What's up, everybody?

My name is Dmitra Kaffinus, and you're listening to Hidden Forces,

a podcast that inspires investors, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens,

to challenge consensus narratives and learn how to think critically

about the systems of power shaping our world.

My guests in this episode of Hidden Forces are Andrea Kendall Taylor and Michael

Kaufman. Andrea is a senior fellow and the director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the

Center for a New American Security, where she specializes in Russian foreign and domestic policy,

authoritarianism, and European security. Michael is a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analysis and a fellow at the

Wilson Center, where he focuses on the Russian Armed Forces, military analyses, security

issues, and strategy.

I asked them both on the podcast today to discuss the ongoing negotiations between the United

States and Russia over ending

the Ukraine war and their implications for the future of Europe and European security, U.S.-China

relations, global commerce, and the forging of a new world order informed by Realpolitik,

economic reciprocity, and a much more transactional approach to American foreign policy.

Between the first and second hour, Andrea, Michael, and I discussed the specifics of the ongoing

peace negotiations in Riyadh, including the key factions involved in these negotiations, the

critical objectives of both parties, mutual red lines, and whether these talks are about

something much larger than just ending the Ukraine war and possibly represent the first in a series

of agreements meant to reset the global order in American foreign policy for the 21st century.

We also discuss U.S., Russian, and Chinese nuclear doctrines, the future of America's alliance structures,

...