Is India still a strategic partner of the United States — or is it becoming an independent pole in a rapidly shifting global order?
In this high-level panel discussion, Dr. John Bruni is joined by Lt. General Ravi Shankar (Retd.), former Director General of Artillery of the Indian Army, and Professor Salvatore Babones, political economist at the University of Sydney, to examine India’s evolving role in global geopolitics.

Show Notes

Guests

Lt. General Ravi Shankar (Retd.) is the former Director General of Artillery of the Indian Army and currently serves as Professor of Practice in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Madras. With a distinguished military career spanning decades, he is a respected commentator on India’s defence posture, China–India dynamics, Pakistan, and broader strategic affairs.

The Gunner’s Shot (YouTube Channel): https://www.youtube.com/@gunnersshot

General Shankar regularly publishes strategic and military analyses through his channel.

Professor Salvatore Babones is a Political Economist and Globalisation Scholar at the University of Sydney. His work focuses on great-power competition, global inequality, and the structural dynamics shaping U.S.–China–India relations.

Recent Books by Salvatore Babones:

The Global Political Economy of the Indo-Pacific (2024)
American Tianxia: Chinese Money, American Power, and the End of History (2023)
The New Authoritarianism: Trump, Populism, and the Tyranny of Experts (2022)

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In our second episode for 2026, John is joined by returning guest Professor Scott Lucas to talk about the recent tragic events in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

Show Notes:

Episode Description

From Minneapolis to Washington, D.C., Minnesota has become the epicentre of seismic political conflict — from mass protests to intense debates over immigration enforcement, federal power, and public accountability. We explore how the state’s recent upheavals reflect broader shifts in U.S. political life, and what they reveal about leadership, legitimacy, and the social fabric of American civic life.

About the Guest

Scott Lucas is Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute, University College Dublin. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of EA WorldView, a leading site for global political analysis, and a frequent commentator on major international TV and radio outlets.

EA WorldView – https://eaworldview.com/

UCD Clinton Institute – https://www.ucdclinton.ie/

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The first episode of The Focus for 2026 opens with a wide-ranging and hard-edged conversation with political theorist and commentator Roy Casagranda.
As global politics enters a period of heightened uncertainty, Dr Bruni and Casagranda examine the strategic, political, and moral pressures shaping the international system — from the Americas to Europe and the Middle East. The discussion explores the return of transactional politics, the limits of moral clarity in foreign policy, and how domestic political shifts are reshaping global decision-making.

This episode sets the tone for The Focus in 2026: analytical, unsentimental, and grounded in strategic reality.

Topics Covered

Transactionalism, power, and the erosion of norms in international affairs
Venezuela, energy politics, and strategic leverage
Europe’s strategic unease and leadership fatigue
Public opinion, populism, and the changing voter landscape
What 2026 reveals about the durability — or fragility — of the global order

Why This Episode Matters

As governments grapple with overlapping crises — political, economic, and security-related — this conversation cuts through surface-level narratives to examine how power is actually being exercised, justified, and contested.
For policymakers, analysts, and engaged citizens alike, this episode offers a sobering but necessary assessment of where the world is heading.

About the Guest

Roy Casagranda is a political theorist and commentator specialising in political philosophy, leadership, and the intersection of power and morality in modern politics.

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Britain enters 2025 facing economic strain, strategic uncertainty, and intensifying global competition. In this hard-hitting year-end special, Dr John Bruni sits down with former Royal Navy submariner and intelligence specialist CDRE Pat Tyrrell OBE (Ret.), and investigative journalist Pete Warren, for an unfiltered assessment of the UK’s political and strategic direction.

We break down the British Budget, stalled growth, defence underfunding, and the question of whether the UK can still project credible power. We explore Britain’s shifting foreign policy, the war in Ukraine, Russian hybrid provocations, cyber intrusions, and the fragility of European security.

The panel also examines Keir Starmer’s political survival, public fatigue, the rise of the Reform Party, and what Britain must do to avoid strategic drift in 2025.

If you care about the UK’s future — its defence, diplomacy, politics and global role — this is your must-watch end-of-year episode.

