The Precision-Guided Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 78: From the End of the Cold War to the Start of a Hot One: An In-Depth Examination of the Evolution of U.S. and NATO-Russia Relations Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

The aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen a resurgence of interest in the topic of transatlantic security. Discussions of why the war in Ukraine began often focus on debates over the wisdom of NATO expansion in the post-Cold War era; the rise of a revisionist, increasingly imperialist Russia under Putin; and the escalating security dilemma entailed by these two dynamics. While these factors are certainly important in explaining how the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine came about, the story of how U.S. and NATO-Russia relations evolved in the post-Cold War period is one with considerably more nuance than is often represented in contemporary geopolitical commentary. To try and enhance the depth of public discourse on this critical subject, Dr. Stephen Flanagan joins host Mark McGuire on this episode of the Precision Guided Podcast to offer his insights on the evolution of US/NATO-Russia relations in the post-Cold War era.

Dr. Stephen J. Flanagan is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at RAND and Adjunct Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His research interests include U.S. alliance and partnership relations and regional security in Europe/Eurasia, U.S. global defense strategy, and outer space security. Dr. Flanagan served in several senior positions in the U.S. Government, including at the National Security Council staff as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Defense Policy (2013-15) and earlier for Central and Eastern Europe; National Intelligence Officer for Europe; Associate Director and Member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff; and Professional Staff Member for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He also held senior research and faculty positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, National Defense University, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Flanagan has published six books and over seventy reports and journal articles on transatlantic, international security, and defense issues. His commentaries have appeared in publications including POLITICO, Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, and Defense News. Dr. Flanagan is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the editorial board of International Security. He earned an A.B. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Episode 77: Technology, Innovation, and National Security Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach, discusses the importance of combining industry and government to foster innovation in the national security and technology landscape. The relationship between public and private sector talent is based on trust and provides a unique opportunity to make advancements. Additionally, this period in innovation marks an unprecedented shift from historical government-led innovation to private sector-led development. Furthermore, Russia’s War against Ukraine demonstrates this relationship between the government and private sector while pursuing innovation and national security. Arun leaves listeners with three recommendations for how individuals can contribute to the technology and innovation needed to improve national security.

Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach, is a venture capitalist, Lecturer at Stanford University for “Valley Meets Mission”, and Adjunct Entrepreneurship Professor and Senior Advisor to Provost at Georgetown University, and author of the National Bestseller, “Venture Meets Mission”. Arun is active in the emerging technology, entrepreneurship, public policy, and venture finance communities. As a Partner at Columbia Capital, Arun’s investment career spanned eighteen years including initiating the firm’s Cybersecurity and Government technology investments with a focus on National Security, AI, and SaaS/Cloud infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining Columbia Capital in 2000, Arun was at Carlyle Venture Partners focused on software investments. Prior to Carlyle, Arun held positions in Arthur D. Little’s telecom and technology consulting practice and shared responsibility for establishing ADL’s management consulting operations in Mumbai 1995-98. Arun received a B.S. degree with Distinction in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. degree in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University (’91). He received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School (’95).

Episode 76: Twenty Minutes on Tech with Dr. Daniel Byman Jul 26, 2025

Show notes

This episode dives into the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) and explores how recent trends and developments in the technology continue to transform. This episode also examines the growing challenges of content moderation, as many social media companies continue to scale back their moderation efforts. Peyton Taylor (SSP‘25) hosts Dr. Daniel Byman, Director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and Director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at CSIS.

Daniel Byman is the director of the Security Studies Program and a professor at Georgetown University. He is also the Director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at CSIS.

Episode 75: Unconventional Maritime Warfare Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Sea control is more important than ever. With 80-90 percent of the global trade over sea, it is impossible to maintain the current economic order without stability and security of the world's major trading routes. However, more forces than ever are able to destabilize the global maritime network. Whether it is a resurgence in piracy, increased terrorist threats, or state paramilitary organizations, the number of threats at sea is increasing. Today we sat down with Pieter Zhao to discuss these new threats. We also talk about his research into how states are choosing to meet these threats including his work on private maritime security firms and paramilitary maritime forces.

Articles Discussed:

https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol77/iss1/7/

https://militairespectator.nl/artikelen/winning-without-fighting-indo-pacific

Pieter Zhao is a PhD Researcher at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His current research project focuses on maritime warfare and security from an applied historical perspective, specifically concerning non-state actors and irregular warfare at sea. After completing his BA and MA in History, he pursued a second Master’s degree in International Security Studies at Sciences Po, Paris. He completed part of his graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, focusing on US-China relations, maritime security, and nuclear proliferation. As a historian, his research interests include international security and geopolitics, specifically in the maritime domain and the Indo-Pacific region. He has previously published in the Naval War College Review, European Journal of East Asian Studies, Comparative Strategy, Militaire Spectator, and the Strategy Bridge.

