Over time, U.S. foreign policy has become increasingly activist, interventionist, and hostile despite facing fewer direct national security threats. These military interventions have also gradually become less connected to the national interest. Tufts University professor Monica Toft and Bridgewater State University assistant professor Sidita Kushi explain their quantitative research on US interventionism and explore alternative strategies. 

Show Notes

• Monica Toft bio
• Sidita Kushi bio
• Monic Duffy Toft and Sidita Kushi, Dying by the Sword: The Militarization of US Foreign Policy(New York City: Oxford University Press, 2023). Forthcoming.
• Sidita Kushi and Monica Duffy Toft, “Introducing the Military Intervention Project: A New Dataset on US Military Interventions, 1776–2019,” Journal of Conflict Resolution (2022).
• Monica Duffy Toft and Sidita Kushi, “The Roots of Washington’s Addiction to Military Force,” Foreign Affairs, January 10, 2023.
• Monica Duffy Toft, “Getting Religion Right in Civil Wars,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 65, no. 9 (2021): pp. 1607-1634.
• Sidita Kushi, “Selective Humanitarians: How Region and Conflict Perception Drive Military Interventions in Intrastate Crises,” International Relations (2022).
• Sidita Kushi, “Regional Bias Too Obvious in Western Response to Humanitarian Atrocities,” EURACTIV, September 27, 2022.
• Monica Duffy Toft, “America’s Modern Addiction to the Big Stick,” Responsible Statecraft, June 21, 2022.

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The United States has sent a vast amount of aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion. Defense Priorities’ Rajan Menon and Daniel DePetris explain that while the war is likely to end in a negotiated agreement, neither side is motivated to negotiate right now. They also discuss the need for European defense autonomy. 

Show Notes

1. Rajan Menon bio
2. Daniel DePetris bio
3. Rajan Menon and Daniel DePetris, “Europe Doesn’t Need the United States Anymore,” Foreign Policy, January 30, 2023.
4. Lessons from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Symposium at Defense Priorities
5. Rajan Menon and Daniel DePetris, “We Can’t Keep Treating Talk of Negotiations to End the Ukraine War as Off Limits,” The Guardian, November 3, 2022.

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Michelle Murray, associate professor at Bard College, explains how states aspire to major power identity and status, how the struggle for recognition in world politics produces conflict, and the social dimensions of the security dilemma. She also discusses the history of US and German naval expansion in the 19th century, realism and constructivism, and how to avoid war with a rising China, among other topics. 

Show Notes

• Michelle Murray bio
• Michelle Murray, The Struggle for Recognition in International Relations: Status, Revisionism, and Rising Powers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019). 

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Ahsan Butt, associate professor at George Mason University, discusses the problems in Pakistani politics and government, the changes in U.S.-Pakistani relations since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s relations with the Taliban, India, and China. He also explains his theory of why the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.

1. Ahsan Butt bio
2. Paul Staniland, Adnan Naseemullah, and Ahsan Butt, “Pakistan’s Military Elite,” Journal of Security Studies 43, no. 1 (2018): pp. 74-103.
3. Ahsan Butt, “Clash of the Titans: India and Pakistan Continue to Battle Over Kashmir,” The National Interest, August 24, 2020.
4. Ahsan Butt, “Why Did the United States Invade Iraq in 2003?” Security Studies 28, no. 2 (2019): pp. 250-285.

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Stephen Wertheim and Matt Duss of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyze President Joe Biden’s foreign policy performance two years into his administration. They discuss US policies on Ukraine, Russia, on the use of economic sanctions, the war in Yemen, the stalled Iran deal, the politics of progressive foreign policy, and more.

Show Notes

• Stephen Wertheim bio
• Matthew Duss bio
• Matthew Duss and Stephen Wertheim, “A Better Biden Doctrine,” The New Republic, January 4, 2023.
• Stephen Wertheim, “World War III Begins with Forgetting,” The New York Times, December 2, 2022.

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Does international law actually impose real constraints on states? Michael Poznansky, associate professor at the U.S. Naval War College, discusses why states choose to pursue overt vs. covert action, the role of plausible deniability, and the “hypocrisy costs” associated frequent violations of the non-intervention principle.

