The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Live! Iran Ceasefire and the (ongoing) Risks of Nuclear War | Ep. 296

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 8 Apr 2026 19:22:55 +0000

Emergency episode covering the terms of the US-Iran ceasefire; why it signals the end of US hegemony; the risks of nuclear war, which remain in place; Israel’s role as a spoiler; indicators of Chinese hegemony (or not); the limits of US power; and what it means to think of Iran as a great power controlling the Strait of Hormuz.

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AOC Against Arming Israel | Iran War as Class War | “3,000 Targets Left” is Not A Strategy | NATO’s America Problem | Ep. 295

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 2 Apr 2026 03:13:25 +0000

AOC announces that she opposes arming Israel in any way--a welcome shift. What makes the Iran war a class war that takes money from every worker in the world. NATO has many problems, but its biggest is the United States. What makes the world post-hegemonic; new signs that the United States repudiates its own form status as global hegemon. Why slaughter is not a strategy--the Trump administration admits that bombing targets (not opening the Strait of Hormuz) is its only aim. Ed Luce of the Financial Times has a chat with Trump about Iran and what comes next.

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Oil Crisis, Food Crisis, and Revolution | Iran War Casualties | Bombing Ecuador | Cuba Blockade | Far-Right Death Threats | Ep. 294

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 19:16:11 +0000

While America's war in Iran slides into higher casualties and greater costs, most of the world remains distracted from America's illegal blockade of Cuba--an act of war. Why the oil crisis is going to fuel a food crisis, which is going to sow revolutionary conditions around the world. How imperialism does and doesn't help explain the US bombing a dairy farm in Ecuador. Pete Hegseth's pastor praying for the death of Texas senate candidate James Talarico signals a wave of far right violence that will confront the victories of left populist democrats in 2026 and 2028. Tracking the latest in the Iran war reveals just how much we're experiencing epistemic collapse--did Iran even fire missiles at Diego Garcia? And who pays for war?

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The Anti-Imperialist Opportunity w/ Morgan Spector: A Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 293

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Morgan Spector) — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 22:27:23 +0000

Free episode crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! You might know Morgan Spector as the critically acclaimed leading man in The Gilded Age and The Plot Against America. Or for his appearances in Boardwalk Empire, Suits, Homeland, How to Make It In America (one of Van’s favorites), or even as a producer on The Big Scary “S” Word. What you might not know is that Morgan is both an impressive critic of policy and an advocate for democratic socialism.

We invited Morgan on to talk about Independence Day (1996), a delicious conversation that’s next in our queue. But we also recorded an in-depth installment of “Politics Behind the Scenes,” our occasional side-convos with guests about the urgent real-world issues of the day.

In this special episode, Morgan chops it up with Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin about: Meaningful anti-imperialist positions on Russia’s war with Ukraine; The illegal war in Iran is also evil; Nationalizing the defense industry and taking the profits out of war; How we might envision a peace economy; Why we all love Graham Platner; The Israel problem in US foreign policy; Why we’re bullish on electoral leftism; and How the Democratic Party has shit the bed so bad that left populists have a real opportunity to takeover the party from within. A lot going on here. You don’t want to miss this episode with one of Hollywood’s best political minds.

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The Iran War is a Global financial Crisis | China Doesn't Want Hegemony | Joe Kent's Resignation | Ep. 292

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 02:13:11 +0000

Why the Iran war is creating a global financial crisis. Why China doesn't want global hegemony, but if it did, now is the best time imaginable. Signs of American hegemonic decline. And Joe Kent's resignation from the Trump administration and how to read it in light of anti-semitism. Van Jackson and Matt Duss chopping up all that and more in this episode.

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Trading War with China for War with Iran? The Truth About A Munitions Shortfall | Ep. 291

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:01:54 +0000

What is the US shortage of standoff weapons? What's Iran's strategy? Why are missile defense systems moving from South Korea to the Middle East? And why is it wrong to believe that war with Iran comes at the expense of war with China? Can the US even defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion? In this episode live from the Kapiti Coast, Dr. Van Jackson analyzes the latest in the US and Israeli war with Iran and what it means for the balance of power in Asia.

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Techno-Industrialism and the Plot to Save America, w/ Maddy Crowell | Ep. 290

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 6 Mar 2026 23:00:38 +0000

What is techno-industrialism, who benefits from it, and what does it mean for the working class? Maddy Crowell joins Julia Gledhill on the podcast to discuss her new article in Harper’s Magazine, in which she explores the effort to reindustrialize the United States through rearmament.

Read “The Plot to Save America,” here: https://harpers.org/archive/2026/03/the-plot-to-save-america-maddy-crowell-reindustrialization-weapons-manufacturing/

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Five Uncomfortable Truths About War Against Iran | Ep. 289

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 08:09:40 +0000

In this episode live on location in the Kapiti Coast (the background noise is the ocean), Dr. Van Jackson explains five truths about war with Iran that account for why the war happened, who benefits from it, and what comes next.

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Iran War Conspiracy | A.I. Nuclear Escalation Threat | Joint Staff Purge | Palantir Democrats | Ep. 288

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 05:49:25 +0000

As the Trump administration prepares for war with Iran, why does it suddenly care about manufacturing consent? Inside the US military's munitions shortfall and what it says about capitalism, oligarchy, and the US relationship with war. War games with artificial intelligence say chatbots choose escalation to nuclear war 95% of the time. What's at stake in Anthropic's fight with the Pentagon, and why it's not as it seems. The Democratic Party--and American democracy--has a Palantir problem. Also this episode: why two senior officers have been purged from the Joint Staff. Dr. Van Jackson breaks all that down and more.

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AOC's Anti-Fascist Foreign Policy | Iran War Dilemma | Anthropic A.I. Against the War Machine? | Democratic Party in Crisis | Ep. 287

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 02:18:39 +0000

What did AOC reveal about her foreign policy vision during her trip to Germany and the Munich Security Conference? Why is the US about to illegally attack Iran, again? Proof from the New York Times that the Democratic Party as we know it is in crisis. And what we can learn about tech-worker backlash against AI and Anthropic's fight with the Pentagon.

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Peace Activism, the Iraq War, and the New Militarism w/ David Cortright | Ep. 286

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 23:18:18 +0000

How did opposition to the Iraq War become the largest peace movement in recorded history? Why is the world ripe for a new generation of peace activism? And why is it so important to diagnose militarism as a primary cause of global insecurity today? Dr. David Cortright--a legendary peace activist and peace scholar--joins the pod to offer an oral history of the global peace movement in the context of his career, from protesting the Vietnam War to running SANE (The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy) and co-founding Win Without War.

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David Cortright in International Policy Journal: https://cippolicy.substack.com/p/no-to-wars-of-conquest-in-venezuela

David Cortright's latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Peaceful-Superpower-Lessons-Largest-Movement/dp/1613322046

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Live! What's Causing America's Imperial Decline? | Ep. 285

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 07:47:29 +0000

Recorded on location in the wilds of New Zealand’s Kapiti Coast. Why is America declining? Grand strategists, pundits, and scholars have been debating the best label for US foreign policy during the Trump presidency: illiberal hegemony; neo-royalism; reactionary nationalism; predatory hegemony. But none of these labels offer an account of themselves. Why is the US engaged in predatory behavior abroad? Why has American hegemony ended? The answer can be found in imperialism and its causes. A crisis of capitalism is accelerating imperial decline, which is birthing what you might call the Age of Primitive Accumulation. Geopolitics has fundamentally changed, and if we don't recognize the shift as a turn to imperialist foreign policy--which facilitates primitive accumulation--we will fail to understand and respond to the darkness washing over the world.

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The End of Arms Control | Pentagon Concentration Camps | Bezos Kills the Washington Post | Neocons Still Run DC? | Ep. 284

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 6 Feb 2026 01:47:08 +0000

How the Pentagon is facilitating the rapid expansion "ghost network" concentration camps in America. Why arms control is dying and what to make of the New START Treaty's expiration. Jeff Bezos has effectively killed The Washington Post--what's next? Why neoconsevative foreign policy hawks still run Washington. And the importance of Gary Stevenson's story in The Trading Game for understanding the decline of empire. Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss cover all that and more in the latest episode.

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US-Far Right Separatism Collab Threatens Canada | Denmark's Debt Weapon | Industrial Manufacturing Fetish | Russia's Drone War of Attrition | Ep. 283

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 05:07:39 +0000

The US State Department has been coordinating far right separatists in Alberta--the imperialism threat to Canada is real. Denmark's debt weapon and the EU's anti-coercion instrument got Trump to temporarily back off of invading Greenland. Why is the fantasy of returning industrial manufacturing so important to the American far right (and some progressives)? The confession of a Biden administration adviser to supporting war crimes in Gaza. And just how bloody is drone warfare? New data from the Russia-Ukraine war reveals something on the order of World War I, with very little to show for it in terms of territorial conquest. Julia Gledhill, Van Jackson, and Matt Duss discuss all that and more in the latest episode of the pod.

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The Military is Trapped Between Fascism and Civil War | Ep. 282

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 01:13:32 +0000

Free crossover episode with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Do US troops have a threshold for the kind of unlawful order they’re unwilling to follow? If Venezuela wasn’t a breaking point, is Greenland? Can the US have mid-term elections under martial law? Will troops fire on fellow Americans if ordered? And why is the permanent war economy at the root of everything from economic insecurity to America’s imperial boomerang in the form of ICE, National Guard deployments, and militarized policing?

In this urgent behind-the-scenes episode, guest Jeremy Wattles joins Van Jackson and Lyle Jeremy Rubin to talk about all that and more. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Rupture of the “Rules-Based International Order” w/ Seva Gunitsky | Ep. 281

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 02:15:41 +0000

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave the most important speech about international relations in 50 years. In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson and guest Dr. Seva Gunitsky sit down to dissect Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They discuss the many shades of realism in international relations, what it means to acknowledge the contradictions of the "rules-based international order," and where the world goes now that American hegemony is officially over.

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Iranian Revolution? | Joseph Stiglitz Wants to Contain America | Network-State Neocolonialism in Greenland | Nationalizing the Defense Industry | Ep. 280

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 08:23:29 +0000

Are protests in Iran a prelude to revolution? The root causes of Iranian unrest are economic. Why Joseph Stiglitz thinks it’s time to isolate and contain the United States. Why Silicon Valley’s network-state advocates have fixated on taking over Greenland, and why the geopolitics of the network state could lead to World War III. The case for nationalizing the defense industry and taking the profits out of war. And why Trump wants a $1.5 trillion-dollar war machine, and why Dr. Van Jackson predicted he would.

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Venezuela’s Blood for Oil “Performative Accumulation" | NATO’s Greenland Threat | Economics of Empire | A.I. Data Centers | Ep. 279

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 7 Jan 2026 18:09:13 +0000

Dr. Van Jackson tackling a host of dark issues in this episode. How to explain US imperialism in Venezuela. NATO's existential trouble and America's threat to annex Greenland. The economics of American empire. How the Trump administration quietly killed the last initiative for a progressive global order. And the struggle against A.I. data centers.

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A House of Dynamite (2025) w/ Scott Sagan | Ep. 278

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 20:03:10 +0000

A special holiday crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin are joined by the preeminent nuclear scholar Scott Sagan to discuss A House of Dynamite, the 2025 political thriller that imagines nuclear catastrophe not as spectacle or obvious madness, but as an orderly sequence of decisions made under crushing time pressure. Structured as interlocking vignettes rather than a single command-room drama, the film moves between the White House, STRATCOM, missile defense sites, continuity bunkers, and civilian spaces, sketching a system that largely works as designed and still produces annihilation.

The film’s opening establishes its governing logic. Inclination is flattening. Timelines shrink. Judgment collapses into procedure. “Nineteen minutes to impact.” “Sixteen minutes.” “Confirm impact.” Across locations, professionals do their jobs calmly while the meaning drains out of their actions. A senior officer tells a junior colleague to keep the cafeteria line moving. A staffer compiles names and Social Security numbers for the dead. Phones come out. Final calls are made. The end of the world arrives not with hysteria, but with etiquette.

Much of the tension turns on probability. Missile defense is described as “hitting a bullet with a bullet.” Sixty-one percent becomes the moral threshold, a coin toss bought with billions of dollars. Baseball chatter at STRATCOM blends into DEFCON alerts. A Civil War reenactment at Gettysburg unfolds alongside real-time catastrophe, collapsing past and present forms of American mass death into a single frame.

Scott is critical of the film’s portrayal of nuclear command and control. He argues that its depiction of retaliatory decision-making is wrong, that no president would order nuclear strikes against loosely defined adversaries without firm attribution or confirmation, and that the film risks backfiring by encouraging faith in ever more elaborate missile defenses rather than disarmament. Lyle pushes back, questioning whether this confidence in institutional sanity is warranted, especially given the political moment. Either way, the film lands a disturbing insight. The danger is not wild irrationality, but systems that normalize impossible choices. Nuclear war here would not look like collapse. It would look like competence.

Decoding Trump’s National Security Strategy w/ American Prestige Pod | Ep. 277

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 07:55:58 +0000

Free crossover episode with the American Prestige Podcast! Julia Gledhill and Van Jackson joined Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison to breakdown the Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy. They discuss how the document leans on civilizational framing, portrays competition as existential conflict, omits diplomacy and institutions in favor of coercion and deal-making, and deemphasizes democracy promotion. They also touch on the strategy’s treatment of Europe and Latin America, its assumptions about American power, and what the new NSS suggests about the direction of U.S. foreign policy.

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Primitive Accumulation, Imperialism, and Culture-War Grand Strategy w/ Jacob Shapiro | Ep. 276

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 06:05:15 +0000

Free crossover episode with The Jacob Shapiro Podcast! It's a strategy of primitive accumulation masquerading as a culture warrior grand strategy. It's doing white Christian nationalism as foreign policy, imperialism in Latin America, far-right revolution in Europe. And what about China? In this crossover episode between The Un-Diplomatic Podcast and The Jacob Shapiro Podcast, Dr. Van Jackson--a former national security strategist--explains the significance of the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy and what it means for the world.

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Netflix’s Marines (2025) w/ Sam Carliner | Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 275

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 8 Dec 2025 23:30:48 +0000

Free episode crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin are joined by returning guest Sam Carliner to take on Marines, Netflix’s new 250th-anniversary docuseries, an unmistakable propaganda piece (it’s literally featured on the official Marine Corps website) that nonetheless reveals more candor than the institution intended. Directed by Chelsea Yarnell, whose style veers into Riefenstahl-lite, the series moves through the familiar mythology: Marines as the “meanest, baddest motherfuckers,” war as manhood, China as the next “bloody” proving ground. But between the clichés, something truer keeps slipping out.

The Marines themselves come across not as caricatures but as young people grasping for purpose. Some raised amid violence, poverty, absent fathers, and broken homes; others from supportive families, following beloved relatives into the Corps, seeking adventure, education benefits, or what they sincerely understand as patriotic duty. Some speak with chilling bravado about killing; others struggle openly with faith, family, and the sense that combat is the only place they’ll ever feel whole. A sniper mourns the disbanding of scout-sniper platoons as if losing a piece of himself. A Huey pilot wonders how to make “non-emotional decisions” when his whole life has been shaped by emotion, and a mother tries to bless a choice she privately cannot support.

And despite itself, the series also exposes the machinery surrounding them. Deployments that make no sense. A surreal shipboard announcement about Yemen, where Houthi attacks are called “unprovoked” with no mention of the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza driving them, all delivered in a breezy “Good morning, Team America” tone. Marines saddled with the weight of great-power delusions they never chose. The political culture is bankrupt, but the individuals inside it are often heartbreakingly earnest. That tension, between Yarnell’s promo frame and the unfiltered vulnerability of the people she films, turns Marines into something worthwhile. Even in its worst moments, the series forces a deeper question: What happens when a society offering so little to its young men teaches them that violence is the only stable form of meaning?

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Leaving Washington | NATO Hawk to NATO Dove | Teaching International Relations | Realities of PhD Life | Ep. 274

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 3 Dec 2025 19:46:30 +0000

Free episode cross-over! Van Jackson appeared as a guest on Davis Ellison’s Official Positions podcast. They talk about how Van became a scholar, why he left Washington for New Zealand, the social realities of being a foreign policy wonk, the dark side of life in rich countries, what strategic studies ought to be, and how Davis himself went from being NATO analyst to being a NATO critic.

Check out Official Positions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/official-positions/id1798238454

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"Seditious" NatSec Democrats | MAGA’s A.I. Rupture | Venezuela Regime Change | Ukraine Peace Plan | Ep. 273

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 04:21:02 +0000

Why regime-change war with Venezuela is about drugs. And cartels. And immigration. And resource exploitation. And because it will be good for inflation. And because uranium to all of the world’s bad guys. What the fuck!? Things are shaping up like a choose-your-own adventure story that fails to learn from the Iraq War. What is the Ukraine peace plan and why is it destined to fail in its current form? The opportunity and threat of national-security democrats like Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, and what it says that Trump is accusing them of sedition. Trump’s effort to bring back the action films from the ‘80s and ‘90s, including a remake of Rush Hour and Blood Sport. And what Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation says about MAGA’s infighting about artificial intelligence.

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Bret Stephens' Case for Iraq-ing Venezuela | Palantir Democrats | G-7 Imperialist Multilateralism | Real War on Fake Antifa | Ep. 272

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 07:47:25 +0000

Van Jackson and Julia Gledhill link back up to discuss Bret Stephens' op-ed in the New York Times making the case for overthrowing Maduro in Venezuela...and why it's the Iraq War all over again. How the Democrats are in bed with Palantir and why they need to get out. The G-7 meeting in Canada revealed what can only be called imperialist multilateralism. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio designates Antifa a foreign terrorist organization, which escalates an ongoing fight between rulers and subjects in most countries.

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The Geopolitics of Jeffrey Epstein and Hegemonic Decline w/ Jeet Heer | Ep. 271

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 18:43:14 +0000

In this crossover episode with The Time of Monsters--a podcast of The Nation Magazine--Jeet Heer and Van Jackson discuss the worldmaking of Jeffrey Epstein and the complicity of America's entire ruling class in his crimes, from Larry Summers and Leon Panetta to Trump himself. Thousands of leaked emails reported by DropSite News have revealed something about Jeffrey Epstein that few people realized: He was one of the world's preeminent geopoliticians during the unipolar moment, and that's not a good thing. We now know that Epstein actively promoted the interests of the global far right; worked with Israeli security services to export the tools of oppression to the Global South; helped strengthen Russia's oligarchy and deal intimately with Putin; lobbied to bomb Iran and kill the Iran nuclear deal; secured the US and Russian removal of chemical weapons from Syria FOR Israel; and capitalized on the global instability caused in part by US foreign policy. Epstein's work as a geopolitician reveals a dark side to American hegemony not previously known or seen. It's one giant case study of Naomi Klein's disaster-capitalism thesis.

Subscribe to The Time of Monsters Podcast: https://www.thenation.com/content/time-of-monsters/

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Bombing Latin America | Who’s Afraid of Zohran? | Economic Depression Hiding in Plain Sight | Trump Embarrasses Asia | Ep. 270

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 7 Nov 2025 07:53:12 +0000

Who’s afraid of Zohran Mamdani, and why New York newest mayor will lead to Trump escalating his war against Americans. An economic great depression is already hiding in plain sight. The Nazi debate within the Republican Party. Why the Trump administration’s war on Venezuela will expand to Colombia and Mexico. Making sense of Trump’s trip across East Asia as a symptom of hegemonic decline.

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Did Trump End Great-Power Rivalry with China? Tactical Economic Detente Explained | Ep. 269

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 1 Nov 2025 04:21:02 +0000

Xi Jinping and Donald Trump just met in South Korea, agreeing to suspend the most acute aspects of economic warfare for 12 months, lowering US tariffs on Chinese goods, and resuming Chinese purchases of US soybeans. But Dr. Van Jackson explains why the inter-imperialist rivalry between China and the US endures, why talk of a G2 is premature, and what needs to be done to address the structural sources of great-power competition.

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WarGames (part II) w/ Sam Ratner and Andy Facini | Ep. 268

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 02:58:41 +0000

Part II of our crossover episode with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van and Lyle are joined by Sam Ratner, Policy Director at Win Without War, and Andy Facini, Communications Director at the Council on Strategic Risks, to discuss WarGames, John Badham’s Cold-War techno-thriller that accidentally foresaw the age of algorithmic warfare. What begins as a teenage prank—Matthew Broderick’s David Lightman breaking into what he thinks is a computer game—quickly becomes a meditation on automation, deterrence, and human judgment in systems built to annihilate. Together, the group unpacks how WarGames’ “WOPR” supercomputer prefigures today’s AI decision-making, where machines learn to “take men out of the loop.” They trace how the film’s closing revelation (“The only winning move is not to play”) echoes across four decades of nuclear strategy and modern debates over escalation, autonomy, and control. The conversation ranges from NORAD and machine learning to the moral limits of deterrence, the psychology of Cold-War adolescence, and the comic absurdity of believing one can win an unwinnable game. Like Dr. Strangelove before it, WarGames shows us a military machine that runs on fear, faith, and code, and a civilization learning to live with its own programmed self-destruction.

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WarGames w/ Sam Ratner and Andy Facini | Ep. 267

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 20:16:23 +0000

Free crossover episode with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van and Lyle are joined by Sam Ratner, Policy Director at Win Without War, and Andy Facini, Communications Director at the Council on Strategic Risks, to discuss WarGames, John Badham’s Cold-War techno-thriller that accidentally foresaw the age of algorithmic warfare.

What begins as a teenage prank—Matthew Broderick’s David Lightman breaking into what he thinks is a computer game—quickly becomes a meditation on automation, deterrence, and human judgment in systems built to annihilate. Together, the group unpacks how WarGames’ “WOPR” supercomputer prefigures today’s AI decision-making, where machines learn to “take men out of the loop.” They trace how the film’s closing revelation (“The only winning move is not to play”) echoes across four decades of nuclear strategy and modern debates over escalation, autonomy, and control.

The conversation ranges from NORAD and machine learning to the moral limits of deterrence, the psychology of Cold-War adolescence, and the comic absurdity of believing one can win an unwinnable game. Like Dr. Strangelove before it, WarGames shows us a military machine that runs on fear, faith, and code, and a civilization learning to live with its own programmed self-destruction.

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RAND Corporation Crisis of Capital | Bannon Says Trump 2028 | Graham Platner Tattoo-Gate | China Decoupling | CIA Rethinks China | Ep. 266

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 03:34:01 +0000

The RAND Corporation just cut 11% of staff--which is a further sign of a crisis of capital accumulation. The CIA is maybe rethinking China. The Trump administration is accelerating decoupling from China. Progressives and antiwar organizations send an open letter to Trump about detente with China. Graham Platner's tattoo is getting way too much attention, and also the reason he'll beat Susan Collins. Steve Bannon says Trump will be president in 2028, despite being unconstitutional.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

CIA in Venezuela | The Pentagon’s War on Journalists | China Trade Crisis | Ashley Tellis Scandal | Gaza Ceasefire | Ep. 265

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 02:27:10 +0000

What it means that the Department of War just revoked the press credentials for more than 100 media outlets. Why the China trade crisis is a self-imposed Cuban Missile Crisis that could nuke the global economy (China has predictable control of critical minerals). Trump's covert action authorization against Venezuela is part of Monroe Doctrine 2.0. Why the criminal charges against Ashley Tellis signal a more perilous age for foreign policy analysts. And what Gaza ceasefire does and does not mean. And why everyone but Matt looks forward to pumpkin-spice latte season.

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Inter-Capitalist War and the End of the Nation-State (as we know it) w/ Jamie Merchant | Ep. 264

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 03:16:24 +0000

Jamie Merchant, author of Endgame: Economic Nationalism and Global Decline, wants you to stop thinking like a policymaker! He joins the pod to talk about a new essay he has in The Brooklyn Rail about the decline and decay of the "progressive managerial state." Van and Jamie also discuss their shared critique of the book Trade Wars Are Class Wars, the contradiction of Trump's tariffs, their mixed evaluation of Adam Tooze, why international relations as a discipline appears to be in terminal decline, the ideological conflicts within MAGA and what it has to do with a crisis of capital accumulation, and why the various competing sections of capitalism find themselves at war with one another. If you want to make sense of our current historical conjuncture, you can't afford to miss this episode.

Jamie Merchant, "The Suicide State": https://brooklynrail.org/2025/09/field-notes/the-suicide-state/

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Hegseth's War on Fat Generals | Gaza Flotilla | China Soybeans | NSPM-7 is Trump's War on the Left | Government Shutdown | Ep. 263

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 3 Oct 2025 05:47:55 +0000

Pete Hegseth's fat-generals theory of war is a stabbed-in-the-back myth meant to justify brutality. Trump's NSPM-7 is very explicitly a war on anyone who advocates for peace, democracy, and equality. The government shutdown is being used as a war on Democrats and liberal democracy. The Gaza Sumud Flotilla gets targeted by Israel, in violation of international law--why don't modern states protect their citizens anymore? Trump wants to make a soybean deal with China--the makings of a new detente, but with corrupt, elite-serving foundations.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Live Lecture! Left and Right Visions of Global Order: Why Liberal Internationalism is Dead | Ep. 262

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:18:43 +0000

Why are both the left and the right opposed to the "liberal international order?" What are different schools of right-wing thought about the world, what makes the global far right a counter-order movement, and what, if anything, does it have in common with progressive foreign policy. Dr. Van Jackson, a scholar of international relations, explains the competing global visions of left and right in this live lecture you don't want to miss. This is part two of a two-part lecture on the politics of global order.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Live Lecture! What Was the “Liberal International Order?” | Ep. 261

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 03:22:47 +0000

What was the "Liberal International Order," and why did people start calling it the "Rules-Based International Order?" Why do experts debate its meaning? What good has it been? How liberal was the Liberal International Order? And why is it over? Dr. Van Jackson, a scholar of international relations, explains in this live lecture you don't want to miss. This is part one of a two-part lecture on the politics of global order.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Militarized Commons: How Territorial Competition is Destroying the South China Sea | Ep. 260

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 23:19:42 +0000

How do territorial disputes in the South China Sea impact biodiversity? Madelyn MacMurray joins the podcast to discuss how militarized fishing fleets deplete fish stocks – and why that matters to the world.

Read Madelyn’s most recent piece: Militarized Commons: How Territorial Competition is Weaponizing Fisheries and Destroying the South China Sea: https://www.stimson.org/2025/territorial-competition-weaponizing-fisheries-south-china-sea/

And check out her team’s most recent report on the same topic, here: Policy Roadmap: Addressing IUU Fishing in Southeast Asia: https://www.stimson.org/2025/policy-roadmap-addressing-iuu-fishing-in-southeast-asia/

Follow Madelyn on X, if you’re still there: https://x.com/maddiemacmurray

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Antifa, Jimmy Kimmel, and Emergency Politics | TikTok Deal with China | Oligarchy’s Economic Recession | The National Defense Strategy Still Hates China

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 06:10:41 +0000

Explaining how designating Antifa a terrorist organization and cancelling Jimmy Kimmel are part of the same emergency politics: A primer on securitization theory in the Trump presidency. White nationalist oligarchy is stealing your money and causing a recession: Here's how and why. The US TikTok deal with China could be the model for a new grand bargain, albeit a corrupt one. And the US National Defense Strategy is still targeting China.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Ezra Klein Loves (some) Political Violence | The War Department and the Asia-Pacific Debate | Israel Attacks Qatar | South Korea and ICE | Ep. 258

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 08:30:41 +0000

On Charlie Kirk's horrific assassination and why Ezra Klein's hand-wringing shows that, contrary to his protestations, he in fact embraces some political violence. Trump and Pete Hegseth rename the Department of Defense the Department of War. The Pentagon starts shifting from Indo-Pacific to Asia-Pacific, which has the fingerprints of Elbridge Colby all over it (and I’m not mad at that!). Israel attacks US ally Qatar--what that says about war, expansionism, and revisionist foreign policy. ICE raids a Hyundai-LG factory in Georgia, exposing South Korea to white supremacist statecraft.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

An Oral History of the Progressive Foreign Policy Moment (and what comes next) | Ep. 257

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 5 Sep 2025 23:27:16 +0000

What is progressive foreign policy and what are its roots? The New Left’s struggles against racism, militarism, and imperialism were the real origins of what we call progressive foreign policy today. In this special oral history episode, I tell the story of progressive foreign policy and where it could be headed. Key moments in that history include:

Opposition to Cold War liberalism;

Advocacy for the Nuclear Freeze Movement in the 1980s;

How Democratic Party foreign policy became so hawkish during the Global War on Terror and the Obama presidency;

The role of Bernie Sanders and (opposition to) Trumpism in bringing to life a new anti-imperialism; and

My personal role in becoming a major voice in the “progressive foreign policy moment.”

I also reflect on the populism and socialist candidates carrying forward radical new visions of what the world requires of US foreign policy today. The emerging class of politicians—Graham Planter, Zohran Mamdani, Kat Abughazaleh, Kyle Blomquist, William Lawrence, and many others—are its next-generation organic champions.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Trump's War on Soros | US Covert Action in Denmark | Nationalizing Lockheed Martin | MAGA’s China Contradiction | Ep. 256

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 09:02:48 +0000

The real price of Trump's military occupation of Washington, DC. Trump's war on George Soros and Alex Soros is a war on the Democratic Party. US "gray zone" covert action in Greenland is foreign malign influence against Denmark. Should the US state nationalize the defense industry? And MAGA's contradiction on China is not the rift it appears as.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Tulsi Gabbard’s War on Intelligence | Blowback on the NatSec Elite | White Nationalist State Dept | Warmongering Asia Hands | Ep. 255

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 08:46:06 +0000

Tulsi Gabbard is waging a war on intelligence, in more ways than one. 37 national security technocrats have had their clearances revoked, which is its own form of imperial blowback. State Department fires Shahed Ghoreishi for having a heart (and not being a white Christian nationalist). Also, what’s happened to Asian security scholars and policymakers?

