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This is fresh air.

I'm Dave Davies.

Today we're going to consider the state and future course of two bloody conflicts occupying the world's attention

with veteran foreign policy analyst Daniel Byman.

He recently returned from Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia

since Moscow invaded the country more than two years ago.

Russian forces have made gains in eastern Ukraine, but earlier this month the Ukrainian army

launched a daring offensive into Russia itself.

Seizing territory the Russian army has so far been unable to retake.

We'll also look at the future of Gaza, where Israeli forces have waged a fierce retaliatory campaign

against Hamas following the brutal October 7th assault in southern Israel.

The Israeli campaign has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties as efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and the return of Israeli hostages by Hamas are ongoing.

Biman recently wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine,

exploring options for the governance of Gaza when the conflict subsides.

Daniel Byman is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He's also a professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

He's the author of nine books and more than 200 academic and policy articles.

Well Daniel Byman, welcome back to Fresh Air.

Thanks for having me.

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