CounterCheck Podcast

China’s extraordinary economic transformation and rise to global economic superpower has too often obscured a troubling human rights record. We spoke to Yaqiu Wang, a Chinese human rights and democracy researcher and advocate. Yaqiu has worked for Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and held academic positions at the University of Chicago and, most recently, the University of Pennsylvania. What follows is one of the world’s most respected human rights advocates detailing the breadth of the Chinese government’s human rights violations at home and abroad, the mix of ideological and practical drivers of those actions, and how the global erosion of democratic norms has emboldened the Chinese Communist Party. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

Stay tuned for our forthcoming episode with human rights advocate and world-renowned scholar, Yaqiu Wang. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

On this episode of Behind the Decisions, Gordon Peake lends us more insights into his time in the Solomon Islands and the legacy of Australian-led interventions. Gordon’s many years as a researcher, writer, public servant, and expert offer rich details for anyone interested in Australian statecraft in the Pacific. His candid reflections unpack the maze of Australian bureaucracy as well as the people who push that bureaucracy forward and outward across the region.If you enjoy, please be sure to like/restack and subscribe to CounterCheck and Gordon Peake as well! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

The Solomon Islands may not be the first location that you think of as a “theatre of strategic competition.” The tiny archipelagic nation, consisting of almost a thousand islands with a population of around 800,000 people, sits in the Pacific Ocean off the east coast of Papua New Guinea and about 2000km northeast of Australia.Yet the Solomon Islands has been a focal point of strategic competition between China and Australia as both countries seek to exert influence and win over the allegiance of this important foothold into the Pacific.Today we are talking to Gordon Peake who has spent most of his professional life working on-the-ground in the Pacific Islands. Gordon offers important insights into the challenges that the Solomon Islands have faced this century and the contrasting approaches of China and Australia in their efforts to build stronger bilateral ties with Honiara, and the complex and unforeseen legacies of well-intentioned interventions.Read Gordon’s latest analysis below and be sure to subscribe to his channel for more frontlines coverage from Antarctica, the Pacific Islands, and his many other journeys.Gordon’s Latest Work * ‘Hard to say who’s winning’: China and Australia battle for influence in Solomon Islands policing, The Guardian* Postcard from Solomon Islands: The legacy of RAMSI, The Interpreter* Our man in Honiara, DevPolicy Blog This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

Watch our extended conversation with Dr. Levi West, a leading counterterrorism expert and the foremost scholar on the evolution of terrorist threats in Australia.We spoke with Levi about the nature of the attack, what level of responsibility the Australian government bears, and broader failures that contributed to the attack. We also covered the nature of terrorist threats in Australia today, and how to respond in the wake of tragedy. Our core interview with Levi is available here.His most recent article, co-authored with Dr. Andrew Zammit and published by the CTC Sentinel, is the most comprehensive analysis of the Bondi attack and its strategic implications to date.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work.This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

As the war in Iran has escalated over the last few weeks, a spate of attacks has targeted both American government buildings and Jewish communities across Europe.On March 8th, an explosion struck the U.S. embassy in Oslo, leaving no casualties. Norwegian police later said they were investigating whether the attack was carried out on behalf of a foreign government. The next day, on March 9th, an explosion hit a synagogue in the city of Liege in Belgium, causing significant damage to the temple and surrounding buildings. The Belgian government has since deployed soldiers to reinforce security at Jewish sites across the country.Later that week, on March 13th, a synagogue in the Dutch city of Rotterdam was also targeted in an arson attack. The following day, an explosion targeted a Jewish school in Amsterdam, and is being investigated by Dutch authorities for possible Iranian involvement. And, just a few days ago on March 23rd, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish community charity in London were set on fire in another arson attack. British counter-terrorism police are reportedly leading the investigation. This followed news that two Iranian men were arrested and charged in the UK with alleged surveillance of Jewish targets on behalf of Iran.A new group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, or The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous, has since claimed responsibility for these attacks. The group’s social media activity is reportedly directed through channels linked to militia groups aligned with Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC. However, it is still unclear what formal connections this group has, if any, to Iran and its proxies.What is clear is that further escalation in the Iran war is likely to produce more plots and violence in coming days and weeks, with local communities paying the price.We spoke to former US counterterrorism official Michael Jacobson about how the United States led global efforts to counter precisely these types of terrorist threats for years. Mike oversaw the international coordination and planning wing of the U.S. Department of State’s Counterterrorism Bureau until 2025. Since then, the Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from several international counterterrorism organizations earlier this year. We spoke with Mike about the impacts of this decision, and how the United States went from a position of global counterterrorism leadership, to a position of leadership in decline. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated military strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran. In Operation Epic Fury’s first 72hours, United States Central Command reported that over 1,700 targets had been struck in the most significant US military operation in the Middle East since the Iraq war. As the war enters its fourth week, it is clear that Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly weakened, and many of Iran’s most senior military, intelligence and security leaders – including Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – have been killed. Yet, so far, there have been no major defections from either Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (the IRGC) or from Iran’s Army (known as the Artesh). Iran’s missile and drone attacks across the region have also continued and its proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, may increasingly attempt to mobilise in Iran’s defence.It is too early for predictions that Iran’s theocratic regime is on the verge of surrender. Instead, let’s pause and look back at the history of US-Iran relations. That context is important for not only understanding how we got to this point but it’s also useful for thinking about how things may play out in the coming weeks and months.The history of US-Iran relations since World War II is extraordinarily complex and tumultuous. But there are events that, in important practical and symbolic ways, capture the broad trendlines that have characterised different phases in that relationship. So, here are four milestones in the history of US-Iran Relations that can help us to better understand the present. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

