Ukraine through Operation Spiderweb and Israel through Operation Rising Lion surreptitiously smuggled drones behind enemy lines and successfully neutralized critical Russian and Iranian assets. As we continue to watch the aftermath of these operations, Operations Rising Lion and Spiderweb raise urgent questions for the United States; namely, how vulnerable are we to technologically driven attacks here? And how exactly is our leading adversary, China, interpreting some of the more innovative new operations in these conflicts? Jacqueline Deal, Vandenberg Advisory Board member and Co-Founder of the American Academy for Strategic Education, and Michael Sobolik, Vandenberg Advisory Board member and Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, join Flash Focus to explore U.S. vulnerabilities in light of these events and measures we can take to strengthen them.

The Vandenberg Coalition has published a number of policy products related to CCP domestic influence campaigns, including a February 2025 poll of U.S. attitudes towards TikTok and a podcast episodedissecting it, a primer on the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, and a brief of Amici Curiae commissioned in support of the U.S. government in Tiktok Inc., et al. v. Merrick B. Garland (No. 24-656).

The Final Struggle: Inside China's Global Strategy by Ian Easton https://www.amazon.com/Final-Struggle-Inside-Chinas-Strategy/dp/1788692756

Document 9 https://www.chinafile.com/document-9-chinafile-translation

(2:44) Initial Reactions to Operations Rising Lion and Spiderweb

(9:27) Concerns About Law Enforcement Using CCP-Linked Drones

(15:10) Securing Supply Chains and Industrial Policy

(18:55) What It Means When the CCP Uses Our Data

(24:36) CCP Farm Land Grabs

(29:22) TikTok and Information Warfare

(38:15) TikTok and Political Sabotage

(39:50) Recommendations for Strengthening Our Vulnerabilities Now

President Trump’s eventful trip to the Middle East marked the first major international visit of his second term, featuring stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Framing the visit as a break from the legacy of the so-called “nation-builders” he has long derided, President Trump returned to Washington boasting flashy investment deals and hinting at policy shifts that have the potential to shake up the region. Elizabeth Dent, Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, joins Flash Focus to recap the trip’s events, unpack the deals that were struck, and discuss what Trump’s visit reveals about his strategic vision and motivations for Middle East foreign policy and beyond.

80 years ago today, Nazi forces issued an unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers, marking the official end of World War II in Europe. Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) serves as a great reminder of what happens when Americans, with our full might and allies along side us, stand up to tyrants seeking to revise the world order. How can we best commemorate those who gave everything to secure our cherished freedoms? And how can we live up to their example today? Thomas Spoehr, Executive Director for Operations at American Battle Monuments Commission in Paris and Vandenberg Coalition Advisory Board member, joins Vandenberg Executive Director Carrie Filipetti to reflect on the enduring legacy of V-E Day at this milestone anniversary.

As tensions rise in the Taiwan Strait following China’s latest round of large-scale military exercises, questions surrounding Taiwan’s defense readiness and deterrence in the region are once again front and center. Beijing claims these drills are a “severe warning” and a message of "forceful containment against Taiwan independence,” but do they signal serious preparation for conflict, or are they just saber-rattling? And how prepared are Taiwan and the United States for such a conflict? Joe Wang, Senior Advisor at the Special Competitive Studies Project, joins Flash Focus to explain what these maneuvers reveal about China’s strategic intent, assess Taiwan’s current military and non-military preparedness, and explore what steps the United States and allies in the Indo-Pacific can take in the immediate to enhance Taiwan’s deterrence.

Emboldened by its patron, Iran, Houthi drone and missile attacks have disrupted international shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023. In response, the Trump administration has launched a series of “decisive and powerful” airstrikes against the Houthis, with President Trump declaring that any future Houthi attack will be treated as an attack by Iran itself. Real Admiral Mark Montgomery, Senior Director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and one of the newest members of The Vandenberg Coalition’s Advisory Board, joins Flash Focus to discuss the current situation, the path that led to this point, and the importance of addressing the Houthi threat.

You can find The Vandenberg Coalition’s report on the Middle East, which offers policy recommendations on the Houthis, here.

In early February, The Vandenberg Coalition worked with award-winning polling company J.L. Partners to survey a representative sample of registered voters to measure TikTok’s usage amongst Americans and respondents’ familiarity with the app, TikTok’s ownership, and how Americans perceive TikTok’s impact on national security and American politics. The American public’s views are clear: on every metric, from effect on our children, to surveillance, to misinformation, election interference, and political polarization, the American public say “no” to CCP control of TikTok. James Johnson, Co-Founder of J.L. Partners, joins Flash Focus to discuss the poll results, current polling trends on tariffs, Ukraine, and Israel, and J.L. Partners’ polling approach.

You can read the toplines from the poll here and find coverage of the poll’s findings in the New York Post here.

You can also find Jonathan Haidt’s recent report, “TikTok Is Harming Children at an Industrial Scale,” here.

In this special episode, we mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by revisiting the Vandenberg Coalition and the McCain Institute’s November 2024 report, “A Conservative Strategy for Countering Russia.” The report features insights from top conservative thought leaders on how the United States should confront the Russian threat. The authors importantly remind us that Russia remains one of the U.S. and its democratic allies’ most destructive adversaries, and assert that U.S. leadership and robust involvement — not isolationism and withdrawal — are essential to countering Russia and protecting American interests.

You can read the Vandenberg Coalition and McCain Institute’s report here.

(0:00) Introduction

(2:12) Threat to Democratic Values by Peter Berkowitz

(7:34) Threats to the U.S. Homeland by Brian Cavanaugh

(14:20) The China-Russia Relationship by Dean Cheng

(24:07) Strengthen U.S. Geo-Economic Strategy by Matthew Zweig

(35:50) Bolster U.S. Military by Mark Montgomery

(43:32) Secure Ukraine by Rebeccah Heinrichs

(49:14) Continue the Freedom Agenda by Daniel Runde

(55:50) The Path Forward by Stephen Biegun

The policies of the Biden administration not only failed to extinguish the foreign policy fires consuming the Middle East; they actively accelerated them. Recognizing the urgent need for a revamped Middle East strategy, the Vandenberg Coalition convened a working group of experts to proposed policy solutions to more effectively advance U.S. interests and regional stability. One of group’s experts, Gabe Scheinmann—Executive Director of the Alexander Hamilton Society and a member of the Vandenberg Governance Board— joins Flash Focus to discuss the threat landscape and share some of the report’s conclusions.

You can read the Vandenberg Coalition report here.