Afleveringen
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Over the weekend, the United States signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran to begin negotiations on a nuclear deal. To understand what a good deal would entail, it is important to assess the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program following Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury, as well as the timeline on which Tehran could produce a weapon despite these setbacks. David Albright argues that securing Tehran's admission of the program's existence and permitting on-the-ground IAEA inspections should be among the top priorities. A weak agreement lacking robust verification measures and proper extraction of nuclear materials could ultimately strengthen Iran, given the potential influx of fungible cash and the absence of sanctions that have allegedly circled discussions. In that case, is no deal better than a bad deal? What will it take to disarm the nuclear threat?
David Albright is the founder and President of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C. He has written numerous assessments on secret nuclear weapons programs throughout the world has authored or co-authored nine books and briefed policymakers on non-proliferation policy making. Albright cooperated with the IAEA Action Team analyzing Iraqi documents and was the first non-governmental inspector of the Iraqi nuclear program. Previously, Albright was a member of the Health Advisory Panel in his capacity as a physicist and was appointed to the Department of Energy Openness Advisory Panel. He is currently an American Physical Society (APS) Fellow and the 2006 recipient of the APSâs Joseph A. Burton Forum Award.
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While the worldâs attention has been fixed on the war in Iran, the battlefield in Ukraine has largely shifted in Kyivâs favor. ISWâs George Barros joins us to explain how Ukrainian innovations in drone warfare, logistics, and battlefield technology have slowed Russiaâs advance, increased Russian casualties, and created new opportunities for Ukrainian counterattacks. These developments are especially meaningful for future peace negotiations, as Russiaâs strategy is showing signs of severe strain. Putinâs wartime claims and demands have become even more ridiculous as Ukraine strikes deeper into Russian territory. Ukraineâs wartime innovations are already helping protect American forces around the world as they reshape the future of warfare in real time. Free democracies like Ukraine tend to outpace their adversaries in innovation, and the United States should do more to friend-shore critical industries and pursue military industrial cooperation to our mutual benefit.
George Barros is the Director of Innovation and Open Source Tradecraft at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), previously led ISWâs Russia Team and founded ISW GEOINT Team and has served as a policy advisor on Ukraine and Russia for a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee member. His analyses and interviews have appeared in outlets including The Hill, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters, Voice of America, and more.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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In his relentless pursuit of a deal with Iran, Donald Trump has now returned to military escalation, resuming combat operations and warning that the United States will seize Iranâs key oil export hub on Kharg Island. This so-called moderate ceasefire signals a renewed campaign of punishing strikes on Iran until it agrees to terms set by the administrationâs negotiating team. As Miad explains, however, Iranâs hardline is not the âleverageâ Tehran believes it to be, because Iran ultimately must reopen the Strait of Hormuz for its own economic survival. But at this moment, Donald Trump has no viable partner for peace, and Iran will likely never offer such an option. As Marc and Dany point out, there is no Iranian Delcy RodrĂguez, and these kinds of arrangements have expiration dates, particularly as 2028 approaches. As long as the sole measure of success in Iran is a negotiated deal, the Iranians hold the power to decide whether victory is possible. It is up to Trump to decide whether that's acceptable.
Miad Maleki is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), former senior U.S. sanctions strategist and national security leader, and former associate director for the Treasuryâs Office of Global Targeting at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Miad played a central role in marshalling the Treasury Departmentâs sanctions campaigns against the Iranian regime and its proxy groups: Hezbollah, Hamas, Iraqi Shiite militias, and the Houthis. He is also a U.S. Air Force Veteran.
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Weâre now in the eighth week of a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The Trump Administration is stuck in a holding pattern as Iranian negotiators continue to ignore US redlines and both sides insist on their own superior leverage. The unfortunate reality is that many in the Trump Administration are being fed a false calculus and discredit the ability of the US military to maintain the blockade, open the Strait, and destroy and extract nuclear material. To entertain such Iranian wishes as a billion-dollar reconstruction fund ignores the fact that CENTCOM Commander Bradley Cooper has confirmed: it would take 10-14 days to accomplish the full breadth of our military objectives in Iran. Yet, the Trump Administration is committed to making a deal, with Secretary Rubio echoing the same commitment to the negotiation seesaw. But Iran is an inherently bad faith actor. And it is using the upcoming midterms to its advantage. What now? How will we break the cycle? Thankfully we have General Jack Keane, who provides a clear-eyed strategy for victory against Iran.
