How do you solve a problem like Qatar? This week over Pimms Cups, we talk with Mara Karlin about all the Middle East dramas (and why she loves the SAIS cult). We lament the State Dept budget and UK politics, pay tribute to the USS Fitzgerald, and wonder if we’ll ever have a strategy in Afghanistan or Syria. Finally, American Gods, the Manic Pixie Dream S2 of Band of Brothers, and Fidget Spinners. Reading: "," by Radha Iyengar and Jake Shapiro, Empirical Studies of Conflict "" by Katya Alder, BBC "" by Adam Becket, Business Insider "," by Ben Rhodes, The Atlantic "," by Bryan McGrath, War on the Rocks