The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

The gang's back with another variety episode. Why Saudi Arabia throws so much money at Trump. Matt's trip to Israel amid ceasefire negotiations. The truth about DEI initiatives and the Pentagon. The best time for nuclear no first-use was 4 years ago; the second best time is now. What's Elon Musk doing with far right parties in Europe? And why is "the quad" both a joke and Steve Bannon's Asia fantasy?

More Perfect Union: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su8NHZY-CyY&t=92s

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Rather than the normal show, this week's episode is a recording of Dr. Van Jackson's keynote lecture at Ritsumeikan University, addressing the concept of nuclear precarity and what it means for the risks of nuclear war in East Asia.

In this episode, Van sits down with Matt Duss, senior foreign policy adviser to former presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. Matt shares his backstory, including his pathway into foreign policy, his relationship to the Washington establishment, and how he ended up working working for Senator Sanders. He dishes about how the Sanders presidential campaign organized its foreign policy team, as well as how he thinks a Biden presidency ought to approach foreign policy on a range of issues--China decoupling, Space Force, Saudi Arabia-Iran rivalry, and much more. Matt also goes on the record about where Transformers rates relative to The Usual Suspects in the pantheon of great movies.

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, is ‘Chained Globalisation’ here to stay, and what can we do about it?

Predictions:

• Will Ankara (Turkey) follow up on their threat to shut down the U.S controlled Incirik AFB before the end of 2019? | No
• Will Congress pass any resolutions addressing the New START treaty (which expires in 2021) before February 2020? | No
• Will the U.S resume peace talks with the Taliban before the end of 2019? | No

Links:

• Benjamin R. Young on North Korea and Time - https://www.nknews.org/2019/12/the-need-for-speed-time-as-a-political-tool-in-north-korea/
• Daniel Larison on Pete Buttigieg’s Foreign Policy - https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/buttigiegs-increasingly-hawkish-foreign-policy/
• Jason Kander on Tulsi Gabbard - https://twitter.com/JasonKander/status/1207487212234969088
• Tom Nichols on Gabbard - https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1207476464356143104
• Tim Draper on India and Religious Freedom - https://twitter.com/TimDraper/status/1207674025616519173
• Paul Poast on Russia and Foreign Affairs - https://mobile.twitter.com/ProfPaulPoast/status/1204745930144174080
• Journal of Global Security Studies special issue on American Bias -https://academic.oup.com/jogss/article-abstract/4/3/299/5521930
• Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman on Chained Globalisation - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2019-12-10/chained-globalization

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 order is falling apart, but it may be recoverable. How many kills is Iran responsible for? Why does Obama hate wokeness? And the Van Jackson philosophy on why national security needs more progressive voices.

Van’s Predictions

1) Will John Bolton testify in the impeachment inquiry? | Yes

2) Will Benny Gantz be form a government in Israel? | Yes

3) Will Iraq’s Prime Minister be ousted before the end of 2019? | Yes

Van’s Podcast Recommendations:

Dissent’s ‘Know Your Enemy’ | https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/know-your-enemy-a-new-podcast-about-the-right

Crooked Media’s ‘Pod Save The World’ | https://crooked.com/podcast-series/pod-save-the-world/

The Diplomat’s ‘Asia Geopolitics’ | https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-diplomat-asia-geopolitics/id852773346

Insert generic dry but informative think tank podcasts

War on the Rocks’ ‘Bombshell’ | https://warontherocks.com/category/podcasts/bombshell/

Notes and Sources

NY Times on Sea Level Rise | https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/29/climate/coastal-cities-underwater.html

Extinction Rebellion’s White Privilege | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/19/extinction-rebellion-white-faces-diversity

Rebecca Davis Gibbons on the World International Order | https://twitter.com/RDavisGibbons/status/1188891448126652419

Jack Dorsey on Twitter Banning Political Ads: | https://twitter.com/jack/status/1189634360472829952?s=21

The American Conservative on Cartoon Imperialism | https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-cartoon-imperialist-president/?wpisrc=nl_todayworld&wpmm=1

Obama on Woke Culture | https://www.victoria.ac.nz/hppi/about/staff/jon-fraenkel

Music: "Van is Meta" by Tre' Hester