General Keane is widely recognized as one of Americaâs most respected authorities on foreign policy and national security. He is a retired four-star Army general, former Vice Chief of Staff of the Army having served our nation in uniform for 37 years. He is Fox News senior strategic analyst and is the chairman of the Institute for the Study of War.
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The United States has poured billions into the United Nations to fund relief works, but not all that money goes where you might think. Years of impunity have allowed murder, rape, kidnapping and fraud to flourish in the UN system, yet the UN Secretary General and his team have stonewalled investigations, invoked "privileges and immunities" to shield employees, and protected the worst of the worst. And then there's UNRWA, where investigations report as many as 1,500 employees are members of Hamas, some of whom participated directly in the October 7th attacks on Israel. The USAID Inspector General, operating independently from the State Department, is digging into the corruption and fraud buried inside the UN system and within its ranks. In a break from our usual call for Congress to do its job, we're giving credit where it's due: Members are shining a light on this issue but while Congress requires vetting when writing checks to these agencies, legal requirements are regularly ignored by both Republicans and Democrats in the Executive Branch. The UN's broad "privileges and immunities" have become a cover for taxpayer funded grift and a shield for inexcusable crimes. What can be done to support these investigations? And why continue funding UN agencies with a proven record of violating American law and American national security?
Adam Kaplan is the acting Associate Deputy Inspector General at the U.S. Agency for International Development. He works with senior administration officials and Congress to ensure effective oversight of U.S.-funded foreign assistance, with a focus on preventing fraud, corruption, and diversion of humanitarian aid by terrorist organizations. Specializing in oversight of billions of dollars in foreign assistance to Gaza and Ukraine, Adam works with U.S., bilateral, and multilateral agencies to ensure that OIGâs criminal investigators have access to information necessary to conduct their criminal, civil, and administrative investigative work. Prior to this role, Adam served as OIGâs deputy general counsel, supporting criminal investigators and the Department of Justice on criminal investigations, False Claims Act cases, and suspension/debarment actions.
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With the 2030 Census fast approaching, battles over redistricting and congressional apportionment continue to take shape. As population shifts continue, driven by migration from blue states to red states and the influx of illegal immigrants into sanctuary cities, both parties are looking to secure a larger share of political representation in the decade ahead. At the center of the debate is the Democratic Partyâs reliance on a strict, constructivist reading of Article Iâs âFree Persons Clauseâ to justify counting illegal immigrants in reapportionment and redistricting. Critics argue that the lack of legal basis hinder our ability to police the practice and contend that the voting power of American citizens are effectively diluted. Howard proposes an alternative approach: a citizenship initiative focused on those here legally and eligible to naturalize, rather than creating what he describes as modern-day ârotten boroughsâ, districts with inflated populations but disproportionate influence in federal elections. Would the Democratic Party support such an effort? Or will they continue to double down on their outrageously unpopular embrace of high illegal immigration?
Howard Husock is a senior fellow in Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on municipal government, urban housing policy, civil society, and philanthropy. Before joining AEI, Mr. Husock was vice president for research and publications at the Manhattan Institute. He has also been a director of case studies in public policy and management at the Harvard Kennedy School, a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and a journalist and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker.
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Last week, the Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana congressional map in a 6â3 decision tied to a 1986 amendment to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. As Sarah Isgur explains, âWhat the Supreme Court has said now for 25 years, whether it's affirmative action or voting rights, is we're going to stop discriminating on the basis of race, whether you think it's good discrimination or bad discrimination or whatever else in-between, but you will not take race into account. Not when it comes to admissions to universities and not when it comes to voting.â At the heart of the debate is an ongoing misunderstanding of equality of opportunity vs equity of outcome. With both parties seeking political advantage in a zero-sum game, disentangling racial and partisan lines in congressional districting becomes nearly impossible, especially within the framework of constitutional fealty. Thus, we arrive at our regular theme: "Congress do your job!" Instead of judicial activism, can lawmakers create a neutral redistricting framework that truly separates race from politics and regulates partisan gerrymandering?
Sarah Isgur is a senior editor at The Dispatch and is based in northern Virginia. She is the host of Advisory Opinions and the editor of SCOTUSblog. Prior to joining the company in 2019, she worked in every branch of the federal government and on three presidential campaigns. Sheâs also an ABC News contributor and the author of Last Branch Standing, a deep dive into the inner workings of the Supreme Court.
