State Secrets

A mass-casualty attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in December 2025 shattered assumptions about the decline of ISIS - and raised urgent questions about what comes next.

In this episode of State Secrets, Suzanne Kelly speaks with terrorism experts Levi West and Andrew Zammit to unpack what made this attack different: months of planning, coordinated tactics, and a clear alignment with evolving ISIS strategy.

The discussion reveals a troubling shift - from isolated, impulsive attacks to more deliberate, semi-organized operations fueled by sophisticated propaganda and global events like the Gaza conflict. The group also examines how ISIS is leveraging English-language messaging, rebuilding momentum across regions like Afghanistan and the Sahel, and blurring the line between “inspired” and “directed” attacks.

Most importantly, they explore what this means for U.S. and allied security services at a time when counterterrorism is no longer the top global priority.

Bottom line: ISIS may look diminished - but the threat is adapting in ways that are harder to detect, disrupt, and defeat.

Washington Post columnist and bestselling novelist David Ignatius joins State Secrets to reflect on more than five decades covering intelligence, war, and global power. In this conversation with Suzanne Kelly, Ignatius shares his perspective on what he calls a potentially historic moment in U.S. conflict with Iran and explains why today’s battles increasingly unfold in the gray zone - from cyber operations to covert networks operating far from traditional battlefields.

Ignatius also discusses the evolving relationship between journalists and intelligence agencies, the challenges of reporting during periods of restricted access, and why original reporting still matters in an era of AI-generated analysis.

Drawing on decades of travel and firsthand reporting - from Beirut to Kyiv - he explains why being on the ground remains essential to understanding modern conflict, including what he calls Ukraine’s emerging “algorithm war.”

The conversation comes as Ignatius is honored with The Cipher Brief’s 2026 Impact in Journalism Award, recognizing a career spent uncovering how intelligence, technology, and geopolitics shape the world.

Investor Gilman Louie has spent much of his career focused on future national security. Tapped by former CIA Director George Tenet to be the first CEO of the Agency’s venture capital arm and later becoming an advisor and venture capital investor, Louie has spent decades working to identify the technologies that will ensure future national security. He told State Secrets podcast host Suzanne Kelly what clues we have about China’s future ambitions and why he believes we’re facing an Oppenheimer moment with AI.