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D.C. Military Occupation | Trump-Putin Summit | Guesting on Hasan Piker | Bloody Blinken’s WSJ Op-Ed | Ep. 254

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 19:42:06 +0000

Co-host Matt Duss makes a guest appearance on Hasan Piker's Twitch stream! Van, Matt, and Julia talk about the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, which has all the makings of either failure or an imperialist peace. Scott Bessent lies about tariffs, economic recession, and America's fake "sovereign wealth fund." Tony Blinken's blood-covered op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. And Trump's military occupation of Washington, D.C.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Anti-Intellectualism in Pentagon Life | BRICS and Civilizational War | Palestine Action | ICE Recruiting Fascists | Ep. 253

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 8 Aug 2025 23:22:07 +0000

The rupture between the Pentagon and the think tank technocrats. The next clash of civilizations will be between the Global North and the Global South. Why ICE is now recruiting white supremacists and fascists. Palestine Action are not terrorists; they're trying to oppose state terrorism.

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Live! Roots Action National Teach-In on Militarism Under Trump | Ep. 252

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 2 Aug 2025 04:26:56 +0000

Dr. Van Jackson spoke as part of a live teach-in webinar for Roots Action and Defuse Nuclear War. He's joined on his panel by Emma Claire Foley, William Hartung, and Taylor Barnes. Together they explain what American militarism looks like under Trump 2.0; what makes Trump foreign policy imperialist; why it's being driven by both a crisis of capitalism and the Washington pursuit of primacy; how US militarism is affecting local communities in America; and what some groups are doing to fight back.

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Learn More About Defuse Nuclear War: https://defusenuclearwar.org

Learn More About The Teach-In Network: https://teachinnetwork.org

Learn More About Roots Action: https://rootsaction.org

White Nationalist Social Democracy | Oil v. Israeli Primacy | Post-American Korean Peninsula | Japan’s Failure of Imagination | Ep. 251

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 05:20:38 +0000

The tables have turned! In this crossover episode, Dr. Van Jackson gets interviewed by Jacob Shapiro of The Jacob Shapiro Podcast. Together they cover the enter landscape of geopolitics from a critical perspective: why the MAGA project of white nationalist social democracy cannot work; why Israeli primacy, not oil, explains US militarism in the Middle East; why the US doesn't want to fight the Houthis; how Japan failed to understand American politics; and the beginnings of a post-American Korean Peninsula.

Jacob Shapiro Podcast: https://youtu.be/Ar6-f0OVAss?si=-0mrKcLjpUCRdj7P

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Spencer Ackerman's New York State of Mind: Peace, Populism, and Zohran Mamdani | Ep. 250

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 04:06:49 +0000

Award-winning journalist, author, and lifelong New Yorker Spencer Ackerman joins the show to talk about the world from a New York point of view: The importance of NYC-DSA and the Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign; how New York's oligarchs used unfounded claims of anti-semitism to protect class privilege; ICE's preparations to do mass extraordinary renditions; how Donald Trump's presidency has become the Global War on Terror that he used to mock George W. Bush for; and why US Central Command's new viceroy inflates the Iran threat (it's for Israel).

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Run For Your Life: A Nostalgia Trap Podcast Crossover | Ep. 249

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 02:10:22 +0000

Van joined David Parsons of The Nostalgia Trap--literally Van’s favorite pod--in a delicious freak out about ICE arresting local college professors, MAGA's Jeffrey Epstein fissures, Andrew Cuomo aiming to spoil Mamdani's victory in NYC, Trump sending weapons to Ukraine, and the overall Third Reich vibes that America is currently giving. As the ever-rising waters of tyranny begin to splash onto our windowsills, what are any of us supposed to be doing?

Subscribe to the Nostalgia Trap: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap

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The Art of Memoir and Stories of Conversion: A Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 248

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:07:40 +0000

Free episode cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. The question of “Which side are you on?” haunted me (Van Jackson) intermittently throughout the long Global War on Terror. It was a beat that I would hear during occasional moments of consciousness, which I tried to suppress or rationalize away…until I no longer could.

On my other show, The Bang-Bang Podcast, I ended up having a surprising conversation with our guest, George Dardess. Before we started the actual episode, we talked at length about memoirs and stories of conversion.

George is an expert in the lost art of close reading, which we get into. And his favored genre—which also happens to be mine—is the memoir. My co-host Lyle Rubin wrote a memoir, and his wife, Colette Shade, just came out with a memoir too (both are excellent). In that context, George started asking about my story, and the beginnings of my own memoir inadvertently came pouring out.

The conversation has stuck with me everyday since. Although I have no shortage of distractions, I’ve begun putting pen to paper, reckoning with the slow-burning crisis of conscience that took me from being an agent of the national security state to one of its fiercest critics.

As we discuss in this short episode, there are a few factors that might account for my political consciousness.

Hip-hop not only acquainted me with the Black Freedom Struggle from an early age; it provided a soundtrack, a musical coda, to my life. And I think that made a difference.

Spending time in Monterey, California, at the Defense Language Institute, was a pivotal experience. In a twisted way, so was my immersion in “hustle culture,” which was so strong that I basically lost my 20s to obsessive self improvement. When my humanity finally thawed in the 2010s, the world had changed dramatically and I started questioning my place in it.

Physically getting out of Washington—an idea whose appeal grew during my alienation in Obama’s second term—was almost certainly crucial too. It feels like I’ve always been on some Robert Frost shit. Few roads are less traveled by than New Zealand, and it has made all the difference!

But I also grew up precarious working class. The lives of the people surrounding me had no connection to the foreign policy world I strived so hard to enter. At first, I saw that as a problem of social mobility. Eventually, I would see it as a problem of class antagonism—national security takes its legitimacy from the people but forsakes them in its every decision. The most generous thing I could say about foreign policy is that people like me faced problems growing up that were never made better by anything happening in national security.

Anyway, I have a lot to work through. But if you’re interested in memoir as a form, close reading as a practice, or some of the details in my personal evolution, you’ll find this impromptu conversation as stimulating as I did.

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Project 2029 Farce | The Zohran Mamdani Model | Peter Thiel, Anti-Christ? | Fascist Public Policy | Nobody Likes Hegemony | Ukraine-China Missiles | Ep. 247

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 4 Jul 2025 01:42:48 +0000

Ross Douthat confronts Peter Thiel with the possibility that he is the anti-Christ. Zohran Mamdani shows a model for politics that the media fears. The Democrats' Project 2029 is a farce that shows leaders of the party don't actually want to win. Fascist public policy is here, and it's class war. According to Gallup, even most Americans think US hegemony sucks. The Pentagon's Elbridge Colby just halted missile shipments to Ukraine so that the US can more readily fight a war against China that it just can't win. Why European elites are embarrassing themselves.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Andor Season 2 Finale + Rogue One w/ Matt Duss and Paul Adlerstein | Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 246

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 03:11:23 +0000

Free cross-over episode with the Bang-Bang Podcast. In this finale to our Andor series, Van and Lyle are joined by returning guest Paul Adlerstein and—making his first appearance on the pod—Matt Duss, former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders and current executive vice president at the Center for International Policy.

The conversation spans the closing arc of Andor Season 2 and Rogue One, treating them as one long meditation on revolutionary grief, sacrifice, and strategy. We reflect on Kleya Marki’s backstory, Deedra Meero’s karmic consignment to the labor camps, and the quiet closure of Bix Caleen’s journey from warrior to survivor, cradling new life in a liberated field.

We also discuss Cassian’s confrontation with the rebel leadership and his scathing defense of Luthen Rael. Namely, his accusation that those who sit in safety have committed only a fraction of the sacrifice they demand of others. As well as Bail Organa’s (wink wink, nod nod) “May the Force be with you, captain,” sealing the fate of Cassian’s transition from hunted thief to selfless insurgent.

In our Rogue One discussion, we note the apocalyptic awe of Krennic’s “Oh, it’s beautiful” as he watches Jedha obliterated, a moment that recalls the real-world language of U.S. reporters and officials after Hiroshima.

Check out the Bang-Bang Podcast and subscribe: https://www.bangbangpod.com/

Tucker Carlson Ruins Ted Cruz | No War with Iran | “No Kings” Protests | Democrats Need a Peace Agenda | Ep. 245

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 21 Jun 2025 03:27:13 +0000

Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss confronting all things fascism at home and war with Iran abroad: Tucker Carlson roasting Ted Cruz over Israel and Iran is a bit too enjoyable…and says a lot about the fissures within the MAGA movement. America is already in Israel’s war with Iran. The promise and limits of the “No Kings” protests across the country. Why Democrats need a peace agenda. And why JD Vance loves his imperial president.

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War on California, United Farm Workers, and Leaving the “Lockheed Left” w/ Antonio De Loera | Ep. 244

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 19:33:23 +0000

The Trump administration's troop deployments to California are in defense of surging ICE raids against farm workers and immigrant communities across the state--a straightforward project of white supremacy meant to discipline the entire American labor force. But Antonio De Loera--communications director for the legendary United Farm Workers (UFW) union--also sees this as a larger war on American identity, America's claim to global primacy, and even America's humanity. Van and Antonio talk about how the United Auto Workers union helped birth UFW, working on the Julian Castro for president campaign in 2019, serving as a special assistant to Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the Biden administration, the foreign policy implications of ICE raids, and why he ultimately fell out of love with the "Lockheed Left."

Antonio's Twitter: https://x.com/AntonioDeLoeraB

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Abolish Palantir | Ukraine Drones | White Supremacy State Department | South Korea's Bernie Sanders | Ep. 243

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 6 Jun 2025 08:49:06 +0000

Inside Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb—a tactically brilliant drone operation against Russian bombers...but does it change anything? Why Palantir is a civil liberties nightmare. The bureaucracy of a white supremacist foreign policy—inside Rubio’s restructuring of the State Department. Elon Musk and the fractures in the oligarch coalition. And South Korea’s Bernie Sanders—the global (gendered) context of Lee Jae-myung’s stunning victory.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Live! The Pacific Sovereignty Deficit and Sino-US Rivalry | Ep. 242

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 31 May 2025 08:51:01 +0000

Dr. Van Jackson was invited to speak at the first Security of Micronesia Group, hosted by the Pacific Center for Island Security in Guam.

I debuted a number of new arguments here, covering how to think about China’s desire for “strategic space” in the Pacific and its surplus labor problem compared with US declining hegemony and Washington’s desire for exclusionary control of the Pacific. I also try to explain why the Micronesian region’s “sovereignty deficit” imperils its neighboring regions of Polynesia and Melanesia, as well as why strategic autonomy is the only solution that addresses everyone’s interests.

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Subscribe to the Pacific Center for Island Security Newsletter: https://pcisguam.substack.com

Andor Season 1 Finale with David Austin Walsh | Bang-Bang Cross-Over | Ep. 241

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 24 May 2025 01:23:05 +0000

Free full-episode cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. Van (minus Lyle) is joined by historian David Austin Walsh to explore episodes 10-12 of Andor’s first-season finale. Their conversation focuses on Andor’s embrace of revolution and the surprising political realism of the show’s portrayal of labor exploitation and social uprisings. Van and David also discuss liberalism’s failure to inspire meaningful change in the real world—why has no electoral politician in our lifetime ever roused our souls like Marva did in episode’s 12’s revolt on the planet Ferrix? What might that say about the rise of fascism in the 2020s?

Check out the Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com

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Labor Strategy at the End of the World w/ Eric Blanc | Ep. 240

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 16 May 2025 19:57:05 +0000

Why is the US unlikely to have a manufacturing revival, and who would benefit if it did? What happens to the rest of the world when the US tries to reshore manufacturing? What makes national security and labor power antagonistic to each other? What problems does worker-to-worker organizing solve? Why has organized labor been in decline since 1979? What's the relationship between social movements like Black Lives Matter and labor militancy? And what is the prospect that Shawn Fain's idea of a general strike in 2028 actually happens? Many questions, many answers as labor historian Dr. Eric Blanc joins Dr. Van Jackson to talk about the future of the working class in a MAGA-dominated world.

Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee: https://workerorganizing.org

Subscribe to Eric's Newsletter: https://www.laborpolitics.com

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Katrina vanden Heuvel on Europe's Far Right, European Rearmament, and the Trump Effect | Ep. 239

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Katrina vanden Heuvel) — Sun, 11 May 2025 19:04:18 +0000

Katrina vanden Heuvel--editorial director and publisher of The Nation magazine--joins Dr. Van Jackson to talk about: Europe's far right; the failure of centrist parties in the UK, France, and Germany; the trouble with European rearmament; Trump's and MAGA's effects on European politics; and the struggle of Europe's fractured left-wing political movements.

Katrina's report with Robert Borosage, "Report From Europe: The Center Does Not Hold": https://www.thenation.com/article/world/european-union-right-left-parties-democracy/

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Kashmir Nuke Crisis | Houthi Ceasefire | China's 6th-Gen Fighter | Post-American Asia | Fascist Budgeting | Ep. 238

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 8 May 2025 20:47:42 +0000

Covering the latest in the India-Pakistan military conflict and its nuclear risk; the US tentative ceasefire with the Houthis marks another lost war; why China's tech breakthroughs make arms-racing self-defeating for the US; the shape of a post-American Asia beginning to emerge; what a fascist budget looks like; why Stephen Miller is like that; the Trump administration is trying to export its "war on woke" to Stockholm, and it's failing; and more!

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Andor, Episodes 1–3 w/ Jenny G. Zhang | Bang-Bang Podcast Cross-Over | Ep. 237

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 2 May 2025 18:57:23 +0000

Free preview cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. Van and Lyle kick off their Andor series with Slate culture editor Jenny G. Zhang, diving into the show’s slow-burn opening arc where imperial bootlickers, jealous love interests, and rebels in the making collide on the Outer Rim. They discuss what makes Andor—a property of the Star Wars universe—feel different than its franchise kin, from its social realism to its psychological bite. If The Battle of Algiers looms large, so does Parable of the Sower, especially the show’s landscape of authoritarian company towns and the simmering hints of a revolutionary break.

They talk about the Preox-Morlana security force as East India Company meets Blackwater, and Deputy Inspector Syril Karn as the story’s omnipresent archetype—the insecure man desperate to matter. Just like the pathetic rent-a-cops Andor is forced to kill, and the equally envious Timm Karlo, another tragic loser who dies trying to make up for his fateful angst.

History appears to turn not so much on generals and emperors, but on the choices and contradictions of broken men. Men stuck in systems they didn’t build, and whose real breaking is yet to come.

Check out the Bang-Bang Podcast and subscribe: https://www.bangbangpod.com/

Nuke-You-Lear Strategy w/ Emma Claire Foley | Ep. 236

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 20:38:50 +0000

What's wrong with trying to be a Washington insider these days? How different is nuclear thinking under Trump compared to previous Democratic and Republican presidencies? Is Trump's "golden dome" idea just a grift (yes)? What's the best way to raise public consciousness about the danger of nuclear weapons? And what role could film and pop culture play in building mass support for arms control and nuclear disarmament? Dr. Van Jackson sits down with Emma Claire Foley--an anti-nuclear expert--to discuss her new essay in The Baffler magazine, "Probably Oblivion."

Emma Claire's piece in The Baffler: https://thebaffler.com/latest/probably-oblivion-foley

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The Siege (1998) w/ Kevin Fox | Bang-Bang Podcast Cross-Over | Ep. 235

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 01:59:23 +0000

Free preview cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. Long before the Patriot Act, long before “See Something, Say Something,” long before 9/11—there was The Siege. Released in 1998, this Bruce Willis–Denzel Washington vehicle depicts a post–terror attack New York placed under martial law. The city is bombed, neighborhoods are surveilled, and Arab and Muslim men are rounded up en masse, held indefinitely in cages under the Brooklyn Bridge. And yet, in perhaps the most jarring twist of all, the whole thing was co-written by Lawrence Wright, the celebrated journalist behind the GWOT-era classic, The Looming Tower.

In this episode, Van and Lyle are joined once again by screenwriter Kevin Fox to revisit The Siege, not just as an artifact of pre-9/11 paranoia, but as an uncanny rehearsal for everything that would come after. Together they break down the film’s oscillation between prescience and myopia, from Bruce Willis as cartoonish generalissimo to Denzel Washington as constitutionalist good cop. The story’s themes of blowback, anti-Muslim hysteria, and civil-military overreach may come off as heavy-handed or superficial, but there are so many moments that still hit disturbingly close to home.

Van, Lyle, and Kevin ask: What can a work like The Siege tell us about liberal complicity in the War on Terror? What happens when a film simultaneously warns of repression while making its own contribution to the atmosphere of fear? And what’s with the horny thermal cam surveillance scene?

Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast for more: https://www.bangbangpod.com

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Zombie Economic Nationalism | Antifascist Protest | Arundhati Roy | Who Tariffs Are Good For Ep. 234

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 19:46:26 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson appears as a guest on A Public Affair, a radio show with a live call-in segment. The conversation ended up being deliciously wide-ranging, including: Why the oligarchs who back Trump want an economic recession; What tariffs are good for, and how Trump’s tariffs impact both global trade and domestic labor; What separates Biden’s economic nationalism from Trump’s “zombie economic nationalism,” and why both are bad but Trump’s is much worse; The value of the #TakeDownTesla movement; What Arundhati Roy teaches us about civil disobedience; Why the general strike is civil society’s ultimate weapon against fascism; and Why the trillion-dollar military budget is not possible without inflating the China threat.

Visit A Public Affair radio show: https://www.wortfm.org/van-jackson-on-zombie-economic-nationalism/

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The Four Books Billionaires Think Explain International Relations (and why they're wrong!) | Ep. 233

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 19:17:55 +0000

The tech billionaires who are part of the Trump-MAGA coalition have repeatedly boosted the same collection of books that they think explain international relations. Dr. Van Jackson--a professor of international relations--explains why these books are not only bad books, but also books with a pessimistic, zero-sum, ethnonationalist, and militarist outlook on the world.

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Tariffs as Unwinnable Economic War in an Emerging Post-American Order | Ep. 232

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 12 Apr 2025 20:14:54 +0000

Live on location from Wellington Harbor (outdoors)! How did tariffs in the 1930s lead to World War II in Asia? How big of a deal is the China-Japan-South Korea coordinated response to Trump's tariffs? Why are tariffs part of economic nationalism, and why is economic nationalism a gift to to the far right? Why has China become the primary scapegoat of Trump's global tariff project? And what's Singapore's prime minister got to say about the way the world is changing? Dr. Van Jackson explores the many facets of our economic crisis and the emerging post-American world.

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Understanding Economic Crisis: Three Charts That Explain What’s Wrong With Capitalism Today | Ep. 231

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 8 Apr 2025 07:00:22 +0000

Why did the US lose manufacturing jobs? What's the problem with Donald Trump's global tariff plan? Why is housing unaffordable in the US? Why are most of us economically insecure? And why is wage work so precarious? Dr. Van Jackson explains everything that's wrong with capitalism today in three charts, and offers some simple solutions to the problem of class war.

For the charts referenced in this episode, check out the YouTube version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpOJU4qdS5c

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Live! Dr. Van Jackson Speaks to the Catholic University of America about Progressive Foreign Policy | Ep. 230

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 2 Apr 2025 03:30:22 +0000

Dr. Van Jackson appeared in a guest lecture at the Catholic University of America with Prof. Andrew Yeo. They talk about progressivism and the restraint movement, Dr. Jackson's working-class origins, what's wrong with Washington, what to make of the Biden administration’s “foreign policy for the middle class,” and what progressives really think about Donald Trump's foreign policy.

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US War Crime Confessions | Europe's Militarism Risk | Taiwan's Angst | BYD Versus Tesla | Ep. 229

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 03:49:15 +0000

How the national security clown show leaking war plan secrets to a journalist also led US officials to confess to war crimes. Why Europe's independence is leading to European militarism and the rise of the far right. Taiwan's insecurity from a progressive perspective. The Pentagon was never doing anything about the climate crisis. And what it means that BYD is outperforming Tesla.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Pete Hegseth’s War Plan Leak | JD Vance’s War on Europe | Fentanyl Isn’t WMD | Mineral Geopolitics in the Congo | Bernie-AOC Popularity | Ep. 228

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 03:56:05 +0000

Why Bernie Sanders's "fight against oligarchy" townhalls have made him the most popular politician in America. Inside Pete Hegseth's war plan leak. JD Vance's hatred of Europe explained. And why Trump's designation of fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction is going to make a war with Mexico the Iraq invasion of the 2020s.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

The Sum of All Fears (2002) w/ Max Read | Ep. 227

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 03:49:04 +0000

Free preview cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. In this episode, Van and Lyle are joined by writer Max Read to dissect The Sum of All Fears, the 2002 film adaptation of Tom Clancy’s novel. The film thrusts CIA analyst Jack Ryan, portrayed by Ben Affleck, into a high-stakes scenario where a nuclear bomb detonates in Baltimore, pushing the U.S. and Russia to the brink of war. The movie’s release shortly after 9/11 adds a layer of poignancy to its themes of terrorism and national insecurity.

The discussion delves into the portrayal of neo-Nazi antagonists manipulating global powers, a narrative choice that, while admirably distancing from the novel’s Middle Eastern villains, also anticipates our terrifying present. The trio likewise examines the character of Russian President Nemerov, a Vladimir Putin stand-in who, putting aside his central role in anti-Chechen violence, comes off as way too sympathetic in 2025. The narrative’s sanitized depiction of nuclear devastation, particularly the aftermath of the Baltimore explosion, earn well-deserved chuckles. Most of all, Max brings his media expertise on the “‘90s Dad Thriller” to the conversation, further offering stark relief to a current moment when such innocent and fun-loving thrills have been rendered quaint—perhaps even impossible.

Grand Strategy for (War Crime) Dummies | Rahm Emmanuel for Exile | AUKUS Politics | Mahmoud Khalil | Ep. 226

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 18:03:38 +0000

Grand strategy must be for war-crime dummies, because Jake Sullivan just got appointed the Kissinger chair at Harvard. Rahm Emmanuel should be exiled, not run for president. AUKUS may be doomed, but it doesn't also have to kill Australian Labour. How the Philippines is supporting the rules-based international order via domestic rivalry politics--the ICC has arrested Rodridgo Duterte with President Marcos's help. The coming American Great Depression--how Trump is killing the economy. Mahmoud Khalil's capture signals a War on Terror against us all. And what the DHS Deputy Secretary said about treating protests as terrorism.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Palestine at the Oscars | China Tariffs NBD | Working-Class Homeless | Ukraine's Peace Problems | Ep. 225

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 7 Mar 2025 17:39:49 +0000

What it means that No Other Land won the Oscar for best documentary. The wicked politics of Ukraine's peace problems. Why China in't mussed about Trump's tariffs. The tradeoff between Taiwan's security and chip manufacturing in the US. And the growing problem of working-class homeless in America: You drive UberEats because of America's permanent war economy.

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Non-Aligned Europe | Primacy-Multipolarity | Nuking the Nuclear Triad | Ukraine's Critical Minerals | Ep. 224

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 1 Mar 2025 23:18:42 +0000

Explaining Europe's shift to strategic non-alignment. The false god of nuclear deterrence--why the nuclear triad is overrated. Making sense of the Pentagon's fake spending cuts. Privateer forces and American imperialism--the $25 billion Erik Prince proposal. Gen Z and Millennials can't afford a home. Expelling Canada from a Five-Eyes that nobody wants. Why great-power competition with China is still happening.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Three Kings (1999) w/ Kevin Fox | Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 223

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 17:58:05 +0000

Free preview episode cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. A madcap collage of American Berserk—that’s one way to describe David O. Russell’s Three Kings, and it’s exactly how Van, Lyle, and screenwriter Kevin Fox dive into it.

This two-part episode (the second installment drops shortly) unpacks the film’s wild genre mash-up: comic book absurdities collide with nods to Star Wars and Apocalypse Now, all while a grim commentary on U.S. militarism and society simmers underneath. The group digs into how the film disorients viewers with slapstick humor and sudden, brutal violence—like Mark Wahlberg’s character, whose torture by an Iraqi soldier (grieving the loss of his son to an American bombing) flips the script on American power. When Wahlberg’s character feebly defends U.S. actions as “maintaining stability in the Middle East,” the soldier shoves a CD-ROM in his mouth—a searing metaphor for the imposition of U.S. hegemony.

From cartoonish “United States of Freedom” patriotism to cow guts and milk truck explosions, Three Kings might not be the perfect vehicle for telling Americans—and all the privileged in the Global North—what they need to hear. But at times, it sure comes close.

Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast to unlock the rest of this episode, Part II, and the entire Bang-Bang catalog: https://www.bangbangpod.com/p/part-i-three-kings-1999-w-kevin-fox

White Nationalism and China | Ukraine's Imperial Peace | Tupac and the Pentagon | Mercenary Monroe Doctrine | Democratic War Hawks | Ep. 222

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 19:38:47 +0000

What Tupac predicted about the defense budget. Pete Hegseth unveils Trump's imperialist peace plan for Ukraine. The Monroe Doctrine means mercenary imperialism. Why the Democratic Party can't critique Trump's lies about being antiwar. In the Trump era, being anti-anti-China is worse than being a white nationalist.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Live Lecture! What Good is the National Interest? Rethinking the Foundations of Peace, Democracy, and War

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 07:40:35 +0000

Dr. Van Jackson gave a public lecture at the Havens Wright Center for Social Justice in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin on February 4, 2025. This episode is the full set of remarks plus Q&A from that lecture.

About the lecture: The concept of the “national interest,” Van Jackson argues, has become an under-appreciated source of global insecurity. Not because there is anything intrinsically wrong with people having interests that must be preserved, promoted, or protected. Rather, the “national interest” as such obscures whose interests are served (and harmed) by the efforts of policy elites to secure the state. Governments routinely use the language of the national interest to justify a politics of violence, secrecy, and exclusion while bracketing off explicit questions of morality and justice. And national frameworks for mobilizing resources and collective action are logically mismatched against global threats like climate change. But rather than wishing away the modern nation-state or simply suggesting changes to the words that governing elites use, this lecture argues that addressing the contradictions in the national interest—as well as some of international security studies’ most cherished strategic constructs—is a start point for constructing more durable forms of security.

The full video lecture: https://youtu.be/6uEGvZQTjNA?si=LvOqClXur72a7v7T

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Palantir is Evil | USAID w/out World War III | ICE Performing Terror | Imagining Restraint in Asia | Foreign Influence is the New Cocaine | Ep. 220

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 7 Feb 2025 05:57:34 +0000

Why Palantir and the new Silicon Valley defense-industrial cartel is bad news for humanity. How to talk about USAID without starting World War III (w/ cameo from Senator Chris Murphy). ICE immigration raids are trying to perform terror. Foreign influence is the new cocaine--legal for white folks. And imagining what a restraint-based, antimilitarist foreign policy could look like in Asia if the Philippines could make a missiles-for-peace deal with China.

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Perils of Christian Patriotism | We're All Antifascist (Right?) | How to Cut the Pentagon Ep. 219

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 31 Jan 2025 22:24:37 +0000

Why JD Vance's understanding of Christian patriotism fundamentally misunderstands christianity...on purpose. ANTIFA is not a terrorist organization, and we should all be antifascist. Why Burmese scholarships are not woke and DOGE has cut too far. And how to cut the Pentagon intelligently.

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Read Julia's report (with William Hartung and Gabe Murphy) on cutting defense spending: https://www.stimson.org/2025/developing-efficient-effective-defense/

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The views expressed are theirs alone.

How Saudi Arabia Bought Trump, DEI and Militarism, Nuclear No First-Use, Elon Musk and the Far Right | Ep. 218

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 21:42:44 +0000

The gang's back with another variety episode. Why Saudi Arabia throws so much money at Trump. Matt's trip to Israel amid ceasefire negotiations. The truth about DEI initiatives and the Pentagon. The best time for nuclear no first-use was 4 years ago; the second best time is now. What's Elon Musk doing with far right parties in Europe? And why is "the quad" both a joke and Steve Bannon's Asia fantasy?

More Perfect Union: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su8NHZY-CyY&t=92s

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Live! Guest Daniel Bessner on The Crisis of Liberalism, The Failure of Democrats, and the Truth About Chomsky | Ep. 217

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 17:57:56 +0000

Guest Daniel Bessner of The American Prestige Podcast joins the Un-Diplomatic livestream to talk about many topics. Is international relations dead or just irrelevant? Where did Democrats go more wrong, on domestic or foreign policy? What was the problem with Noam Chomsky's theory of change? And what even is a crisis of liberalism?

Subscribe to The American Prestige Podcast: https://americanprestige.supportingcast.fm/listen

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Ender's Game w/ Alexander McCoy (2013) | Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 216

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 00:28:15 +0000

Just for the strategy nerds, sharing a free preview of the Bang-Bang Podcast episode covering Ender’s Game, the 2013 film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s classic sci-fi novel of the same name. Neither achieving box office nor critical success, the movie still evokes a wide range of reactions. Especially when it comes to its ambiguous relationship to the original text. Van and Lyle have fellow vet and strategist Alexander McCoy on the show to debate their competing reads. Along the way, they come to agree that certain insights gleaned from the cinematic rendering might be at odds with Card’s politics. Ranging from the ultimate lovelessness of war to the emptiness of any strategy unharnessed from justice and peace.

Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast for the full episode and more: https://www.bangbangpod.com

Alex on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alexandermccoy.bsky.social

Live! Silicon Valley's Class War and the New Defense-Industrial Complex w/ Max Read | Ep. 215

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 9 Jan 2025 02:06:24 +0000

What is the role of crypto and AI in the new American oligarchy? What does it mean that Mark Zuckerberg has declared a re-embrace of "politics?" And what do Palantir, Anduril, and the new defense-industrial cartel have to do with everything from domestic governance to World War III and the "future of war?" All that and more in Van Jackson's chat with Max Read.

Subscribe to Max's ReadMax newsletter: https://maxread.substack.com

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Live! Stephen Wertheim on War and Peace in Europe and Asia Ep. 214

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 6 Jan 2025 07:42:54 +0000

Stephen Wertheim joins as a guest in the Un-Diplomatic Podcast’s special livestream edition. He discusses two of his latest pieces, in the Financial Times and Global Asia magazine respectively. The chat includes thoughts about NATO in Asia, the unreliability of US commitments, how the Democratic Party has ceded peace narratives to Trump, and the romantic views of US power that leads European and Asian powers to think they're free-riding when they're really setting themselves up for a trap.

