ATEOH Season 3 continues with a series of discussions on the history of NATO and its continual reinvention through internal dissent, external resistance and expansion.

Part I is about Thomas Meaney's excellent piece "How Putin's invasion returned NATO to the centre stage," published in The Guardian this May.

Recorded on 10 October 2022

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After the ‘End of History’ is a podcast about International Relations and History. It is part of the Hawks & Sparrows project. 

Want more? Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon to receive bonus episodes, as well as early releases of the monthly Hawks & Sparrows newsletter. 

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Thanks for listening,
Mario and Tom 

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Mario presents to the Chicago Political Economy Group on Marlene Laruelle's Is Russia Fascist?  Recorded on 24 August 2022. 

The music you hear on after the end of history is provided courtesy of Jason King. 

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[Recorded in June 2022. ]

In the second episode of the season, we discuss how foreign policy intellectuals from a breadth of political views have responded to the war over these last four months. From IR theorists like Wertheim and Kupchan to the more left-oriented Alexander Zevin at the New Left Review and Thomas Meaney in The Guardian, we’ve noticed some patterns in the discussion that we’ve tracked since starting the podcast. 

From questions about the stability of US hegemony to the Left’s abandonment of anti-imperialist politics, the writers on display here give a deep view of the intellectual debates that war has re-energized. While we don’t agree with everything here, we chose a collection of articles that have a general feature in common, and that’s the urgency of restraint in American military affairs. We seem to have arrived at a moment where restraint seems impossible, and yet perhaps never more important than right now. 

The music you hear on After the End of History is kindly provided by Jason King. Thanks for listening. 

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[Recorded early June, 2022] Unlocked discussion on two editorial pieces in the NYTimes:

(1) The War in the Ukraine is Getting Complicated...  

(2) What America Will and Will Not Do in Ukraine 

Has Western liberal euphoria over the Ukraine-Russia war crashed on the rocks of an inevitable negotiated settlement? 

For the latest recordings, please consider becoming a subscriber to the show. 

The music you hear on After the End of History is kindly provided by Jason King. Thanks for listening. 

Support the show

In the second episode of the season, we discuss how foreign policy intellectuals from a breadth of political views have responded to the war over these last four months. From IR theorists like Wertheim and Kupchan to the more left-oriented Alexander Zevin at the New Left Review and Thomas Meaney in The Guardian, we’ve noticed some patterns in the discussion that we’ve tracked since starting the podcast. 

From questions about the stability of US hegemony to the Left’s abandonment of anti-imperialist politics, the writers on display give a deep view of the intellectual debates that war has re-energized. While we don’t agree with everything here, we chose a collection of articles that have a general feature in common, and that’s the urgency of restraint in American military affairs. We seem to have arrived at a moment where restraint seems impossible, and yet perhaps never more important than right now. 

For the full episode, please consider becoming a subscriber to the show.

The music you hear on After the End of History is kindly provided by Jason King. Thanks for listening. 

Support the show

A quick patron's only discussion on two editorial pieces in the NYTimes:

(1) The War in the Ukraine is Getting Complicated

(2) What America Will and Will Not Do in Ukraine

Is a big comedown on #Ukraine in the works? Despite a gentle ribbing from the media elite, Biden and his #Russia hawks continue their proxy war unabated. 

For the full episode, please consider becoming a subscriber to the show. 

The music you hear on After the End of History is kindly provided by Jason King. Thanks for listening. 

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Recorded on 8 March 2022. Readings for this episode include: 

• Volodymyr Ishchenko
  https://www.ponarseurasia.org/wp-content/uploads/attachments/Pepm529_Ishchenko_May2018_0-6.pdf
  
  
• Michael Kofman: Russia's Shock and Awe
  https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2022-02-21/russias-shock-and-awe
  
  
• Kofman: Putin's Wager in Russia's Standoff with the West
  https://warontherocks.com/2022/01/putins-wager-in-russias-standoff-with-the-west/
  
  
• Wolfgang Streeck: Fog of War
  https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/fog-of-war
  
