Power Problems
Cato Institute
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Top 10 Power Problems Episodes
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After Coronavirus III: Great Powers and COVID
Power Problems
08/11/20 • 26 min
In the third of our series on the world after the coronavirus, we talk about great power politics and U.S.-China relations, with returning guest Joshua Shifrinson of Boston University.
1. Joshua Shifrinson Bio: https://www.bu.edu/pardeeschool/profile/joshua-shifrinson/
2. Joshua Shifrinson, International Security, “Partnership or Predation? How Rising States Contend With Declining Great Powers.”
3. Emma Ashford and Matthew Kroenig, Foreign Policy, “Is This The Beginning of a New Cold War with China?”
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Domestic Politics and the China Scare
Power Problems
01/26/21 • 22 min
Is the United States on course for a new Cold War with China? Campbell Craig tells John Glaser that there may be a chance to cooperate and ease tensions with Beijing. They discuss how changes in the U.S. military budget, threat perception, nuclear posturing, alliances, and domestic politics can help the two superpowers avoid a potential standoff.
Show Notes
- Campbell Craig bio:https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/542163-craig-campbell
- Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall, America’s Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009).
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Can the “Restraint Coalition” Endure?
Power Problems
09/05/23 • 45 min
Texas A&M associate professor John Schuessler discusses the different ideological pathways to a grand strategy of restraint. He examines realist, conservative, and progressive restrainers and speculates that the rise of great power competition will be a stress test for the survival of this coalition on foreign policy. He also discusses the foreign policy changes in the GOP and restraint differences over China policy, among other topics.
Show Notes
- John Schuessler bio
- John Shuessler and Jasen Castillo, “Building Foreign Militaries and Learning the Right Lessons from Afghanistan,” Newsweek, August 17, 2021.
- John Schuessler, Joshua Shifrinson, and David Blagden, “Revisiting Insularity and Expansion: A Theory Note” Perspectives on Politics, November 12, 2021.
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The Realism of Reinhold Niebuhr
Power Problems
11/14/23 • 34 min
Christopher Chivvis, director of the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses the work of renowned realist thinker Reinhold Niebuhr. He explores Niebuhr’s views on war, politics, and American Exceptionalism, and argues that Niebuhr's restraint-oriented ideas are just what is needed in contemporary debates about U.S. foreign and national security policy, particularly with respect to the rivalry with China.
Show Notes
- Christopher Chivvis bio
- Christopher S. Chivvis, “The Humility of Restraint: Niebuhr’s Insights for a More Grounded Twenty-First-Century American Foreign Policy,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace working paper, November 22, 2021.
- Christopher S. Chivvis, “Some Politicians Seem Comfortable with the Idea of a New Cold War. They Shouldn’t.” The Guardian, February 22, 2023.
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India, the Swing State?
Power Problems
07/11/23 • 47 min
Sameer Lalwani, Senior Expert at the United States Institute for Peace, discusses India's place in global politics, the advantages and drawbacks of deepening U.S.-India relations, India's illiberal turn, Indian relations with Russia, Pakistan, and China, and related topics. He also discusses more restrained alternatives to U.S. naval strategy.
Show Notes
- Sameer Lalwani bio
- Sameer Lalwani and Joshua Shifrinson, “Whither Command of the Commons? Choosing Security over Control,” MIT Political Science Department Research Paper No. 2013-15 (April 1, 2013).
- Sameer Lalwani and Vikram J. Singh, “A Big Step Forward in U.S.-India Defense Ties,” The Hindustan (New Delhi), April 6, 2023.
- Sameer Lalwani et al., “What to Watch in 2023: India’s Pivotal Year on the Global Stage,” United States Institute of Peace, February 8, 2023.
- Sameer Lalwani and Happymon Jacobs, “Will India Ditch Russia?” Foreign Affairs, January 24, 2023.
- Sameer Lalwani and Heather Byrne, “Great Expectations: Asking Too Much of the US-India Strategic Partnership,” The Washington Quarterly 42, no. 3 (2019): pp. 41-64.