"It’s time for Europe’s magical thinking on defence to end": https://on.ft.com/4iSWlkf

"Asia Should Encourage ‘Trump the Peacemaker’": https://www.globalasia.org/v19no4/cover/asia-should-encourage-trump-the-peacemaker_stephen-wertheim

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Live Dumpster Fire: Military Primacy is Anti-LGBTQ | Amazon’s Union-Busting | Economic Anxiety and the Right | Ep. 213

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 28 Dec 2024 01:25:07 +0000

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Livestream! Confronting China Wargames and Nuclear Escalation | Ep. 212

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 23:14:01 +0000

This live episode streamed on the Un-Diplomatic Podcast’s new Twitch channel, critiquing a think tank report about nuclear escalation in a conflict with China over Taiwan.

Twitch Channel: https://www.twitch.tv/undiplomaticpodcast

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Stream on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/live/7N3IFWdqb2g?si=LX7vwVg1XNpB3_3v

The report: https://www.csis.org/events/confronting-armageddon-wargaming-nuclear-deterrence-and-its-failures-us-china-conflict-over

Dumpster Fire: MAGA Views Syria, North Korea Crisis, China and the Bully Pulpit, Annexing Mexico and Canada | Ep. 211

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 19:56:56 +0000

Checking in on the dumpster fire that is world politics.

This week:

Trump’s threat to annex Canada expands to Mexico (!).

Australia’s sphere of influence absorbs Nauru.

The South Korean right has been begging for a crisis with North Korea—here’s why.

JD Vance and Trump take on the Syria question.

A Biden China hand wants us to support Trump on China (!).

Dumpster Fire: South Korean Self-Coup Attempt, NZ Labour Against AUKUS, Canada Annexation Threat | Ep. 210

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 6 Dec 2024 07:31:10 +0000

Checking in on the dumpster fire that is world politics.

This week:

South Korea’s president declares martial law in what is clearly an attempted self-coup.

Trump threatens to annex Canada.

Trump threatens 100% tariffs on BRICS nations for a non-existent alternative currency.

New Zealand’s Labour Party declares its independent foreign policy.

Let them eat nuclear subs—Americans are struggling while the White House tries to add $7.3 billion to the defense budget for nuclear-powered submarines.

Beating Ethnonationalism, Trump’s Appointees, the AntiWar Myth, Asia’s Hottest Flashpoint, Imperial Foreign Policy | Ep. 209

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 1 Dec 2024 17:49:02 +0000

Julia, Matt, and Van convened for a mailbag episode to answer all the questions you sent in. Is Korea Asia’s hottest flashpoint? What concerns us about Trump’s political appointees? What do we say when someone claims that Trump is “antiwar?” How should we understand the rise of ethnonationalism, and how can we beat it? What does a democratically accountable foreign policy look like?

All that and more!

Dumpster Fire: People Hate Cheney, Primacy is Bipartisan, Plundering Ukraine, Philippines Assassination Threat, Fareed Zakaria as Sychophant, Hungary’s Lessons | Ep. 208

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 07:46:24 +0000

Checking in on the dumpster fire that is world politics.

This week:

Polling shows that Liz Cheney’s endorsement depressed enthusiasm for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Trump’s national security adviser co-signs Jake Sullivan’s threat perceptions.

Senator Lindsay Graham’s plans to plunder Ukraine—“It’s about the money!”

The Philippines’ vice president threats assassination on…the Philippines’ president.

Fareed Zakaria lavishing praise on Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy (!).

Lessons for surviving autocracy, from a former Hungarian parliamentarian.

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

European Self-Reliance, Hopefully (w/ Nevada Lee) | Ep. 207

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 19:23:54 +0000

How does the incoming Trump administration affect the future of EU defense? What obstacles does Europe face in advancing strategic autonomy? Nevada Lee joins the podcast to discuss recent initiatives to bolster European self-reliance, and why the United States should support them.

Read Nevada’s policy memo on the topic, here: https://www.stimson.org/2024/eu-defense-this-time-might-be-different/

Watch out for publication of her thesis, which she’s trying to un-embargo, here: https://doi.org/10.2870/0338094

Follow her on X if you’re still there: https://x.com/nevadajoan

Dumpster Fire: Temu Supply Chains Gig-ified, The Russian Missile Crisis, New Zealand’s Hikoi | Ep. 206

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 02:48:13 +0000

The world is a dumpster fire right now. For my own sanity, but also for yours, we need more critical takes about current events. There’s too much happening and it’s hard to keep track of everything that matters.

So as a bonus for patrons of the newsletter, I’m going to check in each week with a run down of stories that deserve amplification, with critiques from the Un-Diplomatic perspective.

This week:

The gigification of Temu supply chains amid great-power rivalry.

The Russian missile crisis and what it has to do with North Korea.

The hikoi protest march in New Zealand as a beacon of hope for humanity.

The Battle of Algiers (1966) | A Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 205

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 01:34:10 +0000

Free preview crossover with the Bang-Bang Podcast!

Arguably the most successful revolutionary film of all time, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers boasts many legacies. For film buffs, its import derives from its landmark status in the pantheon of Italian neorealism and political cinema. For anti-imperialists, its value comes from its hardnosed but sympathetic depictions of armed struggle. And for imperialists or right-wing strongmen, the film has been deployed as a realistic guidebook for counterinsurgency. Van and Lyle relate these competing readings to the War on Terror and the latest debates around Gaza, Palestine, and liberation.

Get the full episode and subscribe at https://www.bangbangpod.com/p/the-battle-of-algiers-1966.

Further Reading:

A Savage War of Peace (1977), by Alistair Horne

Discourse on Colonialism (1955), by Aimé Césaire

The Wretched of the Earth (1961), by Franz Fanon

“Negroes are Anti-Semitic Because They’re Anti-White” (1967), by James Baldwin

“Open Letter to the Born Again” (1979), by James Baldwin

On Violence (1970), by Hannah Arendt

“No regrets from an ex-Algerian rebel immortalized in film” (2007), Interview with Saadi Yacef

“The Communists and the Colonized” (2016), Interview with Selim Nadi

Hamas Contained (2018), by Tareq Baconi

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine (2020), by Rashid Khalidi

Militarized Police: Women for Weapons Trade Transparency and the Imperial Boomerang | Ep. 204

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 9 Nov 2024 23:20:55 +0000

How exactly do police end up supermilitarized? What is the imperial booming that brings militarism abroad to the Homefront? And what does the feminist standpoint offer analysts of these problems? Part of the answer are obscure programs called 1033 and 1122. The founders of the Women for Weapons Trade Transparency (W2T2) join the pod to explain.

W2T2: https://www.w2t2.org

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Counterterrorism Copycats w/ Sarah Yager and Yumna Rizvi | Ep. 203

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 1 Nov 2024 19:01:16 +0000

Is the War on Terror really over? Or is it just less visible? Julia is joined by Sarah Yager and Yumna Rizvi to discuss the makings of a militarized, counterterrorism-based U.S. foreign policy, how it impacts the world, and how to change it.

Sarah is the Washington Director at Human Rights Watch, where she leads the organization’s engagement with the United States government on global human rights issues, with a particular focus on national security and foreign policy. She has previously served at both the Department of Defense and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Yumna is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Victims of Torture, focusing on human rights, national security, and refugee and asylum protections. She previously served as a human rights expert with Huqooq-e-Pakistan, a joint project of the European Union and Pakistani government aimed at improving the country’s compliance with international treaty obligations.

Further Reading:
Counterterrorism Copy Cats: https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/counterterrorism-copy-cats

Other recent work by Sarah and Yumna:

Opinion: A debate tip for the candidates — there’s a correct answer on weapons to Israel, Sarah Yager: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-09-09/debate-philadelphia-kamala-harris-donald-trump-gaza

The Abu Ghraib case is an important milestone for justice, Yumna Rizvi: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/4/28/the-abu-ghraib-case-is-an-important-milestone-for-justice

Who Matters? Foreign Policy’s Place in the Presidential Election, w/ Chris Shell | Ep. 202

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 02:12:20 +0000

Does foreign policy matter in the presidential election? The answer might surprise you. Chris Shell joins the pod to discuss recent survey findings about foreign policy and the presidential election. Gaza, Ukraine, immigration, climate change, and China all feature in the discussion, as well as what's really going on with the African American vote.

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

How Do Americans Feel About the Election and Foreign Policy?: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/10/american-voters-election-foreign-policy?lang=en

Race, Foreign Policy, and the 2024 Presidential Election: https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/10/election-survey-2024-foreign-policy-race?lang=en

Find Chris on Twitter: https://x.com/ChrisShell95

Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, Political Campaigns, and China Rivalry--Block & Build Crossover | Ep. 201

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 22:25:22 +0000

Crossover episode! Van appeared on Convergence Magazine’s Block and Build podcast, hosted by Convergence founder Cayden Mak, to talk about Kamala Harris’s foreign policy. They end up covering all the big issues--Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, and China rivalry. They also gab about what it’s like working as an unpaid foreign policy adviser to a presidential campaign.

Subscribe to Block and Build: https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-future-of-american-foreign-policy-with-van-jackson/

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Free Preview of Bang-Bang Podcast | Ep. 200

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 17:43:44 +0000

Free preview of the Bang-Bang Podcast. “We tortured some folks.” Katherine Bigelow and Mark Boal’s cinematic blockbuster about the Bin Laden assassination was alternately ballyhooed and panned upon its release. Fans praised its purported cinematic achievements while critics lamented its alleged militarism or pro-torture sympathies. What’s remarkable today is the attention it received in all directions, perhaps a universal attention no longer possible in a society so fragmented and lost. Van and Lyle try to make sense of the movie as a contested event, and what its ambiguous ending might tell us about what came next. They also recall where they were when Obama ordered Seal Team Six to pull that trigger.

Get the full episode--and all episodes--at: https://www.bangbangpod.com

Veep Debate, Ta -Nehisi Coates Slays Anti-Semitism, Middle East War, China War Fanatics | Ep. 199

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 4 Oct 2024 21:38:27 +0000

Matt and Van chop it up about the Veep debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance; how Ta-Nehisi Coates has taken up the mantel of James Baldwin; the Biden administration's expanding role in Middle East war; and the fanaticism of about China that is dividing America, predictably.

Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com

Combat Obscura--A Bang-Bang Podcast Cross-Over | Ep. 198

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 1 Oct 2024 20:22:52 +0000

Crossover episode! In addition to Un-Diplomatic, Van is now co-hosting Bang-Bang--a new show about war movies, with an anti-imperialist twist. Van and his co-host, Lyle Jeremy Rubin, are military veterans, war critics, and film junkies. Enjoy this free cross-over episode where Van and Lyle discuss Combat Obscura, a 2018 documentary from Miles Lagoze about Marines in Afghanistan (and Lyle’s experience as a Marine in Afghanistan at the same time this was filmed).

Subscribe to the Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com/

Live! World War III and the Presidential Election | Ep. 197

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 20:46:09 +0000

Van spoke at the New Zealand Fabian Society about how the Democratic and Republican Party’s views on foreign policy are changing, and what those changes (and continuities) mean in the context of the US presidential election.

Written remarks: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/live-world-war-iii-and-the-presidential

China Tripping, Israel's Horizontal Escalation, Pakistan's Climate-Debt Nexus | Ep. 196

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 03:36:04 +0000

Matt reports out on his recent trip to China. Israel's terrorism in Lebanon and the horizontal escalation happening before our eyes. And Pakistan as a case study of why geopolitics, climate adaptation, and the sovereign debt crisis must be addressed together or not at all.

Matt's remarks from the Xiangshan Forum: https://internationalpolicy.org/publications/the-right-way-for-china-and-the-us-to-get-along/

Van's remarks at the NZ Fabian Society: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/live-world-war-iii-and-the-presidential

MAGA foreign policy influencers, democratic party contradictions, manufacturing fetishes | Ep. 195

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 6 Sep 2024 07:53:43 +0000

The MAGA foreign-policy braintrust in Trump world is militarism all the way down. The unpopularity of the Democratic Party's popular front. The problem with threat inflation about disinformation. A defense budget out of control. And why Washington's manufacturing fetish is key to a convergence of jingoism, patriarchy, and oligarchy.

Anti-War Organizing, Student Activism, and the Uncommitted Movement | Ep. 194

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 06:31:11 +0000

The election is nearing, and students are going back to school. What does this mean for student organizers demanding a ceasefire in Gaza? For the uncommitted movement? In this episode, Julia facilitates an intergenerational conversation about anti-war organizing. Guests Phyllis Bennis and Roua Daas reflect on campus demonstrations in the spring and share their thoughts on what lies ahead for the ceasefire now movement.

Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) Fellow Phyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism Project at IPS, focusing on the Middle East, U.S. militarism, and UN issues. She is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. In 2002, she co-founded United for Peace and Justice, a coalition against the Iraq war. In 2001, she helped found the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights and more recently spent six years on the board of Jewish Voice for Peace, where she now serves as its International Adviser. She works with many anti-war and Palestinian rights organizations, writing and speaking widely across the U.S. and around the world. She has served as an informal adviser to several top UN officials on Middle East issues and was twice short-listed to become the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Phyllis has written and edited 11 books. Among her latest is the 7th updated edition of her popular Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, published in 2018. She is also the author of Before & After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the War on Terror and Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy U.S. Power.

Roua Daas is a Palestinian organizer with Students for Justice in Palestine. She attended Butler University for undergrad, where she co-founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and led several campaigns, including a successful defeat of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which falsely conflates anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and a campaign against an authoritarian university administration decision to cancel a student-led event featuring abolitionist, scholar, and activist Angela Davis. Currently, she is a graduate student in Pennsylvania State University’s Clinical Psychology and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program, where she organizes with Penn State Students for Justice in Palestine.

Their recent work:

How we passed a cease-fire resolution in our town, Roua Daas, American Friends Services Committee

Uncommitted voters sending a clear message to Biden about slaughter in Gaza, Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies

Nuclear Disarmament v. Nuclear Abolition | Ep. 193

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 00:12:18 +0000

What are the differences between nuclear disarmament and nuclear abolition? How do disarmers and abolitionists balance the need for policy change with the need for sustainable, intersectional organizing? In this episode, Jasmine Owens discusses how Black and Indigenous thinkers inform her vision for the future of the nuclear abolition movement. She reminds us that “small is all” when it comes to organizing, and that community is everything.

Transformative justice is integral to community building. Indigenous folks are on the frontlines of radiation exposure from nuclear tests, uranium mining, and the dumping of nuclear waste. In 1990, the U.S. government created the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to aid some of those harmed, but the program has expired. This September, members of several Indigenous communities and allies are traveling from New Mexico to D.C. with a simple message: Pass RECA before we die.

Please consider donating to help bring Indigenous radiation survivors to D.C.: https://chuffed.org/project/pass-reca

And read Jasmine’s recent work, here:

The false equivalency of nuclear disarmament and nuclear abolition, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

Understanding the Gap Between Vision and Practice: Understanding Emergent Strategies for Authentic Intersectional Organizing in the Nuclear Abolition Movement, Win Without War

Building The World Anew: The Case for Radically Redefining the Nuclear Abolition Movement, Win Without War

Understanding Primacy: Hegemonicon Podcast Cross-over | Ep. 192

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 21:09:32 +0000

Cross-promotion! Van Jackson joined the Hegemonicon podcast and is sharing the experience here with Un-Diplomatic listeners. Van and show host William Lawrence discuss the dangerous strategy of global primacy that drives US foreign policy from many angles. What are the contradictions in US industrial policy? How does primacy relate to China and great-power competition? What kind of international order is emerging? What is the political coalition that can keep us out of catastrophe?

Become a subscribing member of Convergence at convergencemag.com/donate

The Hegemonicon Podcast

Convergence Magazine

Gaza and the Moral Question of Public Service | Ep. 191

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 9 Aug 2024 20:22:31 +0000

"This is what courage looks like." Today Matt talks to three people -- two Biden appointees and one career military -- who made the courageous choice to resign in protest over US support for the Gaza war. We hear from each of them how they came to work in the administration, how they made the decision to leave it, and how that choice has impacted them.

Tariq Habash most recently served as a political appointee and policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. Tariq worked to overhaul the broken student loan system, provide relief to millions of borrowers, and address inequities across American higher education. He was the second government official, and the first political appointee to publicly resign from the Biden Administration due to its policy on Gaza and unrestricted support for Israel’s aggression against Palestinians. Prior to joining the government, Tariq was a cofounder of the Student Borrower Protection Center, a national research and advocacy nonprofit where he led the organization’s investigative work on student loan and consumer finance policies. He also spent years working at The Century Foundation, specializing in higher education affordability, accountability, and consumer protection issues. Tariq holds degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the University of Miami.

Harrison Mann is a former U.S. Army major and executive officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Middle East/Africa Regional Center who resigned in protest of his office’s support for Israel during its Gaza campaign. He previously served as a Middle East all-source intelligence analyst and led a crisis cell coordinating intelligence support for Ukraine. Prior to DIA, he worked at the U.S. Embassy Tunis Office of Security Cooperation and led Army Civil Affairs teams combatting regional smuggling under U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in Bahrain. Harrison began his Army career as an infantry officer. He received a B.A. from the College of William & Mary and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Lily Greenberg Call is a former Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the Department of Interior. She has nearly a decade of experience in politics, movement organizing, and domestic and international human rights work. She worked on President Biden's 2020 campaign and served in the administration until May 15, 2024, when she became the first Jewish political appointee to resign in protest of US policy in Gaza. Lily grew up doing pro-Israel advocacy with AIPAC and other organizations throughout high school and college, and later became invested in Palestinian rights and Jewish anti-occupation movements. She has appeared as a guest on MSNBC, CNN, NBC, and given commentary for the Washington Post, Politico, and the Associated Press. Lily holds a B.A. in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Further Reading:

The Moral Limits of Public Service

State Department Official Resigns

Biden Staffers Mobilising Non-Violent Resistance Against the US Government

The Truth About Venezuela, w/ Michael Paarlberg and Maria Espinosa | Ep. 190

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 2 Aug 2024 21:37:57 +0000

What just happened in Venezuela? Matt Duss is joined by two great Latin America experts to talk about Maduro's very shady re-election, and how the US should respond.

Paarlberg's piece: https://internationalpolicy.org/publications/venezuelas-people-not-government-deserve-solidarity/

Michael Paarlberg is an associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University and associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. His research focuses on Latin America, migration and security issues. He previously worked for the Service Employees International Union and was a journalist with the Guardian, and was a Latin America adviser for the Bernie 2020 campaign.

María José Espinosa is the executive director of the Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA) and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow with CIP. Her work focuses on shaping U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean on issues such as U.S.-Cuba relations, regional migration cooperation, climate, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, and protections for refugees and migrants.

Kamala’s Opportunity, War on the Homeless, Trade Wife Resurgence, Economic Nationalism, Netanyahu’s Nonsense

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 08:29:34 +0000

J.D. Vance imagines a global color line. Kamala Harris has an unprecedented opportunity to move beyond primacy and embrace a progressive foreign policy—will she take it? Biden's claim that America is no longer at war is at odds with...facts. Netanyahu's speech to Congress was evil but says something important about how the Democratic Party has changed. And a rant about the violent throughline that connects America’s war on the homeless with campus protest arrests, economic nationalism, MAGA’s Handmaid’s Tale fantasy, and the national security state.

Stephen Semler in the Forever Wars Newsletter: https://www.forever-wars.com/cops-arrested-over-3-500-pro-gaza-campus-protesters-new-data-shows/?ref=forever-wars-newsletter

Matt Duss's piece on Kamala Harris in Foreign Policy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/07/24/kamala-harris-gaza-israel-democrats-united-states-presidential-race/?tpcc=recirc_trending062921

International Crisis Group Report on War Powers: https://www.crisisgroup.org/united-states/009-bending-guardrails-us-war-powers-after-7-october

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Myanmar’s Gen Z Revolutionaries on an Everyday Grind | Ep. 188

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 08:53:17 +0000

What can a revolution with progressive values look like? What kinds of non-violent resistance against oppression are possible? And what does everyday guerilla warfare do to people with humanist commitments? Dr. Justine Chambers talks about her new research with co-author Saw Ner Dhu Da, understanding how Myanmar's Gen Z led a nationwide revolution against a military coup in Feb. 2021 and has been living everyday revolution ever since.

Read "'Living With' Revolution: The Everyday Experiences of Myanmar’s Generation Z Revolutionaries" in Journal of Contemporary Asia: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00472336.2024.2359373

Justine Chambers on Twitter: https://x.com/DrJustineC

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Live: Biden's Electoral Crisis, Foreign Policy Gaslighting | Ep. 187

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 06:48:04 +0000

The vegetable versus the fascist? The Democratic Party is in chaos. Why AOC and the Squad back Biden (for now). Biden's Trumpian turn. The truth about Biden's foreign policy record.

Kamala Harris and the Race to Replace Biden | Ep. 186

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 3 Jul 2024 22:52:17 +0000

An emergency live episode of the Un-Diplomatic podcast. Van explains the situation the Democratic Party faces: who will replace Biden, why it's likely Kamala Harris, why Bernie should be her running mate, and what all that means for foreign policy.

Livestream on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSc9-8Qra5w&t=842s

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Think Tank Life, Chiquita Banana Death Squads, The New Yorker Treatment, Defund ICBMs | Ep. 185

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 04:01:48 +0000

Navigating the politics of Washington think tanks. Matt's interview with The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner. Robert O'Brien wants the entire Marine Corps to relocate to Asia. Arundhati Roy is a target of Modi's Hindu-fascist turn. The case for defunding ICBMs. And Chiquita Banana death squads.

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter on the politics of think tanking: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/a-political-map-of-washington-think

Eliana Johns on ICBMs: https://inkstickmedia.com/faith-as-small-as-a-titan-relying-on-icbms-in-a-post-cold-war-world/

Isaac Chotiner's interview with Matt Duss: https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-bidens-israel-policy-cynical-or-naive

The Logic of Peacemaking: A Live Event on Nukes and Statecraft | Ep. 184

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 16 Jun 2024 22:44:47 +0000

“One man’s deterrence is another man’s escalation.” Van spoke at an event rolling out a recent report, What Should Be Done? Practical Policies to Prevent Nuclear Escalation. At the event and in the report, Van laid out a logic of peacemaking, relating the strategic, the political, and the nuclear all together. Listen further if you want to know why peace requires movement from Warming Actions-->Ripening Actions-->Reciprocal Transformations. Or if you want to know what the politics of Gaza has to do with nukes. Or why the North Korea strategic situation is so messed up.

Read the Report: https://www.apln.network/projects/nuclear-weapon-use-risk-reduction/what-should-be-done-practical-policies-to-prevent-nuclear-catastrophe

Watch the full event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41-28QIUDbQ&t=4842s

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Fake 'peace through strength,' Mexico's election, A.I. hasn't changed War, D-Day's Legacy | Ep. 183

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 08:24:02 +0000

Van, Julia, and Matt discuss how to think about Biden's Gaza ceasefire deal. Why "peace through strength" is a chauvinist meme. A.I. is a violent grift that hasn't changed war. Mexico's election of Claudia Sheinbaum highlights a potential contradiction between industrial policy and geopolitics. Thinking about the meaning of D-Day in light of militarism today.

William Hartung and Michael Brenes on A.I. and the War Industry: https://michaelbrenes.substack.com/p/better-defense-through-technology

Jamaal Bowman on The Breakfast Club: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/white-supremacy-aipac-and-us-foreign

Roger Wicker's peace-through-strength chauvinism: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/op...

Brian Rathbun, Christopher Parker, and Caleb Pomeroy, "Separate but Unequal: Ethnocentrism and Racialization Explain the 'Democratic' Peace in Public Opinion": https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/separate-but-unequal-ethnocentrism-and-racialization-explain-the-democratic-peace-in-public-opinion/0BEEE1D2EC35BFD9EE6A8BA8E344643A

Working-Class Foreign Policy and the Pivot to Asia | EP. 182

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 5 Jun 2024 22:12:18 +0000

Van made an appearance on the Squaring the Circle podcast, a military-facing show that got into his origins in the national security state. The discussion talks about the importance of a working-class perspective in foreign policy, what was really wrong with Obama’s pivot to Asia, why Van is critical of “great-power competition,” and a number of other issues.

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Squaring the Circle: https://shows.acast.com/squaring-the-circle/episodes/discussion-on-foreign-policy-and-the-pivot-to-asia-with-dr-v

Best of: Daniel Immerwahr on Star Wars as Low-Key Anti-Imperialism | Ep. 181

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 30 May 2024 19:07:03 +0000

This re-released conversation with Daniel Immerwahr is one of our all-time top ten episodes, initially released on December 30, 2022. In Part II of Van's sit-down w/ Professor Daniel Immerwahr (author of How to Hide an Empire), they talk about Daniel's recent chapter about the politics and ideology of George Lucas's Star Wars. Was the Galactic Republic really an empire the entire time? What made Star Wars a Vietnam movie? What's the deal with the Ewok? And what's wrong with Lucas's version of anti-imperialism?

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Are We Really Prisoners of Geography?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/10/are-we-really-prisoners-of-geography-maps-geopolitics

Ideology in US Foreign Relations (the volume containing "Galactic Vietnam"): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/ideology-in-u-s-foreign-relations/9780231201810

Best of: Daniel Immerwahr on Why Geopolitics is a Racket | Ep. 180

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 23 May 2024 01:51:08 +0000

This re-released conversation with Daniel Immerwahr is one of our all-time top ten episodes, initially released on December 28, 2022. Why do geopoliticians blow off climate change and environmental degradation? Is geography really an insurmountable force? What do "geopolitical risk consultants" really do? And what should we make of the fact that geopolitics has its origins in imperialism? What did Nazis, in particular, see appealing in geopolitics? Van sits down w/ Professor Daniel Immerwahr (author of How to Hide an Empire) to discuss a new essay in The Guardian long reads section. They also talk about Daniel's recent chapter about the politics and ideology of George Lucas's Star Wars.

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com.

Are We Really Prisoners of Geography?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/10/are-we-really-prisoners-of-geography-maps-geopolitics.

Ideology in US Foreign Relations (the volume containing "Galactic Vietnam"): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/ideology-in-u-s-foreign-relations/9780231201810.

Live Event! US Foreign Policy and the 2024 Elections | Ep. 179

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 22:48:25 +0000

Out of the maybe 20 live events I spoke at in the US recently, only one—one!—was actually recorded and you’re about to hear it.

About this Event:

From the War on Terror to the militarization of the Pacific, and from imperial competition with China to US support for Israeli atrocities in Palestine, the US quest for primacy has devastating consequences globally, and a corrosive impact domestically. Join us for a free flowing conversation about the consequences of endless wars and militarism, rethinking US foreign policy and the implications for the upcoming 2024 elections.

Speaker Bios:

Spencer Ackerman, the foreign policy columnist for The Nation magazine, is a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award-winning reporter. Focusing on the War on Terror, Ackerman has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and numerous U.S. bases, ships and submarines as a senior correspondent for outlets like Wired, The Guardian and the Daily Beast. His 2021 book, REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP, was named a book of the year by the New York Times Critics, the Washington Post and the PBS NewsHour, and won a 2022 American Book Award. Ackerman writes the popular FOREVER WARS newsletter on Ghost (foreverwars.ghost.io) and recently released the spy thriller graphic novel WALLER VS WILDSTORM for DC Comics.

Amel Ahmad is Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her main areas of specialization are democratic studies, with a special interest in elections, voting systems, legislative politics, party development, and voting rights. She is author of Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice: Engineering Electoral Dominance (Cambridge University Press, 2013). Her new book entitled When Democracy Divides: The Regime Question in European and American Political Development, examines the impact of regime contention on political development in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Van Jackson is a senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington, host of The Un-Diplomatic Podcast, and author of The Un-Diplomatic Newsletter. Van’s research broadly concerns East Asian and Pacific security, critical analysis of defense issues, and the intersection of working-class interests with foreign policy. He is the author of scores of journal articles, book chapters, and policy reports, as well as four books, including Pacific Power Paradox: American Statecraft and the Fate of the Asian Peace, with Yale University Press (2023) and Grand Strategies of the Left: The Foreign Policy of Progressive Worldmaking, with Cambridge University Press (2023). His fifth book, forthcoming with Yale University Press, is The Rivalry Peril: How Great-Power Competition Threatens Peace and Weakens Democracy (with Michael Brenes). Van is a senior researcher at Security in Context and co-director of the Multipolarity, Great Power Competition and the Global South research track.

Omar Dahi is a professor of economics at Hampshire College and director of the Security in Context research network.

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Visit Security in Context: https://www.securityincontext.com

Chinese Capitalism v. Debt Geopolitics w/ Shahar Hameiri | Ep. 178

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 18:31:41 +0000

Why is “debt-trap diplomacy” nothing more than an anti-China meme? Why is the geopolitical interpretation of Chinese overseas lending wrong, and what does that suggest about US/Western estimates of China’s intentions? Why do Chinese firms hate writing down unpayable debts? And why do smaller developing nations rarely benefit from international financial competition? I sat down with the great Shahar Hameiri to discuss all that and more in the latest episode of the pod.

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Shahar and Lee’s piece, “China, International Competition, and the Stalemate in Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Beyond Geopolitics.”

Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones, Fractured China: How State Transformation is Shaping China’s Rise.

Deborah Brautigaum, “A critical look at Chinese ‘debt-trap diplomacy’: the rise of a meme.”

Shahar Hameiri and Lee Jones, “Debunking the Myth of Debt-Trap Diplomacy.”

The Possibilities of Progressive Worldmaking | Ep. 177

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 00:42:16 +0000

This interview with the Review of Democracy podcast is the deepest dive to date on Van Jackson’s book, Grand Strategies of the Left: The Foreign Policy of Progressive Worldmaking.

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Review of Democracy Podcast

Guam, War, and the Non-Sovereign Pacific, w/ Kenneth Gofigan Kuper | Ep. 176

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:28:50 +0000

What does Guam’s political status say about US strategic thought? What strategic choices does Guam have if it were allowed self-determination? What does America’s imperial relations with Guam have in common with the rest of the Non-Sovereign Pacific? And why does the existence of a Non-Sovereign Pacific region make both the Pacific and the great powers less secure? I assure you, you’ve never heard a foreign policy conversation like this. A hilarious, personal, and highly edifying conversation at the intersection of social justice and defense strategy, with Dr. Ken Kuper from the University of Guam.

