Eyes on Eurasia with Glen Howard

Mayhem in Mali: A Conversation with Sahel Experts - Andrew McGregor and Jacob Zenn

Hi everyone, Welcome to my Eyes on Eurasia podcast with Glen Howard! In today’s episode, we will examine the ongoing situation in Mali, where in the past week, al-Qaeda-linked militants launched a coordinated offensive, striking the heart of the Malian state — killing Defense Minister Sadio Camara, Moscow’s key ally in Bamako. Militant attacks also forced Russian-backed forces into retreat across multiple strategic points in the country, including their abrupt departure from their northern stronghold of Kidal. For those who have not been following developments in Mali, just a few years ago, Mali’s military junta made a decisive break with the West, expelling French forces and instead betting on Russia to restore order. Moscow stepped in with mercenaries, as the former Wagner forces were rebranded as the Africa Corps after the failed coup by Yevgeny Prigozhin to oust Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023. Since then, Russian mercenaries have continued to work in Mali under a rebranded name, providing security to a new Russian-backed Malian military-led government. Last week, however, that strategy unraveled dramatically, creating a setback for the Malian junta and Russian-backed forces. As Mali is back in the news and teetering on the edge again in a potential state collapse, the implications extend far beyond Bamako — threatening to destabilize the entire Sahel and reshape the geopolitical contest for influence across Africa. So what went wrong with the Russian intervention and is Mali become a Sahelian version of Afghanistan? What does this mean for the future of Mali’s junta? And could this crisis draw the United States back into a region it has largely stepped away from? Joining us to discuss all these issues are seasoned Sahel experts Andrew McGregor and Jacob Zenn. 👉Dr. Andrew McGregor [https://www.aberfoylesecurity.com/?page_id=17] is director of Aberfoyle International Security, a Toronto-based consultancy specializing in the security issues of Africa and the Islamic world, and a frequent contributor to The Saratoga Foundation and its analysis on the Horn of Africa [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/p/desert-flashpoint-the-kufra-oasis]. Andrew is a graduate of the Near Eastern Studies Department of the University of Toronto and the author of A History of Darfur and the Modern Military History of Egypt [https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/military-history-of-modern-egypt-9780275986018/]. 👉Jacob Zenn [https://jamestown.org/analyst/jacob-zenn/] is a noted expert on militant movements in Africa, the Editor of Terrorism Monitor, a Senior Fellow on African and Eurasian Affairs at The Jamestown Foundation, and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program. He is the author of Unmasking Boko Haram: Exploring Global Jihad in Nigeria [https://www.rienner.com/title/Unmasking_Boko_Haram_Exploring_Global_Jihad_in_Nigeria] (Lynne Rienner, 2020) and has published widely on militant movements in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. For those of you who are interested in watching the full video of this interview, you can watch the full video 👉 here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUrMUAOkbAs] on my YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQexgXfqc5zWbgkBhoWRvA], Enjoy the podcast! Get full access to Glen’s Substack at glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe [https://glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Houthis and Gulf War III: An Interview with Yemen Expert - Michael Horton

Hi everyone, Welcome to the 27th episode of my Eyes on Eurasia podcast. Today, we are looking at an area of Eurasia that is back in the news: the Horn of Africa, and I am going to examine the Houthis of Yemen. Recently, after a month-long wait to enter the war, the Houthis have launched a series of missile attacks on Israel in the past week, joining the regional conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran. Despite a month of silence since the start of Gulf War III, one of the key questions Middle East experts are asking is how far the Houthis are willing to go in the ongoing Gulf War between the US, Israel, and Iran. Helping us to understand this question in an extended in-depth discussion is long-time Yemen expert Michael Horton, who joined my podcast. Michael is a noted expert on Yemen and the co-founder of Red Sea Analytics International (RSAI). Michael specializes in security, conflict, and political risk across the Middle East and Horn of Africa — regions where he has spent years conducting field-based research and assessment. He has advised senior members of the U.S. and U.K. governments and is a frequent visitor to the region. Michael recently wrote a detailed assessment of the Houthis for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, which was featured in their March 2026 [https://ctc.westpoint.edu/will-the-center-hold-the-houthis-fraying-tribal-alliances/]CTC Sentinel [https://ctc.westpoint.edu/will-the-center-hold-the-houthis-fraying-tribal-alliances/] https://ctc.westpoint.edu/will-the-center-hold-the-houthis-fraying-tribal-alliances/that examined the state of the Houthis and their tribal alliances. He also wrote an assessment of Saudi Arabia’s strategic approach to the Yemen conflict [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/p/a-sleeping-giant-awakens-saudi-counter] for The Saratoga Foundation [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/] that offers an assessment of the changing Saudi approach to the Houthis after their intervention last year, including a glimpse at the Houthi leadership [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/p/will-yemens-houthis-be-the-next-to]and their attacks on Red Sea shipping. For those of you who are interested in watching the full video of this interview, you can: 👉 watch the full video here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqCHOoPEwyM] on my YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQexgXfqc5zWbgkBhoWRvA], Enjoy the podcast! Get full access to Glen’s Substack at glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe [https://glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Estonia's 2026 Threat Assessment: An Interview with Kaupo Rosin, Director General of Estonian Foreign Intelligence

