin’s aggression   Improving asylum processing procedures Theresa Cardinal Brown, managing director at the Bipartisan Policy Center, discusses her recommendation for a new strategy at the southern border to reflect changing demographicsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Advocating for global human rights Scott Busby, deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the State Department, discusses his office’s work in addressing human rights abuses in countries around the world   Reducing reliance on Russian energy Jeffrey Frankel, professor at Harvard’s Belfer Center and former member of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, discusses the effectiveness of various strategies for reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas while also focusing on environmentalism   North Korea’s nuclear capabilities Dana Kim, Korea policy scholar in the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discusses North Korea’s recent missile tests and expansion of its nuclear weapons programSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Biden signs bill to speed arms to Ukraine Angela Stent, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discusses the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, which allows arms lending to Ukraine   Status of Ukraine’s military capabilities Margarita Konaev, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, discusses the transformation of Ukraine’s military since 2014, strategy going forward and support from the U.S.   Is the Islamic State on the decline? Katherine Zimmerman, fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses the persistent terror threat, vulnerable areas around the world and American counterterrorism strategySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New Army pilot program aims to modernize cavalry design MG John Richardson, commanding general in the First Cavalry Division in the U.S. Army, discusses a new pilot program to restructure Army divisions and fill cavalry design gaps to prepare for current threats   Monitoring and preventing foreign investments in American technology David Rader, deputy director of the Office of Foreign Investment Review at DoD, discusses efforts to improve monitoring of foreign investments in American technology to protect national security   NTSB using drones to respond to accident sites Catherine Gagne, unmanned aircraft system operator at the Office of Aviation Safety at the National Transportation Safety Board, discusses how drones have helped increase efficiency in the NTSB’s work of responding to plane accident sitesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Russians seeking entry to America Nahal Toosi, senior foreign affairs correspondent for Politico, discusses how many Russians have fled the country since the Ukraine invasion and the administration’s response to those seeking asylum in the U.S.   Understanding AI errors in combat Kelsey Atherton, military technology journalist at Wars of Future Past, explains some of the major risks and dangers of new artificial intelligence military technology   Would Putin go nuclear? Seth Cropsey, founder and president of the Yorktown Institute and former deputy under secretary of the Navy, assesses the threat of Russian use of nuclear weapons and the various possible ways the West can respondSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

State Department launches cyberspace bureau Jennifer Bachus, senior bureau official for the Cyberspace and Digital Policy Bureau at the State Department, discusses the purpose of the new bureau, its work on national security, economic policy and human rights related to cyberspace and its collaboration with other countries   High-level government visits to Ukraine Anne-Marie Slaughter, president and CEO of New America and former director of policy planning for the State Department, discusses what the recent visits of U.S. government officials to Ukraine are accomplishing, whether the U.S. is doing enough to help and how security policy will shift as a result of the warSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Strategic importance of Mariupol Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), senior fellow at UCLA’s Burkle Center for International Relations and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, discusses the importance of Mariupol to the Russians and military support Ukraine still needs   Stepping up pressure on Putin Clay Lowery, executive vice president of research and policy at the Institute of International Finance and former assistant secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department, discusses the effect sanctions are having on the Russian economy and financial markets   Service to America awards celebrate public service Jordan LaPier, senior communications manager at the Partnership for Public Service, discusses the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, or Sammies, which recognize extraordinary federal employees, and highlights some of this year’s finalistsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China and Solomon Islands sign security agreement Lyle Goldstein, director of Asia engagement at Defense Priorities, discusses a recent security cooperation agreement between the Solomon Islands and China and the scale of the threat this poses to the United States and other countries   Russia tests ICBM dubbed ‘Satan 2’ Bradley Bowman, senior director at the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, discusses Russia’s flight test of the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile and the need for the U.S. to modernize its nuclear triadSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Importance of information warfare to naval operations Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach, commander of Naval Information Forces, describes the mission-critical capabilities her command provides and training efforts underway to meet the demand for highly trained information warfare personnel   Mentorship in national security community Colonel Candice Frost, commander of the Joint Intelligence Operations Center at U.S. Cyber Command, discusses how her command is helping bring more women leaders into government and what to consider when looking for a mentorSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Role of cyber warfare in conflict IDF Brig. Gen. Doron Tamir (Ret.), chairman of the Cyber Security Group, explains how cyber attacks fit into major conflicts and discusses the influence of psychological warfare on the war in Ukraine   Improving food safety at FDA Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, describes the governance issues within the Food and Drug Administration that have led to dangerous food safety problems affecting American consumers   Preview of National Defense Strategy Barry Pavel, senior vice president and director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, discusses the fact sheet for the National Defense Strategy and his recommendations for what to prioritizeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.