Hudson Institute Events Podcast

Hudson will host Federal Communications Commissioner Olivia Trusty for an address on the national security importance of America’s communications infrastructure. She will discuss how geopolitical competition and evolving physical and cyber threats are reshaping communications networks into critical strategic assets. She will also outline the FCC’s role in promoting network reliability, resilience, and continuity of service. Finally, she will emphasize cybersecurity as a shared responsibility and highlight priorities for strengthening the United States’ leadership through modernized, secure, and resilient communications systems.

In an increasingly dangerous geopolitical environment, a bipartisan consensus has emerged that the United States needs to reindustrialize. This is a welcome realization, but it raises a major question: What institutions and tools can Washington use to ensure that America can produce components, weapons, and equipment quickly and at scale? To incentivize growth in the defense industrial sector, the Department of War has created the Office of Strategic Capital and begun to identify useful authorities related to the Defense Production Act. It is also exploring other financial tools and modalities that could help restore US industrial independence. Join Senior Fellow Nadia Schadlow and an expert panel for a discussion on the DoW’s financial tools, the extent of the department’s authorities, and the role it will play in the broader American reindustrialization effort.

Since joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alongside Lithuania and Estonia over 20 years ago, Latvia has been a key part of the alliance’s Baltic Sea posture. Riga continues to invest heavily in security, expanding the size of its armed forces, procuring key capabilities like American-made High-Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and building out a Baltic defense line alongside Estonia and Lithuania. Bordering the Baltic Sea, Russia, and Belarus, Latvia’s geographical importance is obvious. Additionally, Latvia has been a strong supporter of Ukraine in its war for survival. Since 2022, the country’s contributions to Ukraine are the fourth largest relative to gross domestic product. And Latvia will join the United Nations Security Council in January 2026 before taking on the UNSC’s rotational presidency in November. To discuss the future of Latvian foreign policy, Peter Rough will welcome Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Baiba Braže back to Hudson for a fireside chat.

Institutions of higher education in the United States have long benefitted from free and open collaboration with overseas partners. But foreign adversaries like China have exploited this openness to infiltrate American colleges and universities with programs like Confucius Institutes and Chinese Student-Scholars Associations. Beijing also uses generous financial contributions to infuse its propaganda and interests into American campuses. By exploiting America’s education system, the Chinese Communist Party is attacking core American values like free speech and imperiling US national security. Join Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik for a conversation with Sarah McLaughlin, a senior scholar at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, about her recent book on this subject, Authoritarians in the Academy.

Russia’s war against Ukraine and Moscow’s constant meddling in Moldova’s internal affairs have only galvanized the Moldovan people’s commitment to a Euro-Atlantic path. In the country’s October elections, Moldovans reaffirmed this Western trajectory. Despite Russian interference, Moldova conducted free and fair elections, resulting in the formation of a pro-European government. Since formally beginning European Union accession talks in December 2023, Moldova has made significant progress toward full membership. Notably, the country has become an important component of the European security landscape amid Russia’s ongoing war. Meanwhile, relations between the United States and Moldova have deepened in recent years. But much work remains. Hudson’s Luke Coffey will host Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihai Popșoi, Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament Igor Grosu, and Center for Strategic and International Studies Senior Associate Leah Kieff to examine the political, security, and geopolitical situation in Moldova and identify next steps.