In this wide-ranging conversation, Jacob Heilbrunn speaks with Daniel Runde (CSIS) about three major geopolitical arenas shaping today’s global landscape. From Iran and the strategic logic behind mounting pressure on the regime, to Gaza and the complex question of disarming Hamas and envisioning reconstruction, and finally to Cuba, where economic strain could trigger deeper political shifts, Runde offers a forward-looking analysis of instability and opportunity.
Spanning the Middle East and the Caribbean, the discussion examines how force, diplomacy, and long-term planning intersect in moments of potential transformation.
Daniel Runde on Iran, Gaza, and Cuba: Power, Pressure, and Political Change
by
February 2026
Recent Articles
Why Israel’s cancer-drug industry should examine Jordan’s nuclear reactor
A growing class of cancer medicines, known as radiopharmaceuticals, combines a molecule designed to target cancer cells with a radioactive substance that delivers radiation to damage them. One example is Pluvicto, a prostate cancer treatment that uses lutetium-177, a radioactive form of the element lutetium, attached to a molecule that recognizes a protein commonly found […]
Two Birds, One Stone
Can Golf Diplomacy with Trump, Rubio, and Pahlavi Address the Republican Electoral Crisis and Resolve the Iran Conflict? Donald Trump should invite Reza Pahlavi to meet with him and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. An informal encounter at Mar-a-Lago, perhaps over a round of golf, offers an opening to address two problems now converging on […]
Why Central Asia and the Caucasus Should Link Up and Why the World Should Stand Aside as They Do So
When the USSR collapsed, many did not expect the eight new states in former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus to survive, let alone to thrive. Inter-ethnic tensions, radical religious movements fanned by foreigners, the lack of many laws and institutions that modern life requires, and the hangover of habits formed under nearly two centuries […]
