Security Dilemma

Is a career in political risk right for you? On March 13, JQAS recorded a webinar about careers in the private geopolitical risk sector with several alumni of the Society. The panelists and co-hosts John Allen Gay and Julie Thompson-Gomez discussed what a typical day in the life for someone in the industry looks like, how prospective applicants can be competitive candidates for roles in the space,...

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Spencer Ackerman, a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award-winning reporter, who has covered the War on Terror and U.S. foreign policy for The New Republic , Wired , The Guardian , The Daily Beast , and Zeteo . He is also the author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Tr...

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma , John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Sarang Shidore, the director of the Global South Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Our conversation discussed whether interests, ideology, or both drive the policies of some Global South states, whether China is part of the Global South, and what a better approach to the U.S.-Philip...

On this week's episode of  Security Dilemma , John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Skip Shelton, a career foreign policy professional with experience in defense, diplomacy, and development about the unique career journey that brought him from coordinating elections in Iraq and building roads in Afghanistan to working on Somalia's security assistance and conflict monitoring in Ukraine....

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma , John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview John Schuessler, Associate Professor in the Department of International Affairs and Co-Director of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at Texas A&M University's Bush School of Government and Public Service. Dr. Schuessler is the author of Deceit on the Road to War: Presidents, Politics, and Ameri...

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma , John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Shapiro was previously a fellow at the Brookings Institution, as well as a member of the State Department's policy planning staff, where he advised the Secretary of State on U.S. policy in North Africa and the Levant. He...

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Rose Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, discussing why Washington should take a "wait-and-see" approach to Syria's new government, President Trump's new Executive Orders on energy security, and whether the U.S. military needs to be in the Persian Gulf for oil. This episode was recorded on January 30, 2025....

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi discuss their expectations for foreign policy in 2025, including how the incoming Trump Administration could approach the Middle East, China, Europe, Latin America, and more. Link to Matt Duss's piece in The Guardian Recorded 1/10/2025

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Janet Abou-Elias and Lillian Mauldin, co-founders of Women for Weapons Trade Transparency and Research Fellows at the Center for International Policy . Janet is also an alumna of the Society's Marcellus Policy Fellowship, for which she wrote a policy analysis on the War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel. Our conversation, recorded in mid-November 2024, focus...

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Dan Spokojny, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and the founder of fp21, a think tank devoted to promoting more evidence and learning based foreign policy processes. This conversation discussed knowledge management, groupthink, U.S. policy processes, and efforts at State Department reform. You can learn more about fp21 here: https://www.fp21.org/

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Jennifer Kavanagh, a Senior Fellow and the Director of Military Analysis at Defense Priorities, discussing the state of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. This episode was recorded on October 25, 2024

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Kelly Grieco, a Senior Fellow at the Stimson Center's Reimagining US Grand Strategy Program, discussing geography and the regional balance of power in East Asia, proposals for an "Asian NATO," the Air Force's ongoing modernization efforts, and more.

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Christopher Shell, a Fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Un-Diplomatic episode Carnegie survey on "Race, Foreign Policy, and the 2024 Presidential Election"

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Ari Tolany, Director of the Security Assistance, Technology and the Arms Trade program at the Center for International Policy.

AJ Manuzzi and John Allen Gay have a conversation with Peter Harris, Associate Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and Non-Resident Fellow at the think tank Defense Priorities. Dr. Harris’s teaching and research focuses on international security and U.S. foreign policy. He received his PhD in Government from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was al...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay have a conversation with Dr. William Ruger – the President of the American Institute for Economic Research and the Chair of the Board of Directors of the John Quincy Adams Society. Dr. Ruger is a long-time advocate for realist foreign policy, a decorated veteran of the war in Afghanistan and an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves,...

This week, we have a live recording of one of our JQAS summer conference sessions - "Redteaming Restraint with Dr. Eugene Gholz and Dr. Michael Desch ". In it, John Allen Gay and our conference participants asked some of the most challenging questions they had about restraint in U.S. foreign policy and Dr. Gholz and Dr. Desch answered them. Note: This is our first live recording, so ther...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and A.J. Manuzzi spoke about Haiti with Jake Johnston , Senior Research Associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington DC. Jake is the lead author of CEPR's Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction blog and the author of the book Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism and the Battle to Control Haiti . We spoke about the hum...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay spoke with Mike DiMino and Dan Caldwell of Defense Priorities. Mike is a fellow at Defense Priorities, a former career CIA military analyst and counterterrorism officer who’s worked on everything from operational assignments overseas to the EUCOM to the President’s Daily Brief. Dan is a public policy advisor at Defense Priorities...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Dr. Nathaniel Powell , West Africa Analyst at Oxford Analytica. Dr. Powell is the author of France’s Wars in Chad: Military Intervention and Decolonization in Africa , an honorary researcher at Lancaster University’s Centre for War and Diplomacy. Our conversation today ranges from France's history in the region to in...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and AJ Manuzzi spoke with Ali Wyne, Senior Research and Advocacy Advisor on U.S.-China at International Crisis Group. Ali analyzes the development of U.S. policy toward China and formulates ICG recommendations for managing crises and preventing conflicts between Washington and Beijing. He has previously worked at the Carnegie Endowment, State Depar...

This week on Security Dilemma , Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay spoke with Dr. James Acton , co-director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Nuclear Policy Program. Dr. Acton has a PhD in theoretical physics from Cambridge and he’s testified to the House Armed Services Committee, House Appropriations Committee and US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He’s an expert in hypersonic weapons...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay spoke with Julia Gledhill , a Research Associate at the Stimson Center and a former JQAS chapter leader who's a rising star in DC tracking Pentagon spending, military contracting and weapons acquisition. She's appeared on NPR, More Perfect Union and she's now a co-host on the newest version of the Un-Diplomatic Podcas...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay spoke with Dr. Brandon Valeriano , a professor at Seton Hall University. Dr. Valeriano is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Marine Corps University as a Senior Advisor to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission 2.0 and he’s additionally written a number of books on the subject, including CyberStrategy: The Evolving Character of Power a...

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay spoke with Dr. Joshua Shifrinson, a professor at the University of Maryland, non-resident senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of Rising Titans, Falling Giants . This was a great conversation about the rise and fall of great powers, American involvement in the war in Ukraine and the future of U.S. European politics. Dr....