'Alternate Shots'
Munich. Tokyo. Machines. Milano.
(‘Alternate Shots’ with Richard Haass and John Ellis. Episode #17. Recorded 2.16.2026. Produced by Dale Eisinger. If you prefer, you can listen to this episode (and all the previous episodes) on Apple, Amazon, Spotify and most of the other major podcast platforms).
In this episode of ‘Alternate Shots’, Richard Haass and I start our conversation with the recent Munich Security Conference (MSC). Richard has been to the MSC time and again, so he gives you a good sense of what it’s like, what transpires, the make-up of the attendees.
(Sidebar: click on this link if you want to get a two-word summary of how the Europeans who attended the MSC view the state of “the Western alliance”).
Our focus is Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech, which was (much) better received than Vice President Vance’s speech at the same conference last year. The message was essentially (exactly?) the same. The key takeaway from the conference: Bad news for Ukraine. And Mr. Rubio did little to reassure the Europeans that U.S. support for a democratic Europe remains steadfast.
The conversation shifts to Asia, where Japan is undergoing a historic transformation in its national security posture, strengthening its defense and moving closer to Taiwan, much to China’s dismay. Meanwhile, in North Korea, internal dynamics are drawing attention, particularly the emerging public profile of Kim Jong Un’s (13-year-old) daughter, which may signal new uncertainties over succession.
(Sidebar: I remain steadfast in my support for the sister).
We then discuss the story of last week: the impact of AI on the economy, on markets, on businesses, on agency. AI is the most important technology the world has ever seen. It’s comforting to say it’s “just pattern recognition” or “just math.” But the fact is AI will be smarter than all of collective humanity in, at most, 6 years. It will lay waste to anything in its path, be it clunky software or cancer-causing molecules. We’re present at its creation. We’ll be talk about it a lot more. In the near future, we’re planning to have leading AI figures join us for extended conversations on the subject.
As always, the episode concludes with the sports world: the remarkable comeback of golfer Anthony Kim, the return of Collin Morikawa’s to the top of the leaderboard at Pebble Beach, and Richard’s disturbing interest in the condom situation in Milan. One last thing, Richard was right about the Biathlon. It has turned out to be “the sleeper hit” of these Olympic Games. The New York Times explains why.