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
Central Asia and the Ongoing Iran Crisis
By far the greatest issue of concern for most Central Asians as they react to the ongoing Iran crisis is stability. They recognize that they live in an unstable neighborhood, sandwiched as they are between Russia and China, with Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan also looming large. Iran was an important provider of agricultural goods and […]
Print Issue No. 18: THE SUMMER OF STRATEGIC DECISION
The editors of the JST are pleased to offer for downloading the Summer 2026 print issue Click here to download a digital copy
A Peace Etched in Silicon
As an international megaproject, AI is achieving what decades of diplomacy could not. In the United States and many other countries today, AI is developing a bad rap. Propagandists are using the technology to flood the information commons, while autocrats supercharge state surveillance. A mounting obsession with digital sovereignty risks further fragmenting the internet into […]
