Courtney and Alex go deep with tech journalist Taylor Lorenz on how social media shapes our perceptions of US foreign policy, and why war hawks like Hillary Clinton want to make it harder for Americans to get access to independent info on war and peace.

First, they discuss how the internet went from being treated by US politicians as an emancipatory tool during the Arab Spring to a dangerous source of misinformation during the war on Gaza.

Next, they unpack the role of social media sites like TikTok in Americans' rapidly shifting views on Israel, and the power that these platforms have to suppress,  disincentivize, and even ban content related to conflicts and diplomacy. 

Finally, they take a look at current efforts in Washington to restrict Americans' access to information through social media and the internet in the name of safety, and discuss what these efforts mean for the future of foreign policy dissent.

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

Courtney and Alex are back to break down the latest stories that help explain why the US is always at war. 

First, they break down a pair of recent stunning  statements by former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about how young people are getting the wrong ideas about Israel from the terrible images they're seeing of the genocide in Gaza. The solution, of course, is not to prevent such carnage in the first place, but to try and game and work the algorithms and apps to prevent young people from accessing inconvenient, independent news about matters of war and peace.

Next, the episode is #stillwithher as Courtney and Alex next discuss Clinton's reaction to the Trump administration's efforts to develop a negotiated framework that can end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including her deployment of the overused Munich analogy to discourage the Trump team's diplomacy. Courtney and Alex to go deep on the realities actually facing Ukraine's war effort in 2025, and how hawkish opposition to diplomacy among Western elites like Clinton scuttled opportunities to advance an end to the conflict far earlier, when Ukraine had far more leverage at the negotiating table. 

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

This week, Courtney and Alex discuss the news stories from around the world that caught their attention. 

First, they get into how American arms companies are profiting off of the push for regime change in Venezuela and the military buildup in the Carribean.

Next, they unpack the Pentagon's "acquisition reform" — a terrible  idea that will make it easier for the military-industrial complex to build and profit off of dysfunctional weapons (this time, with even less oversight!)

Finally, they discuss the confusing messages coming from top Israeli officials. While some say they're seeking a new, 20 year memorandum of understanding that would lock in U.S. aid to Israel for a generation, others seem to be pushing to end U.S. aid so that Israel has more "freedom of action." Either way, pro-Israel voices seem to be responding to real, growing opposition in the US to providing more aid to Israel after its genocide in Gaza. 

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex talk with Jim Lobe, contributing editor at Responsible Statecraft, about the life and legacy of Dick Cheney after his death this week at the age of 84. 

Together, they unpack Cheney's long and gruesome record, from working with Donald Rumsfeld to derail Kissinger's strategy of detente with the Soviet Union, to helping the perpetrators of Iran-Contra get pardoned, to selling the American people on a catastrophic invasion of Iraq. 

Jim also helps situate Cheney within the broader conservative foreign policy movement, arguing that he is not a neoconservative himself,  though he worked directly with the neocons to reshape U.S. foreign policy after the Cold War.

Finally, they survey Cheney's legacy today —  how his efforts to concentrate power in a "unitary executive" empowered every 21st century president to engage in reckless military actions, and how his belief that United States has the right and responsibility to unilaterally intervene militarily anywhere and anytime has become gospel in Washington, D.C. 

###
Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan are joined by Lara Friedman — President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) — to examine the recent Gaza ceasefire deal.

Together, they discuss what makes ceasefire deals work, America's sordid history as a "peacemaker" in the Middle East, why the current deal is unlikely to restrain Israeli aggression against Palestinians in Gaza, the shifting politics on Israel in Washington, and much more. 

Learn more about Lara's work at fmep.org and make sure to check out the Occupied Thoughts podcast. 

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

Courtney and Alex discuss why the leaders of both of America’s major political parties still support America’s disastrous pursuit of global military primacy, and take a look at some of the individuals and interests that help uphold our crappy foreign policy consensus.

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan are joined by Greg Grandin — Professor of History at Yale University and author of America, América: A New History of the New World — to discuss the USA's relationship with the other America: Latin America.

Together, they explore the missed opportunities for true fraternity between the two Americas, the long history of Washington using Latin America as a testing ground for its foreign policy adventurism, and how the myths and attitudes that informed various disastrous U.S. interventions in the region last century still persist today.

###
Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

Does having 750 military base sites all around the world make America safer—or does it just make war more convenient? 

In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan reveal the costs and consequences of America's massive worldwide military footprint and examine how it enables Washington's disastrous quest to maintain global military primacy, no matter the costs. 

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan are joined by the Quincy Institute's Ben Freeman & Nick Cleveland-Stout to discuss how America's top think tanks profoundly shape our country's approach to the world — and the golden opportunity these institutions represent for arms companies and foreign governments trying to buy influence over Washington's foreign policy.

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org

In this episode of Always at War, hosts Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan discuss how the headlines about Gaza in most mainstream U.S. media outlets have consistently obfuscated the reality of Israel's genocidal campaign, and downplayed America's role in enabling and defending Israeli war crimes.

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

They’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

###
Quincy Institute is an independent, nonprofit think tank.
Help fund our research: https://quincyinst.org/donations/
Read our reporting: https://ResponsibleStatecraft.org
Twitter: https://x.com/QuincyInst
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/quincyinst
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quincyinst
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//quincyinst
Website: https://quincyinst.org