Show Notes:

Contact Chris

X: @chrismullinexmp

Website: https://www.chrismullinexmp.com/

Books by Chris Mullin - 1982 A Very British Coup 1986, Error of Judgement 2009, A View from the Foothills 2010, Decline & Fall 2011, A Walk-On Part 2016, Hinterland 2019, The Friends of Harry Perkins 2023, Didn’t You Used to be Chris Mullin?

Contact Pat

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/patrick-tyrrell-3479b6

Articles by Pat - AUKUS: A Tale of Politics, Strategy, and Submarines — published 04 Aug 2022, Crash-Diving into Australia’s Submarine Dilemma — published 13 Jul 2022, Adrift and Rudderless – The Sad Story of SS United Kingdom, Monty Python Politics: A Reflection on the Tumultuous Reign of PM Liz Truss, Nov. 2022, Rip van Winkle and the Age of Complacency, Aug. 2022, A Peace that Dares Not Speak its Name — a co-authored piece (with Dr. John Bruni) June 2022

Bruni, John; Jain, Purnendra; Tyrrell, Patrick J. “Why Australia, the UK and Japan need closer security cooperation.” SAGE International Australia Strategic Concept Paper, 12 August 2020.

Bruni, John; Jain, Purnendra; Tyrrell, Patrick J. “A New Strategic Trilateral of the UK, Australia and Japan?” The Naval Review, vol. 108, no. 4 (2020), pp. 362–368.

Pat also contributed as part of a larger report for SAGE International Australia, writing sections on the UK and France in a 2020 Indo-Pacific strategic assessment.

Contact Pete

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/petewarren

Website: https://www.futureintelligence.co.uk/

Books by Pete Warren - AI on Trial – with Mark Deem 2025 (2nd edition), Cyber Crime & Warfare: All That Matters – with Michael Streeter 2013, & Cyber Alert: How the World Is Under Attack from a New Form of Crime – with Michael Streeter 2005.

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Is the climate debate more complex than we’re being told? In this episode of The Focus, Dr John Bruni sits down with Professor Ian Plimer — geologist, author, and one of the most contested voices in Australia’s climate conversation.

Plimer has spent decades arguing that natural geological and planetary processes play a larger role in climate variability than many policymakers acknowledge.
In this extended interview, we explore his arguments, test the evidence, and examine how climate, energy, mining, and geopolitics intersect in ways often overlooked in public debate.

This is not an episode about “right” or “wrong.”

It’s about asking difficult questions, challenging assumptions, and holding space for perspectives that sit outside the mainstream — while keeping the discussion grounded in science, evidence and geopolitics.

Show Notes:

Contact Ian: LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-plimer-391052226?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BS7AtR8iDR5qZ2SE18wOmIw%3D%3D

OpEds:

“The Copenhagen charade” Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (5 Feb 2020) and “Legislative time bomb” (also 5 Feb 2020).

“Professor Ian Plimer Launches Climate Change: The Facts 2025 in Perth” Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) (21 Nov 2024) — this is not strictly an op-ed but a release.

Books:

Ian Plimer, Sceptical Always: A View at Three Quarter Time (Redland Bay: Connor Court Publishing, 2025), ISBN 978-1-923568-02-0.

Ian Plimer (ed.), Climate Change: The Facts 2025 (Melbourne: Institute of Public Affairs, 2024).

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In this episode of The Focus, Dr. John Bruni speaks with leading strategist Professor Andrew A. Michta about whether the West is in decline or on the cusp of renewal, exploring the fractures inside the transatlantic alliance, America’s fading primacy, Europe’s struggle for strategic agency, China’s growing economic fragility, and the deeper civilisational crisis undermining Western confidence. Drawing on Michta’s recent RealClearDefense essays, we discuss Europe’s defence readiness, U.S. strategic miscalculations, the risks of misreading history, and what the West must believe again to survive the 21st century. A sharp, sweeping conversation on power, purpose, and the future of the liberal order.

Show Notes:

Connect with Andrew

X: @andrewmichta

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-a-michta-39116934/

OpEds:

RealClearDefense—“The West Needs to Come Together” 27 October 2025 https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2025/10/27/the_west_needs_to_come_together_1143377.html

RealClearDefense—“The Next U.S. National Security Strategy Risks Misreading History Again” 22 September 2025 https://www.realcleardefense.com/2025/09/22/the_next_us_national_security_strategy_risks_misreading_history_again_1136224.html

Books by Andrew:

The Future of NATO: Regional Defense and Global Security
June 23, 2014 — University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Limits of Alliance: The United States, NATO, and the EU in North and Central Europe
2006 — Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland.

