Why did Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei get such outsized detention? She's not the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, which is the number three

in line for President of the United States, to travel to Taiwan.

And yet, it seems like the stakes are so much higher now than the last time a speaker traveled to Taiwan.

And why did the killing of Imman-Alzauer-Hieri? last time a speaker traveled to Taiwan.

And why did the killing of Imman-Al-Zahiri

get such undersized attention?

He was one of the three most important figures

in Al-Qaeda's leadership for decades. And yet the reaction to it seemed muted and why

the dwindling focus on the Russia-Ukraine war which seems to be far from over.

These are the issues we explore with Richard Fontaine,

who we wanted to check back in with.

Richard, as you know from previous episodes,

is the CEO of the Center for New American Security, which is a bipartisan foreign policy think tank in Washington, D.C.

Prior to CNAS, Richard was a foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain

and worked at the State Department, the National

Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He's on the Defense Policy Board, which is a board of outside advisors appointed by

the Biden administration to advise the Pentagon on policy issues and receive regular intelligence briefings.

Lots to unpacked with Richard Fontaine. This is Call Me Back. And I'm pleased to welcome back to the

podcast, my longtime friend Richard Fontaine. Richard, thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me back. More trouble in the world. friend Richard Fontaine. Richard, thanks for joining us.

Thanks for having me back.

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