America’s top national security officials just testified about the state of global threats to the United States. We spoke with Mike Jacobson, who spent over two decades working across the U.S. government in various counterterrorism (CT) roles, on his experiences and the latest insights into American counterterrorism. Mike warned us about the potential impacts of Trump administration decisions to withdraw from several international CT organizations that the U.S. previously led, and an overall stepping back from leading the global CT community. Watch this extended conversation and other recent episodes on CT threats to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

For much of the quarter century since al-Qaida’s attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001, counterterrorism has been the top national security and foreign policy priority for the United States. US leadership has been central to global efforts to confront terrorist threats, but, like so many aspects of US domestic and foreign policy, that has changed under the second Trump administration.We sat down with Michael Jacobson - senior fellow in The Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Mike’s professional career has been almost entirely spent working in counterterrorism roles for the US government, including in the US State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau from 2010-2025, the US Treasury Department’s office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, the 9-11 Commission, and in the FBI.Under the second Trump administration, the United States has fundamentally transformed how it engages with the world. On counterterrorism, where the United States has traditionally adopted a central leadership role globally for well-over two decades, that is changing too.Here we talk to Mike Jacobson about the pivot in US policy that has probably received less attention but it’s a policy area with major implications for global security and stability. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

This episode covers our extended conversation with Dr. Devorah Margolin, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. You’ll hear about her on-the-ground experiences in the region and insights from her many years working on the ISIS detention facilities crisis.Just before the US and Israel launched initial strikes against Iran, developments in northern Syria concerning the ISIS detention facilities had gone from bad to worse. Thousands are now missing following the emptying of Al-Hol camp, and the international community is now fully distracted by the escalating war across the region. Now, latest reporting is already starting to trace ISIS “emerging from the rubble” in Syria, adding a volatile factor into an already spiraling situation.Read Dr. Margolin’s latest analysis with Dr. Joana Cook for Foreign Policy: From Bad to Worse in Northeast Syria, and for The Washington Institute: Caught in the Crossfire: Islamic State Detention Sites at Risk This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

We sat down in early February with Dr. Devorah Margolin, senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to discuss the latest developments in northern Syria as the situation in ISIS detention facilities has gone from bad to worse. Thousands are now missing following the emptying of Al-Hol camp, and core questions about the international community’s response and willingness to repatriate their citizens remain unanswered.We covered Dr. Margolin’s piece for The Washington Institute: Caught in the Crossfire: Islamic State Detention Sites at RiskRead Dr. Margolin’s latest analysis with Dr. Joana Cook for Foreign Policy: From Bad to Worse in Northeast Syria This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

Stay tuned for our full episode with Dr. Margolin and be sure to read her latest analysis:From SNAFU to FUBAR in Northeast SyriaCaught in the Crossfire: Islamic State Detention Sites at Risk This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com

Leaders and experts on the frontlines of conflict and fragility. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit countercheckpod.substack.com