The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Would Bernie Sanders bomb North Korea? Probably not but the New York Times thinks so. Ilhan Omar's plan to save America from militarism. Trump's fake arms control agenda. Why Australia losing faith in the US might mean acquiring nuclear weapons. Why Kim Jong Un finds Trump totally embarrassing. And the wage theft of Washington think tanks.   Daniel McDowell in World Politics Review: https://www.wo...

The contradiction of military superiority and China threat deflation.  How many " left technocrats" are actually out there?  Is dollar hegemony good for national security?  And why do Millennials shun American exceptionalism while Boomers still revel in it?  Also this episode: blowing up the landmine ban triggers Van's inner activist, military superiority is politically unsustainable, more Chinese...

What's the point of low-yield nuclear weapons?  To use them, of course. Elizabeth Warren's plan to end endless war.  How Trump fractured the left by flirting with Korean peace, and why his fake Israel peace plan threatens to do so again.  Chinese imperialism is a thing now.  Also this episode: difficulties of democratizing foreign policy, prediction in international relations, being kind in nation...

This is the second of two episodes interviewing Dr. Dan Nexon, a former adviser to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, a proponent of progressive internationalism, scholar of empires, and much more. In this episode, we talk about: --how he ended up advising Sanders's campaign in 2016,  --what led him to think seriously about progressive foreign policy,  --his beef with the anti-imperial l...

This is the first of two episodes interviewing Dr. Dan Nexon, a former adviser to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, a proponent of progressive internationalism, scholar of empires, and much more.  In this episode, Part I, we talk about how he found his way into academia, got interested in international relations, and flirted with the practice of foreign policy. Dan's blogging: https://w...

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders converge on foreign policy way more than Twitter thinks. Democratizing foreign policy is a noble goal but is it possible? Millennials are freaked out about World War III and Trump is to blame. The "Phase I" trade deal with China is fake reality TV. Deterrence by escalation is dumb. Breaking the political assassination taboo will prove costly. And why the policym...

What do Democrats think about foreign policy and national security? The recent democratic debate was stunningly superficial on foreign policy, yet the most revealing to date. It covered Iran, defense spending, troops in the Middle East, trade deals, North Korea, and China (sort of). Van offers his take, where there's daylight between candidate, and what's wrong going forward. New York Times Weighs...

Does 'bothsidesism' threaten democracy?  Gary Kasparov thinks so and so does Van.  Fareed Zakaria and the Washington establishment disagree about China.  Van thinks they're both wrong.  Dan Drezner throws shade at the incoherence of US foreign policy.  Taiwan's democracy under pressure.  And what North Korea's Christmas gift silence really tells us.  Also this episode: Advice for young writers.  ...

Why did the Trump administration just assassinate an Iranian senior military leader?  What will it lead to?  Lots of questions about deterrence stupidity and diversionary foreign policy in this quick Raw Uncut episode.

In this special New Year's episode with the BBC Dad, Dr. Robert Kelly, we get his predictions about a range of foreign policy issues for 2020: --Will North Korea conduct a nuclear test? --Will Kim Jong Un meet with Trump again? --Will Trump leave office before the end of the year? --Will there be any wars anywhere? --Will the US withdraw any troops from South Korea?  

Is Buttigieg a foreign policy hawk?  Is international relations really just about Russian foreign policy?   Van points out the obvious--Tulsi Gabbard is not a Democrat, and not progressive.  Why America sucks up to India (hint: it’s all about China), and why it shouldn’t.  The Pod implores Bernie Sanders to weigh in on the Transformers v. Usual Suspects debate that Matt Duss started.  And finally,...

National security Republicans' "theory of security" might just kill us all in the name of deterrence.  House Democrats pass a defense budget that George W. Bush would be proud of.  China is decoupling from the US whether we like it or not.  Arms control is unravelling because the Trump administration is all neocons, ethno-nationalists, and multi-millionaires.  Also this episode: What the heck do f...

What would a Mayor Bloomberg foreign policy look like (some concerning clues in his past)?  The wisdom of French realpolitik.  Why Trump will sell out Taiwan but the rest of Washington should keep the faith.  Why neoliberalism is the new neoconservatism.  Why Iran policy reveals Trump to be a neocon minus the love of democracy bit.  And why Van Jackson backs a no-first use nuclear policy.  Also th...

