Background Briefing: November 3, 2026
Are US Strikes on Iranian Radar and Missile Sites a Prelude to a Wider War?
We begin with the US preparing for a resumption of bombing Iran with strikes on radar and missile sites on Qeshm Island in the strait of Hormuz and speak with Thanassis Cambanis, the Vice President for Research at the Center For International Policy who until recently, worked as a journalist based in Lebanon. His books include A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah’s Legions and Their Endless War Against Israel, Once Upon a Revolution: An Egyptian Story, and most recently, Shia Power Comes of Age: The Transformation of Islamist Politics in Iraq, 2003-2023. He was part of a forum at The Center for International Policy, “Foreign Policy at the Fore in a Change Election.”
Trump Has Fired the Top Intelligent Analysts on Russia and China While Patel Has Eliminated the Country’s Counterintelligence Capabilities
Then we look into reports that the top CIA analysts on Russia and China have been fired along with the elimination of the country’s counterintelligence capabilities by Trump and Patel to the point Russian and Chinese spies have a free hand since it’s open season to conduct espionage against the United States. Joining us is Gregory Treverton, a senior adviser with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a professor of the practice of international relations at the University of Southern California. He has served in government for the first Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, handling Europe for the National Security Council, and was chairman of the National Intelligence Council from 2014 to 2017. His books include Dividing Divided States, Beyond the Great Divide: Relevance and Uncertainty in National Intelligence and Science for Policy.
Is Trump’s Proposal to Cut Aid to Israel Cosmetic or Real?
Then finally we assess whether Trump’s proposal to cut aid to Israel is cosmetic or real and speak with William Hartung, a a defense analyst and a former Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute. His books include, Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex, and his latest, The Trillion Dollar War Machine: How Runaway Military Spending Drives America into Foreign Wars and Bankrupts Us at Home. He has an article at Forbes we discuss, “The President’s Proposal To Cut Israel Aid: Less Than Meets The Eye.”