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The Trouble with US Support for Israel & Ukraine
Power Problems
05/14/24 • 56 min
Mark Hannah, senior fellow at the Institute for Global Affairs, the nonprofit housed at the Eurasia Group, and host of the None of the Above podcast, argues that President Biden has not used the leverage US support provides over Israel in its war in Gaza and Ukraine in its war with Russia, prolonging the conflicts instead of imposing real conditions and pressing for negotiated resolutions. He discusses the recently passed aid bill, Israel’s planned attack on Rafah and Biden’s threat to withhold aid, and the politics within each party over Israel and Ukraine, as well as the American addiction to war and tendency to construe international conflicts in simplified Manichean terms, among other issues.
Show Notes
- Mark Hannah, “Biden needs to get real with Ukraine and Israel,” CNN, April 26, 2024
- Mark Hannah, “Straight Talk on the Country’s War Addiction,” New York Times, February 18, 2023
- Mark Hannah, “Why Is the Wartime Press Corps So Hawkish,” Foreign Policy, March 30, 2022
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America Is Eroding the International Order
Power Problems
10/17/23 • 43 min
The U.S.'s frequent use of force abroad erodes the international order's most fundamental principles of sovereignty and non-intervention. Yale Law School professor Oona Hathaway discusses the erosion of domestic constraints on presidential war powers and the increasing official resort to untenable self-defense doctrines to justify its military actions under international law. She also explains why chipping away at the prohibition on the use of force undermines international order, among other topics.
Show Notes
- Oona Hathaway bio
- Oona A. Hathaway, “How the Expansion of ‘Self-Defense’ Has Undermined Constraints on the Use of Force,” Just Security, September 18, 2023.
- Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro, The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017).
- Oona A. Hathaway et al., “Yemen: Is the U.S. Breaking the Law?” Harvard National Security Journal 10 (2019).
- Oona Hathaway, “National Security Lawyering in the Post-War Era: Can Law Constrain Power?” UCLA Law Review 68, rev. 2 (2021).
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The Changing U.S.-Pakistan Relationship
Power Problems
01/24/23 • 42 min
Ahsan Butt, associate professor at George Mason University, discusses the problems in Pakistani politics and government, the changes in U.S.-Pakistani relations since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban, India, and China. He also explains his theory of why the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.
- Ahsan Butt bio
- Paul Staniland, Adnan Naseemullah, and Ahsan Butt, “Pakistan’s Military Elite,” Journal of Security Studies 43, no. 1 (2018): pp. 74-103.
- Ahsan Butt, “Clash of the Titans: India and Pakistan Continue to Battle Over Kashmir,” The National Interest, August 24, 2020.
- Ahsan Butt, “Why Did the United States Invade Iraq in 2003?” Security Studies 28, no. 2 (2019): pp. 250-285.
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06/02/20 • 31 min
Eric Gomez and Christopher Preble join Emma Ashford to discuss their new paper, “Building a Modern Military,” and how COVID-19 will change the U.S. military.
- Eric Gomez bio: https://www.cato.org/people/eric-gomez
- Christopher Preble bio: https://www.cato.org/people/christopher-preble
- Building a Modern Military: https://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/building-modern-military-force-meets-geopolitical-realities#citation
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Why Security Assistance Fails
Power Problems
06/11/24 • 46 min
Rachel Metz, assistant professor of political science at George Washington University, explains why security assistance, one of the most ubiquitous programs in U.S. foreign policy, so often fails. She argues that bureaucratic interests, organizational processes, and perverse dynamics of civil-military relations discourage conditioning U.S. support for partner militaries. She also discusses the role of norms in the U.S. Army, the need for greater civilian oversight and management, why the policymakers need to be more selective about security assistance, and how U.S. political leaders have expanded the military’s roles and responsibilities to the detriment of an effective U.S. strategy.
Show Notes
Rachel Tecott Metz; “The Cult of the Persuasive: Why U.S. Security Assistance Fails,” International Security 2022/2023; 47 (3): 95–135.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Power Problems have?
Power Problems currently has 194 episodes available.
What topics does Power Problems cover?
The podcast is about News, Podcasts, Politics and Government.
What is the most popular episode on Power Problems?
The episode title 'After Coronavirus I: Can the Global Economy be Saved?' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Power Problems?
The average episode length on Power Problems is 41 minutes.
How often are episodes of Power Problems released?
Episodes of Power Problems are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of Power Problems?
The first episode of Power Problems was released on Sep 11, 2017.
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