The Focus Podcast

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The Focus Podcast The Focus Podcast with Dr John Bruni
A SAGE International production. Global affairs. Defence. Geopolitics.

Conversations with leading thinkers, military figures and experts about the conflicts, power shifts and strategic choices shaping our world.

Extraordinary claims can grab your attention. What should earn your belief?Tomorrow, Professor Avi Loeb joins John Bruni...
14/10/2026

Extraordinary claims can grab your attention. What should earn your belief?

Tomorrow, Professor Avi Loeb joins John Bruni on The Focus to examine Jay Stratton’s UAP claims—and what it would take to verify them.

Why is the discussion so heavily centred on America? What can sensors actually tell us? And how do we move from someone’s account to evidence others can test?

Bring your curiosity—and your questions.

WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?
Episode 120 | Friday 16 October

What would count as convincing evidence for you?

14/10/2026

What happens to your security when an ally sides with your adversary?

“The Trump administration openly takes the side of the Kremlin.”

That’s the blunt assessment of Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges, former commander of US Army Europe, in this clip from The Focus.

His warning raises a question that reaches beyond Ukraine: how should allies protect themselves if they can no longer count on Washington?

Watch this 48-second excerpt from our conversation, “Hitting Russia Harder”, and consider: **what should America’s allies do next?**

If hundreds of drones and missiles arrived together, could NATO’s defences cope?Former US Army Europe commander Ben Hodg...
13/10/2026

If hundreds of drones and missiles arrived together, could NATO’s defences cope?

Former US Army Europe commander Ben Hodges gives a stark warning—and explains how he would test the alliance’s readiness.

In this short clip, you’ll hear why air defences need to be exercised together, how electronic warfare complicates the task, and why getting reinforcements to the right place is another crucial test.

Watch Ben’s answer to Dr John Bruni: https://youtu.be/si8TjXoyZAA?si=Rgxb0xUenQehpmI1

Which worries you more: stopping an attack or getting help there in time?

Subscribe to The Focus on YouTube for more conversations that help make sense of the security questions behind the headlines.

HIT HARDER. THEN WHAT?Striking Russia harder raises a bigger question: how does military pressure translate into Ukraini...
09/10/2026

HIT HARDER. THEN WHAT?

Striking Russia harder raises a bigger question: how does military pressure translate into Ukrainian victory?

Ben Hodges, former Commander of US Army Europe, joins John Bruni on The Focus to examine what victory requires—and whether Western governments are prepared to sustain the effort.

From strategic strikes and military supplies to Europe’s political will and NATO readiness, we explore the choices that will shape Ukraine’s future and European security.

🎙️ Episode 119 is out now.

▶️ Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/4V9a88SXPgg?si=0SDzpH4WTu7-Y2qL

What do you think is the biggest missing ingredient: a clear strategy, military resources or political will?

UKRAINE, RUSSIA AND THE LIMITS OF STRATEGIC ENDURANCEHow can sustained military and economic pressure translate into a d...
08/10/2026

UKRAINE, RUSSIA AND THE LIMITS OF STRATEGIC ENDURANCE

How can sustained military and economic pressure translate into a decisive strategic outcome?

In the forthcoming Episode #119 of *The Focus*, SAGE International's Dr John Bruni joins Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ben Hodges, former Commanding General of US Army Europe.

Their discussion examines the relationship between military operations, economic pressure, energy security and the sustainability of Western support for Ukraine.

The conversation raises fundamental questions about strategic endurance in an increasingly contested international environment.

🎙️ The Focus Podcast | Episode #119

Premieres Friday, 9 October 2026.

Follow The Focus for the full conversation.

06/10/2026

Can Australia still trust America?

That is no longer a rhetorical question.

Australia has put an extraordinary amount of strategic faith — and money — into AUKUS. Here in South Australia, we are preparing an entire industrial enterprise around building nuclear-powered submarines. Meanwhile, billions of Australian dollars are flowing into the US submarine industrial base.

All of this rests on one enormous assumption:

That the United States will remain a reliable strategic partner.
In my latest conversation with Professor Scott Lucas, we discuss what happens when that assumption can no longer simply be taken for granted.

Scott points to an extraordinary moment when elements within the US system contemplated walking away from aspects of the AUKUS submarine arrangement.

It didn't happen. But that isn't really the point.

The point is that Australia has constructed a defence strategy with very little room for American political unpredictability.
Scott's prescription is not that Australia abandon the United States. Nor is mine.

It is that Australia starts doing something we should have been doing anyway: diversifying our strategic relationships while maintaining the US alliance.

Canada. Japan. Europe. India. Other capable middle powers.
AUKUS may remain central to Australian defence policy.
But where is Plan B?

🎥 In this new extract from The Focus, Scott and I discuss the AUKUS gamble — and whether Australia has become too dependent on an America it can no longer assume will always behave predictably.

What do you think? Does Australia need a Plan B for AUKUS?

05/10/2026

Do China and Denmark know how to play Donald Trump?

It sounds like an unlikely comparison — but Professor Scott Lucas makes a fascinating case that both have learned how to deal with the highly personal and transactional nature of Trump's foreign policy.

🇨🇳 China understands the value of spectacle, access and presidential ego while protecting its strategic room to manoeuvre.

🇩🇰 Denmark and Greenland faced a very different challenge: how to manage Trump's ambitions in the Arctic without surrendering their fundamental interests.

Scott and I explore what these two cases tell us about power, personality and statecraft in the Trump era.

And there's a larger question here:

Are America's allies and competitors getting better at managing Trump?

Watch the full discussion below and tell us what you think.

04/10/2026

WHY KEEP TRUMP IN POWER?

Professor Scott Lucas argues that those hoping to succeed Trump may have a reason to keep him in place: time to build their own influence.

Watch this short extract from The Focus with Dr John Bruni.

Would they gain more by replacing him—or by waiting?

Full episode on YouTube: “Could Trump Lose Congress? Scott Lucas on the 2026 Midterms.”

03/10/2026

IF TRUMP LOSES… WHO PAYS THE PRICE?

The Republican Party—or Trump’s movement?

Professor Scott Lucas joins Dr John Bruni to examine what a major Republican midterm defeat could mean for the battle over power in Washington.

Would Republicans turn against Trump or rally around him? Have your say below.

Watch “Trump’s November Nightmare?”—The Focus, Episode 118—on YouTube: .

🇺🇸 OUT NOW: TRUMP’S NOVEMBER NIGHTMARE?If Republicans lose big in November, what happens NEXT?Professor Scott Lucas join...
02/10/2026

🇺🇸 OUT NOW: TRUMP’S NOVEMBER NIGHTMARE?

If Republicans lose big in November, what happens NEXT?

Professor Scott Lucas joins Dr John Bruni to examine whether a Democratic blue wave could reshape Trump’s presidency—and how those around him might respond.

🔹 Vance, Rubio and the Republican Party’s future.
🔹 The economy and the pressures facing American voters.
🔹 Elections, accountability and presidential power.
🔹 Trump, Putin, Xi—and the consequences beyond Washington.

🎙 THE FOCUS | EPISODE 118
▶️ Watch now: https://youtu.be/W8NToxT7Ljk?si=JdNhdE2fJzoURMi7

💬 Would a major defeat make Republicans turn against Trump—or close ranks?

If this conversation gets you thinking, share it with someone who should hear it.

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