The Soldier-Citizen: The Politics of the Polish Army after Communism
1997 — St. Martin’s Press, New York.

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🇪🇺 Is Europe finally rising as a defence power?
As the war in Ukraine grinds on and populist politics reshape Europe, the EU faces a historic test: defend the continent, support Kyiv, and hold the line against Moscow — while staying united.
In this episode, Dr John Bruni speaks with EU analyst Piotr Maciej Kaczyński on Europe's defence transformation, Poland’s upcoming EU Presidency, and the populist forces reshaping Europe's future. 🔍⚔️

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Clarifications

The Austrian Empire (1804-1867), ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, evolved from the Holy Roman Empire (800-1806), where the Habsburg family dominated politics, providing almost every emperor from 1438 to 1806. In 1867, the Austrian Empire evolved into the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a direct consequence of Hungarian nationalist agitation. The Austro-Hungarian Empire came to an end at the conclusion of World War I in 1918. Overall, the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire lasted 114 years.

The USSR came into being in 1922 and lasted until 1991, that’s 69 years in total.

Yugoslavia, as with the Austrian Empire, had two phases. There was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918-1941) that emerged out of the collapse of the Austrian Empire. It lasted 22 years. After a period of time under NAZI occupation (1941-1945), the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (modern Yugoslavia) was founded after World War II. Ruled by dictator Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslav leader from 1945 to 1980), Yugoslavia lasted till 1991. This phase of Yugoslavia lasted 46 years. In total, Yugoslavia, since its emergence, lasted 68 years.

In comparison, the European Economic Community (EEC) was founded through the Treaty of Rome in 1957, coming into existence the following year in 1958. It evolved into the European Union (EU) in 1993, after the Maastricht Treaty. The UK left the EU in 2016. At present, the European project for economic, currency and political integration has lasted 67 years.

Note: Josef Stalin, Soviet dictator during World War II, did not fight a two-front war because the bulk of the Soviet population lay west of the Ural mountain range, with much of it either threatened or occupied by NAZI forces. The vast expanse of Siberia was largely inhospitable and poorly serviced by transport routes stretching from the developed and most populous parts of the USSR. Therefore, there was no way the Soviets could conduct a sustained two-front war during World War II. For the Soviets, until the NAZI threat was defeated, they could not risk transporting large parts of the Soviet Army to confront the Japanese. This calculus changed upon Germany’s surrender in mid-1945.

SHOW NOTES:

Connect with Piotr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pkaczyn/

OpEds

“What to expect from Poland’s EU Council presidency in 2025” — by Real Instituto Elcano, 27/01/2025

“Europe after the elections: the centre holds out, but for how long?” — by Real Instituto Elcano, 20/11/2024

“Poland’s shifting positions on the future of the European Union: deepening and widening?” — by Casimir Pulaski Foundation, 30/10/2024

Books

The Ever‑Changing Union: An Introduction to the History, Institutions and Decision‑Making Processes of the European Union (2nd fully revised edition, ~2011) — co-authored.

Upgrading the EU’s Role as Global Actor: Institutions, Law and the Restructuring of European Diplomacy (~2011) — contribution among multiple authors.

Polish Council Presidency 2011: Ambitions and Limitations (~2011) — listed as one of his major works.

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In this episode of The Focus, Dr John Bruni speaks with CTO of NY-based company Artorias, Shane Curtis, about how truth is shaped, challenged, and weaponised in today’s information age and how Artorias' premium product, SITREP, is democratising Open Source Intelligence. From the algorithms driving attention to the blurred line between journalism and influence operations, this conversation explores how digital ecosystems are transforming modern strategy and public perception.

Glossary of terms:

OSINT - Open Source Intelligence

G-SOC - Global Security Operations Centre

Thirty-five Fox - Intelligence Analyst

SME - Subject Matter Expert

TSI - Trusted Source Index

HUMINT - Human Intelligence

CW5 - Chief Warrant Officer 5

Download the SITREP App here - https://sitrep.artorias.com/

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