Small World, Big Problems

Join us for a special audio-video episode, also available in video form on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqBlbd4_1TU.
Professor Edward P. Joseph sits down with rising second-year MAIR student Manolo Préstamo for a wide-ranging conversation on the geopolitics of the 2026 World Cup. As the tournament unfolds across North America, the two examine how the world's most-watched sporting event has become a mirror of global politics.
They discuss the prominence of immigrant and dual-national players on national teams amid an increasingly charged global discourse on migration, and what the absence of major powers — Russia, banned from international competition, and China, unable to qualify — reveals about the shifting relationship between sporting prestige and geopolitical standing.
The conversation also turns to the politics playing out in the stands, from some Iranian supporters waving pre-revolutionary monarchist flags to the broader ways fans use the tournament as a stage for contestation back home.
Produced by the Phillip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Produced and edited by Wasay Mir.

Sanjana Polapragada sits down with President Jakov Milatović of Montenegro, NATO’s youngest head of state, for a timely conversation on how Montenegro, as a small state, can exercise influence at a decisive moment for its EU ambitions, economic future, and role in a world shaped by geopolitical tensions and shifting alliances.
From Montenegro’s push toward EU accession to its new economic growth model, President Milatović offers a candid look at the choices shaping his country’s future. The conversation explores economic diplomacy, international trade, and how governments can support those left behind by global change. It also examines the pressures Montenegro faces between East and West, including gray zone warfare and Russian and Chinese influence. At its heart, the episode explores Montenegrin identity: how unity, inclusion, and shared civic values can bind together a multiethnic and multireligious society.
Blending geopolitics, governance, and personal insight, this episode offers a compelling look at leadership, resilience, and the role small states can play in shaping a more stable world order.
This podcast was produced by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS. Researched and hosted by Sanjana Polapragada; edited by Sanjana Polapragada & Vishal Gogusetti

Riley Bryant sits down with Dr. Deborah Wituski, a 20-year veteran of the CIA and an early contributor to the emerging field of private sector intelligence services.
In an increasingly globalized economy, what happens when profit motives intersect with national security imperatives? How can traditional intelligence agencies adapt to incorporate these new perspectives coming out of the private sector?
Drawing on case studies, policy frameworks, and her own experience, Dr. Wituski tells us about her jump from government to Google, the similarities and differences between public and private sector intelligence work, and what the future of these parallel industries may hold.
This podcast was produced by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Researched, hosted, and edited by Riley Bryant

Krithiga Narayanan hosts a conversation with Michael Coppedge, co-founder and principal investigator of the Varieties of Democracy Project (V-Dem), one of the world’s leading efforts to measure and analyze democratic change.
Drawing on V-Dem’s latest global data, Coppedge examines how shifts within democratic systems are reshaping the international order and altering global power dynamics.
The discussion explores how democratic erosion often unfolds gradually rather than through abrupt breakdowns, why electoral autocracies are becoming more common, and how changes in large and influential democracies, such as India, carry consequences that extend beyond national borders.
Together, they assess whether coordination among autocratic leaders is strategic or ad hoc, what the data reveals about early warning signs of democratic decline, and where opportunities for democratic resilience still exist.
Produced by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Researched and hosted by Krithiga Narayanan; edited by Krithiga Narayanan

This episode was recorded on Jan 21, 2026.
Wasay Mir hosts a conversation with Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute and one of the most influential voices on US-Iran relations in Washington.
A Johns Hopkins SAIS PhD and author of four books on American foreign policy in the Middle East, Parsi unpacks Iran's unfolding domestic crisis in January 2026. Seven months after devastating strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, mass protests have erupted amid economic collapse and an unprecedented regime crackdown.
Together, they explore whether this uprising differs from past movements like the Green Revolution or Mahsa Amini protests, what the collapse of Iran's regional proxy network means for the regime's survival, and whether Gulf states actually want a weakened Iran or fear what comes after.
Parsi's personal history as the son of an outspoken academic who faced repression under both the Shah and Ayatollah Khomeini provides unique insight into Iranian authoritarianism.
Produced by the Phillip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Researched and hosted by Wasay Mir; edited by Vishal Gogusetti