Subscribe to the Pacific Center for Island Security’s daily newsletter.

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Further reading on Guam.

Inequality, IR Theory, and the Imperial Blind Spot | Ep. 175

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 19:42:14 +0000

This episode is unusual, more like part of a mini-lecture series. I was asked to give a talk recently on inequality, development, and IR theory for an audience that skews quite young. I’ve chopped it up to just bring out the highlights, but we hit many topics that might be of interest:

—Why IR paradigms are not especially useful for making sense of inequality.

—Why it sucks to be poor, no matter what flag you live under.

—Capitalism v. Marxism, and by proxy, modernization theory v. dependency theory.

—Why the East Asian development model is at its end.

—Why it can be useful to think of political economy as a capitalist world system.

—Why redistribution is the only alternative to revolution if you want to reduce inequality.

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The Left Debates Foreign Policy! | Ep. 174

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 01:07:21 +0000

What’s wrong with liberal internationalism? What alternatives do socialists and progressives offer? Is voting more (or less) than a defensive tactic? Is the Democratic Party beyond redemption? Is China a force for good or evil in the world? Van went on the 1 of 200 podcast to have a really real debate about everything on the left’s mind at the moment. They talk about his new book--Grand Strategies of the Left--but couch it in a larger conversation on left perspectives about foreign policy.

1 of 200 Pod: https://www.patreon.com/1of200

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Buy Grand Strategies of the Left

Silicon Valley’s Galactic Colony Fetish, w/ Alina Utrata | Ep. 173

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 03:05:46 +0000

How do the space-colony visions of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos meaningfully differ? What does a company like Space-X have in common with the old imperial company-states, like the British East India Company? And why are billionaire bros obsessed with “political exit” projects like seasteading and galactic escapism? We tackle all that and more with Alina Utrata, a scholar whose new article in American Political Science Review called, “Engineering Territory: Space and Colonies in Silicon Valley” is a banger.

Morris Cohen, Property and Sovereignty

Robert Nichols, Theft is Property

Alina’s Podcast

Subscribe to Alina’s Newsletter

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The Reactionary Worldmaking of Counter-Insurgency, w/ Joseph Mackay | Ep. 172

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 25 Nov 2023 04:37:53 +0000

What separates conservatives from reactionaries, and where do they converge? What are the politics inherent to counterinsurgency strategy? What does the popularity of counter-insurgency in the 21st century say about Democratic Party politics? How does small-war thinking unify counter-revolutionary monarchies with Edwardian imperialism with anti-communism? And where does David Petraeus fit into these questions?

All that and more in this wide-ranging conversation with Joseph Mackay, anchored in his award-winning book, The Counter-Insurgent Imagination: A New Intellectual History.

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Death of the Think-Tanker w/ Matthew Petti | Ep. 171

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Matthew Petti) — Sun, 5 Nov 2023 19:45:34 +0000

What made Daniel Ellsberg—the famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower—different from today’s public intellectuals? How has the think tank environment in Washington changed over the decades? Why were the Pentagon Papers such a big deal? Why is foreign policy change so difficult? And how does progressive foreign policy fit into the story of Washington’s intellectual stagnation?

I sat down with Matthew Petti to discuss a new essay he had on the life of Daniel Ellsberg, the death of the old-style think tank, and so much more.

Matthew’s Newsletter: https://www.pettimatthew.com

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Robbie Shilliam on Frontier Imperialism and Post-BLM International Relations | Ep. 170

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 19:21:10 +0000

After George Floyd’s police murder and the Black Lives Matter movement explosion in 2020, the field of international relations rushed to engage the topic of race after ignoring it for half a century. When they did, they largely acted as if early generations of international-relations scholars hadn’t engaged with or theorized the topic. But they had. In this episode, Van sits down with Robbie Shilliam, a multidisciplinary IR scholar and postcolonial theorist, to talk about:

What made Hans Morgenthau a theorist of race relations, not just international relations;

Why the field of IR has a racial blind spot in the first place;

Why IR’s leading journals, editors, and scholars re-engaged racial questions after 2020 but without drawing on what the discipline’s own canonical thinkers had to say about race;

Why the Gen Z and Millennial generation of scholars are possibly built differently when it comes to racial issues and historical IR;

How the concept of “frontier” unites Republicanism and imperialism in some of the early thinkers of IR like Frederick Jackson Turner, William Allen, and Merze Tate.

I was sick as a dog when we recorded this, but it was one of the most generative conversations I’ve ever had on the pod and Robbie is one soulful human being. Hope you enjoy this one!

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Robbie Shilliam, “Republicanism and Imperialism at the Frontier: A Post-Black Lives Matter Archeology of International Relations,” https://robbieshilliam.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/frontier-2.0.pdf.

Epeli Hau’ofa, WE ARE THE OCEAN: SELECTED WORKS (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008).

Adom Getachew: W.E.B. Du Bois’s International Thought | Ep. 169

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Adom Getachew) — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 20:22:27 +0000

In this episode, Van sits down with Adom Getachew to talk about W.E.B. Du Bois’s life and Du Bois-ian thought as a prism for making sense of the world, including: The global color line and its limits for understanding IR; Du Bois’s complicated attitude toward violence versus pacifism; strategies for trying to make change as a public intellectual; how he viewed World War I, and how that view changed with time; his blind spots on gender equality and empire—especially imperial Japan; how Du Bois viewed capitalism and Marxism; why the Cold War is the reason I (and probably you) never learned about Du Bois in school.

W.E.B. Du Bois: International Thought (by Adom Getachew and Jennifer Pitts)

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The Writers' Strike, Global Film, and Entertainment Multipolarity, w/ Kevin Fox | Ep. 168

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Kevin Fox) — Fri, 8 Sep 2023 02:23:50 +0000

Have you ever wondered about the political economy of movie-making?

Like, why are Hollywood movies globally hegemonic, and why is South Korea its only rival, and why are most foreign countries mere backlots for American studios?

What does it have to do with the Netflix-Hulu-Amazon-Disney+ streaming model?

Why are the WGA and SAG-AFTRA on strike? What kind of solidarities unite American writers and actors with Korean writers and actors?

And what is the future of film?

Some really big questions, and US foreign policy plays a role in answering them, remarkably. I sat down with writer/director/producer/editor Kevin Fox to discuss. This was fun!

Kevin’s epic tweet thread: https://twitter.com/Michigrimk/status/1695209106921947232

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Live Show! China, US Grand Strategy, and the Inequality Problem | Ep. 167

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 26 Aug 2023 20:51:19 +0000

I just gave a talk to a section of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs—a great group of a couple dozen Gen Z’ers, at a nice little bar in Wellington. What started out as shooting the shit about foreign policy turned into a live show of the podcast.

In this live show, I put three propositions on the table—Un-Diplomatic regulars will be at least somewhat familiar with all these themes: 1) Sino-US rivalry is not a struggle for hegemony or domination; 2) US grand strategy is one of primacy, and the requirements of primacy today conflict with the requirements of peace in Asia and the Pacific; 3) The root-cause of our problems with China is inequality—at multiple levels, but especially within China.

Along the way, we talk about policy thinking as a practitioner versus as an IR scholar; speaking truth to power; job prospects for Gen Z; why New Zealand’s priority ought to be preventing another Gallipoli; and more! Shout out to Tom Preston and Celia McDowell for putting this on.

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Fighting Pentagon Graft, w/ William Hartung and Julia Gledhill

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 04:39:58 +0000

This episode doesn’t just have a theme, it has a thesis. Have you wondered how precisely the Pentagon manages to siphon so much taxpayer money year after year? How the military-industrial-congressional complex functions in practice? Why US primacy is so expensive yet perpetually in crisis? This episode with William Hartung and Julia Gledhill is something of a tutorial for understanding Pentagon bloat and corruption—which are deeply intertwined. US defense strategy has been hot garbage for, well, as long as I’ve been alive. It’s never been well conceived, sets impossible standards that it uses to request evermore funds when it fails to meet them, and heightens the very threats it aims to guard against. As we discuss in this episode, a key cause of this strategic ineptitude is Pentagon graft and the ability to buy its way out of the kinds of tradeoffs that would impose discipline on strategy-making.

Bill and Julia’s piece in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/pentagon-debt-ceiling-bill/

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Dissident Thinking, Foreign Policy for the Middle Class, and Progressive Fissures Around Militarism | Ep. 165

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 6 Aug 2023 21:09:17 +0000

In this cross-over episode with the Security Dilemma podcast, Van speaks with Patrick Fox and John Allen Gay of the John Quincy Adams Society about a range of issues: dissident thinking and intellectual diversity in foreign policy; how to think about China and deterrence; what’s wrong with a "foreign policy for the middle class”; fissures in the progressive movement on foreign policy; and more!

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Subscribe to the Security Dilemma Podcast: https://jqas.org/security-dilemma/

John Quincy Adams Society: https://jqas.org

Part II: Classical Realism Versus International Relations, Interview w/ Jonathan Kirshner | Ep. 164

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Jonathan kirshner) — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 03:41:01 +0000

Part II of my conversation with Jonathan Kirshner about his new book, An Unwritten Future: Realism, Uncertainty, and World Politics. Kirshner explains how classical realists think about the “national interest"; distinctions between realist and progressive political economy; what he doesn’t like about the “Thucydides’ Trap,”; the poverty of offensive realism; and how classical realism understands everything from British appeasement of Hitler to the Vietnam War.

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Part I: Classical Realism Versus International Relations, Interview w/ Jonathan Kirshner | Ep. 163

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Jonathan Kirshner) — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 20:58:10 +0000

Part I of my two-part conversation with Jonathan Kirshner about his new book, An Unwritten Future: Realism, Uncertainty, and World Politics. Kirshner explains why classical realism is a misunderstood intellectual tradition. We get into: Why realism recruits dead people into their intellectual tradition; what we can learn from Thucydides, and why an armchair understanding of the Peloponnesian War does more harm than good; why realist pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy; why international relations has somewhat lost its way; how we should think about the “national interest"; and distinctions between realist and progressive political economy.

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Rethinking International Order: 15th Century Maritime Asia and Today w/ Manjeet Pardesi | Ep. 162

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 7 Jul 2023 06:41:04 +0000

What's the difference between centered and de-centered international orders? How do small states navigate geopolitics without becoming pawns? What does it look like to have a world in which there is no hegemon, and how is it sustained? And why was 15th century maritime Southeast Asia a different international order than the Sino-centric "tributary system" in what is now Northeast Asia? Dr. Manjeet Pardesi joins the show to share new research that sheds light on all these questions and more. A tour-de-force of historical international relations, what it means to take a relational view of world politics, and small-state strategies in Asia.

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Manjeet's article in Global Studies Quarterly (open access!): https://academic.oup.com/isagsq/article/2/4/ksac072/6947856

American Hegemony v. New Zealand's 'Independent' Foreign Policy | Ep. 161

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 23:12:46 +0000

What's wrong with liberal hegemony? What does it mean for New Zealand to have an "independent foreign policy?" Why did New Zealand's Prime Minister recently visit China? And why are the interests of New Zealand's leading dairy supplier far from the same thing as the interests of the nation? In this cross-over episode, Van sits down with the good folks at the 1 of 200 Podcast to discuss an unusual intersection of US foreign policy pathologies with those of New Zealand.

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Listen to the 1 of 200 Podcast: https://www.1of200.nz/podcast

Kyle Church on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KyleDChurch

Branko Marcetic on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMarchetich

How China Thinks About Asian Security Order, w/ Carla Freeman | Ep. 160

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 23:53:18 +0000

Van sat down with China watcher Carla Freeman (US Institute of Peace) to explore this thing Xi Jinping announced last year called the “Global Security Initiative,” which turned into a larger discussion about how China thinks about security and international order generally. The catalyst was a piece she wrote with Alex Stephenson. We get into: What China’s “relational” thinking about world politics really means in practice; How Chinese security thinking affects the global South; How US choices affects Sino-Russian ties; How Made in China 2025 looks in hindsight; The aspects of international order China likes most; and more!

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Where is Thailand Now? w/ Aim Sinpeng and Greg Raymond

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 19 Jun 2023 00:54:47 +0000

Opposition parties carried the day in Thailand's recent multiparty elections on May 14. The Move Forward Party, led by Pita Limjaroenrat, and Phue Thai party of Thaksin Shinawatra's family, won a sizeable majority, with the military's coalition parties losing resoundly. What does the recent election mean for the country's path forward? Will the military's election commission let the opposition form a government, or will it stage another coup like in 2014? Has Thai society finally moved on from the Yellow Shirt-Red Shirt divide that paralyzed the country's politics for the past two decades? Hunter Marston sits down with ANU professor Greg Raymond and University of Sydney professor Aim Sinpeng to discuss Thailand's democratic crossroads.

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Unmaking Asian Exceptionalism, w/ Gaiutra Bahadur | Ep. 158

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Gaiutra Bahadur) — Fri, 9 Jun 2023 04:22:40 +0000

What does it mean to write with not just logos but pathos? How has racial violence in America shaped the identity of Asian-Americans? Why is the "model minority" myth so problematic? And what possibilities emerge from recognizing that people of different nationalities share a common repression? Van speaks with Gaiutra Bahadur about her experience growing up around anti-Indian racism in New Jersey and how that sheds light on all these questions and more.

Gauitra's essay, "Unmaking Asian Exceptionalism": https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/unmaking-asian-exceptionalism-bahadur/

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Kissinger's Cambodia Killings, w/ Nick Turse | Ep. 157

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 2 Jun 2023 02:22:45 +0000

The award-winning, New York Times best-selling author, Nick Turse, has done some deep investigations at the intersection of Southeast Asia; the intellectual bankruptcy of US geopoliticking; and Henry Kissinger’s direct role in the slaughter of 150,000 civilians in Cambodia. A wild story and some great journalism. Van Jackson sat down with Nick to talk about it all. They also swap anecdotes about their personal run-ins with Kissinger. A must-listen.

Nick’s story in The Intercept: https://theintercept.com/2023/05/23/kissinger-phone-call-transcripts/

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Is Fukuyama Liberalism the 'End of History?' w/ Daniel Bessner | Ep. 156

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Daniel Bessner) — Sat, 27 May 2023 22:11:21 +0000

What makes neoconservatives different from Cold War liberals? Why did Francis Fukuyama's "The End of History and the Last Man" lament the end of the Cold War? What's classical liberalism? And how do liberals like Fukuyama size up our current historical moment? Dr. Daniel Bessner joins the pod for all that and more.

Bessner on Fukuyama: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/francis-fukuyama-liberalism-discontents/

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Subscribe to the American Prestige podcast: https://www.americanprestigepod.com

Narrating the Pacific in Indo-Pacific, w/ Sandra Tarte | Ep. 155

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 19 May 2023 04:24:09 +0000

How does the narrative of a Blue Pacific complicate strategic narratives about the "Indo-Pacific?" How do the nations of the Pacific Islands region think about security? What role does the Pacific Islands Forum play in regional security? Why do most Pacific states try so hard to avoid "choosing" between the United States and China? And what would Pacific governments do if Guam determined it wanted to be its own independent nation? Van Jackson sits down with Sandra Tarte (University of the South Pacific) to discuss all that and more.

"Bringing the Blue Pacific and Indo-Pacific Narratives Together: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/bringing-blue-pacific-indo-pacific-narratives-together

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Democracy Over Authoritarianism w/ Charles Dunst | Ep. 154

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 15 May 2023 02:47:02 +0000

From a freelance journalist in Southeast Asia to becoming a “foreign policy person,” and how to publish your first book. Can authoritarian countries practice meritocracy? How can we make sense of good governance and public trust in authoritarian governments like Vietnam when support for western democracies seems to be at an all-time low? How China’s rise has challenged democracy’s global appeal, and what does it mean if the United States reverts to MAGA autocracy? Hunter Marston speaks to Charles Dunst about his new book, Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman.

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Defeating the Dictators: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/charles-dunst/defeating-the-dictators/9781399704434/

Honorable mention to Ali Wyne's book: https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Great-Power-Opportunity-Revitalizing-Competition/dp/1509545549

Solving the Security Puzzle with Security in Context | Ep. 153

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 4 May 2023 04:53:54 +0000

Why is it that we're spending more money and resources than ever on this thing we call “national security,” and yet not only does the world feel perpetually insecure; it feels like insecurity is getting worse for most of us? That's what the new organization Security in Context sets out to address. Van Jackson is part of bridging the gap between policy and critical scholars, and will be co-directing Security in Context's project on Multipolarity, Great-Power Competition, and the Global South. This is his short interview with their podcast host, Anita Fuentes, talking about his background, how his view of security evolved, and why he's part of Security in Context.

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Security in Context site: https://www.securityincontext.com

Security in Context video interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNpHI4kD_qM

Part II: On a Third Nuclear Age and Multipolar Order w/ Benjamin Zala | Ep. 152

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Benjamin Zala) — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 03:31:15 +0000

What is multipolarity? Is the unipolar moment totally over? What is a great power?How do nukes fit into these questions? And how do the left, the right, and the restrainers metabolise these questions? Dr. Benjamin Zala and Dr. Van Jackson talk about all this and more in Part II of their conversation.

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Third Nuclear Age article by Andrew Futter and Ben Zala: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-international-security/article/strategic-nonnuclear-weapons-and-the-onset-of-a-third-nuclear-age/91EEB3B77D348252815F9F7B59DB8A32

Thinking clearly about China's nuclear expansion: https://www.duckofminerva.com/2021/11/whos-afraid-of-chinas-nukes.html

The limits of strategy under multipolarity: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/what-happens-when-you-do-primacy

Third Nuclear Age project site: https://thethirdnuclearage.com

Ben Zala's book, National Perspectives on a Multipolar Order: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526159373/

Part I: On a Third Nuclear Age and Multipolar Order w/ Benjamin Zala | Ep. 151

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Benjamin Zala) — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 06:12:55 +0000

What is the nuclear revolution and why can't we agree on it? What is the Third Nuclear Age, why is it problematic as a concept, and what special dangers or opportunities might it hold? How important is multipolarity, and what counts as a pole? What counts as "emerging technologies" and how do they affect the risks of nuclear war? Is arms control possible in advanced conventional (non-nuclear) weaponry? And why is China expanding its nuclear arsenal? Dr. Benjamin Zala and Dr. Van Jackson talk about all this and more in the first of two episodes on the topic.

Thinking clearly about China's nuclear expansion: https://www.duckofminerva.com/2021/11/whos-afraid-of-chinas-nukes.html

The limits of strategy under multipolarity: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/what-happens-when-you-do-primacy

Third Nuclear Age project site: https://thethirdnuclearage.com

Ben Zala's book, National Perspectives on a Multipolar Order: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526159373/

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Michael Kazin! The Democratic Party, Leftism, and Global Policy | Ep. 150

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Michael Kazin) — Fri, 7 Apr 2023 03:51:47 +0000

The legendary New Leftist and historian Michael Kazin joins the pod to talk about his recent essay in Dissent, "Reject the Left-Right Alliance in Ukraine." We also talk he ended up on the New Left, socialism in the Democratic Party, why he supported Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the politics of being anti-war, the role of World War I in leftist historical memory, and his recent book What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party.

Dissent Essay: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/reject-the-left-right-alliance-against-ukraine

What It Took To Win Book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374200237/whatittooktowin

War Against War Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/War-Against-War/Michael-Kazin/9781476705910

Follow Michael Kazin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkazin

Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Now on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast

AUKUS, Arms-Racing, and the Dollar Supremacy Debate | Ep. 149

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 1 Apr 2023 07:16:43 +0000

What Fareed Zakaria doesn't get about the dollar supremacy debate. Why American exceptionalists can't see Asian arms-racing clearly. Why AUKUS is controversial, in Australia, New Zealand, and across Asia. A Rorschach test on the corrosive US-Saudi Arabia relationship. And what the battle against LGBTQ persecution in Uganda says about all of us.

Fareed Zakaria's dollar supremacy debate segment: https://twitter.com/FareedZakaria/status/1640058728752840707

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Ben Zala's Tweet: https://twitter.com/DrBeeZee/status/1640598052254924803

Matthew Sussex in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/time-to-grow-up-australias-national-security-dilemma-demands-a-mature-debate-202040

F Moudouthe's Tweet: https://twitter.com/F_Moudouthe/status/1638597420035571714?cxt=HHwWhIC88f_qu70tAAAA

Evan Laksmana's Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanLaksmana/status/1640253266507321344

How Black Americans View Ukraine, Taiwan, and America's Global Role, w/ Chris Shell | Ep. 148

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Christopher Shell) — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 06:43:19 +0000

How do African Americans view America's role in the world? What does it mean when Black Americans say the US should "keep out" of foreign interventions? What explains Black Republican hawkishness? What is the Suge Knight theory of national inclusion? Does Kanye West have anything to do with Democrats losing Black voters, or it Democratic Party hawkishness? Van sits down to discuss all this and more with Dr. Christopher Shell.

Report on How Black Americans Feel About the Possible Use of Military Force in Ukraine and Taiwan: https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/02/21/how-black-americans-feel-about-possible-use-of-military-force-in-ukraine-and-taiwan-pub-89066

Report on How Do Black Americans Feel About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/03/02/how-do-black-americans-feel-about-wars-in-afghanistan-and-iraq-pub-89134

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast

Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Movie Night: Bulworth, w/ Colette Shade and Matt Duss | Ep. 147

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 11 Mar 2023 00:58:34 +0000

For the pod's first movie night, Van, Colette Shade, and Matt Duss discuss the 1998 cult political comedy, Bulworth. Did Bulworth presage Bernie Sanders? Where are the Bulworth Democrats today? How did the War on Terror set back the progressive movement 20 years? Why do reactionaries sometimes find hip-hop attractive? What does it say that politicians aren't safe among the people they represent? Could a movie like this be made today?

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Watch Bulworth: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bulworth

Fearing Atlantic Revolution and the Geopolitical Literacy of Slaves, w/ Samantha Payne | Ep. 146

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 3 Mar 2023 22:33:25 +0000

We're trying to do more to spotlight interesting journal article-based academic research in a non-boring way. So today Van sits down with Dr. Samantha Leigh Payne to talk about her new history on fears of an Atlantic revolution in the Reconstruction Era. How did the US civil war alter global power politics? What role did the US civil war play in the abolition of slavery elsewhere? What role did slaves themselves play in the revolutionary potential of that post-civil war moment? And what role is their for violence in progressive world making?

Sam's article, "'A General Insurrection in the Countries with Slaves': The U.S. Civil War and the Origins of An Atlantic Revolution, 1861-1866": https://academic.oup.com/past/article/257/1/248/6490596

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Raging Against the Foreign Policy Conversation | Ep. 145

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 19:49:29 +0000

Kate and Hunter are back with Van. What's up with the "Rage Against the War Machine" protests? Is it really antiwar? Working class versus middle class--what's the diff? Cambodia versus economic statecraft. Biden's parochial progressivism. Congressional competency on foreign policy. And the nonsensical, unaccountable, dictator-loving Biden doctrine for the Middle East. Also this episode: a quick primer on racial capitalism!

Ryan Morgan Tweet: https://twitter.com/ryanheadedsouth/status/1624536732182904837?t=uCCF0KcAD7K4xoEzSCmJug&s=19

Andrew Nachemson Tweet: https://twitter.com/ANachemson/status/1624723853363773440

Leonard Bernardo: https://twitter.com/leonardbenardo1/status/1627867024591360001

Olufemi Taiwo on racial capitalism in Hammer & Hope Magazine: https://hammerandhope.org/article/issue-1-article-8

Atlantic Council Speech on the "Biden doctrine for the Middle East": https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/transcript/brett-mcgurk-sets-out-the-biden-doctrine-for-the-middle-east/

Pacific Power Paradox Book Launch Talk at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy | Ep. 144

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 07:59:27 +0000

Van does battle with voices ranging from John Mearsheimer and Robert Kagan to Joseph Nye and Hillary Clinton in this book launch at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy for his book, Pacific Power Paradox: American Statecraft and the Fate of the Asian Peace. Must listen!

Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoVm4MrK4aU&t=412s

Buy Pacific Power Paradox: https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Power-Paradox-American-Statecraft/dp/0300257287/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KE1Q04ZJVROB&keywords=pacific+power+paradox&qid=1676789479&sprefix=%2Caps%2C759&sr=8-1

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Realism's Imperial Origins Part II, w/ Dr. Matthew Specter | Ep. 143

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 20:44:01 +0000

Part II of Van's interview with Dr. Matthew Specter, discussing his new book, The Atlantic Realists. Was Hans Morgenthau a Leftist? Is great-power competition just offensive realism? Is realism a resource for progressives or cosmopolitans? Tun in to find out!

Buy the Book: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28906

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Realism's Imperial Origins Part I, w/ Dr. Matthew Specter | Ep. 142

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 5 Feb 2023 18:58:48 +0000

Van's interview with Dr. Matthew Specter discusses his new book, The Atlantic Realists. They get into the diverse understandings of the realist tradition, trace its roots to imperial competition in the 19th century, the bizzare intellectual inspirations the Nazis found in US history, whether realism is useful for progressives and the left, and some surprising history about a cast of characters ranging from Hans Morgenthau to Alfred Thayer Mahan to Carl Schmitt.

Buy the Book: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28906

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

An Oral History of the Pivot to Asia, and Confronting the National Security State | Ep. 141

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 28 Jan 2023 04:50:30 +0000

What is the real nature of the "China problem?" How did Sino-US detente and collaboration become great-power competition and rivalry? What did Obama's pivot to Asia have to do with all of it? And why did Van end up a critic of the national security state? In this special cross-over episode with the Realignment Podcast, Van goes into all that and more.

Realignment Podcast Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCY1cQJ1-uk&t=180s

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Buy Pacific Power Paradox: https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Power-Paradox-American-Statecraft/dp/0300257287/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YCZJIRZIH61H&keywords=pacific+power+paradox&qid=1674864781&sprefix=%2Caps%2C271&sr=8-1

Empathy, Strategy, and Statecraft, w/ Claire Yorke | Ep. 140

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 02:31:27 +0000

What is empathy, and why is it important in making strategy? Why is "strategic empathy" so problematic? Can empathy be institutionalized? How did neoliberals steer empathy wrong? Dr. Claire Yorke sits down with Van to chat about all that and more.

Claire Yorke on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClaireYorke

Claire's review essay on empathy and strategy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Getting Southeast Asia Right, with Elina Noor, Sebastian Strangio, and Evan Laksmana | Ep. 139

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 20:21:43 +0000

Does Southeast Asia matter? How does SE Asia view and respond to great power competition, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and tensions in the Taiwan Strait? And how can the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) work to solve the crisis in Myanmar in 2023 under Indonesia’s chairmanship? With regular co-host Hunter Marston to discuss these issues are special guests Elina Noor (Asia Society Policy Institute, Washington, DC), Evan Laksmana (National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy), and friend of the pod Sebastian Strangio (The Diplomat).

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Un-Diplomatic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_42j11ZVmlF5jVbqdVcdog

A Better Biden Doctrine, w/ Matt Duss and Stephen Wertheim | Ep. 138

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Kate Kizer, Stephen Wertheim, Matt Duss) — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 01:57:56 +0000

How's Biden doing on foreign policy? Where is the "Biden doctrine" going wrong? Matt Duss and Stephen Wertheim--leading voices in progressive foreign policy--come on the pod to hit all the issues with Van and Kate--Ukraine-Russia, a disastrous defense strategy, Iran, Saudi-Yemen war, China, Afghanistan and counter-terrorism, and more.

Matt and Stephen's essay in The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/169598/better-biden-doctrine

Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Part II: Star Wars as Anti-Imperialism? The Politics of George Lucas, w/ Daniel Immerwahr | Ep. 137

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Daniel immerwahr) — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 18:09:46 +0000

In Part II of Van's sit-down w/ Professor Daniel Immerwahr (author of How to Hide an Empire), they talk about Daniel's recent chapter about the politics and ideology of George Lucas's Star Wars. Was the Galactic Republic really an empire the entire time? What made Star Wars a Vietnam movie? What's the deal with the Ewok? And what's wrong with Lucas's version of anti-imperialism?

Are We Really Prisoners of Geography?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/10/are-we-really-prisoners-of-geography-maps-geopolitics

Ideology in US Foreign Relations (the volume containing "Galactic Vietnam"): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/ideology-in-u-s-foreign-relations/9780231201810

Part I: Geopolitics is a Racket, w/ Daniel Immerwahr | Ep. 136

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Daniel immerwahr) — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 23:00:32 +0000

Why do geopoliticians blow off climate change and environmental degradation? Is geography really an insurmountable force? What do "geopolitical risk consultants" really do? And what should we make of the fact that geopolitics has its origins in imperialism? What did Nazis, in particular, see appealing in geopolitics? Van sits down w/ Professor Daniel Immerwahr (author of How to Hide an Empire) to discuss a new essay in The Guardian long reads section. They also talk about Daniel's recent chapter about the politics and ideology of George Lucas's Star Wars.

Are We Really Prisoners of Geography?: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/nov/10/are-we-really-prisoners-of-geography-maps-geopolitics

Ideology in US Foreign Relations (the volume containing "Galactic Vietnam"): https://cup.columbia.edu/book/ideology-in-u-s-foreign-relations/9780231201810

Red-Baiting, the CIA's War in China, and Repression Politics: Interview w/ John Delury | Ep. 135

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 01:16:19 +0000

What does war and violence abroad do to politics at home? Why were early Cold War intellectuals obsessed with who "lost China?" And what did the realists of the 1940s and 1950s believe about not just the limits of American power but how US hegemony might be the road to fascism in America? John Delury sits down with Van to discuss all that and more as part of his new book, Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China.

Buy the book: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501765971/agents-of-subversion/

Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Part II: Unsettling Liberal Hegemony with Jeannie Morefield | Ep. 134

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 02:36:47 +0000

In this interview episode, Van sits down with Professor Jeanne Morefield to discuss critiques of liberalism and empire. Why does liberalism seem to always be obsessed with crisis and triumphalism, often at once? What is the shared DNA of Edwardian imperialism, neoconservatism, and liberal internationalism? Why has G. John Ikenberry's theoretical project of liberal hegemony recently pivoted from Woodrow Wilson to Franklin Roosevelt as the standard bearer? And isn't liberal hegemony just a ruling class ideology? Lots of controversy on the table.

