Analysis

Victor Davis Hanson describes how President Trump’s unconventional approach to foreign policy has often proved to be more effective than the conventional wisdom proffered by the Washington establishment.

Trump and the Gordian Knot

Date of Publication: 05/10/2018

Description:

According to Jeff Colgan, Associate Prof at Brown University, ‘over the past 25 years, US foreign policy outcomes in the Middle East have gone from more or less acceptable to downright awful.’  Arguably, the most notable US foreign policy failure in the region was the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, but to this day, US success in the Middle East is further challenged by complex conflicts, including those in Afghanistan and Syria, and is also impacted by the presence of terrorist organizations within Middle Eastern states faced with instability. Due to undesirable and costly outcomes in the past, many in Washington DC have contemplated whether the US should withdraw from the Middle East. However, if the US were to withdraw, this decision could not only impact US national interests but also have security consequences for the Middle East.
 
On the 24th of September, the Department of War Studies and the Conflict, Security and Development Research Group welcomed Prof Colgan for his talk titled, Should the US Withdraw from the Middle East. But, before his talk, I met up with Prof Colgan and Dr Stacey Gutkowski, Senior Lecturer in the Dept of War Studies, for a general discussion on the headlining question posed by Prof. Colgan's talk. Let’s hear what they had to say.
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A recording of Jeff Colgan's talk at KCL will be available soon!
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This podcast was produced by Kirk Allen.

Podcast: Should the US withdraw from the Middle East?

This week saw multiple countries point the finger at Russia for a string of cyberattacks, prompting the often-asked question of what a Western response would look like. China also came under scrutiny after a Bloomberg Businessweek story claimed that China had successfully inserted chips in to hardware used by Apple and Amazon, effectively allowing security backdoors into the companies. To explain it all is Jim Lewis, the CSIS resident cyber expert. Hosted by Colm Quinn.
 (Read more at https://csis.org/podcasts/readout/week-spies)

A Week of Spies

Jonathan Landreth speaks with Kevin Rudd about China’s struggle to explain itself and its strict Internet censorship to young people around the world, about what China and the United States might do at this late date to work together on climate change abatement, and about what Americans should be thinking about vis-à-vis China as they head to the polls in the U.S. midterm elections.

Can China Win Global Hearts and Minds?

Writer Brendan O'Connor explains how the Proud Boys found their place at the feet of the Republican Party - offering violence in service of the right's political agenda, and acknowledging the ideological links between ruling class power and reactionary force that have always existed outside of the mainstream view, but are coalescing rapidly and openly as the current political system collapses.

Brendan wrote the article Boys to Men for The Baffler. 

https://thebaffler.com/latest/boys-to-men-oconnor

How the Proud Boys joined the Republican Party.

This episode explores the latest developments in China’s relationship with India, especially how the relationship has evolved since the Doklam border standoff in 2017. Our guest, Dr. Jagannath Panda, explains the lessons each side learned from the Doklam incident and evaluates Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s China policy. He also analyzes how India has attempted to avoid conflict with China, even as contentious issues persist such as border disputes, the Dalai Lama, and China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean.

Dr. Jagannath Panda is a Research Fellow and Coordinator of the East Asia Centre at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, India. He has written extensively on East and South Asia as well as India-China relations. Dr. Panda has held fellowships at the Ministry of Unification (Republic of Korea), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the Shanghai Institute of International Studies.

Conflict and Compromise in China-India Relations: A Conversation with Jagannath Panda

Writer Henry Farrell on the fake realities of Philip K. Dick's worlds, and ours.

Henry wrote the Boston Review essay "Philip K. Dick and the Fake Humans."

http://bostonreview.net/literature-culture/henry-farrell-philip-k-dick-and-fake-humans

HELLRIDE: We are living in Philip K. Dick's worlds.

While Saudi Arabia has foundered in its response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkey's President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has attempted to use the crisis to burnish Turkey's image in the region and to help repair Turkey's relationship with the United States. CSIS Turkey Project Director Bulent Aliriza joins The Readout this week to discuss the international implications of this ongoing episode. Hosted by Colm Quinn.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 (Read more at https://csis.org/podcasts/readout/khashoggi-case-turkeys-opportunity)

The Khashoggi Case: Turkey's Opportunity

One week ago, the editor-roundtable version of the Reason Podcast included some robust discussion about whether we are indeed living through an ominous time of heightening political violence. Since then, we've had the killing of two black people in Kentucky by a white man alleged to have tried first targeting a black church, then the arrest of a #MAGA-memer in the sending of (unexploded) pipe-bombs to a dozen or so leading Democrats, and then this weekend's anti-Semitic murder rampage in a Pittsburgh synagogue by an alleged anti-immigrant social-media nut.

