World Review with Ivo Daalder

Key Topics
Nicholas Burns recounts being the new U.S. ambassador to NATO when the attacks happened and describes the urgent push to invoke Article V for the first time in NATO history.
Meghan L. O’Sullivan explains how 9/11 helped push a generation of foreign policy professionals into government and public service, including her own move from Brookings to the State Department.
Juliette Kayyem recalls being on maternity leave and on an Amtrak train to New York when the attacks unfolded.
The group discusses how 9/11 changed the American national security mindset from treating terrorism as a niche issue to making it a central organizing concern.
O’Sullivan breaks down the evolution of the phrases “you’re with us or against us” and “the war on terror,” arguing that both became more problematic over time than they were at the moment they were first used.
Burns emphasizes that NATO allies were unified immediately after the attacks and that Canada was the first country to raise the idea of invoking Article V.
The guests contrast the diplomatic and alliance-based response to 9/11 with the later turn toward preemption, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq.
O’Sullivan explains why the Iraq invasion cannot be understood apart from the post-9/11 atmosphere, even if the Iraq-9/11 connection itself was not proven.
Kayyem describes the creation of homeland security as a major structural shift, from fragmented local and federal systems to a more centralized architecture with FEMA, the FBI, state homeland security advisors, and fusion-style coordination.
The panel argues that domestic terrorism, political violence, technology, and radicalization now pose different challenges than the international terrorism focus that dominated the years after 9/11.
Burns warns that the State Department and broader foreign policy bureaucracy have been weakened, arguing that America needs experienced diplomats and allies more than ever.
The conversation closes with a shared lesson: America is strongest when it relies on friends, coordinates across institutions, and resists making the military the sole organizing principle of foreign policy.
Links
Juliette Kayyem - https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/juliette-kayyem
Meghan L. O'Sullivan - https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/meghan-osullivan
Nicholas Burns - https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/nicholas-burns
Ivo Daalder - https://www.ivodaalder.com/
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs — belfercenter.org
World Review with Ivo Daalder — belfercenter.org/world-review-ivo-daalder

Key Topics
The Venezuela oil deal is framed as a huge geopolitical gamble, with claims of 65 billion barrels and a U.S. stake in a private Venezuelan company.
Nahal Toosi explains why the deal is surrounded by legal, constitutional, and practical doubts, including questions about infrastructure, financing, and corruption.
Alex Ward argues the deal reflects a Trump-era foreign policy that treats oil and regime change as spoils of victory, not just strategic assets.
Shashank Joshi notes that Europeans see echoes of earlier resource anxieties, from Greenland to the Falklands, and worry about a broader collapse of principle in U.S. policy.
The panel raises the possibility that the Venezuela arrangement could create incentives to delay democratic transition and keep an anti-democratic regime in place.
The military segment focuses on the strain caused by extended deployments in the Middle East, especially the impact on munitions stockpiles, carrier availability, and long-term maintenance.
Joshi cites the depletion of Patriot interceptors and the ripple effects in Ukraine, where reduced interceptor capacity may be affecting defense against Russian missile attacks.
Toosi warns that the U.S. is simultaneously damaging its diplomatic, development, trade, and military advantages, leaving Congress and Pentagon leadership slow to respond.
On Russia, Alex Ward says Ratcliffe’s Moscow trip appears to be both a warning and a broader attempt to preserve a back-channel with Russian intelligence.
Joshi and Toosi discuss Russian hybrid risk, including the concern that Moscow may test NATO without triggering a classic Article 5-style response.
Links
Nahal Toosi - https://www.politico.com/staff/nahal-toosi
Alexander Ward - https://www.wsj.com/news/author/alexander-ward
Shashank Joshi - https://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/shashank-joshi/
Ivo Daalder - https://www.ivodaalder.com/
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs — belfercenter.org
World Review with Ivo Daalder — belfercenter.org/world-review-ivo-daalder

Key Topicas

Canada’s resistance to U.S. tariffs and what it means for Prime Minister Mark Carney

Whether economic pressure can succeed against Iran where military action has not

The weakening of U.S. leverage when allies are no longer willing to cooperate

How Trump’s approach is changing the transatlantic relationship

What fragmentation in Europe and the Gulf means for future global power

Links

Prashant Rao - https://www.semafor.com/author/prashant-rao

Matina Stevis-Gridneff - https://www.nytimes.com/by/matina-stevis-gridneff

Anton La Guardia - https://mediadirectory.economist.com/people/anton-la-guardia/

Ivo Daalder - https://www.ivodaalder.com/

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs — belfercenter.org

World Review with Ivo Daalder — belfercenter.org/world-review-ivo-daalder

Key Topics

Artificial intelligence as a world-changing technology

The promise and risks of AI

AI’s potential to improve science and medicine

Power, agency, and democracy in the AI era

The US-China race for AI dominance

China’s centralized approach to AI development

Europe’s role in AI governance and sovereignty

Why infrastructure and data centers matter for AI

The tension between innovation and regulation

Safety concerns from AI lab leaders themselves

How AI could affect jobs, markets, and national security

The need for transparency, accountability, and public oversight

How political backlash could shape future AI policy

The possibility of global AI guardrails and coordination

Links

Sebastian Mallaby — https://www.cfr.org/experts/sebastian-mallaby

Evan Osnos — https://www.evanosnos.com/

Marietje Schaake — https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/people/marietje-schaake

Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs — belfercenter.org

World Review with Ivo Daalder — belfercenter.org/world-review-ivo-daalder

Show Notes

In this episode, Ivo Daalder is joined by Steve Erlanger, Christopher Miller, and Carla Anne Robbins for a wide-ranging conversation about three tests of U.S. power: Iran, Ukraine, and Cuba. The discussion begins with Iran, where the panel explores whether Tehran is outlasting Washington in a long war of patience and why sanctions and military threats may not produce the outcome the U.S. wants.The conversation then turns to Ukraine, where listeners hear how Ukrainians are adapting to modern warfare, why air defense remains critical, and how shortages of Patriot interceptors are reshaping the battlefield. The panel also examines the uncertainty around U.S. support and the broader lessons Kyiv is teaching the West about decentralized warfare.Finally, the episode looks at Cuba, where pressure, collapse talk, and regime-change logic collide with the reality of blackouts, shortages, and no clear post-collapse plan. Across all three cases, the central question remains: what happens when the U.S. escalates before deciding what success actually looks like?