Jeanne's latest book: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442260283/Unsettling-the-World-Edward-Said-and-Political-Theory

Empires without Imperialism book: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Empires_Without_Imperialism/869LjwEACAAJ?hl=en

Ikenberry Readings:

Survival piece: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00396338.2021.1956187 Foreign Affairs piece: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/why-american-power-endures-us-led-order-isnt-in-decline-g-john-ikenberry

A World Safe for Democracy book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271010/a-world-safe-for-democracy/

Part I: Unsettling Liberal Hegemony with Jeannie Morefield | Ep. 133

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 08:10:08 +0000

Jeanne's latest book: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442260283/Unsettling-the-World-Edward-Said-and-Political-Theory

Empires without Imperialism book: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Empires_Without_Imperialism/869LjwEACAAJ?hl=en

Ikenberry Readings:

A World Safe for Democracy book: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300271010/a-world-safe-for-democracy/

China's Mass Uprisings, Anti-Semitism as Weapon, the Origins of Rivalry, Left v. Right Radicalism | Ep. 132

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 7 Dec 2022 18:36:46 +0000

Van, Kate, and Hunter unpack the mass uprisings in China, situating them in the context of ongoing worker struggles. They probe weaponized anti-semitism. They discuss the origins of Sino-US rivalry and the analytical perils of American exceptionalism. And. bring forth tons of data showing the difference between left and right radicalism.

Dove and Crane Collective Statement: https://www.doveandcrane.com/statements/dcc-statement-on-foxconn-and-the-protests-against-covid-zero-in-mainland-china

Caroline Orr Bueno Tweet: https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1595085571214704640

Derek Grossman Tweet: https://twitter.com/DerekJGrossman/status/1597027014070132738?t=WVDEWoo1ElP9S99ibxbCEg&s=19

Martin Konecny Tweet: https://twitter.com/martinkonecny/status/1597189961505452032?s=46&t=a6i-ZML4mjfkdyEsNenLow

Jake Werner's piece in The Nation: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/china-biden-taiwan-democracy/?custno=&utm_sou[…]_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%2011.21.2022&utm_term=daily

Unipolarity's Nostalgia Trap: Interview w/ David Parsons | Ep. 131

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 1 Dec 2022 02:26:27 +0000

In this episode, Van chats with David Parsons, host of The Nostalgia Trap. They talk about his upbringing in Ventura, California during the 1990s, why he's obsessed with '90s pop culture and film, the nightmarish state of being a perpetual precarious academic historian, and what got him into the podcast game. They also discuss his fascinating book, Dangerous Grounds: Antiwar Coffeehouses and Military Dissent in the Vietnam Era.

Nostalgia Trap: https://nostalgiatrap.com

Nostalgia Trap Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nostalgiatrap/posts

Dangerous Grounds Book: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469632018/dangerous-grounds/

A Global Economy for the Ruling Class? Interview w/ Adam Dean and Tim Barker | Ep. 130

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 21:36:00 +0000

What is neoliberalism and why did developing democracies embrace labor repression? Why is military Keynesianism both dangerous and unsustainable? What are the causes of inflation right now, and how does monetary policy undermine the Biden presidency? And what happened to the "East Asian model" of economic development? In this political economy episode, Van Jackson sits down with Adam Dean and Tim Barker to talk about all that and more.

Best of: Peace Intellectuals, Unf**king Rivalries, Russian Kleptocracy, the Trouble with Sanctions | Ep. 129

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 00:03:01 +0000

Where have all the peace intellectuals gone? How do you make enemies into friends? What's it like to be mixed-race in national security? Should we do away with economic sanctions entirely? Is it easier to shape the world than to shape China? What's Russia's freaking problem?

Seva Gunitsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1462766445121650696

Ben Scott Tweet: https://twitter.com/Ben_G_Scott/status/1460444100008628224

Mike McFaul Tweet: https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1462624691680514060?t=krF4h150FaPW08quGY0H4A&s=19

Law Boy Esq. Tweet: https://twitter.com/The_Law_Boy/status/1462193648586698759?t=j3TbRRLJqxnM9UhEJqDXlA&s=19

Lowy Institute Essays on Order in Asia: https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/indo-pacific-operating-system/#articles

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

Whataboutism and the China Debate: A Panel at Australian National University | Ep. 128

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 1 Nov 2022 07:45:06 +0000

In this special one-off episode of the pod, Van Jackson joins a panel hosted at Australian National University's Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, alongside Greg Raymond, Ian Hall, and Yun Jiang. The topic: "Whataboutism" and the China debate.

The great American political scientist Seymour Lipset once said, “they that know only one country, know no countries”. This panel addresses the issue of comparisons in our political discourse, and in particular “whataboutism” - the response China critics often make when it is pointed out that other countries have committed egregious actions similar in kind, if not scale, to China. By this, they mean that the comparison raised is a distraction from dealing with China’s actions. But this approach arguably sits uneasily with our desires to avoid double standards. This panel of experts will discuss the ethical and political aspects of “whataboutism”, with a focus on China.

Speakers:

Ian Hall is a Professor in International Relations and the acting Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University. He is also an Academic Fellow of the Australia India Institute and a co-editor (with Sara Davies) of the Australian Journal of International Affairs.

Van Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington, a Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, and a Senior Associate Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Wellington, New Zealand.

Yun Jiang is the inaugural AIIA China Matters Fellow. Prior to this, she was the co-founder and editor of China Neican, and a managing editor of the China Story blog at the Australian Centre on China in the World.

Moderator Gregory Raymond is a lecturer in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs researching Southeast Asian politics and foreign relations. He is the author of Thai Military Power: A Culture of Strategic Accommodation (NIAS Press 2018) and the lead author of The United States-Thai Alliance: History, Memory and Current Developments (Routledge, 2021).

From Imperial Agent to Anti-War Advocate: Interview w/ Lyle Jeremy Rubin | Ep. 127

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 03:35:03 +0000

Lyle Jeremy Rubin joins the podcast to talk about his new memoir "Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body: A Marine's Unbecoming." Lyle and Van discuss the way that hypocrisy radicalizes people, the trouble with imperialism, the psychosexual insecurities mixed into military life, how personal violence affects foreign policy, the Karate Kid, the paradoxically traumatizing lack of combat on the front lines of war, and much more.

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body: https://www.boldtypebooks.com/titles/...

Guest Website: https://www.lylejeremyrubin.com

Podcast: https://www.undiplomaticpodcast.com

Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplom...

Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Readings:

Aime Cesaire, Discourses on Colonialism: https://www.amazon.com/Discourse-Colonialism-Aimé-Césaire/dp/1583670254

William James, "The Moral Equivalent of War": https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/James/James_1911_11.html

Nikhil Pal Singh, Black is a Country: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674019515

Nikhil Pal Singh, Race and America's Long War: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520318304/race-and-americas-long-war

Christopher Lasch, The True and Only Heaven: https://www.amazon.com/True-Only-Heaven-Progress-Critics/dp/0393307956

Pacific Paranoia, Central Banks are the Opp, Trumping Bush's Fascism, Red-Scare Politics Against Democracy | Ep. 126

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 22:54:47 +0000

Central banks are using inflation to fight a class war. America's Pacific sphere of influence is making it paranoid--what ham-fisted skullduggery in the Marshall Islands reveals. Was George W. Bush more fascist than Trump? Taiwan policy is on militarist auto-pilot--why Chris Murphy is worried. Why red-scare propaganda is bad for democracy. What about an Un-Diplomatic newsletter (note: this episode was recorded just a few days before Van Jackson launched the Un-Diplomatic newsletter).

Subscribe to our new newsletter! https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Murtaza Hussain's Tweet: https://twitter.com/MazMHussain/status/1566465216275259392

Seva Gunitsky's Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1555655359683084293

Senator Chris Murphy's Tweet: https://twitter.com/chrismurphyct/status/1565107656284684289?s=21&t=bF1yJ8IZr8wNAJRte2lRxw

Alexander McCoy's YouGov Poll Tweet: https://twitter.com/AlexanderMcCoy4/status/1569343414432407554

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Tejas Menon, Jake Dellow

Best of: How the Left Fights the New Global Right: Interview with John Feffer | Ep. 125

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 6 Sep 2022 04:13:34 +0000

This episode is from an original release in January 2022. Dr. Van Jackson sits down with John Feffer, co-director of the Foreign Policy in Focus project at the Institute for Policy Studies. They talk about John's new book, Right Across the World: The Global Networking of the Far-Right and the Left Response. They also talk about writing novels and plays as a foreign policy analyst, or doing foreign policy analysis as a playwright. Remembering the way arms control used to be a reactionary arguments against disarmament.

Institute for Policy Studies: https://ips-dc.org

Splinterlands Trilogy of Novels: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1039-splinterlands

Foamers Novel: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Foamers-Berson-Jon-Scribner-New-York/231272502/bd

Right Across the World Book: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Across-World-Networking-Far-Right/dp/0745341896

US Pacific Hypocrisy in Guam, Capital Loves Ethnonationalism, Taiwan-sanity, Jiu Jitsu v. IR | Ep. 124

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 01:57:57 +0000

Why self-determination for Guam is better strategy than persisting as an American colony. Why oligarchic concentrations of wealth in the US and China need ethnonationalism...and why that's dangerous. The Atlantic Council scandal. Are we in a new Taiwan Strait crisis? Clarifying the #NotAMarxist thing. And what Brazilian jiu jitsu can and can't do for international relations.

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Celia McDowall, Gaby Magnuson

Lev Nachman Tweet: https://twitter.com/lnachman32/status/1553480322695811073

Daniel Denvir Tweet: https://twitter.com/DanielDenvir/status/1554511916487397377

Sayaca Chatani Tweet: https://twitter.com/SayakaChatani/status/1545346494601244673?t=naUanTNn1Lp1UEwZhhARPw&s=19

Christian Davies Tweet: https://twitter.com/crsdavies/status/1541596433299546113?s=20&t=QV_Wff9yeisoIF0jvU2ZvQ

Nikhil Pal Singh article: https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/06/america-new-civil-war-crisis-industrial-complex

Guam Decolonization Report: https://decol.guam.gov/wp-decol-content/uploads/2021/12/Decolonization-Newspaper-Insert-DIGITAL.pdf

California Radical: Interview w/ Malcolm Harris, Author of Kids These Days and Palo Alto | Ep. 123

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 08:58:17 +0000

In this deliciously radical episode, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials, and the forthcoming Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World. Malcolm explains how political economy made Millennials, what's wrong with thinking of yourself as human capital, the crisis of student debt, and how he moved from anti-war protests to the Occupy Movement. Malcolm also makes the case the Millennials will either be the first genuine to push American oligarchy off its ledge, or the first generation of true American fascists. Van and Malcolm also talk leftist strategy and revolution.

Readings Mentioned During the Episode:

Malcolm Harris, Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials

Malcolm Harris, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World

Malcolm Harris, "Bad Education," N+1 magazine

Harry Braverman, Labor and Monopoly Capital

Paul Adler, "The Future of Critical Management Studies"

Erik Olin-Wright, Envisioning Real Utopias

Melinda Cooper, Family Values: Between Neoliberalism and the New Social Conservativsm

Barbara Ehrenreich and John Ehrenreich, "Death of a Yuppie Dream"

On Monopoly-Finance Capital: https://monthlyreview.org/2006/12/01/monopoly-finance-capital/

How'd We Get North Korea So Wrong? Guest Lecture with Dr. Andrew Yeo | Ep. 122

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 5 Jul 2022 22:26:26 +0000

In this special episode, Dr. Van Jackson sits down as part of a guest lecture/seminar at the Catholic University of America with Dr. Andrew Yeo (CUA, Brookings Institution). They talk foremost about how we got North Korea policy so wrong and how to fix it, but in so doing they also talk about best practices of strategy, risk realism, and how Van's background shapes his thinking about war and national security generally.

The Myth of Security versus Human Rights, Taiwan Ambiguity, Realism about Cambodia, the Conservative Foreign Policy Debate | Ep. 121

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 03:50:55 +0000

If you pit human rights against security, you're doing foreign policy wrong. How to think about LGBTQIA-plus rights and strategy. Being realistic about China-Cambodia relations. Why Biden is still ambiguous about Taiwan. Dissecting what's wrong with the national security "Blob." The role of a PMC technocracy in a social democratic order. The importance of libraries to society.

Peter Beinart v. the Blob: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/opinion/biden-the-blob-china-us.html?smid=tw-share

Blake Herzinger on Cambodia: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/10/cambodia-navy-china-bombing/

Kelsey Atherton Tweet: https://twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/1531685221682356231

JP Bristol Tweet: https://twitter.com/JPierreBrissot/status/1528754834953932803?t=Dl2ib1LBBfQV5_xCU-lVlg&s=19

Buffy the Psych Prof Tweet: https://twitter.com/drpsybuffy/status/1533459570747744258?s=21&t=lSlEy8gkkjW9U7yl0y-yKw

Adam Mahoney Tweet: https://twitter.com/AdamLMahoney/status/1531851079276560384

Contributors: Tejas Menon, Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow

What's Good Strategy? Interview w/ Dr. Jeff Meiser | Ep. 120

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 26 May 2022 02:49:46 +0000

What's the difference between good strategy and bad strategy? Why is understanding strategy as a theory of success so powerful? What is a framework for good strategy? And how grand is grand strategy? Dr. Van Jackson sits down with Dr. Jeff Meiser (University of Portland) to discuss. They also talk about Richard Rumelt's classic book, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy.

Unrestrained Right and Democrats as the War Party, Military Keynesianism, Putin's Prospect Theory, Dictatorship in the Philippines | Ep. 119

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 20 May 2022 03:47:22 +0000

The deep dive on the Philippines presidential election and what it means that they elected Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. Have Democrats become the party of war? Yes, but maybe not for long. Is the right running a restraint foreign policy? Hell no. The prospects of a Putin nuclear war. Why new hip-hop is not as good as the old stuff. Military Keynesianism is a sucker's bet. Feminism and intersectional struggles for progressive--what the Handmaid's Tale is good for (and not).

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Celia McDowall, Alex Auty, Hunter Marston

When Realists Meet the Left, Peace Is Non-Partisan, Oligarchs Take All, Kamala Harris's Space Boogie | Ep. 118

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 5 May 2022 03:18:17 +0000

The realists versus leftists thing, again. Re-imagining international cooperation. Why peace and anti-militarism should be non-partisan. Oligarchs like Elon Musk will be the end of us all. The curious case of Kamala Harris's restrainer space policy.

Our new YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_42j11ZVmlF5jVbqdVcdog

Matt Duss Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1516046414723399680

Eric Van Rythoven Tweet: https://twitter.com/EricVanRythoven/status/1517588528250724352

Good Politic Guy Tweet: https://twitter.com/GoodPoliticGuy/status/1518318360005599232?t=16MadbdXfjW00QYCzo9RuQ&s=19

James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1514682777513377797?t=u55XQ1dALYpdSZaHqEP6xg&s=19

Sam Haselby Tweet: https://twitter.com/samhaselby/status/1518906179711385602

Tiziana Stella and Campbell Craig on international cooperation: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/04/18/is-international-cooperation-possible/

Contributors: Tejas Menon, Gaby Magnuson, Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell

Red-Brown Alliances Suck, Singapore's Post-American Asia, War as the Enemy of Progress, Military-Climate Change Tradeoff | Ep. 117

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 00:55:58 +0000

What Singapore's Prime Minister has to say about post-primacy Asia. The global peace dividend initiative. War as the enemy of progress. The problem with securitizing the climate crisis. MAGA militarism and the problem of red-brown alliances. Why there is no economic equality without political equality.

The Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_42j11ZVmlF5jVbqdVcdog

Global Peace Dividend Initiative: https://peace-dividend.org

Tobita Chow and Ben Lorber on MAGA militarism: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/carlson-russia-nationalism-far-right/

Matt Duss Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1511310386636771335

Chloe Farad Tweet: https://twitter.com/ChloeFarand/status/1511307959292334084

Ginny Hogan Tweet: https://twitter.com/ginnyhogan_/status/1511400718627975168

Hope Hodgeseck Tweet: https://twitter.com/HopeSeck/status/1513555823699574796?t=V-G49W3oa8KZBa6zxtgK-g&s=19

Alex Dobrenko Tweet: https://twitter.com/Dobrenkz/status/1513632588241334272?s=20&t=P4s0Pk7QqeCAYXt6R8YrGg

Contributors: Celia McDowall, Jake Dellow, Alex Auty, Hunter Marston

Environmental Anarchy w/ the Kurt Vonnegut of International Relations: Interview w/ Dr. Mark Beeson | Ep. 116

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 05:15:31 +0000

In this episode of the Un-Diplomatic Podcast, Dr. Van Jackson interviews Dr. Mark Beeson about his new book, Environmental Anarchy: Security in the 21st Century. They talk about doing international relations in an era of climate crisis, Asian security, the promise and perils of Marxist theory, the problem of neoliberalism, progressive alliances with realists, democracy on the back foot, and much more.

Environmental Anarchy: Security in the 21st Century: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/environmental-anarchy

Our conversation on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-TyJ6HJnU&t=2519s

Security Studies in the Utopian '90s, Game Theory v. Nostradamus, Kanye West and the Hustle Culture, Coherent Anti-Imperialism | Ep. 115

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 4 Apr 2022 06:29:27 +0000

What security studies was like in the utopian '90s. The West's sphere-of-influence reaction to the China-Solomon Islands agreement. What the Kanye West documentary teaches us about the bygone hustle culture. That time when The History Channel pitted game theory against Nostradamus, and brought in John Mearsheimer to attack Bruce Bueno De Mesquita. Why Republicans are lost on Russia-Putin.

Rob Farley Tweet: https://twitter.com/drfarls/status/1508944926268133386

Koryo Dynasty Tweet: https://twitter.com/koryodynasty/status/1508246571766677508?s=20&t=T5F5Gy8YZqv_UHE4rEkawQ

Woke Global Times Tweet: https://twitter.com/wokeglobaltimes/status/1505902135300481026?t=jonk7lIDIuGEGRvg_i4LSg&s=19

Armchair Analysis Segment: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS8yeHpVaUh4dw/episode/YWQ5MzM2N2YtMjAwYS00OGQ4LTljYzYtNWU2NjQwM2YxZDgz?ep=14

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Alex Auty, Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell

Neoliberal Strategy Kills Asian Security: Big Reveal on the Pacific Power Paradox Book with Asia Society Korea Branch | Ep. 114

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 02:12:20 +0000

In the first ever reveal of his forthcoming book, Pacific Power Paradox: American Statecraft and the Fate of the Asian Peace, Dr. Van Jackson attempts to untangle the politics, economics, security, and strategic statecraft in an Asia-Pacific region experiencing accelerated change. Jackson focused on how regional change can affect U.S. alliance partners such as South Korea while shedding some light on U.S. strategy-making in the Asia-Pacific region. The conversation was moderated by Asia Society Korea Senior Contributor Dr. Mason Richey.

Asia Society on YouTube: http://AsiaSociety.org/YouTube

Support Asia Society today: http://AsiaSociety.org/Donate

Asia Society Korea Webpage: https://asiasociety.org/korea/meet-author-whither-asian-peace-future-politics-economics-and-security-asia-pacific

Special Roundtable Event: The Closest Presidential Election in South Korean History | Ep. 113

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 04:00:20 +0000

In our first ever roundtable edition of the podcast, Dr. Van Jackson was joined by Korea watchers Dr. John Delury (Yonsei University), Minseon Ku (Ohio State University), and Karl Friedhoff (Chicago Council on Global Affairs) to discuss the closest presidential election in South Korean history, in which conservative Yoon Seok-youl won by a razor-thin margin. The crew talks about the popular politics of anti-feminism in South Korea, the geopolitics of a conservative victory, and the myths that Beltway Korea watchers had built up about outgoing President Moon Jae-in.

Articles mentioned during the episode:

https://imnews.imbc.com/replay/2022/nwdesk/article/6348703_35744.html

http://www.keaf.org/book/EAF_Policy_Debate_Making_Sense_of_the_Gender_Debate_in_South_Korea?ckattempt=1

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-korea/2022-02-08/south-korea-needs-step

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Alex Auty

Oligarchy is Global, Piketty's Socialism vs. China, Mearsheimer's Realism Controversy, OG Wars and Deterrence Success | Ep. 112

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 03:19:09 +0000

Thomas Piketty's answer for fighting China: Democratic socialism! Is grand strategy a theory of national success, or a story? How the national security community fetishized its own paranoia about gray zones and hybrid war. How corporations woke-wash capital. The John Mearsheimer controversy and what it means for realism. Pompeo's Taiwan grift. Favorite Marvel superhero movies.

Jeffrey Meiser Tweet: https://twitter.com/jwmeiser/status/1497695031380955136?t=Kn1hvrM15UM3dSNsw0mhAQ&s=19

Seva Gunitsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1498025192697647110?t=973liSesC-AO8PEhfX4vBQ&s=19

Tom Malinowski Tweet: https://twitter.com/Malinowski/status/1500958491250417667?t=IUstpiURlYt8C7kWowRtQg&s=19

Chris Clary Tweet: https://twitter.com/clary_co/status/1501179350175170561

Jeet Heer Tweet: https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1499850044396257284

Adam Tooze in the New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/03/john-mearsheimer-and-the-dark-origins-of-realism

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell

Ice Cream Peace Theory, Red-Baiting Down Under, No Lames for President, South Korean Nukes, Russia-Ukraine | Ep. 111

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 1 Mar 2022 02:03:56 +0000

The Australian right's red-baiting flop on China. New Zealand's trucker protests have morphed into a mob. Dwayne Johnson could actually be the next president because America loves unqualified "cool bros." How Van has evolved on China rivalry stuff. Progressives debate Russia-Ukraine. South Korean nukes. The limits of Ben & Jerry's theory of peace.

Jake Grumbach Tweet: https://twitter.com/JakeMGrumbach/status/1493277842062209025

Graham Webster Tweet: https://twitter.com/gwbstr/status/1495458935565742084

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Tweet: https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/status/1489393235655106562

Evan Laksmana Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanLaksmana/status/1495191322738962432?s=20&t=M23YweHXACSR7Iiew3tN5g

Eric Gomez Tweet: https://twitter.com/EricGomezAsia/status/1490182380572839938?t=wr-Vv7hpPTTBaBahsqNF2w&s=19

Terrell Jermaine Starr Piece on Progressive Russia-Ukraine Policy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/11/progressives-defend-ukraine/?utm_source=PostUp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Editors%20Picks%20OC&utm_term=39416&tpcc=Editors%20Picks%20OC

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

Guest Host James Palmer Talks the Russia Debate, Escalation Ladders, China Watching | Ep. 110

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 3 Feb 2022 01:34:46 +0000

With Van out, guest host James Palmer from Foreign Policy magazine joins the pod to talk about whether realists or liberals are more annoying, the debate over Russian invasion, escalation ladder messiness, and China watching.

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell, Alex Auty

Writing a Best-Seller While Broke: Interview w/ James Palmer of Foreign Policy Magazine | Ep. 109

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 23:52:52 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with James Palmer, Deputy Editor at Foreign Policy Magazine, award-winning travel writer, and best-selling author. They talk about James's life reporting in China and getting out just in time. His best-selling first book about the Russian pro-Nazi monarchist who briefly took over Mongolia. Anti-Americanism in South Korea. And advice writing and pitching the big magazines in foreign policy.

How the Left Fights the New Global Right: Interview with John Feffer | Ep. 108 Hustle

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 9 Jan 2022 00:33:51 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with John Feffer, co-director of the Foreign Policy in Focus project at the Institute for Policy Studies. They talk about John's new book, Right Across the World: The Global Networking of the Far-Right and the Left Response. They also talk about writing novels and plays as a foreign policy analyst, or doing foreign policy analysis as a playwright. Remembering the way arms control used to be a reactionary arguments against disarmament.

Institute for Policy Studies: https://ips-dc.org

Splinterlands Trilogy of Novels: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1039-splinterlands

Foamers Novel: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Foamers-Berson-Jon-Scribner-New-York/231272502/bd

Right Across the World Book: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Across-World-Networking-Far-Right/dp/0745341896

Guest Host Dr. Emma Ashford Talks Asia's Power Problems, Washington's Free Trade Impasse, How to Deal with Russia | Ep. 107

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 02:06:22 +0000

With Van out, guest host Dr. Emma Ashford from The Atlantic Council joins the pod to talk about the credibility problem with extended nuclear deterrence, the restrainer perspective on Russia versus Ukraine, Washington's paralysis on international trade, and the complications with measuring power between China and the US.

Contributors: Hunter Marson, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow

Peace Intellectuals, Unf**king Rivalries, Russian Kleptocracy, the Trouble with Sanctions | Ep. 106

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 20:00:08 +0000

Seva Gunitsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1462766445121650696

Ben Scott Tweet: https://twitter.com/Ben_G_Scott/status/1460444100008628224

Mike McFaul Tweet: https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1462624691680514060?t=krF4h150FaPW08quGY0H4A&s=19

Law Boy Esq. Tweet: https://twitter.com/The_Law_Boy/status/1462193648586698759?t=j3TbRRLJqxnM9UhEJqDXlA&s=19

Lowy Institute Essays on Order in Asia: https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/indo-pacific-operating-system/#articles

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

Intellectual Hustling: Interview with the Arms Control Wonk, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis | Ep. 105

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 9 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In this Hustle edition of the show, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, author of multiple books including the novel The 2020 Commission, co-host of the Arms Control Wonk podcast, and founder of the Arms Control Wonk blog. That's a lot of stuff.

Guest Host John Delury Talks Pacific Hypocrisy, Why Historians Avoid Prediction, China Rivalry, and South Korean Politics | Ep. 104

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 5 Nov 2021 02:37:29 +0000

With Van Jackson out, Dr. John Delury (Professor at Yonsei University) joined the crew as guest host. This episode talks about his America's imperial blindspot in the Pacific, what Kissinger can't teach Asia, why historians aren't in the prediction business, China rivalry, and the South Korean presidency.

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Hunter Marston, Alex Auty

Nuclear Precarity: Keynote Lecture on Nuclear War Risks in East Asia | Ep. 103

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 04:54:41 +0000

Rather than the normal show, this week's episode is a recording of Dr. Van Jackson's keynote lecture at Ritsumeikan University, addressing the concept of nuclear precarity and what it means for the risks of nuclear war in East Asia.

A Foreign Policy for the Middle Class? Chicago Council on Global Affairs Joins the Pod | Ep. 102

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 21:15:02 +0000

What does the American public think about China, internal v. external threats, and who benefits from US foreign policy? This week we were joined by Craig Kafura with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs to discuss the results of their recent survey about all things foreign policy. Also this episode: the Philippines' Duterte problem as a structural issue; a review of a review of Rush Doshi's book on Chinese grand strategy; and North Korean hypersonic glide vehicles.

Chicago Council Survey: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/ccs2021_fpmc_0.pdf

B-Minus IT Tweet: https://twitter.com/b_minus_lt/status/1444517854607409152?s=19

Anand Giridharadas Tweet: https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1444260873661464579?s=20

Christophe Deloire Tweet: https://twitter.com/chrisdeloire/status/1447524766542450693

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

AUKUS and Asia: A Night with the Australian Institute of International Affairs | Ep. 101

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 8 Oct 2021 01:51:54 +0000

In this special event, Dr. Van Jackson discussed AUKUS and Indo-Pacific strategy at the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA). He's joined by Bryce Wakefield (AIIA), Maria Rost-Rublee (University of Melbourne), Nick Bisley (Latrobe University), and Benjamin Zala (Australian National University).

Guest Host Sebastian Strangio Talks Journalism, Southeast Asia, and Great-Power Ideological Competition | Ep. 100

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 4 Oct 2021 07:01:17 +0000

With Van Jackson out on holiday, Sebastian Strangio (Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat) joined the crew as guest host. This episode talks about his origins in journalism in Cambodia, Myanmar civil war, the problem with values and ideology in great-power competition with China, and his concerns with the risks of US authoritarianism.

Sebastian's site: https://www.sebastianstrangio.com

Sebastian's Book: In The Dragon's Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century

Contributors: Sebastian Strangio, Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell, Alex Auty

South Korea's Bernie Sanders, Australian Submarines, Marxism Versus Liberalism, Chinese Labor Versus Oligarchy | Ep. 99

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 03:17:53 +0000

Why South Korea's Bernie Sanders is no Bernie when it comes to foreign policy. Why Australia's submarine decision is vulgar balancing (but not useless). Marxism versus liberalism. Why the pandemic proves the world sucks at collective action. Xi Jinping's common prosperity drive pits labor against oligarchy, but not the way you think.

Lil Uzi Hurt Tweet: https://twitter.com/lostblackboy/status/1437779312174845959

Kim Tongfi Tweet: https://twitter.com/tongfi_kim/status/1436407499998081025?s=19

Adam Tooze piece: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/opinion/covid-pandemic-global-economy-politics.html

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson

Philippines' Pacquiao Populism Problem, Why Military Grifters Love Deterrence by Denial, the Nuclear Unrestraint Problem, WTH is a Classical Liberal? | Ep. 98

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 01:09:00 +0000

Why defense grifters and jingoes love deterrence-by-denial strategies. Why Manny Pacquiao could beat Duterte, and why that might not be good for the Philippines. WTH is a classical liberal? Also this episode: Is China the new standard-setter in tech?

Jacob Levy Tweet: https://twitter.com/jtlevy/status/1424458950838263813?s=21

Kendra Schaefer Tweet: https://twitter.com/kendraschaefer/status/1431134542648074242?s=20

Ryan Evans Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvansRyan202/status/1431627298512461824?s=19

Simon Brown on the Rise of the Anti-Intellectual: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/the-rise-of-the-elite-anti-intellectuals

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson, Hunter Marston

Analytic Tradecraft with Future Tense Host, Abhijnan Rej | Ep. 97

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 07:52:55 +0000

In this special cross-over episode, Dr. Van Jackson speaks with Future Tense host and director of research for Diplomat Risk Intelligence, Abhijnan Rej. They talk about scenario-based planning, intelligence failures, the perils of net assessment, and why it all matters in the context of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal.

