The DSR Network

n this episode of Deep State Radio guests Susan Glasser of Politico, Laura Rosenberger of the German Marshall Fund and regulars Kori Schake of Stanford and Rosa Brooks of some deep silo somewhere consider the recent struggles toward self determination in Catalonia, Kurdistan, Scotland...and California. Then they embark on a tour of some of the biggest recent foreign policy headlines including the...

Is the president playing three-dimensional chess with the world by constantly offering different policies with different tone and apparently different objectives from the rest of his team including his most senior cabinet members? Are we all too limited to understand the giant intellect of this man who sees the universe with a sort of depth and clarity reserved for the Stephen Hawkings and Albert...

In this episode of Deep State Radio we journey from Kurdistan to the ski slopes of Afghanistan, from senior proms in Kabul to Iraq, from Catalonia to China. In short, Tom Ricks, Kori Schake, Rosa Brooks and David Rothkopf look at some of the most complicated foreign policy challenges the world has to offer and dish up solutions and the kind of insights upon which the denizens of the Deep State hav...

We could say a lot about this episode of Deep State Radio but there is really nothing more that needs to be said beyond the fact that this discussion featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning military historian and author of "Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom" Tom Ricks, Stanford's Kori Schake, Georgetown's Rosa Brooks, the New York Times' David Sanger and host David Rothkopf, columnist for the Was...

Trump's unguided missile of a UN speech was not the only thing flying around the Deep State this week. On this episode of Deep State Radio, the heart of our line up, Kori Schake of Stanford University, Rosa. Brooks of Georgetown University and host, David Rothkopf, consider the state of the Trump-Russia investigation, the reasons for the presidents appetite for really big, manly military equipment...

It's UNGA week, the big party for the world's leaders as they come to NYC for the opening of the UN General Assembly. Of course, this year is marked by the fact that it's Donald Trump's first UNGA as president of the United States...and that could be the reason so many of the world's most important leaders are not attending. But plenty of folks will be watching because Trump is, after all, Trump....

It's the one question everyone in the world has on their minds--other than will Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson really run for president in 2020. And that is where will Johnson's predecessor as commander-in-chief, Donald Trump, engage in his first shooting war? North Korea is seen as perhaps the most frightening candidate...but also, according to our experts, it is probably not the most likely. Iran see...

Donald and Melania Trump presided over 9/11 remembrance ceremonies on Monday for the first time as president. Trump seemed awkward and his language was stilted. He does not do compassion well. But Trump is not so far removed from 9/11 as you might think--despite his failure to donate from his charities to its victims or his need to resort to lies to pretend he was close to those victims. No, he an...

Donald Trump ends the DACA program. He tacitly supports white supremacists. He goes after Muslims. He wants a wall. He attacks the courts. He can’t get anything done but can’t stop talking about it. He’s a mess. But he’s not just our mess. When the guy who holds the job of “leader of the free world” cedes the moral high ground, is incompetent, and actively undermines our values and those of our al...

Donald Trump has taken establishing foolish redlines into the 21st Century with the use of social media. In the case of North Korea, he is threatening devastating outcomes if they go one inch further…and then they do…and do it again…and he doesn’t act. Is he all talk? Or is he the irrational maniac he seems to be, the kind who could trigger a catastrophe on the Korean Peninsula? Our loyal band of...

President Trump has a new Afghanistan strategy, just like the old Afghanistan strategy. Are we starting our seventeenth one-year war in Afghanistan, or is the 17th time the charm? On this episode, Rosa Brooks hosts in David's absence, and Kori Schake and Heather Hurlburt offer insights and diverging perspectives on Afghanistan - with special bonus snark on India and Pakistan. Support this show htt...

Trump's racism and affinity for the worst sorts of right wing extremists poured forth defiantly in the wake of the unrest in Charlottesville. The result was an avalanche of criticism and waves of defections from presidential advisory groups and companies supporting his resorts with events. Is this a watershed? Can Trump no longer perform even ceremonial roles as president? And should his cabinet c...

While you were busy fretting about Nazis and the sudden implosion of Donald J. Trump, the Deep State Radio team maintained its steady focus on nuclear apocalypse. With David still away in an undisclosed location, Rosa, Kori and special guests Jeffrey Lewis and Alice Hunt Friend wonder about Trump and the nuclear codes, and argue about whether military personnel have a duty to obey a presidential o...

