Water is essential to global society, for everything from drinking and growing food to producing energy and cultural practices. 40 percent of the world’s workforce works in sectors that rely on water, and water counts for $58 trillion in global economic output each year.
But while the industrialized world can take water access for granted, water resources around the world are increasingly under stress. Billions of people lack access to safely managed sanitation systems and drinking water, and as this critical resource grows increasingly scarce, it is becoming a trigger for, weapon in, and casualty of global conflicts.
CSIS’s David Michel, senior fellow for water security in the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program, joins the podcast to discuss global water conflict and the risks that water security poses to U.S. geopolitical and economic interests.
Listen to Hidden Depths, a new podcast from the CSIS Global Food and Water Security Program, here: https://www.csis.org/podcasts/hidden-depths
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24:13
Russia's Shadow War Against the West
Russia poses several types of threats to Western powers. In the conventional sphere, the invasion of Ukraine is a direct threat to European countries. But below the threshold of conventional war, Russia's military intelligence directorate is also carrying out "active measures," an irregular warfare campaign of sabotage and subversion against Western countries that includes the use of explosive and incendiary devices, cyberattacks, and the use of blunt or edged instruments to damage critical infrastructure like undersea cables.
The CSIS Defense and Security Department compiled a database of these attacks to analyze Russia's ongoing "shadow war" against the West. CSIS's Seth Jones, president of the CSIS Defense and Security Department, joins the podcast to discuss their findings.
Read the full analysis by Seth Jones here: https://www.csis.org/analysis/russias-shadow-war-against-west
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19:14
Trump’s Muscular Middle East Policy
Former CIA Middle East expert Norman Roule joins the podcast to discuss President Trump’s muscular approach to the Houthis in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza.
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24:15
Securing Full Stack U.S. Leadership in AI
“While AI is digital in nature, the binding constraint is physical.” While many think of the race for AI dominance as who can develop the best model, that’s only one piece of the puzzle. Frontier models, data centers, leading-edge chips, energy sources, and digital networks all form the full stack of AI leadership—and any one of them could be a point of failure. CSIS’s Navin Girishankar, president of the CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department, and Joseph Majkut, director of the CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change program, join the podcast to discuss their new research on how to secure U.S. full stack leadership in AI, especially expanding energy production to power future AI needs.
Read CSIS’s latest research on full stack AI leadership here: https://www.csis.org/analysis/securing-full-stack-us-leadership-ai
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21:47
Measles Outbreak Implications
The United States is experiencing the worst measles outbreak in 30 years and the highest rate of contraction in the past six years after nearly eradicating the disease. Cases have surged in communities with low immunization coverage, raising concerns about further transmission. Hospitals are reporting an increase in severe cases, particularly among young children and immunocompromised individuals. Experts urge immediate action, emphasizing that vaccination remains the most effective defense against the highly contagious virus. CSIS’s J. Stephen Morrison joins the podcast to discuss the outbreak and the risks associated with it.
Events:
Increasing Measles Vaccination Coverage to Improve Global Health Security
France