So Reason editors Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, Nick Gillespie, and Matt Welch pick up the conversation where it left off, trying to see whether we've turned a dark new corner, what can be said about President Donald Trump's predictably awful response, how Gab's role fits into our pre-existing anxieties about social media and the culture of free speech, and—obviously—whether we'd be better off being self-aware about living through Elon Musk's drug-induced simulation.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

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Weekly Editor's Roundtable

Are We in a New Era of Political Violence?

Stephen Morrison, the director of CSIS’ Global Health Policy Center and resident Korea expert Victor Cha, discuss Morrison’s documentary about the health crisis in North Korea. The Gathering Health Storm Inside North Korea was presented by CSIS’ Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. You can watch the documentary and find out more at https://healthsecurity.csis.org/articles/the-gathering-health-storm-inside-north-korea/.

The Gathering Health Storm Inside North Korea

Dr. Isa Blumi discusses his book "Destroying Yemen" which explains how the Atlanticist empire has sought for a century to secure financial, political, and resource control over an independent Yemeni state with the help of GCC actors. Blumi also explains how Saudi Arabia is quickly disintegrating and what this means for the future.

Show Notes
In Yemen, Hardly A Revolution https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/opinion/09blumi.html
What's Going On In Yemen? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oJf8g6FDHo

Websites
https://www.su.se/english/profiles/iblum-1.253921
https://www.twitter.com/isablumi

Books
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520296145/destroying-yemen

About the Guest
Isa Blumi is Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor of Turkish Studies at Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies. He holds a PhD in History and Middle Eastern/Islamic Studies from New York University and a Master of  Political Science and Historical Studies from The New School for Social Research, New York.

Dr. Isa Blumi joins Stockholm University after spending the last 10 years teaching and researching in universities located in Germany, Belgium, Turkey, the USA, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and Albania/Kosovo.

Isa Blumi researches societies in the throes of social, economic, and political transformation. His latest work covers the late Ottoman period and successor regimes, arguing that these events are part of process that interlinks the Balkans, the Middle East, and the larger Islamic world. In this respect, it is key to explore in a comparative, integrated manner how post-Ottoman Turkey fits into what is a global story of transition.

As he expands his work to include more of the 20th century, Blumi explores processes of change induced by Muslim refugees who ended up settling throughout the world. Exploring these refugees' stories through this global perspective helps question how we understand identity and social organization, themes Blumi will focus on in the courses he will teach. Beyond his historical research, Blumi also regularly writes, and lectures on contemporary Balkan and Middle Eastern politics (especially Kosovo, Turkey and Yemen) and political Islam.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Isa Blumi: The Geopolitics of the War on Yemen #085

America is at war all over the planet and the American public doesn’t seem to care. Since the end of the Cold War, Americans have largely checked out of foreign policy concerns. Today on War College, American foreign policy analyst Stephen M. Walt walks us through how we got here, and how to fix it. Walt’s new book is The Hell of Good Intentions: America's Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy.

America’s Foreign Policy is Broken, Here’s How it Got That Way

Date of Publication: 09/11/2018

Description: The impact of the First World War can be observed throughout history and is even felt today as we commemorate the sacrifices made during this devastating war. In light of the end of the First World War Centenary, Kirk Allen met up with Drs. Aimee Fox and Nick Lloyd from the School of Security Studies' Defence Studies Department to discuss the importance of commemoration and the FWW's influence on the future of warfare.

Additionally, this podcasts includes a short interview with William Philpot, Professor of the History of Warfare in the Department of War Studies, on the significance of the ending of the FWW and the lessons we can reasonably draw.
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After listening to this podcast, check out one of our past event recordings on the complexities of the First World War: http://bit.ly/2un6EFG
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For more news and information on upcoming events, please visit our website at KCL.AC.UK/WarStudies.

Podcast: Commemoration and Impact of the Great War

Political Anthropologist Dr. Noah Coburn discusses his latest book "Under Contract: The Invisible Workers of America's Global War" as we delve into the lives of over 3 million private contractors who service the logistics and underbelly of the Global War On Terror in Afghanistan.

