On today’s program, sponsored by HII, Dr. Evelyn Farkas, the executive director of MccAin Institute at Arizona State University who helps pick the honoree of the annual John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service awarded each year at the Halifax International Security Forum, discusses takeaways from this year’s gathering, the importance of Ukrainian victory over Russia for democracies worldwide, the two leaders honored with the McCain Prize this year — Vladimir Kara Murza in 2024 for his courage against Vladimir Putin and former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing Wen in 2020 for her stance against an increasingly belligerent China — the best outcome for Ukraine as Donald Trump vows a fast end to the war, the role of American leadership and a look ahead to Halifax organizers HFX’s conference in Taipei Feb. 20-21, 2025; and Byron Callan of the independent Washington research firm Capital Alpha Partners discusses the latest on the transaction to a second Trump administration including possible deputy defense secretary picks including investor Stephen Fineberg and Anduril co-founder Trae Stevens, Elon Musk’s tweet that F-35 Lighting II fighter maker Lockheed Martin are “idiots” and that more armed drones are needed in the future, how the Department of Government Efficiency will deliver savings, the importance of process reforms over merely cutting workforce, the importance of cutting cycle times in executing big projects whether building the Pentagon or designing the iPod, and a look at the week ahead with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.