Future Tense pod: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-2jvmc-10bacc2?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share

Diplomat Risk Intelligence: https://dri.thediplomat.com

The Unrestrained Quincy v. Liberalism Debate, Fighting Campism within the Left, China's Empire in Tibet | Ep. 96

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 22:37:52 +0000

What's going on with the Quincy Institute v. liberal internationalism debate? How neoliberalism gave us the far right. What's a master's in IR really worth? Can you have too many national security experts (yes)? How anti-hegemonist politics gives rise to campism within the left. Also this episode: China's empire-building in Tibet and Bhutan.

Nathan Robinson Tweet: https://twitter.com/NathanJRobinson/status/1418357218450214921

Peter Dombrowski Tweet: https://twitter.com/PeterDombrowsk6/status/1419074040673804288

Blake Herzinger Tweet: https://twitter.com/BDHerzinger/status/1422740269057798145?s=20

Paul Musgrave on the master's in IR problem: https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/29/international-relations-ir-masters-cost-pay/

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Alex Auty, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow

Progressive Politics and North Korean Nuclear Crises: Dr. Van Jackson's Interview with NK News | Ep. 95

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 3 Aug 2021 06:38:11 +0000

In this special crossover episode with the NK News podcast, Dr. Van Jackson has a wide-ranging discussion with its host, Jacco Zwetsloot. Van and Jacco talk about Van's writing process, how close we got to nuclear war in 2017, what the Biden administration is missing on North Korea, the East Asian peace, and his political evolution.

Using China to Kill US Democracy, New Zealand's Antiracist China Challenge, The Roosevelt Doctrine Farce, Don't Punch Left on Cuba | Ep. 94

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 01:07:19 +0000

Why Chinese influence in New Zealand is an opportunity to pioneer an anti-CCP and antiracist policy. Why the Roosevelt Doctrine is really an attempt to save Woodrow Wilson. Writing about objects too big to write about. Republicans are using China to kill democracy. The problem with "punching left" on Cuba. Also this episode: What's wrong with international relations?

Chris Clary Tweet: https://twitter.com/clary_co/status/1415084925481627655

Robbie Shilliam Tweet: https://twitter.com/RobbieShilliam/status/1414554433585885184?s=19

Law Boy Tweet: https://twitter.com/The_Law_Boy/status/1414377497802772480?s=19

Charlie Warzel Substack: https://warzel.substack.com/p/we-are-not-ready

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

Pacific Spheres of Influence, Fighting Filipinos, Strategy and the Progressive International | Ep. 93

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 21:06:19 +0000

Guam's anti-militarist plight exposes Sino-US competition as clashing spheres of influence. How America did the Philippines dirty for a hundred years...and is still. The promise and perils and the Progressive International's strategy. Why boomers are hoarding real estate. And is academia for poor people?

Evan Feigenbaum Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanFeigenbaum/status/1403805400009486351

Ken Klippenstein Tweet: https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/1402342616772055046?s=19

Emily Brier Tweet: https://twitter.com/Emily_Brier_/status/1401297172814041096?s=20

Pete Stegemeyer Tweet: https://twitter.com/itspeterj/status/1326514788965486596

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Alex Auty, Jake Dellow

China Rivalry without Racism? Wu-Tang Solidarity, Narrating Israeli Occupation v. Terrorism, Alliance Reassurance Folly | Ep. 92

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 2 Jun 2021 00:10:28 +0000

Is it possible to push back on China's many forms of aggression without rivalry or racism? What Wu-Tang teaches us about solidarity and capitalist critique. Israel's occupying Palestine, so let's talk about terrorism. Why alliance reassurance rarely makes sense.

Chris Clary Tweet: https://twitter.com/clary_co/status/1395448568983523328

Seva Gunitsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1393827799652261892

Jamaal Bowman Tweet: https://twitter.com/JamaalBowmanNY/status/1393705229842014209?s=20

Peter Beinart Tweet: https://twitter.com/peterbeinart/status/1393788527008174080?s=21

Ryan Hass in Noema Magazine: https://www.noemamag.com/playing-the-china-card/

Sahar Kahn in Inkstick: https://inkstickmedia.com/the-quad-should-embrace-climate-action-as-its-core-mission/

Mason Richey in East Asia Forum: https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/05/12/the-right-angle-of-the-quadrilateral/

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

The War on Critical Race, Socialists Aren't "Very Liberal," New Zealand Bashing, Coming Clean on Quincy, Taiwan Debate | Ep. 91

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 12 May 2021 21:31:28 +0000

Why socialists aren't "very liberal." The far right's war on critical race theory is a bigger deal than you think. Why everyone loves to throw shade at New Zealand. The histrionics of the Taiwan debate. The truth about Van's interview on the Quincy Institute. North Korea policy is going nowhere.

Ken Schultz Tweet: https://twitter.com/KSchultz3580/status/1387963382452477954

David Roberts Tweet: https://twitter.com/drvolts/status/1386766470831493120?s=19

John Carl Baker Tweet: https://twitter.com/johncarlbaker/status/1387113498933596162

Richard McGregor Tweet: https://twitter.com/mcgregorrichard/status/1384981240810328064?s=19

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell, Alex Auty

The Global Pundit Problem, De-Sexyfying UFOs, War-Avoidance Theories, Progressive Talent Pipeline | Ep. 90

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 06:44:51 +0000

Why the Biden administration is performing its rivalry with China. What the Afghanistan withdrawal decision says about global punditry. Why UFOs might not be as sexy as Van hopes they are. Theories for avoiding war. Winners may write history, but that doesn't make it right. Creating a talent pool for progressive technocrats. How to think about the UK/EU jumping into the China-competition game. Also this episode: Why "Foreign policy for the middle class" is the right goal with the wrong implementation.

Kelsey Atherton Tweet: https://twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/1382858221329608706?s=20

John Lee Tweet: https://twitter.com/koreanforeigner/status/1382360593374449673?s=19

Rita Konaev Tweet: https://twitter.com/RitaKonaev/status/1382305484233916426?s=19

Andrew Carr Tweet: https://twitter.com/AOCarr/status/1381744190682361857

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Alex Auty, Jake Dellow, Hunter Marston

Who's the DMX of International Relations, Neoliberal Hip-Hop, Xi Jinping's Hype Man | Ep. 89

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 20:19:15 +0000

P. Diddy is an oligarch who was bad for hip-hop...and now he's exploiting BLM. How Washington pundits became Xi Jinping's hype man. Why FONOPs are a silly way to send a message. Favorite feminist movies. Also this episode: Why is there no DMZ in international relations?

Tanvi Madan Tweet: https://twitter.com/tanvi_madan/status/1380552263589113858?s=19

Ben Young Tweet: https://twitter.com/DubstepInDPRK/status/1380965755743694849?s=19

Daniel Denvir Tweet: https://twitter.com/DanielDenvir/status/1381318974969946117

James Millward Tweet: https://twitter.com/JimMillward/status/1381071869760188420

Richard Bush, Bonnie Glaser, and Ryan Hass on Taiwan: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/08/984524521/opinion-dont-help-china-by-hyping-risk-of-war-over-taiwan

Don't Call Yourself a Realist! Progressive Economic Statecraft, The Farce of Offset Strategies, Why NATO Can't Deter Russia | Ep. 88

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 9 Apr 2021 01:17:57 +0000

The Global North owes the Global South progressive economic policies, not aid. The essential (?) fascism of security clearances. Why it's wrong to make international-relations paradigms into ideologies. The tragic history and propagandizing about the third offset strategy--or, the origins of American militarism today. The China Cold War question.

Jason Hickel Tweet: https://twitter.com/jasonhickel/status/1377545871223586817?s=19

Gerald Brown Tweet: https://twitter.com/GeraldC_Brown/status/1378542935038394377?s=19

Graham Webster Tweet: https://twitter.com/gwbstr/status/1376975047605153793

Contributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow

The Zombie Promise of Cold War Liberalism, Myanmar's Syria Risk, Japan's Taiwan Alliance | Ep. 87

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 2 Apr 2021 20:53:51 +0000

If an "Indo-Pacific strategy" can't cope with the Syria risk in Myanmar, then what good is it? Why the history of Cold War liberalism tells us not to pin domestic renewal on the China threat. Why Chinese air incursions against Taiwan DO NOT signal invasion. What's going on in Asian studies at Georgetown. Japan's role in a Taiwan conflict. The lost history of the WTO anti-globalization protests.

Matt Duss Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1375934723701243908?s=20

Blake Herzinger Tweet: https://twitter.com/BDHerzinger/status/1373478997267410951?s=19

Seva Gunitsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1374455266008207366

John Delury Tweet: https://twitter.com/JohnDelury/status/1375998841548238851

Michael Brenes and Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins in Dissent: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/legacies-of-cold-war-liberalism?utm_source=Disse[…]m_medium=email&utm_term=0_a1e9be80de-1ddb8e704d-102061977

Contributors: Alex Auty, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow

Think Tank Infighting, Guam for Dummies, Asia's Not the Indo-Pacific, Ep. 86

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 07:59:59 +0000

Which QAnon congresswoman thinks Guam is a foreign country? Why Asia is not the Indo-Pacific. Think tank infighting. Wasting time before writing.

Rachel Rizzo: https://mobile.twitter.com/RachelRizzo/status/1370776048183435264

Spencer Ackerman: https://twitter.com/attackerman/status/1371127805296189446?s=19

JD Vance: https://mobile.twitter.com/JDVance1/status/1370873282824667136

Laicie Heeley: https://mobile.twitter.com/laicie/status/1370075526262632462

Van Jackson on America's Indo-Pacific Folly: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/asia/2021-03-12/americas-indo-pacific-folly

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell

Deterrence by Capable Dildos, the Hawaiian Land Grab, China Hawkery, North Korean Defectors | Ep. 85

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 02:05:49 +0000

Why American strategic culture is so obsessed with "capable dildos." Why native Hawaiians don't want federal recognition to whitewash an illegal land grab. What it means to declare oneself a "China hawk" and why it matters. Why North Korean defectors want to go back to North Korea. Also this episode: Is the US-China rivalry an ideological conflict?

Branco Milanovic Tweet: https://twitter.com/BrankoMilan/status/1368219420645093379

Vipin Narang Tweet: https://twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1367656750032302081?s=20

Happymon Jacob Tweet: https://twitter.com/HappymonJacob/status/1367091311338135556?s=19

Daily NK Story: https://www.dailynk.com/english/not-all-defectors-want-the-same-thing/

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell, and Pete McKenzie

Taiwan Domino Theory Silliness, Think Tank Disinformation, Japan's Liberal International Order | Ep. 84

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Fri, 5 Mar 2021 07:21:49 +0000

What happens when think tankers become tankies. Alliance domino theory nonsense--why Taiwan is not like the others. Why Japan's the real leader of Asia's liberal order. The US doesn't need Saudi Arabia.

James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1365381504629669891

Mike McFaul Tweet: https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1365424739196362752?s=19

Michael Kofman Tweet: https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael/status/1364021794513047552?s=19

Cheng Che on Japan's Liberal Foreign Policy Realism: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-02-24/japan-new-leader-asias-liberal-order

Contributors: Alex Auty, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie

Does Foreign Policy Have a Career Ceiling? Defense Strategy Dilemma, DC's Patt Mottinger Problem, New Zealand's Australia Problem | Ep. 83

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 01:36:08 +0000

Why Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "white moderate" threat dominates Washington today. The dilemma of militarist thinking about strategy. New Zealand's beef with Australia. Southeast Asia wants a more progressive US foreign policy. Foreign policy's career ceiling problem.

Caroline Baxter Tweet: https://twitter.com/CarolineCBaxter/status/1362163234426544128?s=19

John Lee Tweet: https://twitter.com/koreanforeigner/status/1360752886322327553?s=19

Zachary Keck Tweet: https://twitter.com/zacharykeck/status/1362087538408771585?s=11

Evan Montgomery on defense strategy: https://warontherocks.com/2021/02/defense-strategy-and-the-empire-state-of-mind-how-preparing-for-the-best-can-leave-washington-vulnerable-to-the-rest/

Contributors: Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow

A Liberal's Anti-China Game, Emily in D.C., Asia's Democracy Divide | Ep. 82

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 07:11:35 +0000

A rope-a-dope strategy for China. How a liberal plays the anti-China card (for better or worse). The truth about Asia's Democracy divide. Why Micronesia gave up on the Pacific Islands Forum. Also this episode: What would it be like if Netflix's Emily in Paris took place in Washington, D.C.?

Alex McCoy Tweet: https://twitter.com/AlexanderMcCoy4/status/1358206091964915714?s=19

Michael Mazza Tweet: https://twitter.com/mike_mazza/status/1357335849004916743?s=19

Rachel Rizzo Tweet: https://twitter.com/RachelRizzo/status/1357714976597831680

James Crabtree on Asia's Democracy Divide: https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Myanmar-coup-reveals-Asia-s-new-democratic-divide

Contributors: Alex Auty, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson

From Bro Culture to Fascism, Genocidal Democracy in Myanmar, QAnon is NOT Left, South Korean Illiberalism | Ep. 81

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 08:33:50 +0000

The debate about South Korean illiberalism that nobody wants you to hear. Why bro culture incubates fascism. The coup in Myanmar is NBD compared to genocide. QAnon is no friend of the left. And why hustling is nonpartisan.

Emma Ashford, Kate Kizer, and TX Hammes debating Grand Strategy: https://inkstickmedia.com/after-the-apocalypse-us-grand-strategy/

Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1356334701733150721

Tom Pepinsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/TomPepinsky/status/1356242023586660353?s=19

Hunter Marston Tweet: https://twitter.com/hmarston4/status/1356343684032200704?s=19

Contributors: Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow

The Global Far Right is a Protestant Reformation for Idiots, Think Tank Dark Money, Getting Real on The Indo-Pacific Game | Ep. 80

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 3 Feb 2021 07:25:18 +0000

Why the threat of our time is the global far right, and what it has in common with the protestant reformation. What's wrong and right about the Indo-Pacific and the Quad. Dark money in think tanks. Kim Jong Un's authoritarian savvy. The real meaning of the Third World--or, is Marco Rubio a white supremacist? Also this episode: Why Trump has changed how we teach international relations.

Sensible Human 96 Tweet: https://twitter.com/sensiblehuman96/status/1351296226235453442?s=11

Patrick Iber Tweet: https://twitter.com/patrickiber/status/1351921439759339523?s=11

Paul Poast Tweet on Teaching IR: https://mobile.twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1352970521110048769

Aaron Connelly Tweet: https://twitter.com/ConnellyAL/status/1351750108895821828?s=20

Kishore Mahbubani on the Quad and the real game in Asia: https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/27/anti-china-alliance-quad-australia-india-japan-u[…]dium=email&utm_campaign=29615&utm_term=Editors%20Picks%20OC&

Van Jackson on bro culture and the Capitol insurrection: https://inkstickmedia.com/the-liberal-internationalist-origins-of-right-wing-insurrection/

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow, Pete McKenzie, and Ciara Mitchell

Galactic Gaslighting, Futurism v. Moneyballing, Japan's Five-Eyes Controversy, Obama's Drone Reckoning | Ep. 79

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 22:01:19 +0000

Futures studies versus moneyball--the problem with prediction. A supply-side theory of Obama's drone strike addiction. Telling lies about a Galactic Federation with aliens. Should Japan join the Five-Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership? How to get out of Afghanistan. Why the Indo-Pacific is too big for a single strategy. Also this episode: The movies that made Van Jackson and the team.

Jeffrey Lewis's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk/status/1334533169547075584?s=19

Annette Joseph: https://twitter.com/AnnetteJosephG/status/1336321130303467520?s=19

Ankit Panda's Tweet: https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/1336774686152286210

James Palmer's Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1336722893829443585

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell

The Asia Tsar Question, McDonald's Peace Theory is Over, The Truth about Liberal IR, Israel's Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone of Death | Ep. 78

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 9 Dec 2020 07:28:50 +0000

Does President Biden need an Asia Tsar? Why McDonalds peace theory is over. The truth about liberal international relations theory. Israel's grass-mowing theory of deterrence. The difference between Taiwan and China. Also this episode: What does Denzel Washington's Training Day have to do with Asian security?

Paul MacDonald Tweet: https://twitter.com/pkmacdonald/status/1333778364151238657

Sarah Cooper Tweet: https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1333639291902300161

Caitlin Talmadge Tweet: https://twitter.com/ProfTalmadge/status/1333818338355527680?s=19

Aram Hur Tweet: https://twitter.com/aramhur/status/1333820575513530373?s=19

Paul Musgrave on McDonalds Peace Theory: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/26/mcdonalds-peace-nagornokarabakh-friedman/

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow

Grand Strategic Farce, How the US Lost Asia, The "Free Chosun" Question, Student Debt Cancellation | Ep. 77

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 09:09:27 +0000

Why is the State Department's Office of Policy Planning so obsessed with George Kennan...and China's ideology? The untold story of how America lost economic primacy in Asia, and why nobody talks about it now. What is IR theory good for? Why cancelling student debt matters. The non-interview at Australian National University. Also this episode: what should we think about the Free Chosun movement against North Korea?

Alexander Lanoszka Tweet: https://twitter.com/ALanoszka/status/1328431684811968513?s=20

John Lee Tweet: https://twitter.com/koreanforeigner/status/1328366779463200772?s=19

Evan Feigenbaum Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanFeigenbaum/status/1328063583058530307

Suki Kim on the Free Chosun Movement: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/23/the-underground-movement-trying-to-topple-the-north-korean-regime

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson

China Squeezes Aussies, Kim Jong Un's Biden Surprise, Hawks Who Can't Fight, Hypersonic Missile Hype, | Ep. 76

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 07:35:16 +0000

Australians are getting economically coerced by China but not everyone knows why. Militarism is bad, but militarists who've never been in a fight are the worst. What North Korea has in store for Biden in 2021. A hypersonic missile arms race is coming to Asia, but is anyone paying attention? And if Trump were throw a coup, how would we know in advance? Also this episode: Van recommends some reading for budding IR scholars.

John Culver Tweet: https://twitter.com/JohnCulver689/status/1326323417436581890?s=19

James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1325700686957391872?s=19

Paul Musgrave Tweet: https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1325555760944787457?s=19

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell

The Fascism Debate, Interviewing at Stanford, Think Tank Corruption, Jonah Ryan's Veep Wisdom | Ep. 75

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:16:49 +0000

What it's like to interview at Stanford University (!). What Veep's Jonah Ryan can teach aspiring Washington technocrats. On Trumpian fascism. Why elite think tanks are ripe for corruption. And what Larry David's "spite store" idea has to do with Trump's lame-duck foreign policy. Also this episode: What are international-relations theories good for?

Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1322939398044950530

Timothy Simon Tweet: https://twitter.com/timothycsimons/status/1323512882055663616

Max Berger Tweet: https://twitter.com/maxberger/status/1324134130997731328?s=20

Xiaoyu Pu: https://twitter.com/pu_xiaoyu/status/1322015679755689986?s=19

Aila Matanock and Paul Staniland on Militias in America: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-10-29/militarization-us-politics?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

Taiwan is the O.G. China, Stanford's Hoover Controversy, Totalitarian Elon Musk, Milton Friedman and LL Cool J | Ep. 74

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 2 Nov 2020 18:49:28 +0000

What makes Elon Musk a wannabe totalitarian? A new book on space expansionism paints a dark picture. Why Taiwan is the O.G. China. How to fit Milton Friedman and LL Cool J in the same sentence. Stanford University's Hoover Institution controversy. And resisting China's civil war narrative.

Paul Musgrave Tweet: https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1321163306296659968

Paul Musgrave Tweet:https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1321113451540979714?s=19

Ruben Gallego Tweet: https://twitter.com/RubenGallego/status/1320750911040360449

James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1320605353365614592?s=19

Contributors: Alex Auty, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson

Franz Fanon v. Ice Cube v. 50 Cent, Taiwan's No Pawn, China Fighting in the Pacific Islands, Exit from Hegemony | Ep. 73

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 07:29:44 +0000

What's 50 Cent's beef with Franz Fanon? And what makes Ice Cube different than 50 Cent? What to make of China's escalation of wolf-warrior diplomacy. The progressive debate about American foreign policy--opposing US power or US militarism? Also this episode--questioning Taiwan's future and how American hegemony ends.

Alex Cooley and Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/CooleyOnEurasia/status/1319027614305181699

Rabbi Jill Jacobs Tweet: https://twitter.com/rabbijilljacobs/status/1319024272174624768?s=20

Stephen Wertheim on military supremacy: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/opinion/america-global-power.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell

Washington's War against Peace, Rivalries are Dumb, Real Diversity, Literary Agent Lessons | Ep. 72

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 21 Oct 2020 08:00:12 +0000

How Washington punishes those who support peace. What real diversity in foreign policy looks like. Why rivalries make people stupid, especially great-power ones. Why Vietnam is probably not Asia's next economic "miracle." And who needs a literary agent? Depends what you're trying to publish, and where.

Hunter Marston Tweet: https://twitter.com/hmarston4/status/1316198014747197440?s=19

Kirk Serpes Tweet: https://twitter.com/KirkSerpes/status/1315942319825121281?s=19

Stephen Walt Tweet: https://twitter.com/stephenWalt/status/1316540827074785281?s=20

Patrick Iber: https://twitter.com/PatrickIber/status/1315762866675474439

Contributors: Alex Auty, Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow

Judd Apatow Gets China Right, What's the Indo-Pacific Quad? Turkish Empire, Indian Sphere of Influence | Ep. 71

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 07:02:19 +0000

Why does Judd Apatow have a better grasp on the China problem than Washington does? How should we understand the Indo-Pacific Quad, and what's a "speech-act institution?" Does Turkey have an imperial foreign policy? And why is nobody paying attention to India's sphere of influence? Also this episode: What principles should guide East Asia policy? The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft takes a decent crack at answering.

Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1312922875574341633

Robert Kelly Tweet: https://twitter.com/robert_e_kelly/status/1313085718864904192?s=21

Zack Beauchamp Tweet: https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1314009093250654208

Josh Lederman Tweet: https://twitter.com/JoshNBCNews/status/1313259283560177671?s=19

Edward Alden on Biden and Trade Wars: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/02/biden-trump-trade-wars-election-2020/

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson

When the Black Panthers Met Kim Il Sung: Writer's Room with Benjamin Young | Ep. 71

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 7 Oct 2020 19:00:58 +0000

The Black Panther Party's intersection with North Korea is fascinating and surprising. Van sits down with Dr. Benjamin Young to talk about North Korea's relationship to radical leftist movements, the Black Panther Party, the travails of trying to work in academia, and Ben's upcoming book--Guns, Guerrillas, and the Great Leader.

What is Good Strategy? Wargaming Hegemony, Black Armed Resistance, Neoliberalism Fakes Its Death, the China Security Dilemma Question | Ep. 70

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 05:42:36 +0000

Black self defense is essential to minimize state violence. Good strategy isn't infinite. The war-game might be rigged, but it can still be fun. Is the China-US relationship a security dilemma, or nah? Klaus Schwab says neoliberalism is dead, but the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. Also this episode: Why is everything breaking and nothing working except for military procurement and missile development? Corruption!

Astra Taylor Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/astradisastra/status/1307430291754160128

Kelsey Atherton Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/1308423891631722499

Yuna Wong Tweet: https://twitter.com/YunaHuhWong/status/1308449074778198017?s=19

Matt Duss Tweet:https://mobile.twitter.com/mattduss/status/1308470852619558912

Rob Cameron on Black self-defense: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/24/case-black-american-self-defense-protests/

Tyson Brown on Strategy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/22/united-states-need-new-strategic-mindset-infinite-perspective/

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow, and Ciara Mitchell

The 'Asian Mind,' Biden's Credibility Non-Problem, India Trolls China, Marxist v. Progressive Foreign Policy | Ep. 69

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 19:03:20 +0000

Don't believe the hawks--Biden has no credibility problem in Asia. India shows China how democracies do trolling better. The convergences and divergences of Marxist and progressive foreign policy. The East Asian mind and the Western mind--wut? Also this episode: Why activists and strategists need to work together toward nuclear disarmament.

India Today Tweet: https://twitter.com/IndiaToday/status/1305495069693079553

Nicholas Miller Tweet: https://twitter.com/Nick_L_Miller/status/1305280247034785796?s=20

Andreas Fulda Tweet: https://twitter.com/AMFChina/status/1305414754392047618?s=19

John Lee Tweet: https://twitter.com/koreanforeigner/status/1305328880698286080

Inkstick Media Piece on Nukes: https://inkstickmedia.com/there-is-nothing-magical-about-nuclear-weapons/

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell

Star Wars as America's Future, The Truth about Cheney, Korea's Anti-China Left, the US Sphere of Influence | Ep. 68

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 05:47:16 +0000

Van explains how the Galactic Republic in Star Wars fell, and why it's so germane today. The South Korean Left sees Chinese imperialism more clearly than most Americans. America's sphere of influence dilemma in the Pacific. What Vice gets right about Dick Cheney. Also this episode: Van's philosophy about saying yes to career opportunities large and small.

Paul Musgrave Tweet: https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1302418858972766208?s=20

Pat Blanchfield Tweet: https://twitter.com/PatBlanchfield/status/1303831078751408128?s=20

Jon Wolfsthal Tweet: https://twitter.com/JBWolfsthal/status/1302228639879237633

Elise Hu Tweet: https://twitter.com/elisewho/status/1303783836162031616

Robin Wright on the myth of America: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/is-america-a-myth

Contributors: Alex Auty, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie

Cobra Kai Cosmopolitans, Taiwan Ambiguity, Japan Watching, and Progressive Foreign Policy | Ep. 67

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 9 Sep 2020 18:28:43 +0000

Why we need to wait before debating whether to defend Taiwan. How good is the Netflix show Cobra Kai? Why Martha Nussbaum has evolved about the cosmopolitan tradition. How much of China's foreign policy is imperial? And a new poll finds that the people want progressive foreign policy!

Gordon Flake Tweet: https://twitter.com/lgflake/status/1300577595956756480

James Schoff Tweet: https://twitter.com/SchoffJ/status/1299407113320624130?s=19

Stephen Wertheim Tweet: https://twitter.com/stephenwertheim/status/1300954470218641415

ReThink Media Poll: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/08/26/ending-endless-war-progressive-foreign-policy-what-democrats-want/

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins and Martha Nussbaum: https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/interview-cosmopolitan-tradition-martha-nussbaum/

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell

Counter-Imperial Statecraft, China Competition as White Privilege, QAnon, Neocons Return to the Democratic Party | Ep. 66

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 2 Sep 2020 19:04:21 +0000

The racist motivations woven into China rivalry. Why nobody talks about American colonies hiding in plain sight. How to manufacture a Cold War with China. Australia shows the way in counter-imperial statecraft. Are neocons returning to the Democratic Party? NeverTrumpers are not anti-fascist heroes. And how serious a problem is QAnon?

Andrew Carr Tweet: https://twitter.com/AOCarr/status/1297999757919449088

AOC Tweet: https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1298311379305132032?s=20

Rory MedcalfTweet: https://twitter.com/Rory_Medcalf/status/1298723505240850435

Rita Konaev Tweet: https://twitter.com/ritakonaev/status/1294439812687187970?s=21

Kaiser Kuo and William Yuen Yeo on racism and China policy: https://supchina.com/2020/08/21/white-privilege-american-hegemony-and-the-rise-of-china/?utm_content=bufferb9d3a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Rachel Esplin Odell on Manufacturing China Threat: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/08/26/how-to-manufacture-a-new-cold-war-with-china/

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell

How to be a Pundit: Interview with Ankit Panda | Ep. 65 Hustle

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 02:58:11 +0000

In this hustle episode of the pod, Van Jackson sits down with Ankit Panda to talk about writing productivity hacks, how to become a foreign policy pundit, and tips for straddling new media and the think tank world. They also talk about Ankit's new book, Kim Jong Un and the Bomb.

Ankit's book: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/kim-jong-un-and-the-bomb/

Pentagon Corruption, Money Behind the China Threat Industry, Fighting for a Foreign Policy Career | Ep. 64

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 02:50:13 +0000

The Pentagon's failure of accountability. Why Democrats are better at diversity but have work to do. Steve Bannon's arrest highlights the money behind the China threat movement. And Van's take on Edward Snowden on what Bernie Sanders foreign policy adviser Matt Duss has to say about making a career in Washington. Also this episode, structural violence explained.

Debating Sagan v. Waltz 2.0, US Military Coup Question, the Liberal's China Contradictions, Kamala's Foreign Policy | Ep. 63

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 02:43:23 +0000

Proliferation optimism or pessimism? Van weighs in on the classic Sagan-Waltz debate. Why liberals are of two minds about China. And what's wrong with advocating for a military coup in the United States? A lot!

Dan Nexon's Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1293350893446926340

Adam Mount's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ajmount/status/1293063724161474560?s=20

Tom Le's Tweet: https://twitter.com/profTLe/status/1291893103985438720

Hunter Marston's Tweet: https://twitter.com/hmarston4/status/1292229570360311808?s=19

Jonathan Hunt's Tweet: https://twitter.com/JRHunTx/status/1292004341461680130

Edward Fishman on liberal internationalism: http://bostonreview.net/war-security/edward-fishman-death-and-rebirth-american-internationalism

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell

How to Do Think-Tanking, Wargaming Trickery, the Thucydides Crap, Alliance Problems | Ep. 62

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 03:17:14 +0000

How does one get into the think tank game? Van explains. How does one use war-games to manipulate policy? Van explains. Why is our historical imagination limited to Greek and Roman history? Again, Van explains. What happens to the US-South Korea alliance when Trump threatens troop withdrawal? You get it.