Show Notes

• Michael Poznansky bio
• Michael Poznansky (2021), "The Psychology of Overt and Covert Intervention," Security Studies 30, no. 3 (2021): pp. 325–353.
• Michael Poznansky, In the Shadow of International Law: Secrecy and Regime Change in the Postwar World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).
• Michael Poznansky, “The Appeal of Covert Action: Psychology and the Future of Irregular Warfare,” Modern War Institute, September 6, 2021.
• Michael Poznansky, "Revisiting Plausible Deniability," Journal of Strategic Studies 45, no. 4 (2022): pp. 511-533.
• Martha Finnemore, “Legitimacy, Hypocrisy, and the Social Structure of Unipolarity: Why Being a Unipole Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be,” World Politics 61, no. 1 (January 2009): pp. 58-85.

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A common argument against U.S. troop withdrawals points to the risk of creating strategic vacuums that rival powers could then fill to great advantage. Benjamin H. Friedman, director of policy at Defense Priorities, explains why such fears are without merit. He discusses, among many topics, the value of territory in contemporary international politics, how power generates paranoia, and whether the U.S. should reduce its force posture abroad.

Show Notes:

• Benjamin H. Friedman bio
• Benjamin H. Friedman, “Don’t Fear Vacuums: We Can Go Home,” Defense Priorities Report, December 7, 2022.
• Benjamin H. Friedman, “No, Afghanistan Did Not Hurt U.S. ‘Credibility’,” UnHerd, August 31, 2022.
• Benjamin H. Friedman, “Bad Idea: Assuming Trade Depends on the Navy,” Defense360, January 7, 2022.
• Jennifer Keister, “The Illusion of Chaos: Why Ungoverned Spaces Aren’t Ungoverned, and Why That Matters,” Cato Policy Analysis no. 766, December 9, 2014.

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Pusan National University professor Robert E. Kelly looks back at Trump era policies toward North Korea, discusses what a deal with Pyongyang might entail, the impact of South Korean politics, and whether changes in US posture can alter the persistent status quo on the peninsula. 

Show Notes

1. Robert E. Kelly bio
2. Robert E. Kelly, “The Persistent Status Quo with North Korea: Why Has so Little Changed since 2017?,” Korean Journal of Defense Analysis 31, no. 3 (2019).
3. Robert E. Kelly and Paul Poast, “The Allies Are Alright: Why America Can Get Away with Bullying Its Friends,” Foreign Affairs 101, no. 2 (March/April 2022).
4. Robert E. Kelly, “In Defense of North Korean Sanctions,” Korea Observer 53, no. 2 (Summer 2022).

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Jasen Castillo, associate professor of international affairs at Texas A&M University, discusses the role of nuclear weapons and deterrence in the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Show Notes:

• Jasen Castillo bio
• Jasen Castillo, “The Nuclear Risks in Russia’s War with Ukraine Are Real,” Chicago Tribune, October 31, 2022. 
• Jasen Castillo, “The Cold Comfort of Mutually Assured Destruction,” War on the Rocks, June 16, 2021.
• Luke Henkhaus, “What Does Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Mean for the Wider War?” Texas A&M Today, September 20, 2022

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Brian Finucane, senior adviser at International Crisis Group, and Brianna Rosen, Senior Fellow at Just Security, discuss how the Global War on Terror is still ongoing and has allowed the executive branch to usurp war making authority from Congress, with disastrous and illiberal results.

Show Notes

• Brianna Rosen bio
• Brian Finucane bio
• “Overkill: Reforming the Legal Basis for the U.S. War on Terror,” Crisis Group Report No. 5, September 17, 2021.
• Brian Finucane, “Still at War: The United States in the Sahel,” Just Security, April 7, 2022.
• Brian Finucane, “Assessing Biden’s New Policy Framework for Counterterrorism Direct Action,” Just Security, October 11, 2022.
• Brianna Rosen, “Ending Perpetual War,” Just Security, October 25, 2022.
• Tess Bridgeman and Brianna Rosen, “Introduction to Symposium: Still at War – Where and Why the United States is Fighting the ‘War on Terror,’” Just Security, March 24, 2022.

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