Why North Korea Is Planning a Second Korean War and How to Stop It
Dmitri Alperovitch sits down with Andrei Lankov, one of the west’s foremost experts on North Korea, and Sergey Radchenko, a leading Cold War historian, for a deep dive into North Korea. They discuss the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear program and possibility of a new war, the chances of a Trump-brokered peace deal with Kim Jong Un, and the nature of North Korea’s relationships with China, Russia, and Iran. Andrei also offers rare insights into daily life under the regime, its surveillance state, hackers and IT workers, political succession, and long-term foreign policy ambitions.
00:00 Introduction
01:02 Can Trump Get a Peace Deal Done With North Korea?
15:19 Does Kim Jong Un Need America as an Enemy?
18:36 Chances of a Second Korean War and Nuclear Weapons Use
22:58 China's Frustrations With North Korea
27:17 China's Concerns of Nuclear Proliferation Across Asia
29:49 Nature of Transactional Relationships Between North Korea and China/Russia
35:28 Iran-North Korea Relationship
40:16 Why Do North Korean Soldiers Commit Suicide Rather Than Surrender?
44:52 Life in North Korean GULAGs
47:04 The Intricacies of Societal Surveillance in North Korea
51:21 Technology Use and Intranet Access in North Korea
54:24 North Korean Hackers and IT Workers
01:02:40 Female Empowerment in North Korea
01:15:21 Does North Korea Have the World's Most Effective Foreign Policy?
Dmitri and Sergey's NYT article about the potential for a peace deal with North Korea:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/29/opinion/us-north-korea-china-russia-axis.html
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1:20:21
The One Factor That Could Crash the Russian Economy
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Russian economy expert Chris Weafer about the state of the Russian economy in 2025. They talk about inflation and its impact on people and business, why the ruble is collapsing, which sanctions have been the most impactful, and the one thing that could potentially trigger a crash and give Ukraine leverage to negotiate an acceptable peace deal
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1:02:17
Putin's Nuclear Meltdown
Dmitri Alperovitch talks all things nukes with Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, an expert in arms control and nuclear and missile nonproliferation, currently a professor at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and director of the CNS East Asia Nonproliferation Program.
They discuss:
- Putin's frustrations about limitations of nuclear blackmail and his responses to the ATACMS targeting decision by the Biden Administration
- What the new Russian nuclear doctrine means for World War III prospects
- What the Ukraine conflict teaches us about nuclear deterrence theory
- Putin's real redlines
- Implications of the Oreshik (RS 26) Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile against Ukraine
- Why ballistic missile notification regime is a GoodThingTM
- The resumption of the Iranian nuclear warhead design program
- How to respond to the Chinese nuclear buildup
- How many nukes does the US need for comprehensive deterrence
Russian nuclear doctrine changes thread by Oleg Shakirov: https://x.com/shakirov2036/status/1858810939652370886
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43:28
Inside the Drone War Arms Race in Ukraine
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Andrey Liscovich (UkraineDefenseFund.org) about the latest updates in the evolution of drone warfare on the battlefields in Ukraine. They discuss:
- How Ground Unmanned Vehicles (GUVs) are being used in battle
- 3rd Generation FPV drones
- Quadcopter bombers
- Mass-market EW systems
- Fiber optics C2
- EW recon units
- Use of aerial drones for anti-drone/aircraft warfare
- Impact of Chinese export controls
- Thermite 'Dracarys' drones
- Mothership drones
- Long-range deep strike drones
- Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance drones
- How Starlink is giving Russia an advantage!
- How commercial satellite imagery of Ukrainian lands may be playing into Russia's hands
- Why the US and Ukrainian use-cases for drone warfare are so dramatically different
- Introduction of autonomy in unmanned systems
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1:03:30
Ukraine Invades Russia: What’s Next? Interview with Ukrainian Combat Vet
Dmitri Alperovitch talks with Constantine Kalinovskiy (@Teoyaomiquu), a Ukrainian combat vet with friends currently in battle, about how the Ukrainian Armed Forces were able to achieve tactical surprise with their August 6th offensive into Russian Kursk oblast, the achievable objectives of this operation and the risks that it brings. They discussed the achievements to date, the potential for holding newly captured Russian territory and the challenges that the Ukrainian forces currently face there.
Constantine also discussed how his 501c(3) charity, LibertyUkraine.org, is providing vital and life saving combat support engineering equipment like excavators and generators to Ukrainian troops.
Geopolitics Decanted is a podcast featuring geopolitical analysis and in-depth expert interviews on topics ranging from War in Ukraine, Great Power Competition with China, changing nature of warfare, sanctions and export controls, semiconductors and cybersecurity. This is a podcast for people who care about the details and are seeking a comprehensive understanding of global issues, not just the sound bytes.
It is hosted by Dmitri Alperovitch, Chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator (www.silverado.org), a Washington DC-based non-profit with a mission to promote prosperity and global competitiveness for America and its allies by accelerating bipartisan strategic, economic and technological policy solutions.