Hey everyone, this is the inaugural (which I pronounce "naugural" in the unedited track; I was born in a J.D. Vance-like small city - which I'll get into more as this show progresses.) episode simply titled "An Introduction". The reason I am publishing in its raw form is that I want to get this started as soon as possible. This is as real as it gets. I spontaneously recorded it while in a car and I liked how it came out so here it is.  

Hello everybody.

Foran Policy - Ep. 1, An Introduction.

This is Ep.2, the first full-length episode of my audio podcast dedicated to non-fiction book reviews but will assuredly also have some in-between-isodes where I comment on the news, current affairs, personal happenings, and who knows what else. 

In this episode I review The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of Global Order by Samuel P. Huntington. 

There is an audio issue around the 10 minute mark that last for one minute. As this show progresses I plan on conducting interviews, buying quality equipment and software. I am doing minimal editing for now because I appreciate the messiness and gray-area of real life and real moments. 

Hopefully as this show progresses I will improve.

Foran Policy - Ep. 2, The Brilliant Foresight of Huntington (Review #1)

This is an audio essay about the book Is The American Century Over? (2015) by Joseph S. Nye, Jy., who is the University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

I. Will. Get. Better. At. This. You. Watch. Er, or Listen, rather.

Foran Policy - Ep. 3, It Depends is Almost Always a Good Answer (Review #2)

This is my first miscellany episode. I am linking to a Washington Post article that I mentioned, briefly, at the end of this podcast. 

Links mentioned:

Warrick, Joby. 2017. "Jihadist Groups Hail Trump's Travel Ban as a Victory." The Washington Post. January 29.

Foran Policy - Ep. 4, Trump Stokes Conspiracies (Miscellany_#1)

Hey, I'm back for another episode. I read an audio essay here that I put a lot of effort into. The essay in analyzing then-President Obama's counterterrorism strategy through two different academic models. The Rational Actor Model (R.A.M.) and the Governmental Politics model.

This episode is the longest I've ever attempted. I think this is the best episode yet. 

Some of my sources:

Allison, Graham, and Philip Zelikow. 1999. Essence of Decisions: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Longman/Addison-Wesley Education Publishers, Inc.

Bergen, Peter. 2011. The Longest War: the Enduring Conflict Between American and Al-Qaeda. New York: Free Press.

Mazzetti, Mark. 2013. The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth. New York: Penguin Books.

Savage, Charles. 2015. Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency. New York: Little, Brown, and Company.

Shane, Scott. 2015. Objective Troy: A Terrorist, A President, and the Rise of the Drone. New York: Tim Duggan Books.

Whittle, Richard. 2014. Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution. New York: Henry Holt & Company.


Thanks, Patrick!

Foran Policy - Ep. 5, Obama's CT Strategy (Miscellany_#2)

Hey listeners! I wanted to read an essay I wrote for a friend last year. She asked me: Has Obama been a successful president? I answered with an essay. Here it is with few changes. 

Literature mentioned: "Yes He Did: Judging Obama's Legacy," by Joe Klein, in Foreign Affairs, July/August 2017.

Foran Policy - Ep. 6, Was Obama Successful? (Miscellany_#3)

Hello, world. My name is Patrick Foran. I am currently a PhD student in the department of political science at the University of Missouri-St.Louis (UMSL). Want book reviews, hot-takes, reading recommendations, and a unique perspective on world politics: keep your ear to this space. 

Want honest, serious, analytically-rigorous yet fun and inquisitive IR-focused audio pleasure? Welcome to Foran Policy: Book Reviews & Miscellany. 

Feel free to send me questions, book suggestions, etc. at PMFtheman@yahoo.com or leave me comments here on SoundCloud - I would love to respond on a subsequent episode.

Follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com/Patrick__Foran

Keep your head up,
Patrick Foran