Show Notes
Trump’s Disastrous Plan to Increase Contracting in Afghanistan https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/trumps-disastrous-plan-to-increase-contracting-in-afghanistan
Trump’s Afghanistan strategy won’t end human rights violations among immigrant contractors https://qz.com/1062034/trumps-afghanistan-strategy-wont-end-human-rights-violations-among-immigrant-contractors

Websites
https://noahcoburn.com
http://noahcoburn.bennington.edu
https://www.twitter.com/NCoburnNoah

Books
https://www.amazon.com/Noah-Coburn/e/B005MYUBQM/ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29268

About the Guest
Noah is a political anthropologist focusing on political structures and violence in the Middle East and South Asia and the Director of the Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning.

At Bennington College he teaches courses on the overlap of politics, power and culture. He has conducted over 5 years of field research in Afghanistan, and has also conducted field research in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Georgia, Turkey and India.  His most recent work focus on international contractors from Nepal, the Republic of Georgia and India, who fought during the war in Afghanistan. He tells their stories and looks at what this means for the future of war and the American Empire in his book Under Contract: The Invisible Workers of America’s Global War.

Follow him on twitter: @NCoburnNoah.

*Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Noah Coburn: The Invisible Workers of America’s Global War #086

In this podcast, Peter Clarke, Professor Emeritus of Modern British History, discusses Theresa May’s leadership of the Conservative Party, her approach to the Brexit negotiations, and what he thinks will be the outcome of her Chequers deal when it is eventually put to parliament later this year. Prof Clarke is a Fellow and former Master of Trinity Hall. Recorded at the end of October 2018.

31st October 2018

Are the Conservatives entering their third historical political phase of self-destruction?

A special live edition of the Penguin Podcast with comedian, actor, and writer Michael Palin is hosted by David Baddiel. Having been in Monty Python’s Flying Circus and made award-winning travel documentaries around the world, Palin talks about his latest book, ‘Erebus; The Story of a Ship’. He brings objects that have inspired him included an African stool, a piece of fuselage from Ernest Hemingway’s plane and a postcard written by Spike Milligan. 
#PenguinPodcast

The Penguin Podcast: Michael Palin with David Baddiel

Beloved Reason Editor-in-Everything Katherine Mangu-Ward had a piece in this weekend's New York Times headlined "Trump and Acosta: When Showboats Collide." Given the nonstop borgledy-fraggle of news within the Trump vs. media vs. Trump Möbius strip of blather, we start the latest editors roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast with an extended rumination on the meta-meanings (and lack thereof) of this eternally recurrent combat.

Other topics of note discussed by Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch include the president's prickly relationship with the military, his sometimes-coherent foreign policy doctrine, the off-again/on-again FIRST STEP Act, plus (for some reason) bidets, Rand Paul prospectively barfing on Mitch McConnell's desk, and whether ladies who dye their hair blue and purple are basically poisonous tree frogs.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

'Superator' by Pietnastka is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0

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Is Trump vs. Acosta the Iran-Iraq War of 2018?

In 2015 more Australian military personnel and veterans took their lives than were killed in Afghanistan during 13 years of war. Our expert panel brings together medical experts and social scientists to discuss the growing problem of military suicide - why is it happening and how should it be addressed politically? 

This Sydney Ideas event was held at the University of Sydney on Tuesday 20 November 2018.

Sydney Ideas

Why are soldiers taking their own lives?

This episode explores the current state of cross-Strait relations between Taiwan and mainland China, as well as the Trump administration’s approach to this complex relationship. Our guest, Dr. Richard Bush, explains how and why the relationship has deteriorated since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016, as well as how her approach to relations with Beijing differs from that of former President Ma Ying-jeou. Dr. Bush also examines the unique role that the US plays in the present-day relationship, in light of its ongoing trade war with Beijing yet lack of official diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Dr. Richard Bush is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and holds The Michael H. Armacost Chair and Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies (CEAP). He also holds a joint appointment as a senior fellow in the Brookings John L. Thornton China Center. Dr. Bush is the author of a number of books and articles on China’s relations with its neighbors, particularly Taiwan.

Cross-Strait Ties and the US: A Conversation with Richard Bush

When the United States Air Force tests a new aircraft it needs to make sure it won't crash should a stray bird slam into the plane's side. Thankfully, the military has an artillery piece with a 60-foot barrel that hurls chicken more than 400 miles an hour. The chicken gun allows the military to make sure no stray bird will foul up its expensive jets while they're mid-flight.&nbsp;If you think the chicken gun is weird, it’s only the tip of a strange and fascinating iceberg.

Analysis

Vincent Moissac-Vignoux