A small but loud faction of the New Right has attempted to hijack the conservative movement to normalize age-old hatreds, conspiracies about U.S. national security, and historical revisionism. Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns felt by many Americans who serve as their audience and lead to us to embrace the better angels of our nature, this faction seeks to shackle Americans to their current lot in life and fill them with rage, a sense of victimhood, and a target for their blame: the globalists, the elites, the Jews, and the United States. Rebeccah Heinrichs, Vandenberg Advisory Board member, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, and author of the landmark article The Right’s 1939 Project, joins Flash Focus to discuss the concerning growth of this movement, its origins, and how we can push back against these narratives.

(2:47) The 1939 Project And Its Members

(6:41) Historical Revisionism On The Right

(11:23) Defending The West Versus Wokism

(14:45) Platforming

(17:40) The Nastiness Of The 1939 Project

(20:30) Co-Opting MAGA

(24:02) Acknowledging Valid Criticisms While Refuting Conspiracies

(29:01) Restoring American Pride

The United Nations has sparked significant debate within the foreign policy community. Though the founding ideals of the UN, as championed nearly 80 years ago by our namesake Senator Arthur Vandenberg, still merit strong support, the organization has increasingly been exploited by America’s adversaries to obstruct its mission and undermine U.S. interests. As former National Security Advisor and member of Congress Mike Waltz testifies in front of Congress to be the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the time is ripe to revisit how the United Nations can better serve American priorities. Brett Schaefer, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and author of the United Nations Organizations Assessment Project, joins Flash Focus to provide an overview of the UN system and offer recommendations for how it can be reformed.

(2:42) Overview of the United Nations

(6:12) Top Three Issues for the U.S. Government

(10:22) Curtailing Chinese Influence in the UN System

(15:25) Which UN Organizations Are Most Important?

(18:14) Are There Alternatives To The UN?

(19:55) UN Human Rights Council

(24:00) Tools To Get UN Reforms Accomplished

(29:50) The Administration’s Approach

(32:30) How Did We Get To This Point?

(36:10) Impact Of Adopting These Reforms

Ukraine through Operation Spiderweb and Israel through Operation Rising Lion surreptitiously smuggled drones behind enemy lines and successfully neutralized critical Russian and Iranian assets. As we continue to watch the aftermath of these operations, Operations Rising Lion and Spiderweb raise urgent questions for the United States; namely, how vulnerable are we to technologically driven attacks here? And how exactly is our leading adversary, China, interpreting some of the more innovative new operations in these conflicts? Jacqueline Deal, Vandenberg Advisory Board member and Co-Founder of the American Academy for Strategic Education, and Michael Sobolik, Vandenberg Advisory Board member and Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, join Flash Focus to explore U.S. vulnerabilities in light of these events and measures we can take to strengthen them.

The Vandenberg Coalition has published a number of policy products related to CCP domestic influence campaigns, including a February 2025 poll of U.S. attitudes towards TikTok and a podcast episodedissecting it, a primer on the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, and a brief of Amici Curiae commissioned in support of the U.S. government in Tiktok Inc., et al. v. Merrick B. Garland (No. 24-656).

The Final Struggle: Inside China's Global Strategy by Ian Easton https://www.amazon.com/Final-Struggle-Inside-Chinas-Strategy/dp/1788692756

Document 9 https://www.chinafile.com/document-9-chinafile-translation

(2:44) Initial Reactions to Operations Rising Lion and Spiderweb

(9:27) Concerns About Law Enforcement Using CCP-Linked Drones

(15:10) Securing Supply Chains and Industrial Policy

(18:55) What It Means When the CCP Uses Our Data

(24:36) CCP Farm Land Grabs

(29:22) TikTok and Information Warfare

(38:15) TikTok and Political Sabotage

(39:50) Recommendations for Strengthening Our Vulnerabilities Now

President Trump’s eventful trip to the Middle East marked the first major international visit of his second term, featuring stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Framing the visit as a break from the legacy of the so-called “nation-builders” he has long derided, President Trump returned to Washington boasting flashy investment deals and hinting at policy shifts that have the potential to shake up the region. Elizabeth Dent, Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, joins Flash Focus to recap the trip’s events, unpack the deals that were struck, and discuss what Trump’s visit reveals about his strategic vision and motivations for Middle East foreign policy and beyond.

80 years ago today, Nazi forces issued an unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers, marking the official end of World War II in Europe. Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) serves as a great reminder of what happens when Americans, with our full might and allies along side us, stand up to tyrants seeking to revise the world order. How can we best commemorate those who gave everything to secure our cherished freedoms? And how can we live up to their example today? Thomas Spoehr, Executive Director for Operations at American Battle Monuments Commission in Paris and Vandenberg Coalition Advisory Board member, joins Vandenberg Executive Director Carrie Filipetti to reflect on the enduring legacy of V-E Day at this milestone anniversary.

As tensions rise in the Taiwan Strait following China’s latest round of large-scale military exercises, questions surrounding Taiwan’s defense readiness and deterrence in the region are once again front and center. Beijing claims these drills are a “severe warning” and a message of "forceful containment against Taiwan independence,” but do they signal serious preparation for conflict, or are they just saber-rattling? And how prepared are Taiwan and the United States for such a conflict? Joe Wang, Senior Advisor at the Special Competitive Studies Project, joins Flash Focus to explain what these maneuvers reveal about China’s strategic intent, assess Taiwan’s current military and non-military preparedness, and explore what steps the United States and allies in the Indo-Pacific can take in the immediate to enhance Taiwan’s deterrence.

Emboldened by its patron, Iran, Houthi drone and missile attacks have disrupted international shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023. In response, the Trump administration has launched a series of “decisive and powerful” airstrikes against the Houthis, with President Trump declaring that any future Houthi attack will be treated as an attack by Iran itself. Real Admiral Mark Montgomery, Senior Director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and one of the newest members of The Vandenberg Coalition’s Advisory Board, joins Flash Focus to discuss the current situation, the path that led to this point, and the importance of addressing the Houthi threat.

You can find The Vandenberg Coalition’s report on the Middle East, which offers policy recommendations on the Houthis, here.

In early February, The Vandenberg Coalition worked with award-winning polling company J.L. Partners to survey a representative sample of registered voters to measure TikTok’s usage amongst Americans and respondents’ familiarity with the app, TikTok’s ownership, and how Americans perceive TikTok’s impact on national security and American politics. The American public’s views are clear: on every metric, from effect on our children, to surveillance, to misinformation, election interference, and political polarization, the American public say “no” to CCP control of TikTok. James Johnson, Co-Founder of J.L. Partners, joins Flash Focus to discuss the poll results, current polling trends on tariffs, Ukraine, and Israel, and J.L. Partners’ polling approach.

You can read the toplines from the poll here and find coverage of the poll’s findings in the New York Post here.

You can also find Jonathan Haidt’s recent report, “TikTok Is Harming Children at an Industrial Scale,” here.