On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomic Aeronautical Systems, Sam Bendett of the Center for Naval Analyses and Dr. Eugene Rumer, the director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss key moments in Russia’s war on Ukraine during 2024; whether the end of the war in the coming months will come as a reprieve just as Moscow is feeling economic pressure and growing casualties, allowing it to recharge for its next confrontation with NATO; how the outgoing and incoming administrations are playing the roles of good cop-bad cop to end the war; implications of the ouster of Bashar al-Assad on Russia; the assassination of Russia’s nuclear and chemical forces chief Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov by Ukraine’s secret service; and what to expect from Moscow over the coming weeks as the prospect of the war’s end approaches.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Barbara Matthews, a US Treasury Department veteran and first Treasury attache to the European Union who is the founder of BCM Strategy, discusses why the US dollar is the world’s reserve currency and the power that status confers, how the reliance on the dollar subjects the world to US laws and oversight, why allies and adversaries are interested in alternatives to the dollar that Washington has increasingly “weaponized” to influences friends and foes especially during the first Trump presidency, how the advent of new digital currencies and alternatives could undermine the power of the dollar and US influence, whether President-elect Trump’s threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on any nation that participates in a dollar alternative will stop such moves, what circumstances could drive allies to break from the dollar, and how the growing US debt and threats of default threaten the dollar with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral who is now the senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the executive director of the Cyber Solarium 2.0 project, discusses President Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire US-made precision missiles into Russia, Vladimir Putin’s escalating nuclear threats and increasing Russian sabotage operations including suspected cutting of undersea cable between Finland and Germany, recommendations for the new administration on cyber as well as AI and science investment, the need for a stand-alone Cyber Force, the wisdom of Taiwan’s recent statement it would buy US destroyers and F-35 Lighting II fighters to curry favor with President-Elect Trump, and the problematic nature of the incoming administration’s reported plans against senior military officers.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Peter Van Praagh, the president of HFX — the organizer of the annual Halifax International Security Forum that brings to better government, diplomatic, military, economic and civil society leaders each weekend before Thanksgiving in Halifax, Nova Scotia — discusses the implications of the re-election of former President Trump; the importance of US leadership and the case against isolationism; why it’s vital the international community continue to support Ukraine in its fight for survival; why a loss for Kyiv would be globally destabilizing including encouraging China to attack Taiwan; the importance of allies and partners and whether tariffs and caustic rhetoric could undermine key relationships; the power of disinformation to mobilize voters and citizens; the need for US leaders to make the case why democracy, internationalism and importance of allies; and a look at the agenda of the upcoming forum with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.

Michael Bayer, a former chairman of the National Defense Industrial Association, and Arnold Punaro, another former NDIA chairman and Senate Armed Services Committee staff director, join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss how to ensure a smooth transition from the Biden administration to a second Trump administration, how to get the mechanics right, budget process to keep government running, how Elon Musk could play an instrumental role in revamping government contracting processes to better and more quickly deliver needed capabilities at scale, and the prospect the incoming president may choose to sack senior military leaders and replace them with new ones better suited to executing the new administration’s agenda.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs who also advises on the agenda at the annual Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia every November, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss how pollsters are calculating support for the candidates in the US presidential race, counting those that are hard to count like young voters or those who aren’t candid with pollsters, what’s driving the disconnect between the reality of a roaring US economy and the perception that it’s bad, voter sentiment worldwide as trends mirror those in the United States and more.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Kathleen McInnis, the director of the Smart Women, Smart Power program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss the new report she co-authored with Alexis Day — What Difference Does it Make? — that delves into the role of women in international security decision making.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dr. Jerry McGinn, the director of the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss his new report — “Before the Balloon Goes Up: Mobilizing the Defense Industrial Base now to Prepare for Future Conflict” — why he believes the United States isn’t prepared for prolonged future conflicts; industrial lessons from World War II, MRAP vehicles, Covid-19, and the Ukraine war; the importance of senior leadership in driving change; why 2024 is different than 1938; what America has to do to step up its production capacity; how to harness commercial industry for the challenge ahead; role of allies and partners; and an update on the Biden administration’s first ever National Defense Industrial Strategy.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Amb. John Herbst, a former US ambassador to both Uzbekistan and Ukraine who is now the senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, joins Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington to convince President Biden to allow Western weapons to be used against targets in Russia, the Biden administration’s logic in blocking the use of weapons against sites used by Moscow to attack Ukraine, why US forbearance is merely emboldening Vladimir Putin, why it’s vital Ukraine wins the war and what’s needed to achieve that aim, how America and its allies need to do to better deter Russia, the need for a strategy to counter Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, whether Europe can support Ukraine if US leaders decide against further assistance, and how much longer the conflict is likely to continue.

On today’s Strategy Series program, sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Amb. Mohammed Siad Doualeh, Djibouti’s ambassador to the United States as well as the country’s representative to the United Nations, discusses key issues that need to be addressed by world leaders when the United Nations General Assembly convenes in New York, whether the worst famine in four decades can be averted because of ongoing conflict in Sudan, how to address Houthi attacks in the Red Sea that have precipitated a drop in commercial traffic through the key waterway and threaten ecological disaster as ships are damaged and sunk, a survey of regional crises and progress made over the past year, how regional conflict and instability is driving global migration, combatting mpox now that the World Health Organization has declared the virus a public health emergency of international concern in the wake of an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, countering Russian and Chinese dis- and misinformation, and advice on how the two US presidential candidates and campaigns should think of Africa through Election Day and beyond with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.