#geopolitical-strategy
155 episodes · Page 2 of 7
#4232: Building Israel's Future: A Policy Platform
Five policy pillars to fix housing, cost of living, religion-state, education, and regional integration.
#4220: Venice's Playbook: City-States, Confederacies, and Modern Autonomy
Could Renaissance Italy's city-state model solve today's governance conflicts? Venice's rise and limits hold surprising lessons.
#4215: How Foreign Powers Quietly Shape Elections
From Roman bribery to Iranian botnets, the hidden history of election meddling and why it's getting harder to detect.
#4099: The Resort That Ran the Country
How a private club became an unofficial center of American government — poolside nuclear briefings and all.
#4098: Taqiyya, Hudna, and Jihad: A Strategic Grammar
How Iran and militant groups use four Islamic concepts as a coherent strategic doctrine.
#4086: Rubio vs Trump vs Vance: Iran's 3-Way Split
Marco Rubio's Cuba-rooted worldview sees Iran as non-negotiable — and it's clashing with Trump and Vance in real time.
#4084: Vance's Honor Code: From Appalachia to Iran Policy
How JD Vance's Appalachian upbringing shapes a foreign policy that confuses allies and threatens adversaries.
#4081: Why Flag-Planting Beats Policy in Israeli Politics
How coalition math, voter incentives, and media loops reward provocation over governance in Israel.
#4056: How a $150 Geopolitical AI Simulation Scales to $15,000
One simulation run costs $150. To get meaningful results, you need 100 runs—that’s $15,000.
#4050: Sun Tzu vs Machiavelli: What Actually Divides Them
Two dead strategists, two opposing worldviews. Why Silicon Valley keeps mixing them up — and why it matters.
#4043: Buying a Passport Online: Inside the CBI Market
Why wealthy people spend six figures on passports from countries they've never visited — and how platforms like CitizenX make it possible.
#4005: Why Do Second Chambers Exist? A Global Guide
Second chambers exist for four very different reasons — and most people get them wrong.
#4001: How Many Democracies Are There Really?
Only 8.4% of the world lives in a full democracy. But the differences between democracies may matter more than the label.
#3998: How Other Democracies Solved Political Fragmentation
Germany, Turkey, and others show what happens when you try to engineer stability into democracy.
#3910: The Street That Told Him to Leave
When a Friday afternoon encounter reveals how religious extremism is reshaping Jerusalem's urban fabric.
#3862: Why Your Books Got the City Centre Wrong
Is the "poor inner city" a literary myth? Jerusalem's luxury towers vs. Dickens' slums.
#3861: How a Tiny Gulf State Became Indispensable to Israel-Hamas Mediation
Why does a country with 380,000 citizens hold the keys to the Middle East's biggest conflict?
#3856: Does Economic Peace Actually Work?
Decades of theory, billions spent—yet extremism rose. What the data actually shows.
#3750: The Islamabad MoU: A Clause-by-Clause Skeptic's Breakdown
A clause-by-clause analysis of the new U.S.-Iran MoU, examining the 60-day clock, the $300B pledge, and the nuclear loopholes.
#3746: The Ceiling Nobody Can Agree On: How Much Is Too Much for Defense?
NATO's 2% target worked. But what happens when a country spends 5%, 8%, or even 30% of GDP on defense?
#3745: Europe's Quiet Military Build-Up: Who's Buying What?
Germany locks in 2% defense spending. Poland builds Europe's largest army. A look at who's buying what.
#3645: Syria’s Minorities After Assad: Alawites, Druze, and the New Map
What happens to the Alawites and Druze after the regime falls? A look at Syria’s shifting sectarian landscape.
#3611: Who Are Trump’s Iran Negotiators?
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are Trump’s top Iran negotiators. What does their real estate background mean for diplomacy?
#3609: The PDF Diplomacy Era: US-Iran's Secret MoU
What does a secret, electronically-signed MoU between the US and Iran actually mean — and why is opacity the point?