Chicago Council on Global Affairs Report: https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/publication/troop-withdrawal-likely-undermine-south-korean-public-support-alliance-united-states

James Palmer on the Thucydides' Trap: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/28/oh-god-not-the-peloponnesian-war-again/

Matt Duss Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1289162903124418561

Jeffrey Meiser Tweet: https://twitter.com/jwmeiser/status/1290431319030165505

Yuna Wong Tweet: https://twitter.com/YunaHuhWong/status/1290287068149616640?s=20

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson

VP Susan Rice--Yah or Nah? Progressive Sanctions Imperative, Allies Hedging, Pentagon's Structural Violence | Ep. 61

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 5 Aug 2020 18:45:33 +0000

The good, bad, and ugly of Biden picking Susan Rice for Vice President. Why progressives need sanctions too, and how a new think tank report sheds light on how it might work. The Pentagon has militarized the Coronavirus response and yet can't win a war. And America's closest allies are hedging in reasonable--and dangerous way. South Korea is the latest.

Jeet Heer tweet: https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1287561065526489088

Yakov Feygin tweet: https://twitter.com/BuddyYakov/status/1287037655700529152

Tsai Ing Wen tweet: https://twitter.com/iingwen/status/1288422813183827969?s=19

Eduardo Saravelle on sanctions: https://twitter.com/esaravalle/status/1288549638908379137

Contributors: Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie

Pulling Troops from Korea, Portland Strategy, Pompeo Worse Than Nixon, Progressive-ish Democrats | Ep. 60

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:57:47 +0000

The US is going to withdraw troops from South Korea--you heard it here first. The Democratic Party platform throws a bone to progressives, mostly. Pompeo rejects Nixon, and shows himself to be worse than him too. Gestapo come to Portland, and why the mayor needs strategy advice. Also the this episode: The myth of China strategy, Quislings, and decoupling for real.

Matt Duss Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1286281992145907715

Ken Schultz Tweet: https://twitter.com/kschultz3580/status/1285599806317105158?s=21

Patrick Iber Tweet: https://twitter.com/PatrickIber/status/1286052109666988033

James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/beijingpalmer/status/1286038960725200896?s=21

Inkstick Media piece: https://inkstickmedia.com/the-myth-of-chinese-strategic-genius/

Can Biden FP be Progressive? Kanye the Spoiler, Anti-Fascism for All, Taiwan Insurgents, Unserious GOP| Ep. 59

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 18:19:50 +0000

A foreign policy reckoning is coming for the establishment Democrats in Congress. Kanye West can't be president, but he can mess it up for Biden. If China invades Taiwan, the real press it will pay comes during occupation. Why broad anti-fascist coalitions are good.

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson

David Klion Tweet: https://twitter.com/DavidKlion/status/1283047130433822726

Blak Herzinger Tweet: https://twitter.com/BDHerzinger/status/1282493494850809857

Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1282848860994449408

Chris Hayes Tweet: https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1280624770674032647?s=19

Bonnie Glaser Tweet: https://twitter.com/bonnieglaser/status/1281968219901890561?s=21

Sheri Berman in Foreign Policy: https://foreignpolicy-com.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/2020/07/04/coronavirus-crisis-turning-point-change/

Kate Kizer in Inkstick Media: https://inkstickmedia.com/america-is-ready-for-human-security-is-congress/

Writer's Room 1: The Book Project Begins | Ep. 58

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 07:11:23 +0000

As I officially launch a new book project, I'm also launching a new occasional series within The Un-Diplomatic Podcast called Writer's Room. It's going to track my journey of writing my third book with occasional mini-episodes. I'll also use the Writer's Room episodes to intermittently check in with other writers working on books to learn about their experiences.

Unipolar-Moment Hawks, Democrats' Bad Strategy, Aussie Hedging, Kiwi's Strategic Style over Substance | Ep. 57

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 9 Jul 2020 03:17:22 +0000

The Democratic Party's foreign policy is controlled by unipolar-moment hawks. Australian strategists are making plans for conflict with China without the US. New Zealand has a China policy that looks awfully janus-faced, but there's method (and risk) to the madness. And if Democrats' plan to fight Trump is to "win big in November" and nothing else, then the game is already lost.

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow

Anne-Marie Brady Tweet: https://thediplomat.com/2020/06/new-zealands-quiet-china-shift/?fbclid=IwAR15ssAj0Lfh0elwaFyAC69vOX2P-uCmHzWIey3aGYeH4Pfn-9TAHEKbSJE

Mike McFaul Tweet: https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1278757751947014144?s=19

Sophia McDougall Tweet: https://twitter.com/McDougallSophia/status/1276538425395630081?s=20

Andrew Carr Tweet: https://twitter.com/AOCarr/status/1277853262650019840

GTFO with Anti-Progressive Leftism, Taiwan Nukes, the Military Power Fallacy, the meaning of Kim Jong Un's Restraint | Ep. 56

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 1 Jul 2020 18:08:26 +0000

There's NOTHING progressive about working with the MAGA right. Why the arguments for US military superiority keep changing but the demand stays the same. Also this episode: Does Taiwan need nukes? Why did Kim Jong Un publicly restrain his military from attacking the South? And what's wrong with imagining Korea as a maritime defense perimeter?

Yakov Feygin Tweet: https://twitter.com/BuddyYakov/status/1276219280816656385

Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1275601160381104131

Weijia Jiang Tweet: https://twitter.com/weijia/status/1275422015059615750?s=21

Tom McTague on American decline: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/06/america-image-power-trump/613228/

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow

How NOT to Network in DC, Asia's 'Deterrence is Failing' Trap, China-India v. North Korea | Ep. 55

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 18:30:07 +0000

Deterrence is not failing in Asia, America is. A little advice about how NOT to network in Washington. What's more dangerous, the Sino-Indian conflict or North Korea? Also this episode: how international relations theory can be used in practice, and why China hawks are actually Trump's useful idiots.

Susan Hennessy Tweet: https://twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/1273392725937790979?s=20

Rachel Rizzo Tweet: https://twitter.com/RachelRizzo/status/1271416729424535552

Matt Duss Tweet: ttps://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1273356008337870854

Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell

Bernie's Foreign Policy Brain Trust: Interview w/ Matt Duss | Hustle Ep. 54

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Matt Duss) — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 00:23:56 +0000

In this episode, Van sits down with Matt Duss, senior foreign policy adviser to former presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. Matt shares his backstory, including his pathway into foreign policy, his relationship to the Washington establishment, and how he ended up working working for Senator Sanders. He dishes about how the Sanders presidential campaign organized its foreign policy team, as well as how he thinks a Biden presidency ought to approach foreign policy on a range of issues--China decoupling, Space Force, Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry, and much more. Matt also goes on the record about where Transformers rates relative to The Usual Suspects in the pantheon of great movies.

Can Liberals and Marxists Get Along? Where's the Left on China Decoupling? Australia's Dilemma, Singapore's Warning | Ep. 53

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 19:57:16 +0000

Can liberals and Marxists find common cause? The left often weighs in on China, but is silent on the biggest strategic question of our time: Should the United States seek to decouple its economy from China? Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong forecasts a more zero-sum world, but is anyone listening? Australia has put itself in a bad place strategically, and it's a warning to small states everywhere.

John Glaser Tweet: https://twitter.com/jwcglaser/status/1270722911410638851

John Carl Baker Tweet: https://twitter.com/johncarlbaker/status/1270360182686732291

Paul Poast Tweet: https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1269620204289568769?s=19

Duyeon Kim Tweet: https://twitter.com/duyeonkim/status/1270682908978581504?s=19

Fred Kaplan on Civ-Mil Relations: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/06/milley-trump-esper-civil-military.html

Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow, and Ciara Mitchell

Left Technocracy vs Kleptocracy, Black Lives Matter is Foreign Policy, China Hawks against Order, Stop Terrorizing Antifa | Ep. 52

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 18:39:18 +0000

Joe Biden needs progressive technocracy to fight the transnational corruption and oligarchy that threatens democracies everywhere. The demands of the Black Lives Matter campaign are the best foreign policy. Antifa is not a terrorist group. Terrorizing Antifa is, you know, fascism. The danger of 'little green men' in Washington. Also this episode: Why Tom Cotton is no friend of Hong Kong, or democracy.

Chris Murphy Tweet: https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1266459665216475141?s=19

David Rothkopf Tweet: ttps://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1267865183126532096

James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1268267458663759875

Tamara Cofman Wittes Tweet: https://twitter.com/tcwittes/status/1267657924089962496

Ben Judah, Yakov Feygin, and Eduardo Saravalle piece on kleptocracy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/03/biden-united-states-kleptocracy-power-sanctions/

The Anti-China Think Tank, Corrupt Cocktail Parties, India v. China, Marines v. Pentagon, North Korea v. Everyone | Ep. 51

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 3 Jun 2020 20:00:36 +0000

How much does it cost to buy a Washington Post columnist? One fancy dinner at the State Department. The think tank behind Trump's anti-China campaign. North Korea getting dangerous and nobody paying attention. Why the Marine Corps' new war fighting concept threatens the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex. What the India-China border dispute tells us about Chinese intentions.

Matt Duss's Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1265645358442520576

Andreas Nick's Tweet: https://twitter.com/DrAndreasNick/status/1264858787585949701?s=19

Matthew Fay and Michael Hunzeker on Marine Corps Innovation: https://warontherocks.com/2020/05/no-sure-victory-the-marines-new-force-design-plan-and-the-politics-of-implementation/

Dan Sneider on The Hudson Institute: https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/352479?fbclid=IwAR2gTT3YfFSpiTCNH_jMmg35bSsG6OH1lt_JYWZeLNrn5WsasYeymF5oZbY

China's Useful Idiot, Hawks Failing Up, Arms-Racing to Security, NZ Conspiracy Theory, GOP against International Order, Getting Taiwan Wrong | Ep. 50

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 27 May 2020 20:13:12 +0000

HR McMaster proves that in Washington, hawks only fail up. Are Republicans against international order? Chinese Netizens wants Trump to win the election because they think he's a racist joke who helps rally nationalism in China. What conspiracy theory is leading to cell phone towers being set ablaze in New Zealand? Only one country thinks arms-racing is the path to security--America, baby.

Corey Pein Tweet: https://twitter.com/coreypein/status/1261166298043527168

Waleed Shahid Tweet: https://twitter.com/_waleedshahid/status/1262492507868463107?s=19

Mitt Romney Tweet:https://twitter.com/SenatorRomney/status/1261799211760222210?s=19

Vipin Narang Tweet: https://twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1263258794211098633

Timothy McLaughlin in The Atlantic on Taiwan: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/05/taiwan-china-who-coronavirus-pandemic/611737/

Kissinger's Legacy, Anti-War Biden, Cancel Space Force, Wrong on Iran, Incompetence All the Way Down | Ep. 49

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 21 May 2020 19:51:05 +0000

Biden's best chance of winning might be embracing the anti-war movement. Democracies for Taiwan. Is there anything Australia can do to save the United States? Is the US Space Force a militarist boondoggle? Also this episode: The legacy of Henry Kissinger. Turkish imperialism. Pompeo gaslighting on Iran. And advice about studying international relations.

Demand Progress: https://demandprogress.org

Caitlin Talmadge Tweet: https://twitter.com/ProfTalmadge/status/1259240712777928704

Don Moynihan Tweet: https://twitter.com/donmoyn/status/1259477460904808449?s=20

Benjamin Young Tweet: https://twitter.com/DubstepInDPRK/status/1259673664456359937?s=20

Quantian Tweet: https://twitter.com/quantian1/status/1260387202871287809

Brendan Taylor in Australian Foreign Affairs: https://www.australianforeignaffairs.com/articles/extract/2020/02/message-to-washington

Creative Defense Hawks, Strategic Nihilism, Doing Korean Peace Right, and Speaking China's Language | Ep. 48

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 13 May 2020 18:55:42 +0000

American foreign policy is a reality TV show. Through the China looking glass with HR McMaster. Also this episode:Why is Korean peace a dirty phrase in Washington? Did a member of Congress just tell a journalist that defense hawks will have to lies in the form of strategic rhetoric to keep the defense budget obscenely high? Yes, he did. Does speaking Chinese make for good anti-China propaganda?

Matt Duss's Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1258094892351467520?s=19

James Palmer's Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1258484792049520641

Paul McLeary: https://twitter.com/paulmcleary/status/1258007330651803648

Matt Korda's Tweet:https://twitter.com/mattkorda/status/1257775280388812806?s=20

Damon Linker's Tweet: https://twitter.com/DamonLinker/status/1258023836341219329

Nick Miller's Tweet: https://twitter.com/Nick_L_Miller/status/1256672374868660225

Ethan Paul in Responsible Statecraft: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/05/05/how-mcmaster-sees-china/

The Blob's Debate Dilemma, Orwell on Nuclear Tyranny, On Becoming a North Korea Watcher, GOP War on China, Big Data BS | Ep. 47

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 7 May 2020 06:57:37 +0000

The "Blob" national security establishment is necessary, often wrong, and loses any argument where it concedes that it's a Blob. Are nuclear weapons inherently undemocratic and tyrannical? George Orwell predicted yes. Are political scientists wrong about diversionary war? The National Republican Senatorial Committee thinks so in their latest memo that directs candidates to not defend Trump and instead attack China. Has "the data" really replaced "strategy" as Washington's new favorite empty term? Why fair trade might be a better way to fight China than the Hayekian wet dream of free trade at all costs. Also this episode: How did Van Jackson become a North Korea watcher?

Matt Duss Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1255610412189581314?s=20

Anne Marie-Brady Tweet: https://twitter.com/AaronFriedberg/status/1254861734059421700?s=20

Robert Kelly Tweet: https://twitter.com/Robert_E_Kelly/status/1256033975568482304

Adam Serwer Tweet: https://twitter.com/AdamSerwer/status/1255620408952393729?s=20

"In Defense of the Blob" piece: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-04-29/defense-blob

Korea Doves and Japan Hawks, Grand Strategy Isn't Over, the Disappearing Dictator, We're All BBC Dad Now | Ep. 46

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 19:04:38 +0000

Grand strategy is more necessary--and harder to do--than ever. Alliance management with Japan and South Korea is becoming impossible when one is a hawk and the other a dove. What the hell is happening with Kim Jong Un? China's horrible...and so is anti-Chinese racism. Van's endless white-collar frustrations with working from home in the Coronavirus era. Also this episode: What does Van like to eat?

Uri Friedman on New Zealand's Crisis Response: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/jacinda-ardern-new-zealand-leadership-coronavirus/610237/

Aiden Smith's Tweet: https://twitter.com/AidanSmith2020/status/1252041966214242305

Jackie Schneider's Tweet: https://twitter.com/JackieGSchneid/status/1252391127652552707

Duyeon Kim's Tweet: https://twitter.com/duyeonkim/status/1252429076205203464?s=19

The Chris Murphy Doctrine, Gen X Hawks and Gen Z Doves, the Neoliberal Split on China, Cyberpunk, Socialists for Biden | Ep. 45

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 19:05:20 +0000

Why Senator Chris Murphy might end up being the Henry Kissinger of the Left. Are Millennials more hawkish on China than Boomers and Gen X? Chicago Council on Global Affairs has polling data that tells us. Robert Zoellick's new book highlights a neoliberal split on the China question. Why socialists need to support Biden. South Korean elections bring a North Korean defector to the National Assembly. And we're living in a cyberpunk dystopia.

Alex Ward's Profile of Chris Murphy in Vox: https://www.vox.com/2020/4/16/21127501/chris-murphy-foreign-policy-coronavirus-trump?fbclid=IwAR08dq1ioUta18m-dCMTPbGkhEB7oeJ47ThrOQV6ChLAiaPplGrTK9-b1Mo

Kelsey Atherton on our Cyberpunk Dystopia: https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/coronavirus-cyberpunk-science-fiction-government-politics.html

Robert Kelly's Tweet: https://twitter.com/Robert_E_Kelly/status/1250940245626941443

Stephen Maher's Tweet: https://twitter.com/stphnmaher/status/1250414565399187457?s=20

Debating Black Swans, the War Metaphor, the Irony of Competing with China, North Korea Doesn't Want Help | Ep. 44

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 18:52:49 +0000

Does the novel Coronavirus pandemic count as a Black Swan? Van Jackson goes deep on why it was and why it matters. Is strategic competition within interdependence possible? The neoliberal irony of strategizing to fight China using resources gotten from trading with China. Why the metaphor of Pearl Harbor is not just in appropriate securitization of the pandemic--it's ultimately an un-democratic power grab. Also this episode: Where Van fits in the international relations paradigm wars, why North Korea needs but doesn't want help, and what happened to Van's old podcast.

George Takei tweet: xhttps://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1246904615985188867?s=20

Abe Denmark tweet: https://twitter.com/AbeDenmark/status/1247867195859914752?s=20

Euan Graham tweet: https://twitter.com/graham_euan/status/1248033806226870273

James Laurenson tweet: https://twitter.com/j_laurenceson/status/1247839183646883846

Korea Watcher Feud, Steinbeck v. Matt Damon, Fascist-Free NATO, Proxy Paradigm Wars in IR, Singapore has No Plan B | Ep. 43

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 8 Apr 2020 20:29:57 +0000

Singapore's not happy with any of the great powers, but do they have a Plan B for a failure of US leadership? Should NATO expel Hungary for turning into a dictatorship? What happened in the latest Korea-watcher spat between Jeffrey Lewis and Joel Wit? Also this episode: The paradigm wars in international relations theory didn't end; they migrated into Asian security studies. The Coronavirus shouldn't be a national security issue. Why John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath is more important than Matt Damon's Contagion.

Christopher Woody shouts out the pod: https://www.businessinsider.com/backlash-to-trump-use-of-sanctions-as-coronavirus-spreads-2020-3

Antonio DeLoera Tweet: https://twitter.com/AntonioDeLoeraB/status/1244708115720728578

Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1244990273899450368

Nick Bisley Tweet: https://twitter.com/NickBisley/status/1245589570806145029

Fred Kaplan on Hungary and NATO: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/orban-hungary-dictatorship-eu-nato.html

Is US China Policy Racist? EU Expansion Debate, Dueling Chinese Diplomats, Arms-Racing with North Korea, and the Nightmare of Election Suspension | Ep. 42

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 2 Apr 2020 17:29:51 +0000

Is US China policy racist? A better question is whether Pompeo is the Sebastian Gorka of China policy. How to make sense of dueling Chinese diplomats. Will the European Union expand, even as it's contracting? Is the US prepping an invasion of Venezuela? And the avoidable nightmare of a suspended presidential election. Also this episode: North Korea as a bizarrely stable nuclear flashpoint, and whether arms-racing with North Korea makes any sense (it doesn't).

Erin Ryan's Tweet: https://twitter.com/morninggloria/status/1241041892231413760

Ryan Hass's Tweet:https://twitter.com/ryanl_hass/status/1242088502189326337

Benjamin Denison's Tweet: https://twitter.com/DenisonBe/status/1241885474144256001

How to Vote During a Pandemic: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2020-03-24/how-vote-during-pandemic

The Pentagon versus Deterrence, Pompeo's War, US-China Conspiracy Theories, Beijing's Hegemony on the Cheap | Ep. 41

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 03:19:34 +0000

Why does the Pentagon keep getting deterrence wrong? Why is Mike Pompeo threatening the families of staff who work for the International Criminal Court? And what makes Russia so different from China? Also this episode: the danger of US-China conspiracy theories; why China's bid for hegemony involves a lot of cheap talk; white supremacy in the military; and the inhumanity and anti-strategy of sanctioning Iran amid the coronavirus.

Mehdi Hasan on Iran: https://theintercept.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-iran-sanctions/

Daniel Larison on Iraq: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/we-have-lost-in-iraq-and-we-should-leave/

Matt Zeitlin's Tweet: https://twitter.com/MattZeitlin/status/1239024271877439489

Matt Korda's Tweet: https://twitter.com/mattkorda/status/1239968570043289606

Gerry Doyle's Tweet: https://twitter.com/mgerrydoyle/status/1240085453690130438

Liberal Foreign Policy's Limits, Dictator Dilemmas, Oil Wars, and the China Debate's McCarthyist Turn | Ep. 40

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 06:46:16 +0000

Why liberal foreign policy is a bad fit for dark times. What Netflix's Narcos can tell us about order and stability in international relations. Why Russia started an oil price war with Saudi Arabia. Why the critical left doesn't understand power as well as it thinks. If your think tank gets money from Ali Baba, that doesn't automatically make you a Chinese agent. What does Bernie Sanders really think about China? Also this episode: A brief history lesson on the politics of the American Progressive Era.

Matt Stoller tweet: https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/1237580289888505856

Rush Doshi tweet: https://twitter.com/SolomonYue/status/1237579397483261952

Jeff Colgan tweet: https://twitter.com/JeffDColgan/status/1237075224446881792

Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes on democracy's decline: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/opinion/democracy-eastern-europe.html

Does Taiwan Need US Nukes? War State v. Welfare State? Why Hawks Don't Get the Vietnam War, Still. Is Biden Killing the Democratic Party or Saving It? | Ep. 39

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 02:30:58 +0000

The dangers of low-yield nukes in Taiwan. Why great power competition requires democracy and equality at home. Thinking through the risks and benefits of arms control summitry with China, and why Trump can't make it work. Why the comparisons between Vietnam and Afghanistan militate against keeping troops around. Also this episode: Is Biden killing the youth vote, or saving American democracy? And why Van identifies with Seth Rogen.

Mike Mazarr Tweet: https://twitter.com/MMazarr/status/1234901196550348800

Emma Ashford Tweet: https://twitter.com/EmmaMAshford/status/1234306863421890562

Tong Zhao Tweet: https://twitter.com/zhaot2005/status/1234338686788964352

Lessons From Vietnam on Leaving Afghanistan by George Herring: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-04-15/lessons-vietnam-leaving-afghanistan

Bernie the Strategist, Pompeo Still Doesn't Get China, Japan's Price for Losing Taiwan, Hustle v. Marxism | Ep. 38

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 4 Mar 2020 02:39:46 +0000

Why pundits don't understand the political savvy of Bernie Sanders. Does losing Taiwan mean losing Japan? Yes and no. Why the pundits don't understand the political savvy of Bernie Sanders. Why the State Department is sabotaging arms control while promoting a fake arms control agenda. And how China's historical record speaks to a strategic culture that Pompeo just doesn't understand. Also this episode: Why Van has too much hustle for Marxism, Matt Duss for National Security Adviser, and how the US and Chinese economies could actually decouple.

Alexandra Bell Tweet: https://twitter.com/atomicbell/status/1231718308812120064

Nicholas Miller Tweet: https://twitter.com/Nick_L_Miller/status/1231998228679270401

T. Greer Post on Taiwan-Japan: http://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2020/02/losing-taiwan-means-losing-japan.html

M. Taylor Fravel on China: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/21/mike-pompeo-criticized-china-not-respecting-its-neighbors-territorial-integrity-whats-story/

Restrainers in Foreign Policy, Fighting Oligarchs, China's Worst Nightmare in NZ, a European Defense Union, Fascism Infiltrates Intelligence

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 17:36:32 +0000

The restraint movement in foreign policy starts penetrating Washington. Elizabeth Warren takes on the biggest oligarch of them all--Mike Bloomberg. China trade distorts the national interest. And Van Jackson thinks through the merits of NATO versus a European Defense Union. Also this episode: Why Trump will keep extorting South Korea; the danger of Russia and Turkey treating Syria as a sphere of influence; Scottish independence; and Van's musings about "Washington insider status."

John Carl Baker's Tweet: https://twitter.com/johncarlbaker/status/1230322409330397185

Adam Mount's Tweet: https://twitter.com/ajmount/status/1228404906865909765

Alex Ward's Tweet: https://twitter.com/AlexWardVox/status/1230312105661865984

Anne Marie Brady's Tweet: https://twitter.com/Anne_MarieBrady/status/1229998784421060608

Judah Grunstein on Restraint in World Politics Review: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/28544/restraint-could-turn-the-u-s-into-the-european-union-for-better-or-worse?utm_source=Active+Subscribers&utm_campaign=0df4292aa5-Daily_Subscribers_02192020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_35c49cbd51-0df4292aa5-64517997&mc_cid=0df4292aa5&mc_eid=6220f8ae15

Bernie Bureaucracy? Fake Arms Control, Australian Nukes, Ilhan Omar's Peace Plan, Paying Interns, Kim Jong Un Embarrassed by Trump | Ep. 36

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 22:04:15 +0000

Would Bernie Sanders bomb North Korea? Probably not but the New York Times thinks so. Ilhan Omar's plan to save America from militarism. Trump's fake arms control agenda. Why Australia losing faith in the US might mean acquiring nuclear weapons. Why Kim Jong Un finds Trump totally embarrassing. And the wage theft of Washington think tanks.

Daniel McDowell in World Politics Review: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/28418/ofac-sanctions-and-the-new-dollar-diplomacy

Ankit Panda's Tweet: https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/1227424186165010435

Nuclear Memes for Atomic Teens Tweet: https://twitter.com/NuclearMemes/status/1227640799912976385

Uri Friedman on The Sanders Doctrine: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/bernie-sanders-doctrine-america-military-foreign-policy/606364/

Michael Fullilove on Losing Faith in America: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/how-americanophile-lost-his-faith-us/606388/

China Threat Deflation v. Military Primacy, Left Technocrats, the Economic Primacy Debate, Declining American Exceptionalism, Blowing Up the Landmine Ban | Ep. 35

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 19:38:51 +0000

The contradiction of military superiority and China threat deflation. How many " left technocrats" are actually out there? Is dollar hegemony good for national security? And why do Millennials shun American exceptionalism while Boomers still revel in it? Also this episode: blowing up the landmine ban triggers Van's inner activist, military superiority is politically unsustainable, more Chinese imperialism, and what the defense budget shouldn't be spending money on.

Emma Ashford's tweet: https://twitter.com/EmmaMAshford/status/1223274059800203264

Matt Duss's tweet: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1224324932814938112

Chris Clary's tweet: https://twitter.com/clary_co/status/1224705466800001024

Chicago Council on Global Affairs Survey: https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/publication/lcc/ok-boomer-youth-hesitant-use-force-shun-us-exceptionalism-foreign-policy

Joshua Zoffer on Dollar Dominance: https://newrepublic.com/article/156417/end-forever-war-keep-dollar-globally-dominant

Nukes You Can Use? Warren Ending Endless War, Korea's Elusive Peace, Israel's Fake Peace, and Chinese Imperialism | Ep. 34

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 5 Feb 2020 21:49:59 +0000

What's the point of low-yield nuclear weapons? To use them, of course. Elizabeth Warren's plan to end endless war. How Trump fractured the left by flirting with Korean peace, and why his fake Israel peace plan threatens to do so again. Chinese imperialism is a thing now. Also this episode: difficulties of democratizing foreign policy, prediction in international relations, being kind in national security, and...South Korean conscription.

Elizabeth Warren on ending endless war: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/elizabeth-warren-we-can-end-our-endless-wars/605497/

Maggie Caroliine repping NatSecGirlSquad: https://twitter.com/MaggieCaroline1/status/1219409363623989250

Kori Schake on being kind: https://twitter.com/KoriSchake/status/1219441028186419202?s=20

Gregg Carlstrom on fake Israeli peace: https://twitter.com/glcarlstrom/status/1222279492183494662?s=20

Stephen Wertheim on defense: https://twitter.com/stephenwertheim/status/1222294594735525888?s=20

Corey Pein on anti-elite resistance to Trump: https://twitter.com/coreypein/status/1222275041456357377

Andrew Facini on tactical nukes: https://thebulletin.org/2020/01/the-low-yield-nuclear-warhead-a-dangerous-weapon-based-on-bad-strategic-thinking/

Daniel Larison on Elizabeth Warren: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/campaign-promises-and-ending-wars/

Godfather of Progressive Foreign Policy Part II: Interview w/ Dr. Dan Nexon | Hustle Ep. 33

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Daniel Nexon) — Mon, 3 Feb 2020 17:34:05 +0000

This is the second of two episodes interviewing Dr. Dan Nexon, a former adviser to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, a proponent of progressive internationalism, scholar of empires, and much more. In this episode, we talk about:

--how he ended up advising Sanders's campaign in 2016,

--what led him to think seriously about progressive foreign policy,

--his beef with the anti-imperial left,

--why the "liberal international order" is on death's door,

--how to think about the rise of far right movements in Europe,

--Chinese versus US imperialism,

--what he likes about the convergences and divergences in Warren versus Sanders as presidential candidates,

-- and more!

Dan's blogging: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/author/dnexon

Dan's forthcoming book w/ Alex Cooley (Exit from Hegemony): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/exit-from-hegemony-9780190916473?cc=us&lang=en&

Dan's influential Foreign Affairs piece on progressive foreign policy: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2018-09-04/toward-neo-progressive-foreign-policy

Godfather of Progressive Foreign Policy Part I: Interview w/ Dr. Dan Nexon | Hustle Ep. 32

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 00:36:42 +0000

This is the first of two episodes interviewing Dr. Dan Nexon, a former adviser to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, a proponent of progressive internationalism, scholar of empires, and much more. In this episode, Part I, we talk about how he found his way into academia, got interested in international relations, and flirted with the practice of foreign policy.

Dan's blogging: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/author/dnexon

Dan's forthcoming book w/ Alex Cooley (Exit from Hegemony): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/exit-from-hegemony-9780190916473?cc=us&lang=en&

Dan's influential Foreign Affairs piece on progressive foreign policy: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2018-09-04/toward-neo-progressive-foreign-policy

The Great Warren-Sanders Convergence, Elite v. Democratic Foreign Policy, Why World War III is Trending, Fake China Trade Deal, Iran Escalation Idiocy | Ep. 31

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 21:41:53 +0000

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders converge on foreign policy way more than Twitter thinks. Democratizing foreign policy is a noble goal but is it possible? Millennials are freaked out about World War III and Trump is to blame. The "Phase I" trade deal with China is fake reality TV. Deterrence by escalation is dumb. Breaking the political assassination taboo will prove costly. And why the policymaker literacy gap on artificial intelligence is a career opportunity for the next generation of mandarins.