It’s been a validating week for apocalypse watchers. On this episode of Deep State Radio, David hides in his hardened bunker while Rosa, Kori and guests Alice Hunt Friend and Jeffrey Lewis wonder what should scare us more, heavily armed white supremacists marching through Charlottesville, or the prospect of imminent war with North Korea? Jeffrey – a.k.a. Arms Control Wonk – explains North Korea’s...

In the latest episode of Deep State Radio Julia Ioffe of the Atlantic, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University and host David Rothkopf take a look at the current state of Washington, DC and the world...and conclude that Rosa's earlier idea of buying up used missile silos and hardened bunkers in order to live out the apocalypse was great real estate advice. We also discuss the merits of having a deli...

What is the geopolitical significance of Putin's torso? What do his exposed nipples say about Russia and its people. Why is it absolutely vital that the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, never ever ever never sees Putin's fondness for exposing his naked chest as he did recently on a fishing expedition to Siberia as a challenge? Why must America never see the First Torso? Rosa Brooks...

We present you, our beloved Deep State nerds, with the face-off you've been anticipating all summer. Our expert team breaks down rising powers, ruling powers, and the forces that drive war. Graham Allison and Kori Schake debate The Thucydides Trap, Rosa Brooks and David Rothkopf help us make sense of the similarities between ancient and modern history, all while convincing us to read The History o...

Clearly the world has gone, in the words of one Deep State Radio listener nerd, "nuclear grade bonkers." On this episode of the pod, Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, Julie Smith, and, host, David Rothkopf discuss the latest examples of this including the departure of the worst and shortest lived communications in White House history (with the best nickname...we won't miss you, Mooch) and they debate the...

This week, Ben Wittes of Brookings and Lawfare and David Sanger of the New York Times chat with David Rothkopf about the global consequences of domestic scandals. The President continues to argue that Russia didn’t interfere with the 2016 U.S. elections -- how does this affect his relationship with the intelligence community, constituencies, and the world? At what point does Trump become a direct...

Jared Kushner took centerstage in the America's favorite circus as the week began and in this episode of Deep State Radio, our excellent guest, Lawfare editor Ben Wittes, joins David Sanger of the New York Times and David Rothkopf of somewhere in New Jersey to discuss the pros and cons of how America's Secretary of Everything presented himself. They even found some nice things to say. Also: a disc...

If we didn't have Trump we would have to go back to watching "House of Cards" and "Scandal" for completely implausible, mind-boggling dramas about public officials with no morals and no understanding of how the U.S. government does work or should work. But we do have Trump (for a while anyway) and in this edition of Deep State Radio we discuss the state of the scandals, the president, the presiden...

Is Trumpism a philosophy? Does it have any hint of a philosophy within it? Is there any philosopher that ever existed that would embrace Trump? Does David Sanger remember any of his college philosophy courses? On this episode, Stanford's Kori Schake, Ed Luce of the Financial Times, David Sanger of the New York Times, and David Rothkopf, who grew up in New Jersey, walk us through how Trump may have...

On this episode of Deep State Radio, Lawfare managing editor Susan Hennessey, Georgetown Law School Associate Dean Rosa Brooks and perennially optimistic Stanford military historian Kori Schake take a good hard look at the good hard time some of America's leaders may be doing soon. From recent revelations about Trump, Jr. and his secret meetings with a Russian lawyer to seek dirt on Hillary Clinto...

If you were playing in the Trump Division of a Fantasy Felony League, who would you pick in the draft to accumulate the most points for subpoenas, indictments, convictions, appeals, counts of perjury, lawyers, lawyer resignations, and/or denigrating “Godfather” movie references in the press? Fredo (Don, Jr.)? Jared? Flynn? Manafort? Roger “Crazy Eyes” Stone? Agent Orange himself? Our experts inclu...

Rotten Tomatoes gives "National Lampoon's European Vacation" a score of 39 percent. But if they had rated "Donald Trump's European Vacation" the score would have been a lot lower--especially if they were listening to our panel. Rosa Brooks of Georgetown, Kori Schake of Stanford, Susan Hennessey of Lawfare and David Rothkopf of somewhere in New Jersey, join for a play-by-play breakdown of the presi...