D Brief Weekly: Jan. 30
Defense One Radio
This roundup includes developments from the following newsletters, which you can read in greater detail at the links below: • Friday, • Thursday, • Wednesday, • Tuesday, • Monday, And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that .
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The known perils of regime change
Defense One Radio
A scholar of civil wars warns against repeating the past mistakes from U.S. military interventions abroad. Guest: , director of the Center for Strategic Studies and a professor of international politics at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; her essay “Can the US ‘run’ Venezuela? Military force can topple a dictator, but it cannot create political authority or legitimacy” was published earlier this month in .
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Introducing: The D Brief Weekly
Defense One Radio
A new audio roundup of leading national security news for the week ending January 23, 2026. If you'd like to read our daily newsletter, The D Brief, you can find that here: And if you're not already subscribed, you can do that here: Note: While we plan to use AI audio cloning in future "D Brief Weekly" episodes, we did not use it for this episode.
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Conflicts to watch in 2026
Defense One Radio
CFR's Paul Stares unpacks the latest annual survey of foreign policy experts bracing for what might lie ahead. Guest: , General John W. Vessey senior fellow for conflict prevention and director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations. Read the 2026 Preventive Priorities Survey results published this week at CFR .
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Paul Scharre explains the global AI arms race
Defense One Radio
The former Army Ranger explores how AI might reshape drone warfare, America's tech race with China, Russia's war in Ukraine, and much more. Guest: , executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security and author of several books, including “,” and “.”
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Rep. Rob Wittman
Defense One Radio
The Virginia Republican discusses the Pentagon’s acquisition reforms, the defense secretary’s legislative-affairs bottleneck, and his priorities for the upcoming spending bills. Guest: Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, in conversation with Defense One Executive Editor Bradley Peniston.
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Jon Wolfsthal and “A House of Dynamite”
Defense One Radio
A veteran of the National Security Council shares what the movie got right and wrong on U.S. missile defense and nuclear command and control. Guest: , Director of Global Risk at the Federation of American Scientists.
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Europe’s “drone wall”
Defense One Radio
Patrick Tucker explains what he learned during a recent trip to Eastern Europe.
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“The Wounded Generation” by David Nasaw
Defense One Radio
A celebrated historian shares years of research into the quiet and not-so-quiet struggles of millions of American veterans returning home from World War II. Guest: , historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and author of “.”
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Europe's growing defense industry
Defense One Radio
The EU's ambassador to the U.S. underscores the importance of the bloc's $910 billion defense plans known as Readiness 2030. Guest: European Union Ambassador to the United States .
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- Marine Lt. Gen. Roger B. Turner of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, and the 3D Marine Division's Maj. Gen. Christian F. Wortman, in conversation with Defense One's Jennifer Hlad.
You can view our other 2025 State of Defense interviews here.