Notes and Sources:

Mike Pilger on Ian Bremer: https://twitter.com/mikepilger/status/1215076257362337792

Matt Duss on political assassination: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1213471599841677312

Jess McIntosh on Bernie Bros: https://twitter.com/jess_mc/status/1217470071402123265?s=20

Whitney McNamara on AI literacy: https://twitter.com/Whitney_McN/status/1217509704433389571?s=20

Howard French in World Politics Review:

https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/28470/china-s-policies-toward-hong-kong-and-taiwan-are-driving-a-slow-motion-catastrophe

World Politics Review on the China trade deal: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/28474/what-does-the-phase-one-u-s-china-trade-deal-actually-accomplish

Subscribe to the World Politics Review Newsletter: wpr.pub/undiplomatic

Democrats Debate National Security, Sort Of | Raw Uncut Ep. 30

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 20:51:53 +0000

What do Democrats think about foreign policy and national security? The recent democratic debate was stunningly superficial on foreign policy, yet the most revealing to date. It covered Iran, defense spending, troops in the Middle East, trade deals, North Korea, and China (sort of). Van offers his take, where there's daylight between candidate, and what's wrong going forward.

New York Times Weighs the Winners and Losers in the Debate: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/15/opinion/democratic-debate-who-won.html

Liberalism's Soft Underbelly, Kasparov on Bothsidesism, China Red Scare Incoherence, and Taiwan at Risk | Ep. 29

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 9 Jan 2020 07:36:39 +0000

Does 'bothsidesism' threaten democracy? Gary Kasparov thinks so and so does Van. Fareed Zakaria and the Washington establishment disagree about China. Van thinks they're both wrong. Dan Drezner throws shade at the incoherence of US foreign policy. Taiwan's democracy under pressure. And what North Korea's Christmas gift silence really tells us. Also this episode: Advice for young writers.

Dan Drezner's tweet: https://twitter.com/dandrezner/status/1210748831731572739

Gary Kasparov's tweet: https://twitter.com/Kasparov63/status/1210280850094526464

Vipin Narang's tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1209861487251951617

Fareed Zakaria's Foreign Affairs piece: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-12-06/new-china-scare

Assassinations and Conflict Spirals: Does the Pentagon Suck at Deterrence or is Trump Wagging the Dog? | Raw Uncut Ep. 28

Fri, 3 Jan 2020 23:51:22 +0000

Why did the Trump administration just assassinate an Iranian senior military leader? What will it lead to? Lots of questions about deterrence stupidity and diversionary foreign policy in this quick Raw Uncut episode.

Interview w the BBC Dad, Robert Kelly: 2020 Predictions on All Things Korea and Trump | Ep. 27

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 2 Jan 2020 01:57:28 +0000

In this special New Year's episode with the BBC Dad, Dr. Robert Kelly, we get his predictions about a range of foreign policy issues for 2020:

--Will North Korea conduct a nuclear test?

--Will Kim Jong Un meet with Trump again?

--Will Trump leave office before the end of the year?

--Will there be any wars anywhere?

--Will the US withdraw any troops from South Korea?

Buttigieg Foreign Policy, Bernie Sanders as Film Critic, Hashtag Never Tulsi, and How Russia Invaded...International Relations | Ep. 26

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 05:27:17 +0000

Is Buttigieg a foreign policy hawk? Is international relations really just about Russian foreign policy? Van points out the obvious--Tulsi Gabbard is not a Democrat, and not progressive. Why America sucks up to India (hint: it’s all about China), and why it shouldn’t. The Pod implores Bernie Sanders to weigh in on the Transformers v. Usual Suspects debate that Matt Duss started. And finally, is ‘Chained Globalisation’ here to stay, and what can we do about it?

Predictions:

Will Ankara (Turkey) follow up on their threat to shut down the U.S controlled Incirik AFB before the end of 2019? | No
Will Congress pass any resolutions addressing the New START treaty (which expires in 2021) before February 2020? | No
Will the U.S resume peace talks with the Taliban before the end of 2019? | No

Links:

Benjamin R. Young on North Korea and Time - https://www.nknews.org/2019/12/the-need-for-speed-time-as-a-political-tool-in-north-korea/
Daniel Larison on Pete Buttigieg’s Foreign Policy - https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/buttigiegs-increasingly-hawkish-foreign-policy/
Jason Kander on Tulsi Gabbard - https://twitter.com/JasonKander/status/1207487212234969088
Tom Nichols on Gabbard - https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1207476464356143104
Tim Draper on India and Religious Freedom - https://twitter.com/TimDraper/status/1207674025616519173
Paul Poast on Russia and Foreign Affairs - https://mobile.twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1204745930144174080
Journal of Global Security Studies special issue on American Bias -https://academic.oup.com/jogss/article-abstract/4/3/299/5521930
Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman on Chained Globalisation - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2019-12-10/chained-globalization

The Revolution Will Be Technocratic, China Decoupling and the Capitalist Peace, Defense Budget Disaster, Advice for Presidential Campaigns

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:58:28 +0000

National security Republicans' "theory of security" might just kill us all in the name of deterrence. House Democrats pass a defense budget that George W. Bush would be proud of. China is decoupling from the US whether we like it or not. Arms control is unravelling because the Trump administration is all neocons, ethno-nationalists, and multi-millionaires. Also this episode: What the heck do foreign policy advisers do on presidential campaigns?

World Politics Review Newsletter: https://about.worldpoliticsreview.com/undiplomatic/

Prediction Market:

Will the U.S place meaningful sanctions on Turkey in response to their purchasing of Russian arms before the end of 2019? | No.
Following the Russian-Ukraine peace deal, will Russia withdraw active duty troops before the end of 2019? | Not a peace deal - it’s a ceasefire. No.
Will North Korea test an ICBM before the end of 2019? | No

Notes and Sources:

Ross Douthat on Republican foreign policy credibility: https://twitter.com/DouthatNYT/status/1201574412018950147
Ankit Panda on international institutional revisionism: https://mobile.twitter.com/nktpnd/status/1204986200228089856
Shadi Hamid on meritocracy and McKinsey: https://twitter.com/shadihamid/status/1203416084189196288
Goose Lee on the Hong Kong protests and sex: https://twitter.com/Lee_Cobaj/status/1202209651665723396?fbclid=IwAR128MOLpR3C-YSKmnmN6Wn1Mwp_MqPwtL7grJwArCP68I_O0kn4-UWpVA4
Jeffrey Lewis on nuclear weapons treaty: https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/inside-the-new-global-arms-race-washington-us-russia-china-nuclear-weapons-cyberwarfare

Bloomberg Foreign Policy, Nuclear No First Use, Neoliberals as the New Neocons, French Realpolitik, and Trump Won't Save Taiwan | Ep. 24

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 9 Dec 2019 03:23:48 +0000

What would a Mayor Bloomberg foreign policy look like (some concerning clues in his past)? The wisdom of French realpolitik. Why Trump will sell out Taiwan but the rest of Washington should keep the faith. Why neoliberalism is the new neoconservatism. Why Iran policy reveals Trump to be a neocon minus the love of democracy bit. And why Van Jackson backs a no-first use nuclear policy. Also this episode: Van reveals the presidential campaign he's been volunteering for as a foreign policy adviser.

Notes and Sources:

Mehdi Hasan on Michael Bloomberg: https://theintercept.com/2019/11/25/michael-bloombergs-right-wing-views-on-foreign-policy-make-him-a-perfect-candidate-for-the-republican-nomination/
Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1202008446083698689
Ilan Goldenberg on the JCPOA: https://mobile.twitter.com/ilangoldenberg/status/1202343502501339136
Gérard Araud on realpolitik: https://twitter.com/GerardAraud/status/1201071186626502656
Matt Duss on neoliberalism: https://twitter.com/mattduss/status/1201179005912854530

Of Idiocracy and Allies: A New Nuclear Age, Missile Decoupling, and Extortionist Foreign Policy | Ep. 23

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 3 Dec 2019 04:44:00 +0000

Nukes, missiles, and being oblivious to risk. The Indo-Pacific strategy is freaking some people out. Allies worry that the US doesn't know what it's doing in Asia, and a nuclear Japan and South Korea may just be a matter of time. Trump doesn't care about Hong Kong. Also this episode, why it sucks to have a liberal foreign policy in the Second Nuclear Age. When New Zealand will start developing nukes. And why post-INF missiles are the Christmas present no ally wants. In Ask Me Anything: Why Van Jackson is a good example of how not to build a career in foreign policy.

Stay Off Twitter:

David Frum on honorable resignations - https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1199528319483596800

Brett McGurk on the Trump/Erdogan bromance - https://twitter.com/brett_mcgurk/status/1199041509317701632

Mike Mazarr on the INF Treaty and missiles in Kansas - https://twitter.com/MMazarr/status/1197011144759595008

Vipin Narang on a new nuclear age - https://twitter.com/NarangVipin/status/1197924400428810241

Armchair Analysis:

Mira Rapp-Hooper on decoupling and the new nuclear age - https://warontherocks.com/2019/11/decoupling-is-back-in-asia-a-1960s-playbook-wont-solve-these-problems-2/

Recorded Live: North Korea Policy and the Arms Control Taboo | Ep. 22

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 19:08:34 +0000

This special episode was recorded live from Seoul, South Korea in late November. Dr. Van Jackson gave a talk at the East Asia Foundation in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament. Have a listen to learn the unintended dangers of pursuing North Korean denuclearization, and why a credible arms control process is the only way to stabilize Korea.

Center for a New American Security Report: https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/risk-realism

US Troops in South Korea, Spheres of Influence are Gross, Economic v. Political Freedom, North Korea’s Deadline, Left on Hong Kong | Ep. 21

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 22:08:45 +0000

Who supports military bases in South Korea? Surprising majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Also this episode, why some neoliberals are hostile to democracy. Why sphere-of-influence diplomacy is gross and destabilizing. Why the left needs to do better on Hong Kong. The State Department’s clash-of-civilizations problem. What North Korea means by its end-of-year deadline. Coercion with Chinese characteristics. And mental health in national security.

Van’s Predictions:

1) Will Bolivia’s interim president (Jeanine Añez Chavez) remain in power until elections can be held in 90 days? | Yes

2) Will Erdogan fully implement the anti-aircraft system they purchased from Russia (in violation of NATO regulations) by the end of 2020? | Yes

3) Will China/Hong Kong police acknowledge deaths at the hands of police before the end of 2019? | No

4) Will Presidents Putin and Zelensky meet before the end of 2019? | No

Notes and Sources:

· Karl Friedhoff on JCS: https://twitter.com/KarlFriedhoff/status/1194303256949927937

· Jonathan Allen on impeachment talking points: https://twitter.com/jonallendc/status/1194706489438621697

· Kyle Bass on American silence on Hong Kong: https://twitter.com/Jkylebass/status/1194590176078704640

· Van Jackson on progressives and Asia policy: https://thediplomat.com/2019/10/how-american-progressives-think-about-asian-security/

· Quinn Slobodian on economic freedom and democracy: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/11/democracy-defenders-economic-freedom-neoliberalism

Van’s Recommended IR Reads (Part I):

- James Mann – ‘Rise of the Vulcans’

- James Mann – ‘About Face’

- Fred Kaplan – ‘The Wizards of Armageddon’

- Sagan & Waltz – ‘The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: A Debate’

- Yuen Khong – ‘Analogies at War’

- Paul MacDonald – ‘Networks of Domination’

- John Ikenberry – ‘Liberal Leviathan’

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Kushner's North Korea Doctrine Sucks, Biff Tannen Imperialism in Syria, China's Rise on College Campuses, Far-Right Fail on Kashmir | Ep. 20

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 07:39:08 +0000

Jared Kushner's North Korea doctrine sucks, and Kim Jong Un's job is way too easy these days. What universities can do to cope with Chinese influence. India tries (and fails) to get a far-right alliance to whitewash Kashmir. Trump continues to channel the Biff Tannen school of imperialism and the Pod has a fever-dream about a smarter, sinister Ted Cruz presidency. Also this episode: An Assistant Secretary of State learns the wrong lesson from Van Jackson’s first book - not everything is a bluff.

Van's Predictions

1) Will the RCEP trade deal come into force by 2020? | No

2) Will India lift the state of emergency in Kashmir by the end of 2019? | No

3) Will Russia, China, Europe remain party to the JCPOA through 2020? | Yes

4) Will America fully withdraw from the Paris Agreement in 2020? | Yes, but it won’t matter.

Notes and Sources:

Huffington Post: "What if the World Treated the U.S like a Rogue State?" https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/sanctions/(Note: Huffington Post, not Buzzfeed)

Aaron Stein tweet on Trump & Oil: https://twitter.com/aaronstein1/status/1192191364055875584

Ryan Evans tweet on Boomers: https://twitter.com/EvansRyan202/status/1192196752318894091

Ezra Klein tweet on American Constitutionalism: https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/1191857312543064064?s=21

ChinaFile – ‘How Should Universities Respond to China’s Growing Presence on Their Campuses?’ http://www.chinafile.com/conversation/how-should-universities-respond-chinas-growing-presence-their-campuses

Van's Recommended Lefty Websites:

Dissent - https://www.dissentmagazine.org

The New Republic - https://newrepublic.com/

The Baffler - https://thebaffler.com/

n+1 - https://nplusonemag.com/

Engage the Enemy: Interview with Suzanne DiMaggio, Presidential Campaign Adviser, Think Tank Co-Founder | Hustle Ep. 19

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 7 Nov 2019 16:47:39 +0000

In the latest episode of our "Hustle" series, Van Jackson sits down with Suzanne DiMaggio to discover how she does it all. How did she end up as a foreign policy adviser to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign? What was it like to live in downtown Manhattan on 9/11? What did a jazz musician have to do with her leaving business school? How did she build herself into one of America's pre-eminent experts in Track 1.5 and Track 2 diplomacy without ever serving in the US government? And how did she find time to become a co-founder and Chairman of the Board for a new think tank, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft?

Quincy Institute: https://quincyinst.org

Suzanne DiMaggio: https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1592

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Stand with Taiwan or Else! Washington's Latest Anti-China Initiative is a Mixed Bag | Raw Uncut Ep.18

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 6 Nov 2019 05:09:53 +0000

Should the US isolate countries that isolate Taiwan? The US Senate just passed the TAIPEI Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill that authorizes the State Department to take measures against countries who isolate or abandon Taiwan. In this Raw Uncut episode, Van Jackson weighs the pros and cons, arguing that it's great solidarity but questionable strategy.

TAIPEI Act of 2019: https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/s1678/BILLS-116s1678es.pdf.

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

No Green Lanterns! Cartoon Imperialism, Jack Dorsey v. Zuckerberg, Climate Change Assassinations, Obama's Anti-Wokeness | Ep. 17

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 4 Nov 2019 05:37:07 +0000

In this episode, we get on a soapbox about "greenlanternism." Van and Pete debate what to make of Twitter's Jack Dorsey throwing shade at Facebook. We shine light on a new conservative-progressive consensus: Trump is a cartoon imperialist. We also discuss Extinction Rebellion and why the climate crisis does not warrant white privilege or targeted assassinations. Also this episode: the rules-based order is falling apart, but it may be recoverable. How many kills is Iran responsible for? Why does Obama hate wokeness? And the Van Jackson philosophy on why national security needs more progressive voices.

Van’s Predictions

1) Will John Bolton testify in the impeachment inquiry? | Yes

2) Will Benny Gantz be form a government in Israel? | Yes

3) Will Iraq’s Prime Minister be ousted before the end of 2019? | Yes

Van’s Podcast Recommendations:

- Dissent’s ‘Know Your Enemy’ | https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/know-your-enemy-a-new-podcast-about-the-right

- Crooked Media’s ‘Pod Save The World’ | https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-world/

- The Diplomat’s ‘Asia Geopolitics’ | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-diplomat-asia-geopolitics/id852773346

- Insert generic dry but informative think tank podcasts

- War on the Rocks’ ‘Bombshell’ | https://warontherocks.com/category/podcasts/bombshell/

Notes and Sources

- NY Times on Sea Level Rise | https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/29/climate/coastal-cities-underwater.html

- Extinction Rebellion’s White Privilege | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/19/extinction-rebellion-white-faces-diversity

- Rebecca Davis Gibbons on the World International Order | https://twitter.com/RDavisGibbons/status/1188891448126652419

- Jack Dorsey on Twitter Banning Political Ads: | https://twitter.com/jack/status/1189634360472829952?s=21

- The American Conservative on Cartoon Imperialism | https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-cartoon-imperialist-president/?wpisrc=nl_todayworld&wpmm=1

- Obama on Woke Culture | https://www.victoria.ac.nz/hppi/about/staff/jon-fraenkel

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Bad China Punditry in 3 Easy Steps: A How-To Guide | Raw Uncut Ep. 16

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 05:23:36 +0000

In this Raw Uncut episode, Van Jackson breaks down what it takes to render a bad take on China. Using a recent hot take from Prof. Stephen Walt as the example, Van identifies at least three ways of not only getting China wrong, but getting it wrong badly.

One: Mischaracterize Chinese behavior

Two: Promote China's preferred narrative for its misdeeds

Three: Draw false equivalencies with the United States (Or, use China observations to throw shade at the US)

Walt's take on China: https://twitter.com/stephenWalt/status/1188911798759645184

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Forever Wars vs. the Climate Crisis. The Parallel Diplomacy Problem. Vanishing Credibility in Asia. Giuliani's Self-Incrimination | Ep. 15

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 07:04:55 +0000

If you think fighting climate change is expensive, maybe you haven't seen the bill for endless war. Why Trump's parallel universes of diplomacy is a problem for foreign policy analysis. Van gets a little choked up talking about why America needs more Laura Coopers. Giuliani self-incriminates via tweet, collapsing Trump’s impeachment defense. What the Treaty of Versailles can teach us about poison pill diplomacy today. Van goes hard in the paint on Disney's Bob Iger. And in Asia, American credibility is vanishing and no amount of Pentagon money can fix it.

Van’s Predictions:

Will there be a British election before the end of the year? | No

If there was, what would it elect? | Conservative majority government.

Will Turkey expand out of the Russian-negotiated buffer zone in Syria? | No

Will the US stop the Korean/Japan trade war before 2020? | No, but the trade war will stop

Links:

Marty Lederman on Rudy Giuliani: https://twitter.com/marty_lederman/status/1187170574562484226

Kelsey Atherton on Climate Change: https://twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/1187211215279251456

Kathleen Hicks on Laura Cooper:

https://twitter.com/kath_hicks/status/1187043980787236867

The Peacemakers of 1919 a Century On - Jay Winter: https://carnegieeurope.eu/2019/10/14/peacemakers-of-1919-century-on-pub-79970

How To Halt Global Warming for $300 Billion - Bloomberg:

https://tinyurl.com/yxhx9y6k

Trump’s Parallel Universe of Diplomacy - Adam Taylor:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/24/trumps-parallel-universe-diplomacy/

What Happened to Rudy Giuliani? - Ken Frydman:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/opinion/giuliani-trump-ukraine.html

Indicted Giuliani Associate Ties Case to Trump - NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/nyregion/lev-parnas-igor-fruman-campaign-finance.html

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Does Nancy Pelosi Have a Shadow Foreign Policy? She Should | Raw Uncut Ep. 14

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 19:37:28 +0000

We live in an age of foreign policy pluralism and congressional Democrats ought to take heed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quietly led a congressional delegation to Afghanistan and Jordan over the weekend. In this Raw Uncut edition of the Un-Diplomatic podcast, I explain why I hope the trip was part of a Democratic Party shadow foreign policy.

Pelosi tweeting the CODEL: https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1186766247670599680

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Silicon Valley Turns Anti-China. Why Steven Pinker Doesn't Get the Causes of War. Pompeo Won't Survive Impeachment. Making Enemies of Friends. | Ep. 13

Tue, 22 Oct 2019 08:38:00 +0000

Silicon Valley might be turning against China. Steven Pinker is wrong about violence and needs to take a security studies course. There are no more US officials with gravitas. Trump's 5-dimensional chess is going to end with a Kurdish-Iranian alliance. Career advice for an aspiring China hand. And will Van Jackson ever move back to Washington?

Van's Predictions:

Will Pompeo survive until 2020? No

Will China sacrifice Carrie Lam by 2020? Yes

Will Giuliani be arrested by the end of 2019? No

Will China and the US sign a grand bargain deal by the end of 2020? No

Will US troops withdraw from Syria by 2020? No

Shelly Banjo's Bloomberg tweet thread: https://twitter.com/sbanjo/status/1184070619693907968

Michael Weiss tweet thread: https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1184139398507585536?s=20

Tanisha Fazal and Paul Poast Foreign Affairs article: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2019-10-15/war-not-over

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Is US Global Credibility in Free Fall? Yes, But My Explanation May Surprise You | Raw Uncut Ep. 12

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 21:09:48 +0000

Senator Chris Murphy says Trump has caused the rapid decline of US credibility. So does everyone, and they're not wrong. But the reasons why matter, and understanding the implications of America's damaged credibility matters even more. Why is it dangerous, and what's the price to paid?

Sen. Chris Murphy's credibility tweet: https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1185749012432994304

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Writing National Security Fiction: Interview with Dr. Kathleen McInnis | Hustle Ep. 11

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 16:03:08 +0000

Our "Hustle" episodes are interviews with foreign policy and national security experts doing interesting things we can all learn from. We uncover their origin stories and how they found their path in a field with no user's manual. In this Hustle episode, Van Jackson sits down with Dr. Kathleen McInnis, author of the novel The Heart of War: Misadventures in the Pentagon. It's The Devil Wears Prada meets Catch-22, and this interview is a must-listen. We talk about the creative process, taking chances, writing on spec, and the importance of storytelling in an analytical world.

Buy The Heart of War: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-War-Misadventures-Pentagon/dp/1682616517

Kathleen McInnis website: https://kjmcinnis.com

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Bernie Sanders Iraq War Call-out of Biden's Judgment. Why It Matters in the Democratic Debate | Raw Uncut Ep. 10

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 07:03:48 +0000

Senator Bernie Sanders once again called out Vice President Joe Biden's decision to support the 2003 Iraq War during the democratic primary debate (10/15/2019). How much should it matter if presidential candidates previously supported the Iraq invasion? Is it good politics for the democratic primary? Van Jackson weighs in.

Vox Explainer on Biden's Iraq War Support: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/15/20849072/joe-biden-iraq-history-democrats-election-2020

Politico Coverage of the October 15, 2019 Democratic Debate: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/15/bernie-sanders-debate-047989

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Don’t Count on a Militarist to End Endless War. Count on Him to Aid Turkish Ethnic Cleansing of the Kurds and Protect Saudi Oil | Raw Uncut Ep. 9

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 16:47:42 +0000

Trump says he's the guy to end endless war. A quick look at the scorecard tells a very different story. Listen in to find out why the only thing you can trust a militarist to do is make more war. From sending more troops to Saudi Arabia to green-lighting a Turkish ethnic cleansing campaign of the Kurds in northern Syria.

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

China Can't Take a Joke, Kurds Betrayed, Strategic South Park, and John Cusack | Ep. 8

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson) — Sun, 13 Oct 2019 20:25:02 +0000

In this episode, Van and the crew discuss the world, from China to pop culture to endless war in the Middle East. What does China’s battle with the NBA signal for the future? Why is only South Park getting China right? Should western companies start divesting from China? And why did Trump announce a troop withdrawal from Syria? Non-sequiter: Superstar John Cusack tweeted and messaged Van!

Van’s predictions:

1. Brexit will not occur before the 31st of October.

2. The PLA will deploy to Hong Kong, but not before 2020.

3. President Trump will leave office at the 2020 election.

4. President Trump will not reverse his decision on Syria (“the horse has left the stable”).

Notes and Sources:

Ned Price’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/nedprice/status/1181945348719292418?s=21

South Park Tweet: https://twitter.com/SouthPark/status/1181273539799736320

Paul Poast Tweet: https://twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1181525000735641601

Farhad Manjoo on China in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/opinion/china-houston-rockets.html

Tech Crunch weighs in on China: https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/07/the-nba-should-learn-from-google-china/

Suzanne Sataline on Hong Kong’s police: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/09/hong-kong-police-lost-trust/597205/

Kathleen McCinnis on using humor to take down fascism: https://warontherocks.com/2014/12/sony-vs-north-korea-send-in-the-clowns/

America’s Sweethearts, starring John Cusack: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N92ENE

High Fidelity, starring John Cusack:

https://www.amazon.com/High-Fidelity-John-Cusack/dp/B00003CXGA

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Corruption, Eminem Playing Eminem, or Conspiracy Theory? How to Understand US Foreign Policy Now | Ep. 7

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson) — Mon, 7 Oct 2019 19:11:53 +0000

In this episode, Van explores Trump inadvertently brainwashing himself into believing conspiracy theories simply by repeating them. He gets into it over a piece by Mike Fuchs on the real price of corrupt foreign policy and why we should all be worried about Trump meeting with foreign leaders. Also, why cyber is the new go-to for policymakers who feel the need to "do something." What foreign policy has to do with professional wrestling. The one thing Eminem and Trump have in common (not whiteness). And more!

Notes and Sources:

Michael Fuchs piece in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/02/trump-foreign-policy-impeachment

Mira Rapp-Hooper's piece in Foreign Affairs: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2019-10-03/usurpation-us-foreign-policy

Adam Taylor's piece in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/10/03/foreign-allies-who-gambled-trump-face-big-losses/

Jeet Heer's tweet thread: https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1179420012936912898

Senator John McCollister's tweet: https://twitter.com/SenMcCollister/status/1179390933391020033

Richard Hosftadter's "The Paranoid Style in American Politics": https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/

Center for a New American Security Arms Control Report: https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/risk-realism

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

It's Kim Jong Un's World, and Trump's Just Living in It | Raw Uncut Ep. 6

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 6 Oct 2019 02:29:45 +0000

Why did US-North Korea working level nuclear talks fall apart...in less than a day? Van Jackson explains why the moral hazard of reality-show summitry is ultimately to blame.

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Van's prescription for a stabilizing North Korea policy: https://warontherocks.com/2019/09/confronting-reality-the-bitter-medicine-that-north-korea-policy-needs-now/

Progressive versus Libertarian Foreign Policy: Irreconcilable, or Allies of Convenience? | Ep. 5

Wed, 2 Oct 2019 16:55:21 +0000

In this episode, Van digs into the varieties of progressive foreign policy thought, and confesses to evolutions about his own thinking. Why Joe and Hunter Biden--who did no wrong here--remind us that foreign money corrupts the politics of democracies everywhere. What is the "Washington Post test?" And how is journalism itself complicit in empowering Trump? Also in this episode, why government memos are sanitized versions of history. Ask Me Anything: Which democratic presidential candidates does Van like? Is China neo-fascist (or neo-racist)? Non-Sequitur: Van's recurring dream about Ted Cruz.

Notes and Sources:

Uri Friedman's Atlantic piece on GOP civil war: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/09/will-gop-split-trump-over-foreign-policy/598438/

Jim Goldgeier's Washington Post piece on how to read government phone call "transcripts": https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/25/what-expect-when-you-are-expecting-trump-transcript/

Liz Cheney v. Rand Paul feud: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/22/rand-paul-liz-cheney-senate-wyoming-1506603

William Gallo Tweet: https://twitter.com/GalloVOA/status/1175420934108266501

John Glaser, Trevor Thrall, and Christopher Preble's New Book: https://www.cato.org/events/fuel-to-the-fire

In The Loop Movie: https://www.amazon.com/Loop-Peter-Capaldi/dp/B0093SSPGG

Show Producers: Pete McKenzie and Gaby Magnuson

Theme Song: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

American Civil War 2, Electric Boogaloo? The Unreality of a President Threatening His Country | Raw Uncut Ep. 4

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 21:35:07 +0000

Weighing all the things that affect the likelihood of the once unthinkable: a second American civil war. It's a joke, it's incredible, but it's also not implausible. Here's why.

Trump civil war tweet: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1178477539653771264

Ben Collins tweet: https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1178701411594522624

The Oath Movie: https://www.youtube.com/?v=4I8x79pgqok

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Korean Peace: How to Deal with Trump's Diversionary North Korea Policy | Raw Uncut Ep. 3

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 01:33:43 +0000

What would happen if Trump decides to end the Korean War? Why might he do it? And, if you're a peace-loving anti-Trumper, how should you react? Show host Van Jackson cuts to the heart of these questions in this Raw Uncut episode of the Un-Diplomatic podcast.

Notes and Sources:

New report from the Center for a New American Security on arms control with North Korea: https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/risk-realism

Latest indication of Trump's willingness to declare an end to the Korean War: https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190928000600315

Theme Song: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Foreign Policy Civil War in the GOP? Wu-Tang Clan, Marianne Williamson, China, and Getting Out of Afghanistan | Ep. 2

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Gaby Magnuson, Peter McKenzie) — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 20:05:50 +0000

In this episode, Van weighs in on whether the GOP will ever confront Trump over foreign policy. He explains why you can't believe what China says, and insists that the Hong Kong protests are unique. Van and Pete let New Zealand's political opposition embarrass itself with obsequious brown-nosing of China and Xi Jinping. Van also highlights tensions between Marianne Williamson's views of peace-building and war planning. Also this episode, from The Ambassador's Brief: Why the HOW of getting out of Afghanistan matters. Non-Sequitur: A lot of talk about the Wu-Tang Clan.

Notes and Sources:

Marianne Williamson: https://twitter.com/marwilliamson/status/1172717684607184896

Gordon Chang: https://twitter.com/gordongchang/status/1172840917339901952

Tom Wright: https://twitter.com/thomaswright08/status/1171512409778880518

Ambassador's Brief: https://www.ambassadorsbrief.com/posts/FMB6WWeGkGkFAujJa?escaped_fragment=

Rosa Brooks Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Everything-Became-War-Military/dp/147677787X

Best Wu-Tang Solo Album:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7btiyhWzUfzxN3ijSiBpC8?autoplay=true&v=L

Show Producers: Pete McKenzie and Gaby Magnuson

Theme Song: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Iran-sanity: The Battle of Ted Cruz versus Nuke Expert Who Knows Things | Raw Uncut Ep. 1

vanallenjackson@gmail.com (Van Jackson) — Sun, 22 Sep 2019 20:36:49 +0000

This Raw Uncut episode does a quick and dirty dive into a Senator Ted Cruz op-ed calling for sanctions on Iran and claiming Obama caused Iran to attack Saudi Arabia (?). Dartmouth professor Nick Miller puts Cruz on blast.

Cruz Oped: https://nypost.com/2019/09/20/time-for-trump-to-trigger-the-un-snapback-on-iran/amp/

Twitter Back and Forth: https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1175507351652241408

Theme Song: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester

Support the show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic