The Burn Bag Podcast

We’re here to redefine how scholars and policymakers approach national security and foreign policy. Join us, as we make sense of a world in crisis.

The Burn Bag Podcast is a news podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 366 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts The Burn Bag Podcast, a news show with 366 episodes published.

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  The Burn Bag Podcast

  Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull on Trump, China, AUKUS, & Why Australia Can’t Depend on America

  Sep 24, 20261h 2m

  Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joins The Burn Bag for a candid conversation about Donald Trump, China, AUKUS, Taiwan, and the future of America’s alliances. Having dealt directly with both President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turnbull offers a rare perspective on how U.S. leadership is viewed from abroad. He explains why he believes allies can no longer assume America will return to the foreign policy consensus of the past—and why countries like Australia need greater strategic autonomy. Turnbull also delivers a sharp critique of AUKUS, arguing that Australia could spend billions on a submarine deal that ultimately leaves it with no submarines. He discusses what a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan could mean for Australia, how Canberra should manage its relationship with Beijing, and why China may benefit from declining trust in the United States. The conversation also explores AI and technological dependence, the changing global order, and what future American leaders would need to do to rebuild credibility with U.S. allies and partners. Topics: Donald Trump • Malcolm Turnbull • Australia • AUKUS • China • Xi Jinping • Taiwan • U.S.-Australia Alliance • U.S.-China Relations • AI • Indo-Pacific • American Foreign Policy Copyright Code: XQJPFLF30YBXBOVG

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  The Burn Bag Podcast

  The Left’s Foreign Policy: Gaza, American Power, and the Democratic Divide | Matt Duss

  Sep 17, 202654 min

  What would American foreign policy look like if the progressive left were in charge? A’ndre is joined by Matt Duss, Executive Vice President at the Center for International Policy and former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, to examine the left’s growing challenge to the Democratic Party’s foreign policy establishment. Matt traces Democratic foreign policy from the post-9/11 era through the Obama and Biden administrations, discusses Bernie Sanders’ alternative vision of American power, and explains why Gaza has become such a major dividing line within the Democratic coalition. A’ndre and Matt also debate what a progressive foreign policy would mean in practice: when the United States should use military force, support for Ukraine, competition with China, the future of Taiwan, and whether America can move away from primacy while protecting its security and alliances. Matt also discusses his forthcoming book, A World for All: New Visions of U.S. Foreign Policy .

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  The Burn Bag Podcast

  25 Years After 9/11: Peter Bergen on the War on Terror

  Sep 10, 202645 min

  Twenty-five years after 9/11, what did America’s War on Terror actually accomplish? Peter Bergen, one of the country’s leading experts on terrorism and national security, joins The Burn Bag to take stock of a quarter-century of American war and counterterrorism. Bergen produced the first televised interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997 and is the author or editor of ten books, including his newest, All the President’s Wars , which examines twenty-five years of the War on Terror. From the initial invasion of Afghanistan and the decision to go to war in Iraq to the rise of ISIS, the expansion of drone warfare, the raid that killed bin Laden, and the eventual U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, we look at what worked, what failed, and what the United States should have learned. We discuss what bin Laden hoped to achieve with 9/11; where the war in Afghanistan went wrong; whether Iraq was the defining strategic mistake of the post-9/11 era; how the United States became extraordinarily effective at disrupting terrorist organizations while struggling to translate tactical victories into political outcomes; and why four successive presidents struggled to bring America’s longest war to an end. Finally, we take stock of the War on Terror’s legacy 25 years later: Did it succeed? Is it actually over? And are we at risk of repeating its mistakes today? Get The Burn Bag in your inbox: Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for analysis of the biggest stories in national security and foreign policy. Peter Bergen’s new book: Get All the Presidents’ Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America’s War on Terror here.

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  The Burn Bag Podcast

  Refuge and Security: Why Should Immigration be a Foreign Policy Priority? with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah

  Jun 18, 202631 min

  Immigration is often framed as a domestic political fight — about borders, jobs, identity, and security. But America’s immigration choices also shape how the world understands U.S. power, credibility, and values. In this episode of The Burn Bag , A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refuge, to examine immigration as a foreign-policy and national-security issue. Drawing on her own family’s journey from Sri Lanka, her service at the State Department and Obama White House, and her work leading one of the country’s major refugee-serving organizations, Krish explains how U.S. policy toward refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants reverberates far beyond America’s borders. Krish discusses what gets lost when immigration is treated only as a domestic-policy debate, how restrictive policies can affect U.S. soft power and alliances, and why people fleeing conflict or persecution often see America’s immigration system as a test of its global leadership. Krish also discusses the strategic consequences of framing immigrants as threats, climate migration as a growing security challenge, and the role faith communities and civil society play in welcoming newcomers.

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  The Burn Bag Podcast

  The Dissident's Dilemma: Case Studies of Moral Courage in an Age of Authoritarianism with Gal Beckerman

  Jun 4, 202656 min

  In this episode of The Burn Bag , Gal Beckerman joins us to explore what it means to be a dissident in an age of conformity, fear, and authoritarian drift. Drawing on themes from his new book, How to Be a Dissident , Beckerman reflects on the people who refuse to betray their conscience — from historic rebels and moral witnesses to ordinary individuals forced to decide whether silence is still an option. This conversation goes beyond the book to ask bigger questions about dissent itself: What separates genuine dissidence from performative rebellion? When does courage become recklessness? Why do authoritarian systems fear humor, memory, and witness? And how can acts of conscience become movements capable of changing history?

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