New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy | Podcasts

In this special edition of Global Hotspots, Milos Maggiore, Jared Jeter, Andrew Loftesnes, and Sebastian Dittgen break down some of the key incidents that happened over this past quarter and look at some of the major trends we can expect as 2026 comes to a close.

Conflicts in the Middle East and Russia/Ukraine are expected to intensify, and several other countries will trend toward destabilization as politically polarizing election...

In this week's episode Milos Maggiore, Jared Jeter, and Andrew Loftesnes are joined by in-house guest Sebastian Dittgen to examine growing instability in Ethiopia, as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front joins forces with other insurgent groups and raises new questions about the country’s security trajectory.

Also in this episode:

• U.S.-China: Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Ji...

In this week’s episode, Milos Maggiore, Jared Jeter, and Andrew Loftesnes examine the European Union’s invitation for Canada to become an “associate member,” what closer Canada–EU ties could mean for both sides, and the early reactions to the proposal.

Elsewhere in this week’s Global Hotspots, the team analyzes major geopolitical developments a...

In this episode of Why the Balkans?, host Tanya Domi is joined by Gresa Hasa to unpack Albania’s “Flamingo Revolution” – a wave of youth-led political activism that has challenged the country’s political establishment and sparked questions about the future of democracy in Albania.

They explore what drove the movement, what it reveals about Albania’s younger generation ...

This week, the U.S. and Canada announced 50% tariffs on each other’s imports following a breakdown in trade talks, while the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the creation of a federal list of voters, granting the federal government the ability to invalidate votes it deems ineligible.

In the Russia/Ukraine conflict, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow to warn Russia against escalat...

Milos Maggiore, Andrew Loftesnes, and Jared Jeter look at some of the key developments from the week, including President Trump's threats against anyone trading with Iran, and the news that U.S./South Korean military drills were substantially reduced following directives from Trump.

Elsewhere, in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia threatened to retaliate against the United Kingdom after Ukrainian forces used British-supplied drone...

In our first episode of Why the Balkans?, Tanya Domi is joined by Ramadan Ilazi, Head of Research at the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS), to unpack Kosovo’s ongoing political deadlock. They examine why Kosovo continues to struggle to form a government after elections, what the impasse reveals about its political system, and what it means for the country’s relationship with the EU and the wider Western Balkans...

In this week's episode, Shahad Turkistani, Analyst at New Lines Institute, returns to break down the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, the trilateral pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Pakistan on 7 August, which commits all three to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all.

Additionally this week, Milos Maggiore and Andrew Loftesnes discuss developments in the Middle East, where Houthi attacks in the Bab el...

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump called off a planned strike against Iran and hailed progress in negotiations between Israel and Hamas while Israeli forces clashed with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In the Indo-Pacific, China and the U.S. imposed reciprocal targeted tariffs and sanctions, while Chinese traders resumed purchases of U.S. soybeans. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least 17 people after U...

This week, we are joined by our colleague Shahad Turkistani to examine in more detail the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal. In other developments, Saudi Arabia joined the U.S. in conducting airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq, drawing retaliatory strikes against Saudi energy infrastructure as regional hostilities expanded, while a Hezbollah drone strike threatened the Lebanese-Israeli ceasefire. In the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. sha...

This week, a new front opened in the conflict between the U.S. and Iran as the Yemeni al-Houthi rebel group fired on Saudi oil tankers attempting to cross the Bab al-Mandeb. Meanwhile, Israel began returning control of occupied Lebanese territory to the Lebanese army.

In the Indo-Pacific, China conducted two days of live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait and clashed with Philippine vessels in the South China Sea during the ASEAN sum...

This week, the U.S. renewed strikes against Iran and a naval blockade of Iranian ports, while Israel and Lebanon held negotiations in Rome.

In the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. confirmed it had started to sell minimal amounts of Nvidia H200 microchips to China, and Taiwan announced an additional $100 billion investment in the United States’ advanced chip industry. In the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the U.S. unveiled legislation that wo...

In this episode, our team highlights our recently published 2026 Q3 Forecast report on geopolitical hotspots around the world and their implications on global connectivity themes like trade, technology, energy, and climate. In part 1 of this podcast, we focus on the US/Americas, the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific, and the Russia/Ukraine war, discussing the most important events from the past three months, and looking ahead at what t...

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded Belarus remove military equipment from their shared border, while Ukrainian forces continued attacking energy and transport infrastructure near Moscow and in Crimea. In the Indo-Pacific, China sanctioned two critical minerals companies in the U.S., while U.S. AI company Anthropic accused Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba of copying its software. In the Middle East, Israel c...

This week, the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding paving the way for a ceasefire and two months of negotiations aimed at settling their conflict.

Meanwhile, Israel stated it would continue to occupy territory in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. In the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan’s opposition leader met with members of the U.S. Congress in Washington, while the U.K. and Japan agreed to boost defense and economic coo...