ReThinking Foreign Policy

With all of our energy understandably focused on securing a Joe Biden victory in November, others are already jockeying to ensure they have an influential seat at the table of a Biden administration. Especially on foreign policy, those "someones" include disaffected Republicans and neoconservatives whose discredited ideas continue their prominence in the DC policy discourse. They are not going back to the Republican party any time soon and it will be crucial that they not find a home among the Democrats. 

In this episode, I discuss what sort of vision progressives might bring to a Biden foreign policy. Focusing on the standoff in the Persian Gulf, the current unrest in Israel, and the caritcaturization of truly problematic players like Russia and China, I draw some broad outlines of the ideas a progressive push on Biden might consist of. 

I am so delighted to be joined on the show today by Prof. Marc Lamont Hill. Besides being someone I am proud to call my friend, Marc is a tremendous intellectual and activist. 

He is one of the leading intellectual voices in the country and is the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities, and Solutions at Temple University. Prior to that, he held positions at Columbia University and Morehouse College.

In 2011, Ebony Magazine has named him one of America’s 100 most influential Black leaders, Marc is the author or co-author of four books, including most recently, the New York Times bestseller Nobody: Casualties of America’s War on The Vulnerable from Ferguson to Flint and Beyond.

Dr. Marc Lamont Hill holds a Ph.D. (with distinction) from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the intersections between culture, politics, and education in the United States and the Middle East.

Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee. That means the eggs are all in his basket for defeating Donald Trump in November. But how do we best achieve that goal? I argue that pretending Biden is a better candidate than he is would be self-defeating. Rather, we need to be realistic, with ourselves and with those we're trying to persuade to get out and vote for him, about who he is and the one reason we absolutely MUST vote for him--mo matter what else you can say about him, he's hundreds of light years better than Donald Trump. 

In this episode I examine Benny Gantz's decision to join Benjamin Netanyahu in a government of national unity. I look at the deal they made, the problems it has encountered, and, most of all, the lessons it holds for those of us outside of Israel. This segment is connected to my latest piece for Responsible Statecraft, "Gantz agrees to join Netanyahu in unity government — what does it mean?"

I also take a look at some of the places that are facing the coronavirus while also suffering under sanctions or other forms of economic deprivation from outside forces. 

The first episode of the ReThinking Foreign Policy Podcast looks at how the coronavirus has compromised democratic structures and created an opportunity for authoritarian leaders to grab more power. I look particularly at Israel and the actions this week of Benjamin Netanyahu as he attacked the Knesset and the courts in a desperate bid to keep himself in power and avoid facing criminal charges of corruption. Of potentially even greater concern for those of us in the United States is the fear that Donald Trump may learn from Netanyahu's example. 

Please follow Mitchell Plitnick's work at ReThinking Foreign Policy. You can subscribe to our web site here. You can support our work by making a tax-deductible donation here.