So What’s the Strategy Podcast

The strategies behind the world’s toughest security challenges, explained by the leaders shaping them.

Host Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, sits down with senior US and allied officials and leading experts to explore the strategies shaping today’s most pressing global security challenges.

Inspired by General Brent Scowcroft, who famously asked his team “So what’s the strategy?” the series dives into how leaders think about power, policy, and the decisions shaping the future of international security. Watch and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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Episodes

Podcast

Apr 2, 2026

So, what was President Biden’s grand strategy?

Host Matthew Kroenig is joined by Rebecca Lissner, a senior fellow for US Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, to discuss President Joe Biden’s grand strategy while in office. Did his administration have a grand strategy, and does President Donald Trump have one in his second term? Rebecca most recently served as deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy national security advisor to the vice president in the Biden-Harris administration. NOTE: This conversation was recorded before the start of the war with Iran.

Security & Defense United States

Podcast

Mar 13, 2026

So what’s the strategy for Iran?

In this episode, host Matthew Kroenig is joined by Alex Gray, a nonresident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center, to discuss the ongoing war with Iran and how to understand Washington’s strategy for victory. Alex was chief of staff at the National Security Council during the first Trump administration and was in the room when US President Donald Trump oversaw the military operation that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.

Security & Defense United States

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The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world.

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