Jon B. Alterman holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Before assuming his current role, he led the CSIS Middle East program for more than 20 years and was a senior vice president at CSIS for more than a decade. Prior to joining CSIS in 2002, he served on the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State and as special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. From 2009 to 2019, he served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. In addition to his policy work, he is also a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology and has frequently taught at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the George Washington University, and other local universities. Earlier in his career, he was a scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace and at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as well as a legislative aide to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-NY), responsible for foreign policy and defense. From 1993 to 1997, he was an award-winning teacher at Harvard University, where he received his PhD in history. Alterman has lectured in more than 35 countries on five continents on subjects related to the Middle East and global strategy. He is the author or coauthor of four books and editor of five more. In addition to academic work, he consults for business and government and is a frequent commentator in print, on radio, and on television. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other major publications. He is a former international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is now a life member. He received his AB from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
Jon B. Alterman holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Before assuming his current role, he led the CSIS Middle East program for more than 20 years and was a senior vice president at CSIS for more than a decade. Prior to joining CSIS in 2002, he served on the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State and as special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. From 2009 to 2019, he served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. In addition to his policy work, he is also a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology and has frequently taught at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the George Washington University, and other local universities. Earlier in his career, he was a scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace and at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as well as a legislative aide to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-NY), responsible for foreign policy and defense. From 1993 to 1997, he was an award-winning teacher at Harvard University, where he received his PhD in history. Alterman has lectured in more than 35 countries on five continents on subjects related to the Middle East and global strategy. He is the author or coauthor of four books and editor of five more. In addition to academic work, he consults for business and government and is a frequent commentator in print, on radio, and on television. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other major publications. He is a former international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is now a life member. He received his AB from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
In Episode 478 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Jon Alterman, the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about why the Islamic Republic of Iran has refused to capitulate in its war with the United States and Israel,, how Russia and China are positioning themselves to exploit the conflict, and what recent wars have taught us about the future of warfare and a potential direct military confrontation between the United States and China.
The first hour examines the constellation of tools Tehran has cultivated to compensate for its conventional military weakness, and which have been deployed to great effect against the United States and Israel, and the mismatch between the speed of modern warfare and the speed with which political change is demanded in Washington, which has frustrated the architects of this latest military campaign from the outset. They also discuss the deepening of US-Israeli military integration following October 7th, the implications for peace negotiations of an Iranian political economy whose survival is bound up with its pariah status, and what a viable diplomatic off-ramp might ultimately look like for Tehran, Washington, Tel Aviv, and other countries with a vested interest in how this war turns out.
The second hour is devoted to how Moscow and Beijing are already positioning themselves to exploit the war, the structural challenges that may render China less ascendant than the consensus narrative suggests, and the rupture in transatlantic and US-Canada relations that Jon believes will leave permanent scars regardless of who occupies the White House at the end of Trump’s second term. They also discuss the implications for the Gulf in light of the UAE’s announced departure from OPEC, the deepening Saudi-Emirati rivalry, the durability of the “exit narrative” that has flourished among a new class of transnational elites in this more volatile global security environment, and what the war between the US, Israel, and Iran and other recent conflicts have taught us about what a direct military confrontation between the United States and China might actually look like.
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Jon B. Alterman holds the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Before assuming his current role, he led the CSIS Middle East program for more than 20 years and was a senior vice president at CSIS for more than a decade. Prior to joining CSIS in 2002, he served on the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State and as special assistant to the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. From 2009 to 2019, he served as a member of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel. In addition to his policy work, he is also a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology and has frequently taught at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the George Washington University, and other local universities. Earlier in his career, he was a scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace and at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as well as a legislative aide to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan (D-NY), responsible for foreign policy and defense. From 1993 to 1997, he was an award-winning teacher at Harvard University, where he received his PhD in history. Alterman has lectured in more than 35 countries on five continents on subjects related to the Middle East and global strategy. He is the author or coauthor of four books and editor of five more. In addition to academic work, he consults for business and government and is a frequent commentator in print, on radio, and on television. His opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and other major publications. He is a former international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is now a life member. He received his AB from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
