Hudson Institute Events Podcast

Few countries in central and eastern Europe have as much influence in the Balkans as Austria.

For centuries, Austria has forged deep personal connections with the region. The imperial legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is visible in the architecture of Zagreb and Sarajevo, and during the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, refugees fled into the heart of the Alps. More recently, Vienna has been to the Balkans what Miami is to Latin America: a gateway facilitating trade and movement. Among Balkan hands in the United States, Vienna’s Schwechat airport is familiar terrain.

While the US has supported programs that promote economic connectivity in the region, like the Three Seas Initiative (3SI), Austria plays a unique role in the Balkans through such areas as financial services. Moreover, Austrian officials like Valentin Inzko have shaped diplomacy in the Balkans, while the Austrian Bundesheer has deployed to the region as part of the Common Security and Defence Policy and other missions. Today, officials in Austria and elsewhere are discussing how the Western Balkans can be brought into the European Union.

Join Senior Fellow Peter Rough as he welcomes Claudia Bauer, minister for Europe, Integration, and Family in the Federal Chancellery of Austria, for a policy address followed by a fireside chat on how Austria sees EU enlargement in the Western Balkans.

For years, the Middle East has been one of the most volatile regions in the world. And United States foreign policy toward the region often changes drastically with each administration.

Today, a fundamentally new regional order is emerging. A weakened Iran has attempted to exercise strategic leverage over one of the world’s most critical waterways. Russian influence continues to recede, underscored by Bashar al-Assad’s fall in Syria, and Beijing seeks to project its influence wherever it can. Meanwhile, the US government continues to prioritize the deepening of security and economic partnerships across the Middle East, and with partners once thought to be adversaries.

America’s role during this transformational period is more crucial than ever, but the US faces heightened scrutiny at home and abroad. Policymakers need to assess the current strategic environment to chart a path forward for US foreign policy in the Middle East under dramatically altered political, economic, and security dynamics.

Join Representative Mike Lawler (NY-17), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, for a conversation with Senior Fellow Joel Rayburn on the emerging Middle East security order and the future of American strategy in the region.

In this week’s episode of China Insider, Miles Yu covers the passing of Chinese economist, Gao Shanwen, known for his outspoken views on China’s economy and capital markets, including China’s GDP growth rate in particular, and examine the impact his passing will have in the field. Next, Miles examines China’s recent submarine-based ballistic missile test in the Indo-Pacific, and how this fits into China’s larger pattern of Indo-Pacific coercion and grey-zone warfare tactics. Finally, Miles observes the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and highlights his lasting legacy both on Japanese society and the greater Indo-Pacific region.

China Insider is a weekly podcast project from Hudson Institute’s China Center, hosted by China Center Director and Senior Fellow, Dr. Miles Yu, who provides weekly news that mainstream American outlets often miss, as well as in-depth commentary and analysis on the China challenge and the free world’s future.

The Chinese Communist Party’s infiltration, transnational repression, and legal warfare are no longer security challenges limited to Taiwan or the Indo-Pacific. They now increasingly threaten the United States’ national security and the resilience of democratic institutions. Taiwan stands on the front line of authoritarian influence operations and has seen firsthand how they can gradually erode democratic systems before conduct clearly crosses the threshold for criminal prosecution. So Taiwan is both a target of CCP pressure and an early warning system for the democratic world. Its experience can help the US and its allies better defend democracy and understand how authoritarian infiltration evolves.

Join Hudson Institute’s China Center as Miles Yu hosts a panel examining Taiwan’s experience in handling national security cases, foreign interference, technology theft, election influence, proxy networks, and gray-zone legal warfare. The discussion will explore how authoritarian influence exploits democratic openness, social trust, local networks, and legal ambiguity.

Japan has emerged as a central pillar of Indo-Pacific security, playing an increasingly important role in strengthening deterrence, supporting regional stability, and deepening cooperation with the United States and other democratic partners.

Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Jason Hsu for a conversation with the Hon. Shigeru Kitamura, former secretary general of Japan's National Security Secretariat and former director of Cabinet Intelligence. As one of Japan's foremost national security leaders and a close adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Kitamura helped shape Japan's modern national security strategy and economic security architecture.

The discussion will examine Japan's evolving security posture in the Indo-Pacific, the future of the US-Japan alliance, economic security resilience, and the strategic implications for the US-China relationship, Taiwan, and the broader region.