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While we celebrate the US military's accomplishments over the first forty days of the Iran conflict, a less desirable outcome has been the significant expenditure of munitions and reallocation of critical resources to the region. In Last Rounds? Status of Key Munitions at the Iran War Ceasefire, Colonel (Ret.) Mark Cancian and associate Chris Park crunch the numbers on the seven most heavily used munitions. Rest assured, there's enough left to cover any scenario with Tehran, but a future conflict with China in the Western Pacific highlights inadequate Pentagon inventories. Much like Ukraine before it, this conflict exposes the fragility of America's defense industrial base, making urgent, creative solutions from what Cancian and Park call the "primordial soup of R&D" essential. So, is Washington finally ready to take that lesson seriously?
Mark Cancian (Colonel, USMCR, ret.) is a senior adviser with the CSIS Defense and Security Department. He joined CSIS in April 2015 from the Office of Management and Budget, where he spent more than seven years as chief of the Force Structure and Investment Division, working on issues such as Department of Defense budget strategy, war funding, and procurement programs, as well as nuclear weapons development and nonproliferation activities in the Department of Energy. Previously, he worked on force structure and acquisition issues in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and ran research and executive programs at Harvard Universityâs Kennedy School of Government.
Chris H. Park is a research associate for the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
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On the eve of talks in Washington between leaders in Lebanon and Israel, Beirut has signaled a push to extend the 10-day, U.S.-mediated ceasefire set to expire this Sunday. The ongoing conflict with Iran has put its proxiesâ regional struggles into the limelight, as flashpoints continue to emerge, Lebanon chief among them. As a platform for Hezbollah, Lebanon is in a unique political position, balancing an adversary at home while aligning itself more closely with the West amid regional confrontation. Donald Trump has a historic opportunity to rid the Middle East of the Iranian regime if he is willing to commit to the persistence and patience needed to see this operation through. For Israel and Lebanon, is now the time?
Ambassador David Hale is a Career Ambassador and Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute. He also currently serves as a Distinguished Fellow with the Wilson Center. Ambassador Hale previously served as US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; US Ambassador to Pakistan, Lebanon, and Jordan; and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. He is the author of American Diplomacy Toward Lebanon: Lessons in Foreign Policy and the Middle East, published by Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris in February 2024.
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One week after claims of an "Iranian victory", with Tehran supposedly leveraging the Strait of Hormuz and outmaneuvering Donald Trump, the narrative has shifted. U.S. and allied naval forces have applied sustained pressure, effectively constraining Iranian shipping and energy exports, all without deploying ground troops. With these constraints in mind and the cards in Washingtonâs hands, the real deal making begins. But, apart from the challenge of the nuclear âdust,â the missile program, and terrorism, the regime will continue to pose a threat to its own people. With time on Americaâs side, should a grand strategy consider how to best empower the Iranian people?
Miad Maleki is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a U.S. Air Force veteran. He previously worked as Associate Director for the U.S. Department of the Treasuryâs Office of Global Targeting at the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), where he played a central role in architecting the Treasury Departmentâs sanctions campaigns against the Iranian regime and its extensive network of proxy groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Iraqi Shiite militias, and the Houthis. Mr. Maleki also served as the assistant director for counterterrorism, nonproliferation, and Middle East sanctions and as OFACâs chief and senior sanctions coordinator for Iran and the Middle East.
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Against the backdrop of Operation Epic Fury and President Trumpâs frustration with military support from NATO allies, Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Washington to discuss the allianceâs evolving burden sharing. Moving away from American codependence and increasing European defense investment took center stage at this yearâs NATO Summit in The Hague, and we hope to see the fruits of that in Ukraine, along NATOâs eastern flank, and in more balanced support for U.S. efforts in Iran. Following what he described as a âcandid and frankâ conversation with the President this week, Rutte shares frank insights on the alliance, its future, and Americaâs role in addressing present day challenges in Europe.
Mark Rutte took office as the North Atlantic Treaty Organizationâs 14th Secretary General on October 1st, 2024. Prior to that Mr. Rutte served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands for almost 14 years. During this time, he presided over four coalition governments, with a distinguished record of domestic and international achievements including security, defense, employment and social affairs, and economics. He was a member of the Dutch Parliament and leader of the Dutch Peopleâs Party for Freedom and Democracy. He is a strong supporter of global and transatlantic cooperation.