  
• Coercion Theory: Intro
  https://tnsr.org/2020/02/coercion-theory-a-basic-introduction-for-practitioners/
  
  
• Why John Mearsheimer Blames the US for the Crisis in Ukraine
  https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-john-mearsheimer-blames-the-us-for-the-crisis-in-ukraine
  
  
• Adam Tooze
  https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/03/john-mearsheimer-and-the-dark-origins-of-realism
  
  https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-80-the-economic-weapon?s=r
  
  ***
  
  After the ‘End of History’ is a podcast about International Relations and History. It is part of the Hawks & Sparrows project.
  Want more? Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon to receive bonus episodes, as well as early releases of the monthly Hawks & Sparrows newsletter.
  You can also follow us on Twitter @after_history.
  
  The music you hear on After the End of History is provided by Jason King. 

Support the show

We're joined this week by River Page, author of "The CIA and the New Dialect of Power" and Chain Smoking to Babylon.

Beyond his cutting cultural analysis of the decadent liberal elite, River's intellectual interests include the nexus between language and power. He has brought his insights to bear on the ways in which faux-radical, New Left rhetoric has been weaponized to generate new paradigms of state power and manufactured consent.

The conversation covers a lot of ground, from River's idea of "sanctioned vs. unsanctioned" conspiracy theories to the way the new dialect of power has been used to justify US / NATO saber-rattling against Russia.

Recorded on 5 February 2022.

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After the ‘End of History’ is a podcast about International Relations and History. It is part of the Hawks & Sparrows project. 

Want more? Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon to receive bonus episodes, as well as early releases of the monthly Hawks & Sparrows newsletter. 

You can also follow us on Twitter @after_history.

The music you hear on After the End of History is provided by Jason King. 

Support the show

Episode 34: on Russian force projection as a negotiation tactic, plus some thoughts on Biden's suggestion of supporting an "insurgency" should Russia cross the border. Read: lunacy.
 
This week's episode opens with some reflections on past work, discussing what we've gotten right and wrong on the conflict so far. Has the narrative at all shifted from the charge of "Russian aggression"? Perhaps not, as far as American mainstream sources go, but NATO expansion and the unintended consequences of the US sanctions regime may be creeping into focus. Russia seems also to have succeeded in sniffing out the fissures in NATO, EU and American resolve, a recent resignation within the German navy symbolizing these weaknesses.

The core of our discussion revolves around Michael Kofman's recent speech to Stanford security geeks: The Russian Military Threat to Ukraine: How Serious? What's behind the "slowness" of Russia's mobilization? How is it using its force posture at the negotiating table?

Our conversion opened on a note of anxiety, but as Mario notes: "There's reason for concern, but it's not the end of the world yet..."

Recorded on 30 January 2022.

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After the ‘End of History’ is a podcast about International Relations and History. It is part of the Hawks & Sparrows project. 

Want more? Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon to receive bonus episodes, as well as early releases of the monthly Hawks & Sparrows newsletter. 

You can also follow us on Twitter @after_history.

The music you hear on After the End of History is provided by Jason King. 

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Our second discussion on the growing international crisis between American/NATO and Russian forces further concentrates on the "myth of Russian decline" and how that informs American foreign policy strategy (often for the worse).

This latest conversation focuses on Russia's military modernization process following the Georgian War of 2008, particularly its missile defenses and soldier professionalization.

Looking ahead to the Geneva meetings beginning later this month, should we expect the US to concede to Russia's draft treaty demands to roll back NATO expansion eastward? The stakes are high, but there's much more to learn from the diplomatic meetings ahead. 

Readings for both parts of this discussion include:

• Expanded Meeting of the Defence Ministry Board
• Ukraine: The Most Dangerous Problem in the World
• The Myth of Russian Decline 

Recorded on 30 December, 2021.

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After the ‘End of History’ is a podcast about International Relations and History. It is part of the Hawks & Sparrows project. 

Want more? Please consider supporting the podcast on Patreon to receive bonus episodes, as well as early releases of the monthly Hawks & Sparrows newsletter. 

You can also follow us on Twitter @after_history.

The music you hear on After the End of History is provided by Jason King. 

Support the show