In the first Sounds Strategic episode of 2024, host Meia Nouwens is joined by Veerle Nouwens, Dr Evan A. Laksmana and Timothy Wright to discuss the Indo-Pacific security landscape. The IISS experts explore the developments in the US-China relationship, Southeast Asian military modernisation plans in response to growing Chinese assertiveness, and the impact of recent elections in the region. Meia, Veerle, Evan and Tim also discuss the development of long-range strike capabilities in the Indo-Pacific  and the drivers in the region.

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on the podcast platform of your choice.   

Date of Recording: 25 March 2024   

We recommend the following background reading for this episode:    

The Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy programme: https://www.iiss.org/research/indo-pacific-defence-and-strategy/

IISS research report: Long-range Strike Capabilities in the Asia-Pacific: Implications for Regional Stability, https://www.iiss.org/research-paper/2024/01/long-range-strike-capabilities-in-the--asia-pacific-implications-for-regional-stability/

The Missile Dialogue Initiative: https://www.iiss.org/research/defence-and-military-analysis/missile-dialogue-initiative/

For more information, please visit https://www.iiss.org/

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The IISS celebrated the 20th anniversary of its IISS Shangri-La Dialogue on 2-4 June and underlined the prime importance of in-person defence diplomacy in the region and beyond.  

In this episode of Sounds Strategic, guest host James Crabtree, Executive Director, IISS–Asia, is joined by IISS experts Dr Bastian Giegerich, Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Dr Evan A. Laksmana and Veerle Nouwens to share their reflections and key takeaways. 

Guest host and speakers: 

• James Crabtree, Executive Director, IISS–Asia | Twitter: @jamescrabtree
• Dr Bastian Giegerich, Director of Defence and Military Analysis  
• Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia | Twitter: @Nigelgd1
• Dr Evan A. Laksmana, Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia Military Modernisation, IISS-Asia | Twitter: @EvanLaksmana
• Veerle Nouwens, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy | Twitter: @VeerleNouwens

Further reading:  

• IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2023: IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2023 - Asia's premier defence summit 

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.   

Date of recording: 6 June 2023   

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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At a time of ever-greater focus on the geopolitical and security dynamics of the Asia-Pacific, the importance of in-person debate among the region’s key actors is greater than ever. In the latest episode of Sounds Strategic, host Meia Nouwens is joined by James Crabtree, Dr Lynn Kuok, Aaron Connelly and Dr Ben Schreer to discuss the themes and topics at the upcoming IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, which will take place in Singapore on 2–4 June 2023. 

Asia’s premier security summit is a unique platform for debate, enabling government ministers and senior officials, as well as business leaders and security experts, to come together to share fresh perspectives on Asia’s developing security challenges. Our IISS experts in Singapore and Berlin address some of the key topics, including: 

• US-China relations,
• major flashpoints such as Taiwan, the South China Sea and Myanmar,
• and the role of ASEAN, Europe and Australia. 

Host and speakers:  

• Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens  
• James Crabtree, Executive Director, IISS–Asia | Twitter: @jamescrabtree 
• Dr Ben Schreer, Executive Director, IISS–Europe and Head, European Security and Defence Programme | Twitter: @BenSchreer 
• Dr Lynn Kuok, Editor, Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment; Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow | Twitter: @LynnKuok 
• Aaron Connelly, Senior Fellow for Southeast Asian Politics and Foreign Policy | Twitter: @ConnellyAL 

Further reading: 

IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2023 - Asia's premier defence summit 

The Adelphi Series: Australia’s Security in China’s Shadow 

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.   

Date of recording: 24 March 2023   

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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In the latest episode of Sounds Strategic, Meia Nouwens is joined by to Euan Graham and Nick Childs to discuss Australia’s relationship with China, and what role AUKUS plays in Australia’s defence and alliance policy settings.   

The speakers assess Australia’s policy towards China following a souring of bilateral relations and discuss what AUKUS aims to achieve in the shot and medium terms. They also touch on potential lessons for other countries of how to respond to economic and diplomatic coercive policies.  

Host and speakers:  

Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens  

Dr Euan Graham, Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy | Twitter: @graham_euan 

Nick Childs, Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security | Twitter: @ChildsNJ 

Further reading:  

The Adelphi Series: Australia’s Security in China’s Shadow | Published on 21 March 2023 

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.  

Date of recording: 24 March 2023  

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the world has witnessed unprecedented sanctions against Russia, and military and humanitarian support for Ukraine against a backdrop of ongoing military campaigns and loss of civilian life. In this new Sounds Strategic episode, host Meia Nouwens is joined by Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Maria Shagina and Franz Stefan-Gady to discuss geopolitical, economic and military takeaways from the past twelve months.

