Why do certain countries go to war, where others don't? How do the domestic policies and the personalities of leaders get involved? In this episode you'll learn the most widely-used lens for understanding the causes behind international affairs: realism. In one hour you'll be able to view the international order with greater structure than ever before.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Venezuela's government going to fall? Is North Korea going to fire nukes? Is the US going to fire nukes? Are Maduro and Kim just madmen? Is Trump? Two dictatorial regimes, both of which hate the US, both entering crises and both facing substantial constraints about how they can try to navigate them. And the US, attempting to deal with the North Korean crisis, has its own constraints as well. In this episode you'll understand the forces that are pushing Venezuela into a domestic crisis and North Korea into conflict with the US. You'll learn what options are available to everyone and why they're limited. And you'll learn a little more about how to analyze the global stage beyond the rhetoric.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

President Trump has had a lot of trouble getting a legislative win, and he's pressing Congress harder than ever to deliver one. The GOP has both the House and the Senate--what are the forces keeping them from getting things done?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Politics gets emotional. However the emotional part of our brain was designed not for rational thought, but for knee-jerk survival mechanisms. How can we train our brain to think more clearly about politics in our daily lives?In this episode, Erik and Xander talk Stoicism, a philosophy and thought strategy that has been used for thousands of years by everyone from slaves to emperors to get a grip on the turbulent world around them. You'll learn why Stoicism is so powerful, and you can apply it in your life and conversations today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HEY! The sound quality on this is junk. Really sorry. Technical issue that we didn't realize was there until we were done. We've figured out how to keep it from happening again.The US and the world seem like they're in a really odd, perhaps dangerous place right now. Throughout history, people have felt like their own time defines the status quo, and all history going forward is either a path from that moment, or a departure from it.Getting a sense of the big picture from the perspective of the past--and the big trends that emerge--can give us a sense of where we really sit in history, and what we might be able to expect next.This episode is mostly answering a bunch of questions from our last ReConsider Cabinet meeting! For those of you who are higher-level Patreon patrons, remember you can send us questions to answer and we'll take 'em on!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AKA, "The Bromance of the Bad Hombres"In this episode we interview Prof. Stephen Sestanovich, a Colombia professor, think tank big wig, and prolific writer. Formerly ambassador-at-large and special advisor to Madeleine Albright. Prof. Stestanovich puts the Putin-Trump relationship in context by warming us up with understanding the evolving US/Russia Presidential relationship since the end of the Cold War. Strap in for this info-packed episode!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AKA: My Homie, ComeyWelp. Trump fired Comey. If things weren't crazy enough in the White House right now.There's a pretty incredible amount of speculation about why he did it and what it could mean. How much do we actually know? And where is all the speculation getting us?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is Russia's current interest on its borders, and what considerations will shape its behavior over the next 20 years? Prof. Mitchell Orenstein is the Professor of Central and East European politics in the Slavic Department at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard. We're thrilled to have him and as always we learn a ton.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Much hubbub over the Syrian airstrike--everything from patriotic fervor to seemingly-genuine terror about World War 3. What happens when we take a step back from the hype and political spin, and look at the strike in the context of geopolitics, international relations, and history?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined by Mark Schauss to give us a whirlwind tour of Russian history. Mark is the host of the Russian Rulers History Podcast: http://russianrulers.podhoster.com/Mark attended Queens College in New York, studied Russian History and Economics, got his doctorate in Business. Lecturer on cognitive function, environmental health, other medical issues, and also Russian History!We walk through how Russia has dealt with its neighbors and the world, through the Mongols, the Great Northern War, the Napoleonic War, the later 1800s, WWI, WWII, the Cold War, and post-Cold War. It's a ton of fun.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.