Small World, Big Problems

About Small World, Big Problems

Small World, Big Problems – a SAIS Strategy Podcast. A SAIS student podcast supported by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies. In Small World, Big Problems, we ask the experts about the biggest challenges in the world of strategy and national security. It’s a small world, and it’s only getting smaller. But it seems like every day, there is a new problem on the horizon: great power conflict, political extremism, climate change – the list goes on and on. In this student podcast sponsored by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, we ask leading experts in the fields of national security, strategy, and statecraft about what problems the world is facing and, more importantly, how to solve them. Please address any questions to SAISStrategyPodcast@gmail.com (mailto:SAISStrategyPodcast@gmail.com).

Publisher

JHU SAIS Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies

Category

government · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Jul 2023

Latest episode

13 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

21 of 27 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   13 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Political Football: The Geopolitics of the 2026 World Cup

   Professor Edward P. Joseph interviews MAIR student Manolo Prestamo about how the 2026 World Cup reflects global politics, migration, and shifting geopolitical power.

2. 

   4 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Small State, Big Stakes: President Jakov Milatović on Economic Diplomacy, EU Accession, and and Montenegro’s National Identity

   Sanjana Polapragada interviews President Jakov Milatović of Montenegro about navigating economic diplomacy, EU accession, and national identity amidst global geopolitical shifts.

3. 

   24 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   “Security is a Team Sport”: The Rising Industry of Private Sector Intelligence

   Riley Bryant interviews Dr. Deborah Wituski about the intersection of profit motives and national security in the growing field of private sector intelligence, exploring the adaptation of traditional agencies.

Inside a recent episode

Political Football: The Geopolitics of the 2026 World Cup

Published 13 Jul 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] You saw people coming together from different parts of the country, just like to see a match from the El Tri, as we mentioned, because we are green, white, and red. It represents our national flag. And we're together, even though if you are from the... if you are a higher income person or a lower income person, it doesn't matter at the end of the day you're Mexican and it's just like an honor to see and to also like to give another image to the world because if you're not familiar with the region with North America and you're not familiar with Latin America, if you just like turn your TV on and you see the news in Mexico and you're just like Google Mexico, there might be a possibility that the first thing that you see are just like violence, are just like deaths or like stuff like that. […]

Who has been a guest on Small World, Big Problems

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Edward P Joseph
• Jakov Milatović
• Dr Deborah Wituski
• Michael Coppedge
• Trita Parsi

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 32 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

28

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

92

Contact Small World, Big Problems

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Small World, Big Problems