Looking ahead, our experts will also share what to watch out for in 2023, and give their views on whether and end to the war this year is likely, from their respective angles of analysis. 

Host and speakers:   

• Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy;  
• Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Editor Strategic Survey & Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia;  
• Franz Stefan-Gady, Senior Fellow for Cyber Power and Future Conflict; 
• Maria Shagina, Senior Fellow, Diamond-Brown Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy;  

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Date of recording: 14 February 

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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Two conflicts mark a new fault line in geopolitics. The West’s withdrawal from Afghanistan ended the two-decade ‘war on terror’. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine six months later began the first major European war since 1945 – reshaping security, driving innovation in economic statecraft and testing Russia’s cohesion. This podcast episode marks the launch of Strategic Survey 2022 with a discussion about the main themes and trends in geopolitics. Guest podcast host James Crabtree is joined by Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Editor Strategic Survey & Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia, Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy, and Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Middle East Security. 

Topics discussed include:  

• Main themes and trends in geopolitics 
• Russia’s war in Ukraine 
• Middle East and North Africa 
• Saudi Arabia’s changing foreign policy 
• China’s military modernisation  

Host and speakers:   

• James Crabtree, Executive Director, IISS–Asia | Twitter: @jamescrabtree | James Crabtree (iiss.org) 
• Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Editor Strategic Survey & Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia | Twitter: @Nigelgd1 | Dr Nigel Gould-Davies (iiss.org) 
• Meia Nouwens, Senior Fellow for Chinese Security and Defence Policy | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens | Meia Nouwens (iiss.org) 
• Emile Hokayem, Senior Fellow for Middle East Security | Twitter: @emile_hokayem | Emile Hokayem (iiss.org) 

Find out more about Strategic Survey 2022:  

• Strategic Survey 2022: Editor's Introduction (iiss.org)  

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Date of recording: 6 December 2022 

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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Geopolitical competition is an increasingly common feature of armed conflicts around the world. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to competing regional influences in Yemen, regional contests in Mozambique and climate-change mitigation efforts across continents. This podcast episode marks the launch of The Armed Conflict Survey 2022 with a discussion about the global conflict landscape and the conflict trends and developments that have left a mark on this year’s report. Podcast host Meia Nouwens is joined by some of the team behind the annual flagship publication – Dr Irene Mia, Dr Benjamin Petrini, Juan Pablo Bickel and Erica Pepe. 

Meia, Irene, Benjamin, Juan and Erica discuss some of the key topics explored in The Armed Conflict Survey 2022, including:  

• Recent developments in the global conflict landscape, including the global significance of the Russia–Ukraine war 
• The nexus between climate change and conflict 
• The re-emergence of protracted conflict
• The political and military weaponisation of natural resources  
• The internationalisation of conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa 
• The synthetic opioid issue that is causing troubles for policymakers in the Americas 
• The IISS Armed Conflict Global Relevance Indicator

Host and speakers:

• Meia Nouwens, IISS Senior Fellow for China | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens | Meia Nouwens (iiss.org)  
• Dr Irene Mia, Editor, Armed Conflict Survey; Senior Fellow for Latin America, and Conflict, Security and Development | Twitter: @_IreneMia | Dr Irene Mia (iiss.org) 
• Dr Benjamin Petrini, Research Fellow for Conflict, Security and Development | Twitter: @BenjaminPetrini | Dr Benjamin Petrini (iiss.org) 
• Juan Pablo Medina Bickel, Research Analyst for Conflict, Security and Development, and Latin America | Twitter: @JP_Bickel | Juan Pablo Bickel (iiss.org) 
• Erica Pepe, Senior Coordinator for Research; Research Analyst for Conflict, Security and Development | Twitter: @ericapepe7 | Erica Pepe (iiss.org) 

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Date of recording: 20 October 2022 

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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In this episode, Sounds Strategic podcast host Meia Nouwens is joined by IISS expert Nigel Inkster, Senior Adviser for Cyber Security and China, to discuss the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which took place mid-October in Beijing. The event was widely anticipated to cement Xi Jinping's third term in power. 

