Back when host Cliff May was an exchange student at Leningrad State University in 1972, he believed that if the Soviet Union ever collapsed that Russia would become a free country. Well, that’s not how things turned out. 

Peter Pomerantsev has a book on Russian propaganda: “Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia.”

He joins Cliff along with Ivana Stradner, a research fellow with FDD’s Barish Center for Media Integrity, to discuss.

Some might think of veterans issues and national security issues separately, but they are intricately intertwined. There's a moral imperative to care for those who have risked their lives to defend freedom. There's also a national security imperative to do so.

This fact raises several questions: How are America’s veterans doing? How well are we taking care of those who have served our country in uniform? How can we do better?

To discuss these questions and more, as well as some new research, guest host Bradley Bowman is joined by Marcus Ruzek and retired Navy Captain Dan Goldenberg.

Marcus is Senior Program Director at The Marcus Foundation. The Marcus Foundation is a leader in philanthropy, specifically in the areas of military and veterans’ support. He has worked at The Marcus Foundation for over 10 years, supporting its Free Enterprise initiatives, National Security/Foreign Policy, and Free Market Ideals programs. An infantryman and combat veteran, Marcus deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq. He commanded a Special Forces “A Team” which partnered with Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight against Islamic State terrorists (aka: ISIS). 

Dan had led the Call of Duty Endowment or CODE since 2013. During his tenure there, the Call of Duty Endowment has become the largest philanthropic funder of veteran employment, backing more than 150,000 high-quality job placements and driving more than $9 billion in economic value for veterans and their families. Dan is a retired Navy Captain. His military service includes four tours as a commanding officer, as well as serving as a carrier-based naval flight officer, and special assistant to four Secretaries of the Navy. He also has two decades of business experience.

CODE Report

H.R. McMaster's article "Preserving the Warrior Ethos"

A two-state solution was first offered to Palestinian leaders as early as 1937. 

Israel offered two-state solutions again in 1947, 1967, 1978, 2000, 2001, and 2008. 

Palestinian leaders declined each and every such offer. They have proposed no alternatives. 

Their grievance, it should by now be clear, is not the absence of a nation-state called Palestine but rather the existence of a nation-state called Israel: the resurrected homeland of the Jewish people, a tiny island in an ocean of Arab and Muslim states. 

Yet within the foreign policy establishment in the U.S. and Europe, there has for generations been an unshakeable belief that there must be a two-state solution. President Trump has shaken that belief, changed the debate, and widened what’s known as the Overton Window, the range of policy proposals considered acceptable. 

To discuss, host Cliff May is joined by his FDD colleagues Jonathan Conricus and Rich Goldberg. 

In 2019 after serving as deputy national security advisor to President Donald Trump, Victoria Coates was promoted to Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa, overseeing the Maximum Pressure campaign against Tehran and initiating the negotiations for the Abraham Accords. She joins Cliff to discuss her new book: “The Battle for the Jewish State: How Israel—And America—Can Win.”

The war that Yahya Sinwar launched on Oct. 7, 2023 was meant to profoundly restructure the Middle East. And that is happening – although not in the way the late Hamas leader envisioned.

It’s not easy to discern the emerging new realities; to understand the rivalries among the many jihadi groups and leaders, Sunni and Shia; the shifting threats to Israelis, Kurds, Druze, Christians, and those Arabs who are not eager to sacrifice their children to the cause of Islamic supremacy. 

David Wurmser is attempting to comprehend and explain these realignments and to suggest responses that would further American interests. He joins host Cliff May to discuss these issues as well as his recent essay for The Editors: “Prepare for Disintegration of Syria and Rise of Imperial Turkey​​​​​​​.”

Watch this episode on YouTube.

As President Trump returns to the White House, he has no more important task than defense of the homeland and ensuring “peace through strength,” because U.S. national security is threatened by the Axis of Aggressors in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, and Pyongyang and their Star Wars cantina of terrorist group friends. 

How should Trump prioritize? And what should he do? Host Cliff May discusses with his FDD colleagues RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery and Bradley Bowman.

A few facts central to any discussion of a deal between Israel and Hamas:

1. On Oct. 6, 2023. Gaza was not occupied. No Israelis lived there. No Israeli soldiers patrolled there.
2. Gaza was not an open-air prison. It had schools, malls, libraries, hospitals, restaurants, sandy beaches.
3. Hamas initiated a war on Oct. 7, 2023 by staging the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
4. Hamas could have brought a halt to this war at any time by releasing the hostages and laying down their weapons. They refused to do so.

Hamas deserves the blame for every death, on both sides, over the past 468 days.

Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for a ceasefire and the return of hostages – over time – in exchange for Israel halting its offensive and releasing hundreds of convicted terrorists from prison.

Host Cliff May asks his FDD colleagues Jonathan Schanzer and Richard Goldberg some of the many questions that arise.

“Artificial intelligence is the future… Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” — Vladimir Putin

The Russian president-for-life and neo-tzar waging a terrible war of conquest against Ukraine is evil but he’s not stupid, certainly not when it comes to artificial intelligence.

Americans don’t want to rule the world. But neither do most of us want the world to be ruled from Moscow, Tehran, or Beijing. So, we have to get smart. We have to run an arms race — or maybe a brains race. What will that require?

Host Cliff May asks his FDD colleagues Matt Pottinger and RADM (Ret) Mark Montgomery.

Just hours into the New Year, we were reminded that the Jihad against the West is not over. It’s not even taking a winter break.

A man inspired by the Islamic State drove a pickup truck into a crowd in the French Quarter of New Orleans, murdering at least 15 people and injuring dozens more. Hours later in New York City, demonstrators chanted: “There is only one solution – intifada revolution!” and “No war on Iran!”

Meanwhile, Iran’s ruler, Ali Khamenei must be pondering whether Hezbollah and Hamas, two of his proxy terrorist militias that have been decimated by Israel, can be built back better.

Also on his mind: What it means that Syria, once his satrapy, is now under Turkey’s influence.

Host Cliff May is joined by his FDD colleague Behnam Ben Taleblu to discuss these and related issues.

What does regime change in Syria change?

The overthrow of longtime, mass-murdering dictator Bashar al-Assad is a good thing. But those who did the overthrowing? Not good.

The most important rebel group involved in this revolution is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, better known as HTS. It has roots in both al Qaeda and the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Its leader’s nom de guerre is Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. He and HTS have been officially designated as terrorists by the U.S. government.

The fall of Assad weakens Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Both had backed Assad, and both had derived benefits from Assad in exchange.

And the fall of Assad strengthens Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

To discuss all of this and more, host Cliff May is joined by Jonathan Schanzer, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Michael Doran.

NOTE: We hope you enjoy the soothing sounds of Reuel's Ring Doorbell chimes.