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The story from mainstream media is that the core of MAGA is "split" on the war with Iran, strikes in Venezuela, the Houthis, and other Trump 2.0 international policies. This supposed "MAGA schism" over foreign policy challenges Trump's coalition of America First isolationists and hawkish establishment Republicans. But the data tells a different story. Drawing on our coverage of the Reagan National Defense Survey and the work of our guest Kristen Soltis Anderson, we find no evidence of such a divide. In fact, MAGA voters appear overwhelmingly hawkish and strongly supportive of President Trumpâs military operations, particularly in Iran. If a divide does exist within the Republican Party, it is more likely generational than ideological. What might that mean for the future of conservative foreign policy leadership? And as we look to 2028, what does a successful Republican candidate project on foreign policy according to the polls?
Kristen Soltis Anderson is a pollster, speaker, TV personality, New York Times opinion writer, commentator, and author. Kristen is Founding Partner of Echelon Insights, an opinion research and analytics firm that serves brands, trade associations, nonprofits, and political clients. She is an on-air political contributor at CNN and previously has been a contributor to Fox News Channel and ABC News. She currently writes the newsletter âCodebookâ on Substack and is the author of, âThe Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (and How Republicans Can Keep Up).â
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Operation Roaring Lion, now in its fourth week, has been a striking display of military coordination between the United States and Israel. Building on the success of decapitating Iranâs senior leadership, crippling its navy, and degrading its ability to terrorize its neighbors, U.S. and Israeli leaders are now weighing Tehranâs rhetoric against the reality of its diminished capabilities. Rumors of a âsplitâ in priorities between Washington and Jerusalem, particularly claims that President Trump is quickly seeking a âoff-rampâ, misread the resolve of both nations and fail to see the bigger picture at hand. In the remaining weeks, what objectives remain? Where do U.S. and Israeli missions converge or diverge? And what will ultimately signal their success?
Ambassador Leiter officially assumed his role as Israelâs Ambassador to Washington on January 27, 2025. Among his prominent roles, he served as an advisor to the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Chief of Staff to then-Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Education, and Acting Chairman of the Israel Ports Company. Beyond government, Leiter was affiliated with think tanks such as the Kohelet Policy Forum and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, where he focused on issues like Israeli sovereignty, security strategy, and critiques of the Oslo Accords.
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Three weeks into Operation Epic Fury, we share cautious optimism with General Jack Keane on the current state of our military operation in Iran. News of Donald Trump's negotiations with Tehran and an extended partial ceasefire require us to carefully define our objectives and determine what a good deal really requires. General Keane makes it clear, "They would have to surrender to us in major concessions all the things that we are physically taking away from them to include keeping the Strait of Hormuz open." With a three-week horizon, is regime change at the hand of the Iranians still viable? What lies at the end for this regime, once their missiles, cash, and nuclear materials are gone? And what is Admiral Coopers' game plan to get us there?
General Jack Keane is a retired 4-star general and former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army. He is the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and a Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst.
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On this episode of WTH Extra! Dany and Marc discuss their recent pieces on the war in Iran and the media coverage that has followed. Marc writes for the Post, What is the definition of victory in Iran? There are three. Dany writes in the WTH Substack, No we're not losing to Iran, detailing the myths and tropes about the ongoing war and its operational success. What Western media and our supposed "allies" fail to, or refuse, to consider, is that Iran is a unique enemy and the regime's words must be taken seriously. To root for failure is an affront to our ongoing mission and the Iranian people. So WTH? We share our wisdom with more to come...
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Our WTH saga on Chinese espionage continues with a new installment on the technology inside your car. Chris Miller details âHuawei on wheelsâ: the security threat posed by Chinese EVs, whose sensors, cameras, microphones, and radars can transmit data directly from your car to servers in China. You might be thinking, âI donât drive a Chinese car, so Iâm safe.â Unfortunately, the broader trend is cause for serious alarm. Our European allies have once again failed to regulate Chinese influence and are adopting low-cost autonomous driving technology and communication components from China that report to Chinese satellites. Why doesn't this national security threat receive the congressional attention it deserves? Marc's thesis rings true: the more we comingle our economy with China, the harder it will be to remove threats and roll back poor policy decisions. As Chris Miller puts it, âThese are smartphones on wheels, and weâve got to treat them with the requisite level of security concern.â
Chris Miller is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on Russian foreign policy, Ukraine, and broader Eurasia. He specializes in semiconductors and the geopolitics of technology. His latest book Chip War: The Fight for the Worldâs Most Critical Technology reveals the geopolitical history of the computer chip. It is a New York Times bestseller and a winner of the 2022 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award.