Episode 74: US-Mexico Relations in the Shadow of Fentanyl with Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown Part 2 Apr 13, 2025

Show notes

Amid President-elect Donald Trump’s recent pledge to impose a 25% tariff on Mexican products, if Mexico does not curb the flow of fentanyl, this episode dives deep into the complexities of U.S.-Mexico relations and the fight against organized crime. Join host Nelly Hernandez Valdez and policy expert Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown as they explore:

Fentanyl and the Cartels: How Mexican criminal groups have become key players in the U.S. fentanyl epidemic and their strategies for controlling local economies and territories.
China's Role: The connection between Chinese criminal groups and Mexico’s illegal economies and its implications for global security.
Bi-national Cooperation: Why has the Bicentennial Framework between the Biden and Lopez Obrador administrations seen limited progress, and what can we expect under President Claudia Sheinbaum and President-elect Donald Trump as they inherit this complex relationship.
Weapons Trafficking: The U.S. gun industry’s impact on cartel firepower and whether reforming firearm policies could disrupt organized crime.
Policy Proposals: The effectiveness of proposed measures, such as designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations or employing military force, and what policymakers can do to achieve real results.

Vanda Felbab-Brown is a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She is the director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and of the Brookings series "The Fentanyl Crisis in North America and the Global Reach of Synthetic Opioids. She is also the co-director of the Africa Security Initiative. Previously, she was the co-director of the Brookings projects “The Opioid Crisis in America: Domestic and International Dimension," “Improving Global Drug Policy: Comparative Perspectives Beyond UNGASS 2016,” and “Reconstituting Local Orders.” Dr. Felbab-Brown is an expert on international and internal conflicts and nontraditional security threats, including insurgency, terrorism, organized crime, urban violence, and illicit economies. Her fieldwork and research have covered, among others, Afghanistan, South Asia, Burma, Indonesia, the Andean region, Mexico, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East, and various parts of Africa. She was a senior advisor to the congressionally-mandated Afghanistan Peace Process Study Group. A frequent commentator in international and U.S. media, Dr. Felbab-Brown regularly provides testimonies to the U.S. Congress. She also hosts the podcast show “The Killing Drugs: Synthetic Opioids Around the World. ”

Episode 73: National Security, Fiction, And Wicked Problems Apr 09, 2025

Show notes

A wicked problem is a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. In the national security space many of the problems we face are wicked problems. Such problems require creative and unconventional thinkers.

Dr. Tammy Schultz believes that fiction provides the tools needed to engage with wicked problems. We talk about teaching creativity, professional military education, and how doing something different than usual can hold the key to literally changing the way your brain works.

Dr Schultz is a Professor of Strategic Studies at the U.S. Marine Corps War College and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's security studies program. She won the Dr. Elihu Rose Award for Teaching Excellence at Marine Corps University. She also was Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program nomination for outstanding faculty mentor in 2019.

Dr. Schultz conducts communication plenaries and simulations at the State Department for Foreign Service Officers. Previously, she was a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). Prior to joining CNAS, she served as a Research Fellow and Director of Research and Policy at the U.S. Army’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute. Dr. Schultz was a Brookings Institution Research Fellow.

Episode 72: Behind the Curtain: U.S. Counterterrorism Policy, October 7th, and the Future Threat Landscape Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

The terrorism threat landscape is an extremely complex phenomenon that evolves on a daily basis. In turn, appropriate solutions and countermeasures are also subject to change. Peyton Taylor (SSP’25) hosts Professor Christopher P. Costa, U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.) to discuss the broad terrorism landscape that the world faces currently. Costa shares creative and timely insights into subjects such as U.S. counter-terrorism policy, the events leading up to the October 7th attack, what role hostage taking has had in the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the long-term implications the war could have.

