The Asia Chessboard

In this episode, Mike sits down with Randall Schriver, Chairman of the Board at the Institute for Indo-Pacific Security and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs (January 2018-December 2019), to take stock of America’s strategy in Asia. They explore the forces shaping Washington’s approach to the region, the challenges accompanying Asia's shifting strategic landscape, and how U.S. allies and partners are influencing — and being influenced by — the United States' strategic calculus.

Mike is joined by Professor Vipin Narang, the Frank Stanton Professor of Nuclear Security and Political Science and inaugural director of MIT SSP’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy (CNSP). From March 2022 to August 2024, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy. They discuss the future of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the strategic implications of nuclear proliferation among U.S. adversaries and allies, and the future of U.S. extended nuclear deterrence in Asia.

What does a more uncertain transatlantic relationship mean for Europe’s role in the Indo-Pacific? Mike sits down with Dr Gorana Grgić, Head of the Global Security Team at ETH Zürich’s Center for Security Studies and Non-Resident Fellow at the United States Studies Centre, to explore how Europe is adapting to a shifting strategic landscape. They discuss the outcomes of the latest NATO summit in Ankara; the future of NATO’s Indo-Pacific partnerships with Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand; and why these transregional relationships remain critical to confronting shared security challenges across Eurasia.

In this episode, Mike is joined by Dr Arzan Tarapore, Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and Visiting Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. They unpack the Pentagon's decision to revert the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) name back to Pacific Command (PACOM). They explore the strategic and political rationale behind the change; its implications for security dynamics in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific; and what it reveals about U.S. conceptions of the Indo-Pacific as an operational theatre in U.S. defence planning.

In this episode, Mike sits down with Bryan Clark, Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at the Hudson Institute, about whether the United States is prepared for a major conflict in the Indo-Pacific. They examine how recent technological developments in drones, autonomous systems, electronic warfare, and precision strike capabilities are transforming the battlefield; the role of defence industrial capacity and contested logistics in sustaining military operations; and unpack the lessons from recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East for deterring and, if necessary, fighting a future war in Asia.