Boundless Insights - with Aviva Klompas

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Iran has taken significant hits to its leadership and infrastructure, yet the regime remains in place, continues to project power across the region, and retains the ability to disrupt global energy markets.
So where does that leave us?
In this episode, host Aviva Klompas sits down with Ambassador Daniel Shapiro to examine what this campaign has achieved, whether the United States had a viable alternative to military action, and what a realistic end state might look like from here. They discuss whether an early off-ramp was missed, why both Washington and Tehran are advancing demands that appear impossible to reconcile, and what that signals about the role of diplomacy at this stage of the conflict.
The conversation also explores the credibility of U.S. claims that its objectives can be achieved without deploying ground troops, the uncertainty surrounding Iran’s leadership, and whether the current trajectory points toward a defined outcome or a prolonged and unstable phase of confrontation.
Guest Bio:
Ambassador Daniel Shapiro is a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East from 2024 to 2025, Senior Adviser on Regional Integration in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and US Ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017.

Professor Pamela Nadell joins Dr. Rachel Fish to examine the long history of antisemitism in the United States and how it has evolved from the colonial era to the present. They begin with the arrival of Jews in New Amsterdam in 1654 and trace how anti-Jewish tropes rooted in Christian theology and European prejudice were carried into American life from the very beginning. 
The conversation explores the shift from religious anti-Judaism to modern racial antisemitism, the role of immigration restriction in the early twentieth century, and the barriers Jews continued to face even as America projected ideals of freedom and equality. 
The discussion also examines how antisemitism changed after World War II, the unstable place of Jews within America’s racial framework, and the emergence of antizionism as a contemporary expression of Jew-hatred. Along the way, they consider how these ideas have entered public discourse, higher education, and political life, and what it means for American democracy when Jew-hatred becomes normalized.

Further Reading
Antisemitism, an American Tradition (W. W. Norton & Company, 2025) by Pamela S. Nadell

Guest Bio
Professor Pamela S. Nadell holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History at American University and is a leading scholar of American Jewish history. She is the author of America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today, which won the 2019 National Jewish Book Award, and her most recent book, Antisemitism: An American Tradition, traces the history of antisemitism in the United States from colonial times to today. The book received a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Award, won the 2025 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies, and was named a Wall Street Journal best book. A past president of the Association for Jewish Studies, Nadell has testified before Congress multiple times, including in hearings on antisemitism on college campuses, and serves as a consultant to Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life museum.

Host Aviva Klompas is joined by Ambassador Dennis Ross to assess where the war with Iran stands several weeks in and whether the current trajectory is leading toward a meaningful outcome or a prolonged stalemate.
While Iran’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded and key infrastructure has been damaged, the broader strategic picture remains unsettled. The regime is still intact, continues to launch attacks across the region, and retains leverage over global energy markets through the Strait of Hormuz. This raises a central question: what has this campaign actually achieved, and what can it realistically achieve from here?
The conversation examines the gap between tactical success and strategic clarity, including what the United States is ultimately trying to accomplish and how “success” should be defined. Ross explores whether weakening Iran’s capabilities is enough to change its long-term behavior, or whether the current approach risks leaving the core threat intact.
They also discuss Iran’s ability to rebuild with support from China, Russia, and North Korea, its use of energy disruption as a form of deterrence, and the indicators that would signal meaningful pressure on the regime. Finally, the episode considers the risks ahead, from mission creep to broader regional escalation, and what policymakers should be watching as the war continues to unfold.
Guest Bio
Ambassador Dennis Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He also teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than twelve years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. He served two and half years as special assistant to President Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, spending the first 6 months of the Administration as the special advisor on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. His newest book is Statecraft 2.0: What America Needs to Lead in a Multipolar World (Oxford University Press, March 2025).

In this milestone 150th episode of Boundless Insights, host Aviva Klompas speaks with Jonathan Conricus for a clear-eyed look at where the war with Iran stands as it enters its fourth week.
Despite official messaging pointing to steady progress - degraded missile and drone capabilities, targeted strikes on senior figures, and significant damage to Iran’s military infrastructure - the picture on the ground remains far more complex. Israelis continue to face daily attacks, the regime remains intact, and Iran is still able to disrupt global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with growing economic consequences felt far beyond the region.
The conversation examines the gap between battlefield gains and strategic outcomes, including whether the current campaign is producing meaningful long-term change or simply managing the threat. 
Conricus also weighs in on Iran’s use of energy infrastructure as leverage and the possibility of further escalation. The episode also explores one of the most critical unresolved issues: Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and what it would take to neutralize that threat. 
Finally, the discussion turns to the broader regional picture, including the state of the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon and how that front fits into the wider conflict.
Guest Bio:
Jonathan Conricus is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on the Middle East. He served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for 24 years as a combat commander in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. He also served as a military diplomat, foreign relations expert, and international spokesperson. He recently retired as lieutenant colonel. Jonathan was the first Israeli officer to be seconded to the United Nations (UN), during which he provided military and strategic analysis for UN peacekeeping forces. He has directed social media and public diplomacy efforts and has extensive on- and off-camera experience from his years as a spokesperson.

Host Aviva Klompas speaks with Natan Sharansky about one of the defining challenges facing democratic societies today: why the West often struggles to recognize and confront evil.
Drawing on his experience as a Soviet dissident who spent nine years in prison, Sharansky reflects on how authoritarian regimes operate and why democratic societies frequently misunderstand them. The conversation explores why many in the West hesitate to clearly identify evil even when faced with terrorism, hostage-taking, and deliberate attacks on civilians. 
Sharansky discusses the dangers of moral equivalence, the erosion of moral clarity since the Cold War, and the recurring mistakes democratic societies make when confronting regimes that reject their values. He also reflects on the role fear can play within democracies themselves and whether, after a lifetime spent fighting for freedom, he remains optimistic about the future of free societies.
Guest Bio
Natan Sharansky is a Soviet-born Israeli human rights activist, former political prisoner, and leading voice on democracy and freedom. Born in Donetsk, Ukraine, Sharansky became a prominent spokesman for the Soviet Jewish and human rights movements and was imprisoned by the Soviet regime for nine years on fabricated charges of treason and espionage after seeking to immigrate to Israel. Following an international campaign for his release, he was freed in 1986 and immigrated to Israel the same day. Sharansky later served in several Israeli governments as a minister and deputy prime minister and went on to chair the Jewish Agency for Israel from 2009 to 2018. He is the recipient of both the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2018 he was awarded the Israel Prize for his contributions to aliyah and the ingathering of exiles. Sharansky is also the author of several influential books on democracy, identity, and freedom, including The Case for Democracy and Never Alone.