Will AI Tank Think Tanks?
Net Assessment
As the artificial intelligence revolution advances and the Trump administration questions the value of outside experts, think tanks are facing a worsening supply-demand imbalance. Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss a recent Anthropic report outlining different economic scenarios and apply its lessons to better understand how AI will transform think tanks and the broader foreign policy community in Washington. Chris welcomes members of Congress questioning funding for the Iran War, Melanie criticizes the administration for massively subsidizing a steel mill in Iowa, and Zack laments civilian...
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Unpacking the IG Report on the Iran War
Net Assessment
With Zack out collecting frequent flyer miles, Tom Karako joins Chris and Melanie to discuss the Lead Inspector General Report on Operation Epic Fury. When the war began in February, were the administration’s stated objectives aligned with the resources needed to fight it? Are they now? What does America’s use of so many high-end weapons tell us about our strategy? And what can we learn about the activities of the State and Treasury Departments during the war? Chris has a grievance for corruption in defense contracting, Tom remembers the late Sen. Jon Kyl, and Melanie wishes Capitals...
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Lessons Learned (and Unlearned) from the GWOT
Net Assessment
In this show, the Net Assessment crew ponders the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Twenty-five years after 9/11 and five years after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. what lessons have we learned about warfare? Does our experience in Afghanistan, and now in Iran, demonstrate that the American military has an outsized fixation on lethality? To better prepare for future conflicts, how should strategists think about how adversary human networks behave? Attas for former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, and grievances for Argentina’s Javier Milei...
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Science: A New Golden Age?
Net Assessment
The team sits down to talk about the new OSTP report, Science: A New Golden Age. What role should the government have in the scientific enterprise? What should national scientific goals be? It is time to integrate new funding models into research and development, or does that unacceptably increase the risk for politicization of science? Does the report’s emphasis on breakthroughs that benefit the public more quickly ignore the importance of foundational research? Coming up on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Chris gives an atta to Joe Biden for making the hard decision to withdraw...
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The Beginning of the End in the Middle East?
Net Assessment
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate Michael Fuchs’s recent article arguing for a U.S. withdrawal from the Middle East. They also discuss the impact of the Iran War and shifting American attitudes towards Israel as well as the Saudi-U.S. nuclear deal and the Saudi-Turkish-Pakistani collective defense agreement. Chris commends the Congressional Budget Office’s battleship assessment, and Melanie gives credit to CSIS’s team for its work on munitions, while Zack laments the Congress giving the executive branch more leeway on tariffs. *The Net Assessment Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and...
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A Strategy of Denial?
Net Assessment
Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss public attitudes toward the United States and China, and the Trump administration’s response -- which mostly seems to deny that they matter. Why does much of the world view the United States less favorably, and China more favorably, than it did just a few years ago? Is this just a temporary decline that can be overcome with a new administration or nicer advisors? Does it even matter to American interests if we aren’t loved? Grievances to the Pentagon for its secrecy and dissembling around casualties in the Iran War, and for thinking that its problems...
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Net Assessment Assesses the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment
Net Assessment
Chris, Zack, and Melanie have a look at the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment. Does the document get the threats, and their prioritiztion, right? How does Trump administration policy align with what the intelligence community determines to be the most critical threats facing the US in the next year? Has the two-decades-old ODNI experiment has run its course? Chris commends Global Affairs Canada and the Stimson Center for jointly honoring the late Stimson Center president, Brian Finlay, with an award in his name, the Brian Finlay Innovation in Threat Reduction Award. Zack has some kind words for...
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Apocalypse Soon? The US and NATO at a Crossroads
Net Assessment
With Chris galavanting across Europe, Stimson’s Emma Ashford joins Melanie and Zack to debate whether the United States is undermining deterrence in Europe. What does a decreased U.S. conventional commitment mean for the risk of nuclear escalation? And might Vladimir Putin see this as an opportunity to test the alliance by attacking a NATO member, either now or in the future? Emma also commends Scotland's Tartan Army while Melanie criticizes the firing of General Christopher Donahue and Zack laments the dismissal of career officials by the acting Director of National Intelligence. ...
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Might the United States Lose Access to Foreign Bases?
