Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Right Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division, argues that a foreign policy based on human rights serves US interests as does continued American membership on the United Nations Human Rights Council during an interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Center for Strategic and International Studies after a June 7, 2017, panel discussion launching the Vision of Humanity’s 2017 Global Peace Index.

2nd Lt. Tyler Brewer, USAF, a laser physicist with the US Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., discusses how the lab’s SHiELD (Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator) program can defend aircraft with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at DoD Lab Day 2017 at the Pentagon on May 18, 2017. SHiELD aims to explore the potential of lasers in pods that can be mounted onto future aircraft.

Raimundas Karoblis, Lithuania’s defense minster, said he is reassured by the deployment of NATO troops to his country and the Baltics, but would prefer an allied brigade “in each member state” to better deter Russia during a wide-ranging interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Karoblis also said Russia constitutes a wide-ranging conventional threat to the alliance and discusses Lithuania’s defense priorities, acquisition programs, conscription and cooperation with its neighbors. The discussion was taped in Washington on June 8, 2017, one day before President Donald Trump reasserted the US commitment to NATO’s Article V mutual defense clause.

Lt. Gen. Esa Pulkkinen, Finnish Army, director general of the European Union Military Staff, discusses the potential impact of losing British officers from his staff in the wake of Brexit, EU security priorities, coordination with NATO and the United States, better planning and lessons from ongoing operations in Africa with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted during the European Union’s 6th annual Common Security and Defence Policy symposium — co-hosted with the Center for Strategic and International Studies — at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington on June 6, 2017.

Heather Roff, research scientist at Arizona State University’s Global Security Initiative and senior fellow at Oxford University, discusses results from a recent global public opinion poll on autonomous weapons, as well as military and police uses of artificial intelligence, or AI, with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted during the European Union’s 6th annual Common Security and Defence Policy symposium — co-hosted with the Center for Strategic and International Studies — at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington on June 6, 2017.

Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s defense minister, discusses the role of NATO and deterring Russia, the alliance’s Article V mutual defense clause, spending priorities, cybersecurity and fighting disinformation with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted during the European Union’s 6th annual Common Security and Defence Policy symposium — co-hosted with the Center for Strategic and International Studies — at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington on June 6, 2017.

J. Matthew McInnis, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the new monograph, “The Future of Iran’s Security Policy,” discusses the logic behind Iran’s security policy, Iranian politics, the country’s recent presidential election, the nuclear deal and more with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted on June 1, 2017, at AEI’s Washington headquarters.