The Political Risk Brief
Episodes
The EU Invites Disaster
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The fault lines between the United States and Europe have shifted dramatically. Tensions largely overlooked for decades now threaten to rupture the t...
What's Left?
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The devastating defeat suffered by Democrats in 2024 revealed and deepened long-standing divisions within the American Left. During this episode...
Labor Pains
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since President Trump’s 2016 election victory, the American Right has undergone a major shift on the role of organized workers in the economy and&nb...
The Great Illusion of China
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has defied Western predictions about China’s trajectory. In this episode, the Baron team explores why Weste...
The Turning Point
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Reflections on the role and legacy of Charlie Kirk, the contemporary conservative movement’s indispensable man.
Info Drone Wars
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The first 100 days of Trump’s second term have unfolded within a radically reshaped information environment. In this episode, the Baron team discus...
Earthquake
18 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump’s return to the White House already has sent shockwaves through “permanent Washington.” The changes underway constitute th...
Boom: America’s Big Bang Election
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Election 2024 already has reshaped the American political landscape. The Baron team details the “four great betrayals” that produced the most rem...
Trump's Big Beautiful Influencers
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the country hurtles toward a presidential election, surprising uncertainty surrounds the specific policy preferences of a possible second Trump Adm...
Summer Travelogue: Planes, Trains, and Empires
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Baron team delves into the political stability of Europe and examines the future of the European project. Based on Baron prin...
K Street Blues
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The denizens of “Gucci Gulch” have fallen on hard times. For even the largest lobbying firms, average monthly retainers have declined during...
Falling Apart
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Leaders in government and business should recognize America’s social capital collapse as the most serious threat to the nation’s political st...
Seeing through the Great Wall
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Even as the U.S.-China economic relationship remains pivotal, Beijing increasingly denies outsiders visibility into the nation’s intentions and gove...
The Invisible Hand
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Philanthropic foundations today act as major competitors in policymaking, often dwarfing the efforts of even the largest private enterprises. Alt...
Health Care Wars
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The health care sector has entered a period of intensified political conflict. Building for decades and accelerated by powerful external forces, ...
Zientsgeist
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Often in American political life, an individual or small group embodies an era. In this episode, Baron explores Washington’s current man of the...
Guide for the Perplexed: Key Trends in Government Relations
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The ever-changing competition to shape policy in Washington, D.C. challenges even the most experienced practitioners. In this episode, the Baron ...
C-Suite Red Alert: Here Come the NatCons
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Corporate America’s relationship with the Republican Party is undergoing the most significant change in four decades. The movement driving this...
Welcome to the Jungle
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s leading corporations appear poised for a dramatic escalation in engagement of Washington, D.C. Baron explores this emerging phenomen...
Taiwan Syndrome: Confusion in Washington about the U.S.-China Relationship
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With Taiwan now a focal point of U.S. foreign policy, Episode 13 explores how Washington has come to view China-Taiwan tension. The Baron t...
Government Eats the World: The Private Sector’s Public Sector Future
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government is the world’s biggest customer. Public sector procurement increasingly drives private sector innovation and tips markets. ...
The Monoculture Rages
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The increasing wealth and near-total enlistment of the nation’s capital into a partisan mission risks creating a permanent state of conflict between...
The Revolution is Real: The Populist Policy Takeover
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Will American populism meaningfully change policy? In Episode 10, the Baron team attempts to determine the actual resonance of the reformist...
Brace for Impact: America’s Trust Collapse
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
America’s defining quality – trust – appears in serious decline. If so, how will this redefinition of the nation’s civilizational charact...
China’s Businesses Go Global
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Even as the geopolitical competition between the United States and China intensifies, China’s access to U.S. markets continues largel...
There Will Be Blood: America’s Antitrust Reform Movement
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Antitrust policy in the Unites States has been dominated for four decades by the consumer welfare standard. Now, a new generation of antitrust p...
Secrets of Political Influence
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The pursuit of influence consumes Washington, D.C. Companies and organizations spend billions to engage the thought leaders and decision makers w...
Fight Club: Corporate America and Government Battle for Power
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Corporations that assume policy-making powers invite the wrath of the ultimate monopolist: government. Baron details what business lea...
America's True Healthcare Crisis
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Explore the true driver of America’s rising healthcare costs: plummeting population health. The confluence of America’s declining health, shi...
Super Trends in the U.S.-China Relationship
14 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Explore the six powerful drivers of the world’s largest bilateral economic relationship and the defining geopolitical rivalry of our era. Despi...
Winning in Washington
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the conclusion of America’s quadrennial election cycle, how do private-sector interests now compete and prevail in Washington, DC? Distill...
The Vote that Changed the World
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Twenty years ago this September 19, the U.S. Senate rendered a decision that continues to define American politics. The Senate’s vote to approv...