Hi everyone, Welcome to my Eyes on Eurasia podcast. In this episode, I’m delighted to be joined by a special guest who sits at the very edge of NATO security in the Baltic—Mr. Kaupo Rosin, Director General of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS). Director General Rosin helps us unpack the newly released EFIS 2026 Annual Report, ‘International Security and Estonia 2026 [https://www.valisluureamet.ee/en.html].’ You can read the report online here [https://raport.valisluureamet.ee/2026/en] or download the PDF version [https://www.valisluureamet.ee/doc/raport/2026-en.pdf], and if you haven’t had a chance to review it yet, I highly recommend doing so. You can also 👉 watch the full video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETmMNgfKXNo] of this conversation on my YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSQexgXfqc5zWbgkBhoWRvA], where I’ve posted the complete interview. In this conversation, Director Rosin generously gives us an hour of his time to explore a wide range of pressing security challenges facing Estonia. We examine the evolving threats posed by Russia—including recent threats to create a Narva’s People Republic [https://www.propastop.org/en/2026/03/11/separatist-narva-peoples-republic-idea-spreads-on-social-media/], the impact of Russia’s new Minister of Defense, Andrei Belousov, and his emphasis on unmanned systems, including his involvement in the creation of the new elite Russian drone unit Rubicon [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/p/crossing-the-rubicon-russias-elite], the growing role of Russian cooperation with North Korea [https://glenhoward.substack.com/p/north-koreas-ukraine-battlelab-knowns] —and the implications of Russia’s recent Starlink [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/p/from-dubai-to-donetsk-the-kyrgyzstanuae] disruptions for battlefield Command and Control (C2). Finally, Director Rosin shares his perspective on the emerging lessons for Baltic security from the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran in the Persian Gulf—and why the lessons of the Ukraine war remain so relevant. This is a rare opportunity to hear an intelligence-level assessment from Tallinn and to better understand how Russian threats are shaping NATO’s eastern flank today. If you want a clear view of the evolving Russian threat in 2026 from Estonia’s perspective, you won’t want to miss this conversation. Enjoy! Get full access to Glen’s Substack at glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe [https://glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Lost in Space: Where is Russia Headed - Upward or Downward? An Interview with Russian Space Expert Pavel Luzin

Hello everyone, Welcome to the latest episode of my Eyes on Eurasia podcast! In this episode, we are going to explore the troubled state of the Russian space program. Borrowing from the 1960s classic television series Lost in Space [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space], this episode will also, in true Star Trek fashion, boldly go’ where few have gone before and ask a simple but urgent question: Where is Russia’s space program - headed upward — or downward? Following a major explosion last November at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan — long Russia’s primary launch site — serious questions have emerged about Moscow’s strategic launch capabilities and the future of its manned space program. As Russia suspends its participation in the International Space Station (ISS) mission and its launch numbers fall to their lowest levels since 1961—the year Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space—the future of Moscow’s space ambitions is increasingly uncertain. To discuss these developments, I’m joined by Dr. Pavel Luzin [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/i/149778185/pavel-luzin], Senior Fellow at The Saratoga Foundation [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/] and a Visiting Scholar at The Fletcher School. In my view, Pavel is one of the West’s leading experts on the Russian space program, who is currently writing a book [https://www.saratoga-foundation.org/p/celestial-battlefield-russias-future] on the future of Russia in space. In this episode, we will examine the Baikonur accident, Russia’s stalled transition to the Vostochny Cosmodrome, delays in the development of next-generation spacecraft, and the recent developments with Russia’s hijacked use of Starlink to mount a series of devastating drone attacks on Ukraine earlier this month. We will also discuss why the Russian space communication satellite program is in the dismal state it finds itself in today, and what all this means for the broader trajectory of Russian space power. Enjoy the podcast! Glen Get full access to Glen’s Substack at glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe [https://glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Assessing Witkoff's Mission to Moscow: An Interview with Ambassador Daniel Fried and Andrei Illarionov

Hi everyone, Welcome to Episode 24 of my Eyes on Eurasia podcast with Glen Howard. This episode is available exclusively to paid subscribers of Glen’s Substack. If you’d like to unlock the full podcast and get access to all premium content, consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Your support helps keep this publication going and brings you even more great episodes. Simply click below to subscribe and start listening! We have a great lineup for this podcast and are going to examine in-depth the recent mission to Moscow by US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Having recently traveled to Moscow and held a five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and a small group of Kremlin advisers. US negotiations efforts have taken a new turn. The past week has been a whirlwind of news about bringing peace to Ukraine, first with a US-imposed Thanksgiving deadline for Ukraine as part of a revised US peace plan that has been whittled down from 28 points to 19-20 points that serve as a new diplomatic goal for the Trump Administration. Helping us to dissect all of this news is Ambassador Daniel Fried [https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/daniel-fried/], a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, who is one of America’s most seasoned and influential diplomats. Over a remarkable career spanning seven US presidential administrations, Ambassador Fried has helped shape U.S. strategy toward NATO expansion and America’s long-running approach to Russia. Our second speaker is former Kremlin insider Andrei Illarionov [https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/author/andrei-illarionov/], who once served as a presidential adviser to Vladimir Putin on the Russian economy. Mr. Ilarionov is now a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy [https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/author/andrei-illarionov/] and a frequent commentator on US-Russian relations and a frequent guest on my Eyes on Eurasia podcast. Enjoy the show! Glen! Get full access to Glen’s Substack at glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe [https://glenhoward.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]