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Over the weekend, President Trump launched Operation Epic Fury, the most ambitious US military operation in decades. In the wake of the 2025 12-Day War, Iran again worked to reconstitute its nuclear weapons program and its missile arsenal. These threats, in combination with the massacre of tens of thousands of Iranians in January, brought the US to the brink of war. The operation has targeted IRGC command, missile defense systems, and senior regime leadership, including the Supreme Leader and his successors. Secretary Hegseth has stated that nothing is off the table, including the possible deployment of ground forces, an option potentially necessary to secure Iranâs nuclear materials. Our guest, David Albright, warns that failing to secure those materials will ultimately undermine the operationâs success. In the weeks ahead, what indicators will signal whether the regime is truly at risk of collapse? Beyond military targets, what political considerations must be addressed to ensure lasting success once combat operations cease?
David Albright is the founder and President of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C. He has written numerous assessments on secret nuclear weapons programs throughout the world, has authored or co-authored nine books and briefed policymakers on non-proliferation policy making.
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Yesterday marked the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Four years of war in which Russian forces have occupied roughly one and a half percent of Ukraineâs territory at the cost of approximately half a million lives. Our guest, Frederick W. Kagan, and his team at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) assess that Russiaâs strategy is to win at the negotiating table what it cannot seize on the battlefield. Putinâs theory of victory rests on the assumption that Russian forces will continue grinding forward indefinitely, regardless of the cost, and that he will be able to persuade the West to abandon Ukraine, ultimately forcing Kyiv to concede more than it already has. Successful negotiation requires changing Putinâs calculus. Over the past four years, Ukrainians have made their position unmistakably clear: âWe would rather die than be part of Russia.â So, what will drive this tipping point toward peace? Would a global inflection point against malign actors and axis partners change Putin's negotiating position? And what security guarantees from the West would be sufficient to sustain this hypothetical peace?
Frederick W. Kagan is a senior fellow and the director of the Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He edits CTPâs and the Institute for the Study of Warâs (ISW) daily updates on Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine. He was previously an associate professor of military history at West Point, and he earned the Distinguished Public Service Award for his volunteer service in Afghanistan. Dr. Kagan coauthored the report Defining Success in Afghanistan and is the author of the âChoosing Victoryâ report series, which recommended and monitored the US military surge in Iraq.
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Blame it on American individualism or a political aversion to regulation, but the United States has become a striking outlier in its failure to regulate the assisted reproductive technology industry. As a result, individuals from other countries have begun engaging in quasiâbirth tourism through American surrogacy contracts, and not in small numbers. Chinese billionaire Xu Bo, for example, has reportedly fathered more than 100 American children through surrogacy and has been involved in legal battles over custody, describing them as part of his âbusiness legacy". Beyond clear international abuses of U.S. surrogacy laws, there are also numerous domestic practices that warrant greater oversight and protection. The central question is why? What do they want these children for? Who, if anyone, is regulating these contracts? And why have lawmakers declined to address this rapidly growing industry?
Charles Hilu is a reporter for The Dispatch based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the company in 2024, he was the Collegiate Network Fellow at the Washington Free Beacon and interned at both National Review and the Washington Examiner. He attended the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelorâs in Political Science, where he was editor in chief of The Michigan Review and chairman of Young Americans for Freedom.
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In addition to the media blitz over Greenland triggered by President Trump, American presidents going back a century have agreed on the strategic importance of the island due to its fundamental geography, proximity, and critical sea lines. China and Russiaâs Arctic ambitions require greater defensive efforts by the (now sovereign) Danes and strong resistance to coercion should Greenlanders continue on their path to independence. Our guest sheds light on the various precedents underlying these concerns and the so-called "Cyprus Model" for the US's role. What does that roadmap look like? Do we need sovereignty to achieve our goals? If and when Greenland gains independence, what economic and security agreements will need to be made? And what impact, negative or positive, does Trump's rhetoric have on the conversation?
Alexander Gray is the Chief Executive Officer of American Global Strategies LLC, an international strategic advisory firm that he co-founded with former U.S. National Security Advisor Robert C. OâBrien. Mr. Gray most recently served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House National Security Council (NSC), where he directed the daily operations of the National Security Advisorâs immediate office, as well as the budget, personnel, and security functions of the NSC, as well as positions within the State Department and the Hill. Mr. Gray concurrently serves as Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC); a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI); and a Senior Nonresident Fellow in the GeoStrategy Initiative at The Atlantic Council.
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