The Impossible State

by CSIS | Center for Strategic and International Studies
81
Government #132

North Korea is the Impossible State. Each episode, join the people who know the most about North Korea for an insiders’ discussion with host H. Andrew Schwartz and Victor Cha about one of the United States’ top national security priorities. Email your questions to ImpossibleState@csis.org.

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  • A Renewed Axis: Putin and Kim
    Sep 19, 2023 – 25:36
  • South Korea's Role in a Taiwan Contingency
    Sep 6, 2023 – 31:45
  • Reviewing the Camp David Trilateral Summit
    Aug 30, 2023 – 54:34
  • A Week of Detention and Deterrence on the Korean Peninsula
    Jul 27, 2023 – 26:20
  • Can the Downward Spiral in China-Korea Relations be Stopped?
    Jul 3, 2023 – 34:07
  • Deep Dive: North Korea's Missile Threats
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    Apr 3, 2023 – 45:46
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    Mar 7, 2023 – 48:20
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    Jan 20, 2023 – 31:59
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    Dec 16, 2022 – 28:22
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    Nov 21, 2022 – 34:46
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Recent Reviews
  • RJG179
    Very, Very Good
    This show excels at covering the Korean Peninsula and the sphere relevant to it. Indispensable information and analysis; just top notch.
  • jrogercamp
    Burgeoning Missile Crisis
    Thanks for the timely and valuable insights!
  • book bear 2000
    Talking about things that they have NO idea!!!
    I mean this is THE WORST stuffs EVER!!! Don't waste time to listen this junk!
  • ZackOconner1981
    Disappointing
    The consistent personal attacks on Trump completely undermine the program’s claims to expertise and objectivity. This is disappointing because CSIS can make a good podcast (China Power for instance.)
  • Johnny GreenLine
    Excellent
    Best of all the CSIS podcasts!
  • Goldbam
    Best Analysis
    Impossible State has the nonpartisan take on North Korea that everyone who cares about this set of issues should hear.
  • jeff.hoening
    Know-It-All Trump Haters for Listening Enjoyment!
    Although thoughtful, like most "news" podcasts, very left-leaning, inside-the-beltway, conventional "wisdlom". This show features interviews with NoKo "experts" that have little to anything to show for 50+ years of 700-page reports, endless analysis, failed diplomacy, and useless UN navel-gazing. The last episode expert/ambassador/thinker gives 100% of the credit to Kim Jung Un for the Singapore Summit (not President Moon, not President Trump, not Nikki Haley). Zero push back from the yes-man host. The Delete button on my podcast app has never looked better.
  • Dmhnnnnalll
    Very liberal
    Has given Trump no credit. We can still pull some troops not all.
  • aebanssi
    Concise take on the latest twists in NK diplomacy
    Great to hear directly from the CSIS experts, who have all been in the room at the table with North Koreans in the past, as we enter a new era of diplomacy with the Impossible State. Will this time really be different? As talks unfold, the people on this podcast will be able to tell us yes or no.
  • TheGondolaMan
    Solid, vetted, insider info
    From the author of the fantastic book of the same title. Nonpartisan info. Fantastic!
  • Lin, K. Z.
    Great podcast!
    I met Victor Cha in the open house of Georgetown’s Asian Studies program before. He’s one of the best scholars in the Korean issues. After receiving the email from the CSIS, I decided to subscribe the “The Impossible State.” It’s my first time to use the service and it sounds great! I’ll keep listening to it.
  • HA Schwartz
    Best NK Analysis
    The best North Korea analysts in the business.
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