Good Authority

In this episode of Chalkboard Politics, the team examines the growing pressures facing civil-military relations in the United States amid rising polarization, institutional distrust, and debates over executive authority in war and security policy. The conversation explores how democratic systems manage the relationship between civilian leaders and military institutions, particularly during moments...

In this episode of Chalkboard Politics, the team examines the causes, escalation, and aftermath of the 2025 India-Pakistan crisis, as well as its broader implications for regional and global politics. The discussion also highlights Pakistan’s unexpected role on the world stage as the main mediator of diplomatic negotiations between Iran and the United States in their 2026 war. Our guests are Profe...

In this episode of Chalkboard Politics, the team explores the evolving challenges facing international institutions in a period of populist backlash and shifting global power. In the first conversation,  professors Allison Carnegie and Richard Clark discuss how international organizations – from the European Union to the IMF and WTO – navigate growing populist resistance, funding withdrawals, and...

In this episode, Paul and Gulnaz sit down with Professor Jeffry Frieden, author of Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century, to unpack what tariffs are, how they work, and their role in U.S. policy and abroad. Frieden describes how tariffs are some of the oldest tools of statecraft, tracing their history of domestic impacts through the British Corn Laws and showing how they ra...

The second Trump administration has aggressively disrupted climate policy and politics, both domestically and internationally. Trump has prioritized domestic oil and coal interests, gutting  the Biden administration’s main climate policy and withdrawing permits for major wind and solar projects. In recent weeks, he has withdrawn the United States from several major international climate institutio...

In this episode of Chalkboard Politics, students sit down with Professors Eduardo Moncada , Sarah Daly , and Elizabeth Saunders to unpack how concepts like narco-terrorism, criminal governance, and credible commitment have, and continue to, shape U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Drawing on the legacy of the War on Drugs, the conversation challenges the argument that militarized intervention or leader...

How will artificial intelligence reshape global power? And what can past technological revolutions tell us about today’s U.S.-China rivalry? In this episode of Good Authority, I spoke with Jeffrey Ding , assistant professor of political science at George Washington University and a leading scholar at the intersection of technology and international politics. Ding’s award-winning book, Technology a...

Stacie Goddard and Abe Newman explain how cliques are ruling the world The journal International Organization has just published a new online open access edition with short accessible essays written by prominent scholars about the future of international order. One of the more provocative essays is by Good Authority editor and Wellesley College professor Stacie Goddard together with Georgetown pro...

The Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid puts the lifesaving program PEPFAR at risk, halting the distribution of essential HIV/AIDS medications in over 50 countries. Despite an emergency humanitarian waiver, the executive order dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has created both confusion and life-and-death consequences. Good Authority Editor-in-Chief Kim Yi...

Barbara Walter spoke with Good Authority a year ago about the war in Gaza, drawing from her New York Times bestselling research on how civil wars almost always fight until the end – unless an outside power steps in to guarantee a peace agreement. Now that a ceasefire is in place, she revisits her initial analysis and how domestic political factors are likely to shape what happens next.

Pundits and scholars were quick to propose reasons for the 2024 presidential election outcome, from the economy to foreign affairs to campaign strategy—but what does the evidence actually say? Good Authority publisher John Sides and political scientist Danny Hayes, both experts on U.S. elections, explore what factors were likely the most decisive. While some questions remain unanswered, they find...

After declaring martial law in December, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has faced impeachment, arrest, and detention on charges of inciting insurrection. Jean Hong, a professor at the University of Michigan who specializes in the political economy of authoritarianism in East Asia, analyzes the implications for democratic consolidation. She discusses public opinion and the emergence of the fa...

Is America ready for a second act of Trump's foreign policy—this time, no restraints? In a recent blog post , Columbia University political scientist and Good Authority senior editor Elizabeth Saunders wrote about what happens when the 'madman' in U.S. politics suddenly becomes predictable. Kim Yi Dionne, editor in chief of Good Authority, reads out the article in this bonus content shared ahead o...

Despite promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the 2015 Paris Agreement , many governments maintain low gasoline taxes or even allow citizens to buy gasoline below market prices. UCLA professor Michael Ross explains why it has proven to be so hard to move away from gasoline subsidies and, more generally, why price-based fossil fuel policies are often politically unsustainable.

Why have Elon Musk’s politics hurt Tesla? In a recent blog post , UC Irvine political scientist and Good Authority contributor Michael Tesler wrote about how Elon Musk is alienating the consumers who are most likely to buy electric vehicles. Kim Yi Dionne, editor in chief of Good Authority, reads out the article in this episode.

Martha Finnemore, recent winner of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, discusses the critical role of norms in international affairs. She explains how norms develop, what they are and are not, and how they shape international relations. She also highlights how norms influence current issues such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

University of Minnesota professor Tanisha Fazal discusses her new book, "Military Medicine and the Hidden Costs of War." In the book, she highlights how modern advancements in military medicine reduce American fatalities but lead to underestimations of war costs, which have long-lasting impacts on veterans, their families, and the U.S. Treasury. Dr. Fazal joins Good Authority to discuss the shifti...

The first presidential debate takes place tonight. As you probably know by now, Biden and Trump agreed to this June 27 debate and a second one on September 10. They are not going to do the usual three debates overseen by the Commission on Presidential Debates in late September and early October. Of course, the big question is: In a year of remarkably stable polling , could this debate actually cha...

In the last few years, militaries have carried out coups in numerous African countries, including Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, Chad and Mali. Does this signify the beginning of a much broader continent wide “ coup epidemic ?” Or are these coups mostly affecting especially weak states that face specific challenges? Where is democratic resilience strong and where is there a risk of con...

John Sides and Michael Tesler recently published a piece on Good Authority asking how much trouble Joe Biden is really in for the 2024 election ? Our podcast episode kicks off with that big question, then delves deeper into what opinion polls in March can tell us about the November elections. We talk about how much it matters that both candidates are pretty well known, whether the encouraging news...

Political scientist Simon Hix has developed a forecasting model that predicts a sharp right turn in the upcoming European elections in June. This includes a big increase in the number of seats for far-right parties in the European Parliament but also an overall shift away from the left. Simon and I talked about why we can expect such a big increase in support for far right parties, where it is hap...

The well-documented rise in right-wing populism has spawned no end of explanations. Are voters' preferences shifting? Do populist candidates capitalize and build on existing sentiments? This reading of an article by John Sides explores the recent paper by political scientists Oren Danieli, Noam Gidron, Shinnosuke Kikuchi, and Ro’ee Levy, which presents an interesting new angle on why populist part...

The European Union prides itself on being a cooperative community of liberal democracies. Yet, the E.U. increasingly faces problems with countries that are backsliding. Listen to Good Authority editor Erik Voeten interview Dan Kelemen, the McCourt Chair at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Dan has written extensively about these issues and has been a vocal critic of the Euro...

The World Bank estimates many low- and middle-income countries are at high risk of debt distress. Should they cut spending, which may increase poverty and create social unrest? Should they default on their debts, which will make it harder to access credit markets in the future? Good Authority editor Erik Voeten speaks with Princeton Professor Layna Mosley, an expert on the politics of sovereign de...

To take stock of the December 2023 COP28 in Dubai, Good Authority editor Erik Voeten speaks with climate policy expert  Joanna Lewis , who was there and who has been going to the annual Conference of Parties, or COPs, for over 20 years.