I think we face the most complex array of threats that we've seen since the end of the Cold War.

If you think about this, this is more about a fight for the heart of the Islamic world.

It's more of a clash within that civilization than it is a clash between civilizations,

between the Islamic world and the West, let's say, as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State would like to make it.

Without question, the China-U.S. relationship is the most important in the world.

This is the rising power, challenging the United States in a number of different ways.

President Xi is stronger than any Chinese leader since Mao.

I think what's interesting is that NATO is back to essentially what it was created to do, which is to keep the Russians out.

Vladimir Putin has been the greatest gift to NATO since the end of the Cold War.

Hi, welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast.

I'm John Amble, editorial director at MWI.

And for this episode, I had the honor of speaking with General David Petraeus. General Petraeus, of course,

is in little need of introduction. His remarkable military career culminating with key command

positions of U.S. forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan, his time as commander of CENTCOM

and as the director of the CIA, all make him uniquely suited to survey the current global operating

environment and assess the future trends from the tactical level to the strategic

that will define the threats the U.S. military will face in the future.

That's exactly what he does in this wide-ranging, fascinating conversation.

A couple notes before we get started. First, if you're enjoying the MWI podcast, please take just a second and leave us a review

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