Meia and Nigel discuss their reflections, including the following topics: 

• Xi Jinping's leadership and the impact on the domestic political trajectory of the party  
• The social contract between the party and the Chinese population 
• The vitality of the Chinese economy and the possible leveraging of the military  
• CCP and China on the world stage 
• The impact on potential flashpoints such as Taiwan in the short term 

Speakers: 

• Meia Nouwens, IISS Senior Fellow for Chinese Defence Policy and Military Modernisation | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens | Meia Nouwens (iiss.org) 
• Nigel Inkster, Senior Adviser for Cyber Security and China | Nigel Inkster (iiss.org) 

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on the podcast platform of your choice.  

Date of Recording: 2 November 2022  

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

For more information visit The International Institute for Strategic Studies

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Taiwan has been at the forefront of geopolitical concern in Asia and beyond, following Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei and the string of military exercises conducted by China in early August. Podcast guest host James Crabtree is joined by IISS experts Meia Nouwens, Franz-Stefan Gady and Henry Boyd to discuss the recent developments. 

Topics the speakers address in this episode: 

• Taiwan’s political leadership 
• People’s Liberation Army’s military exercises around Taiwan 
• Development of capability design and cognitive advantage  
• Potential lessons from Ukraine 
• Impact of disinformation and public perception 
• Emerging technological capabilities 

Guest host: James Crabtree, Executive Director, IISS–Asia | Twitter: @jamescrabtree | James Crabtree (iiss.org) 

• Meia Nouwens, IISS Senior Fellow for Chinese Defence Policy and Military Modernisation | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens | Meia Nouwens (iiss.org)  
• Franz-Stefan Gady, Senior Fellow for Cyber Power and Future Conflict | Twitter: @HoansSolo | Franz-Stefan Gady (iiss.org)  
• Henry Boyd, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis | Henry Boyd (iiss.org)  

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on the podcast platform of your choice. 

Date of Recording: 28 September 2022 

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

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Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the world has witnessed unprecedented sanctions against Russia, and military and humanitarian support for Ukraine against a backdrop of ongoing military campaigns and loss of civilian life. In this episode of Sounds Strategic, host Meia Nouwens is joined by four IISS experts to discuss the past six months, and what’s next in terms of military operations, political strategies and economic sanctions. 

Meia Nouwens and IISS experts Dr Maria Shagina, Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Franz-Stefan Gady and Henry Boyd discuss:   

• The state of Russian and Ukrainian armed forces 
• The impact of sanctions on the civilian and military sectors in Russia 
• Eastern Europe and the role of Turkey 
• Military aid the next six months 

Host and speakers:

• Meia Nouwens, IISS Senior Fellow for Chinese Defence Policy and Military Modernisation | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens | Meia Nouwens (iiss.org)  
• Dr Maria Shagina, Diamond-Brown Research Fellow for Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy | Twitter: @maria_shagina | Maria Shagina (iiss.org) 
• Dr Nigel Gould-Davies, Editor, Strategic Survey; Senior Fellow for Russia and Eurasia | Twitter: @Nigelgd1 | Dr Nigel Gould-Davies (iiss.org) 
• Franz-Stefan Gady, Senior Fellow for Cyber, Space and Future Conflict | Twitter: @HoansSolo | Franz-Stefan Gady (iiss.org) 
• Henry Boyd, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis | Henry Boyd (iiss.org) 

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Date of recording: 23 August 2022 

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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NATO held its Madrid summit on 28-30 June 2022 against the backdrop of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the signing of an accession protocol for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. Podcast host Meia Nouwens is joined by IISS experts to discuss the adoption of the new Strategic Concept, its ambitions and challenges. 

Meia Nouwens and IISS experts Dr Bastian Giegerich, William Alberque, Dr Simona Soare and Fenella McGerty discuss: 

• NATO's conventional force and tasks 
• NATO’s nuclear posture and arms control 
• NATO’s defence spending ambitions 
• NATO’s innovation efforts 

Host and speakers:

• Meia Nouwens, IISS Senior Fellow for Chinese Defence Policy and Military Modernisation | Twitter: @MeiaNouwens | Meia Nouwens (iiss.org) 
• Dr Bastian Giegerich, Director of Defence and Military Analysis | Dr Bastian Giegerich (iiss.org) 
• William Alberque, Director of Strategy, Technology, and Arms Control | Twitter: @walberque | William Alberque (iiss.org) 
• Fenella McGerty, Senior Fellow for Defence Economics | Twitter: @FMcGerty | Fenella McGerty (iiss.org) 
• Dr Simona Soare, Research Fellow for Defence and Military Analysis | Twitter: @Simona_Soare | Simona Soare (iiss.org) 

We hope you enjoy listening to the episode. Don’t forget to follow, rate and subscribe to Sounds Strategic on wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. 

Date of recording: 12 July 2022 

Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS. 

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