Net Assessment
In this show, Chris, Melanie, and Zack consider the benefits and costs for U.S. allies and partners who host U.S. bases on their territory. As traditional allies have limited air space and basing access to the United States during the Iran war, has a major fault line in American strategy been publicly exposed? And if allies do limit wartime access in the future, will it stop the United States from fighting both wise and unwise wars? Grievances for Keir Starmer’s government in the UK, especially its approach to national security and energy; for Tulsi Gabbards’ decision to release...
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Mexico's Fight against the Cartels
Net Assessment
Chris, Zack, and Melanie have a chat about how Mexico is handling the drug cartels, which continue to perpetrate terrible violence and facilitate massive corruption in the country. Can President Claudia Sheinbaum enact an anti-cartel strategy that will reduce the violence? Are institutions in government and the private sector too corrupt for any strategy to succeed? Will Trump, whose patience with Sheinbaum is limited, order military strikes on cartel targets in Mexico? And does she have any leverage to prevent this? Chris recognizes the life and legacy of Brian Finlay, Stimson’s...
info_outlineWith Zack out collecting frequent flyer miles, Tom Karako joins Chris and Melanie to discuss the Lead Inspector General Report on Operation Epic Fury. When the war began in February, were the administration’s stated objectives aligned with the resources needed to fight it? Are they now? What does America’s use of so many high-end weapons tell us about our strategy? And what can we learn about the activities of the State and Treasury Departments during the war?
Chris has a grievance for corruption in defense contracting, Tom remembers the late Sen. Jon Kyl, and Melanie wishes Capitals hockey player Alexander Ovechkin would stop campaigning for Vladimir Putin.
Show Links:
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Lead Inspector General Report on Operation Epic Fury, DOD Office of Inspector General, September 14, 2026.
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Estimating the Cost of Combat Operations in Iran, Congressional Budget Office, September 15, 2026.
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Noah Robertson, Tara Copp, Warren P. Strobel, and Alex Horton, More US Troops Have Died Amid Iran War Than Pentagon Has Disclosed Publicly, Washington Post, September 18, 2026.
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Ellen Milligan, Michael Neinaber, and Andrea Palasciano, US Warns Allies of Missile Delivery Delays Due to Shortage, Bloomberg, September 18, 2026.
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Eric Schmitt, Cost of Iran War Estimated at $43.6 Billion, New York Times, September 18, 2026.
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Robert Klemko, X post, September 17, 2026.
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James Paterson, Speech to the Submarine Institute of Australia, September 22, 2026.
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Tom Corben, Jennifer Parker, Satoru Mori, and Jeffrey Hornung, Australia, Japan, and the United States: Implementing a Trilateral Denial Strategy along the First Island Chain, United States Studies Centre, September 15, 2026.
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Jack Goldsmith, Glenn Fine, Jen Patja, What Does the Inspector General Do?, Lawfare podcast, December 10, 2024.
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William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden and Kirsten Berg, “The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way,” ProPublica,
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September 22, 2026.
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Richard Gowan, “Shrink the UN: The Next Secretary-General Must Get Back to Basics,” Foreign Affairs, September 21, 2026.
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U.S. Foreign Policy and the Separation of Powers: A Conference on Law, Power, and Democratic Accountability in a Changing International Order, Tufts University, September 24–25, 2026.
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“The Second Trump-Xi Summit: Takeaways from the US, China, and Russia,” Online Event, Stimson Center, September 28, 2026.
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The Sandra Day O’Connor–Washington Union Debate Series at George Washington University, October 3, 2026.
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Tom Karako, “Sing Missile Muse: America’s Most Fearsome Weapons Need Better Names,” War on the Rocks, June 7, 2021.
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Josh Hawley, “Why I wont Vote to Add Finland and Sweden to NATO,” The National Interest, August 1, 2022.
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Tom Cotton, “Speech on the Senate Floor”, August 3, 2022.
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Tom Karako and Mark Cancian, “Munitions Shortages after Epic Fury,” CSIS, August 5, 2026.
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Amy B. Wang and Alexei Koseff, “Jon Kyl, a former top Republican in the Senate, dies at 84,” Washington Post.
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Chris Lunday, Germany Plans a €12 Billion Missile Program to Deter Putin, Politico Europe, August 21, 2026.
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Laura Pitel and Christopher Miller, Germany Urges US to Allow Patriot Missile Production in Europe, Financial Times, September 23, 2026.