Nukes, missiles, and being oblivious to risk. The Indo-Pacific strategy is freaking some people out. Allies worry that the US doesn't know what it's doing in Asia, and a nuclear Japan and South Korea may just be a matter of time.  Trump doesn't care about Hong Kong.  Also this episode, why it sucks to have a liberal foreign policy in the Second Nuclear Age. When New Zealand will start developing n...

This special episode was recorded live from Seoul, South Korea in late November.  Dr. Van Jackson gave a talk at the East Asia Foundation in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament.  Have a listen to learn the unintended dangers of pursuing North Korean denuclearization, and why a credible arms control process is the only way to stabilize K...

Who supports military bases in South Korea? Surprising majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Also this episode, why some neoliberals are hostile to democracy. Why sphere-of-influence diplomacy is gross and destabilizing. Why the left needs to do better on Hong Kong. The State Department’s clash-of-civilizations problem. What North Korea means by its end-of-year deadline. Coercion...

Jared Kushner's North Korea doctrine sucks, and Kim Jong Un's job is way too easy these days. What universities can do to cope with Chinese influence. India tries (and fails) to get a far-right alliance to whitewash Kashmir. Trump continues to channel the Biff Tannen school of imperialism and the Pod has a fever-dream about a smarter, sinister Ted Cruz presidency. Also this episode: An Assistant S...

In the latest episode of our "Hustle" series, Van Jackson sits down with Suzanne DiMaggio to discover how she does it all. How did she end up as a foreign policy adviser to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign? What was it like to live in downtown Manhattan on 9/11? What did a jazz musician have to do with her leaving business school?  How did she build herself into one of America's pre-eminen...

Should the US isolate countries that isolate Taiwan? The US Senate just passed the TAIPEI Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill that authorizes the State Department to take measures against countries who isolate or abandon Taiwan. In this Raw Uncut episode, Van Jackson weighs the pros and cons, arguing that it's great solidarity but questionable strategy. TAIPEI Act of 2019: https://www.congress.gov/116/...

In this episode, we get on a soapbox about "greenlanternism." Van and Pete debate what to make of Twitter's Jack Dorsey throwing shade at Facebook. We shine light on a new conservative-progressive consensus: Trump is a cartoon imperialist. We also discuss Extinction Rebellion and why the climate crisis does not warrant white privilege or targeted assassinations. Also this episode: the rules-based...

In this Raw Uncut episode, Van Jackson breaks down what it takes to render a bad take on China. Using a recent hot take from Prof. Stephen Walt as the example, Van identifies at least three ways of not only getting China wrong, but getting it wrong badly. One: Mischaracterize Chinese behavior Two: Promote China's preferred narrative for its misdeeds Three: Draw false equivalencies with the United...

If you think fighting climate change is expensive, maybe you haven't seen the bill for endless war. Why Trump's parallel universes of diplomacy is a problem for foreign policy analysis. Van gets a little choked up talking about why America needs more Laura Coopers. Giuliani self-incriminates via  tweet, collapsing Trump’s impeachment defense. What the Treaty of Versailles can teach us about poison...

We live in an age of foreign policy pluralism and congressional Democrats ought to take heed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quietly led a congressional delegation to Afghanistan and Jordan over the weekend. In this Raw Uncut edition of the Un-Diplomatic podcast, I explain why I hope the trip was part of a Democratic Party shadow foreign policy.   Pelosi tweeting the CODEL: https://twitter.com/Speaker...

Silicon Valley might be turning against China. Steven Pinker is wrong about violence and needs to take a security studies course. There are no more US officials with gravitas. Trump's 5-dimensional chess is going to end with a Kurdish-Iranian alliance. Career advice for an aspiring China hand.  And will Van Jackson ever move back to Washington?   Van's Predictions: Will Pompeo survive until 2020?...

Senator Chris Murphy says Trump has caused the rapid decline of US credibility. So does everyone, and they're not wrong. But the reasons why matter, and understanding the implications of America's damaged credibility matters even more. Why is it dangerous, and what's the price to paid? Sen. Chris Murphy's credibility tweet: https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1185749012432994304 Music: "Van i...