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Channel • 52 Shows

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Every two weeks
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Politics

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Every two weeks
News

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Updated weekly
Government

Government

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Government

Government

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2 DAYS AGO

China's Church Divided

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Paul Mariani, Professor at Santa Clara University and author of the new book, China’s Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival. Paul unpacks the Communist Party's views on religion, how the Catholic Church navigated the turbulent politics of 1980's China, and why the Vatican has renewed a controversial deal with Beijing.

2 days ago

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40 min
11/12/2025

The Broken China Dream

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Minxin Pei, author of the new book, "The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism." Minxin traces the evolution of China's political and economic system through the post-Mao era, highlighting key moments in which the Party's efforts to strengthen collective leadership inadvertently planted the seeds of Xi Jinping's eventual power grab. To hear more from Minxin, check out the 2024 episode of Pekingology: The Sentinel State.

11/12/2025

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40 min
4 DAYS AGO

China's EUV Manhattan Project and Export Control Mythbusting with Chris McGuire

In this episode, we're joined by Chris McGuire for a conversation about AI and semiconductor export controls. We begin by discussing Chris' career path into AI and national security (1:55), then turn to his views on recent developments, including reports about a Chinese EUV prototype (11:07). We spend the rest of the episode rating common arguments against AI export controls as fact, fiction, or somewhere in-between (40:25). Chris is a Senior Fellow for China and Emerging Technologies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a leading expert on U.S.-China AI competition. Before joining CFR, he served as a career government official for over a decade, including as Deputy Senior Director for Technology and National Security at the National Security Council (NSC) from 2022 to 2024. Links to some of Chris' recent work, as discussed in the podcast, are included below. China’s AI Chip Deficit: Why Huawei Can’t Catch Nvidia and U.S. Export Controls Should Remain Testimony on Strengthening Export Controls on Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment

4 days ago

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1h 28m
1 DAY AGO

xAI's Latest Controversy and New York's New AI Safety Bill

In this episode, we examine Grok’s public posting of child sexual abuse material and non-consensual intimate imagery (00:27), the legal consequences xAI may face (12:41), and the international policy community's response (19:05). We then unpack New York’s RAISE Act, including the politics leading up to Gov. Hochul’s signature (22:51) and the final outcome of negotiations (28:16).

1 day ago

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44 min
18/12/2025

Sergey Radchenko on Ukraine Peace Negotiations

Max and Maria spoke with Sergey Radchenko about the state of affairs in peace negotiations over Ukraine as we come to the close of 2025. They discuss the different parties' goals and positions, and how this current round of negotiations compares to the talks in Istanbul at the start of the full-scale invasion back in 2022. This conversation was recorded on December 12, 2025. "America's Magical Thinking About Ukraine: A Bad Deal Is Worse Than No Deal," by Sergey Radchenko (Foreign Affairs, December 2025). "The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine: A Hidden History of Diplomacy That Came Up Short — but Holds Lessons for Future Negotiations," by Samuel Charap and Sergey Radchenko (Foreign Affairs, April 2024).

18/12/2025

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48 min
2 DAYS AGO

Dr. Chris Murray, IHME: The “Commission of Commissions.”

Dr. Chris Murray, IHME, co-chairs the Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health, which will launch its report in February at the Munich Security Conference. It is the “Commission of Commissions,” a novel, highly ambitious three-year effort to forecast what are to be the biggest, most costly problems by taking a broadened non-traditional view. It focuses on 16 factors plus hypertension, each forecast to exact over one billion life years over the next 75 years. These include the familiar big three – pandemics, climate, and conflicts – but includes other factors that rank surprisingly high: education, inequality and low economic growth, obesity, tobacco, and AMR. A wildcard such as malicious use of AI has to be taken into account. “We excluded meteors” and mirror life, the latter too early to include. The Commission calls for a rolling, annualized review, and for higher investment by governments in both promising innovative technological solutions and building better threat-ready health systems.

2 days ago

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33 min
4 DAYS AGO

Ely Ratner - Does Asia Need a Collective Defense Pact?

Mike joins Ely Ratner, Principal at The Marathon Initiative and Senior Adviser at Clarion Strategies. Previously he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs during the Biden administration, and before that he was Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). They discuss the strategic competition with China, the difficulties and opportunities around the China challenge, what the most significant things the U.S. did relating to allies and partners during the Biden Administration, and the case for a Pacific defense pact.

4 days ago

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43 min
2 DAYS AGO

Europe’s Frantic Start to 2026

Max and Donatienne discuss last month’s European Council meeting, where leaders failed to agree on the MERCOSUR trade deal but secured continued funding to Ukraine; the mounting US-EU tech fight after the EU fined X for breaching digital safety rules; and the Trump administration’s increasing pressure on Greenland. (00:00) Intro (01:18) December EUCO Review (14:11) US-EU Tech Fight (20:37) Greenland Learn more: Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts

2 days ago

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33 min
18/12/2025

Europe’s Make-or-Break Summit

Max and Donatienne discuss recent comments by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declaring the end of ‘Pax Americana’. Then, they preview a high-stakes European Council meeting, where leaders will discuss the Mercosur trade deal and the European Commission’s proposal to leverage frozen Russian assets to provide a crucial loan to Ukraine. Finally, they turn to a conversation with Dr. Thu Nguyen, Acting Co-Director of the Jacques Delors Centre, to discuss the state of democracy in the EU.  (00:00) Intro (02:05) Friedrich Merz ‘Pax Americana’ Speech (05:19) Frozen Russian Assets Loan (13:13) Mercosur Trade Deal (19:00) Interview with Thu Nguyen Learn more: Russian Roulette | CSIS Podcasts

18/12/2025

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35 min
3 DAYS AGO

A Credible Path to Political Stability Is Indispensable for Trump’s Venezuela Oil Aspirations

An audio version of “A Credible Path to Political Stability Is Indispensable for Trump’s Venezuela Oil Aspirations,” a new Commentary by CSIS’s Clayton Seigle. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

3 days ago

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10 min

CSIS podcasts feature experts & scholars on a range of critical issues surrounding geopolitics, national security, defense, & international affairs topics.

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