Christopher P. Costa, USA, (Ret.) is an adjunct associate professor with Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program, Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is a former career intelligence officer and was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council from 2017 to 2018. He Recently Co authored an article with Dr. Colin Clarke on Counterterrorism policy in the Levant.

https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column_article/trump-administrations-counterterrorism-policy-should-begin-at-golan-heights

**The views represented in this podcast belong to each individual and do not represent the views of Georgetown, the Georgetown Security Studies Review, or any other institution

Episode 71: US-Mexico Relations in the Shadow of Fentanyl with Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown Part 1 Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

Fentanyl and the Cartels: How Mexican criminal groups have become key players in the U.S. fentanyl epidemic and their strategies for controlling local economies and territories.
China's Role: The connection between Chinese criminal groups and Mexico’s illegal economies and its implications for global security.
Bi-national Cooperation: Why has the Bicentennial Framework between the Biden and Lopez Obrador administrations seen limited progress, and what can we expect under President Claudia Sheinbaum and President-elect Donald Trump as they inherit this complex relationship.
Weapons Trafficking: The U.S. gun industry’s impact on cartel firepower and whether reforming firearm policies could disrupt organized crime.

Policy Proposals: The effectiveness of proposed measures, such as designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations or employing military force, and what policymakers can do to achieve real results.

Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown is a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. She is the director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and of the Brookings series "The Fentanyl Crisis in North America and the Global Reach of Synthetic Opioids. She is also the co-director of the Africa Security Initiative. Previously, she was the co-director of the Brookings projects “The Opioid Crisis in America: Domestic and International Dimension," “Improving Global Drug Policy: Comparative Perspectives Beyond UNGASS 2016,” and “Reconstituting Local Orders.” Dr. Felbab-Brown is an expert on international and internal conflicts and nontraditional security threats, including insurgency, terrorism, organized crime, urban violence, and illicit economies. Her fieldwork and research have covered, among others, Afghanistan, South Asia, Burma, Indonesia, the Andean region, Mexico, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East, and various parts of Africa. She was a senior advisor to the congressionally-mandated Afghanistan Peace Process Study Group. A frequent commentator in international and U.S. media, Dr. Felbab-Brown regularly provides testimonies to the U.S. Congress. She also hosts the podcast show “The Killing Drugs: Synthetic Opioids Around the World. ”

Episode 70: Legislating Artificial Intelligence with Sunny Gandhi and Thomas Woodside Oct 28, 2024

Show notes

Thomas Woodside and Sunny Gandhi worked on SB1047, a California bill focused on national security and public safety risks from advanced AI systems. We discussed their experiences advocating for the bill, speaking to legislators and industry experts, amending the bill in response to feedback, and reflecting on lessons learned for future AI policy efforts.

Thomas Woodside is a policy analyst at the Center for AI Safety Action Fund, one of the co-sponsors of SB 1047. Before that, he was a junior fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown, where he wrote technical explainers for policy audiences and did some grantmaking. He did his undergraduate in computer science at Yale.

Sunny Gandhi is the Vice President of Political Affairs at Encode Justice, an organization advocating for safe and responsible artificial intelligence where he has experience working in AI governance at both federal and state levels. Sunny has previously held technical roles at Deloitte and NASA and has worked with the US State Department and the law firm Mayer Brown. He graduated from Indiana University this past May.

Episode 69: An Introduction to Intelligence Oversight with Dr. Loch K. Johnson Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

In this episode of the Precision-Guided Podcast, University of Georgia and Georgetown University alumna Stephanie Cannon interviews Dr. Loch K. Johnson, Regents Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, to discuss the relationship between Congress and the intelligence community.

Loch K. Johnson is Regents Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) at the University of Georgia. He received the Ph.D. degree in Political Science at the University of California, Riverside. The author of over thirty books, among his most recent are The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy (Oxford, 2022); Advanced Introduction to American Foreign Policy (Elgar, 2021); Spy Watching: Intelligence Accountability in the United States (Oxford, 2018); National Security Intelligence: Secret Operations in the Defense of the Democracies (Polity, 2017); and A Season of Inquiry Revisited: The Church Committee Confronts America’s Spy Agencies (University Press of Kansas, 2015). He has been an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow; a Visiting Fellow at Yale and Oxford Universities; a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar; and, for eighteen years (2001-2019), editor-in-chief of the international journal Intelligence and National Security. He also served in the U.S. government as the senior aide to the chairman of the Church Committee on Intelligence in the Senate, as well as the chairman of the Aspin-Brown Commission on Intelligence in the White House. He was the first staff director of the Subcommittee on Oversight in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. At the University of Georgia he led the founding of SPIA, established in 2001. The consortium of universities that comprise the Southeast Conference (SEC) in the United States selected Professor Johnson as its inaugural “Professor of the Year” in 2012; and the University presented him with its Presidential Medal in 2022.

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