Douglas Murray, journalist and author of On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization, joins the show for a wide ranging conversation that covers Death Cults, anti-Semitism, and recent shifts in the Right.

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Times 

    •      01:42 Introduction

    •      03:00 9/11 origins 

    •      09:50 It’s not 1939

    •      13:45 Death cults    

    •      19:16 “I’m not a fascist, I’m an idealist.”   

    •      23:51 Vasily Grossman  

    •      37:05 What’s going on with the Right?     

    •      49:07 Nostalgia for the absolute 

    •      54:10 Regaining balance

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Raymond Jonas, Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor in History at the University of Washington and author of Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire, joins the show to discuss a failed-but-spectacular 19th Century attempt by European powers to undermine the Monroe Doctrine.

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Times 

    •      01:42 Introduction

    •      03:31 Transatlantic relations 

    •      05:20 Europe distracted

    •      08:39 Secession and unrest   

    •      12:46 Maximillian I   

    •      17:55 Continental powers 

    •      20:01 Britain, France and Spain    

    •      26:13 What the Americans did right 

    •      28:23 Napoleon III

    •      30:09 Mexico and the Confederacy    

    •      35:20 Slavery adjacent  

    •      38:46 What went wrong    

    •      42:07 Benito Juarez

   •       44:33 Maximillian’s execution

   •       46:20 European alarm

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Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and host of The Iran Breakdown podcast, joins the show to discuss the Iranian nuclear program, where things stand with the Trump administration’s pursuit of a deal, and the prospects of an Israeli attack.

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Times 

    •      01:33 Introduction

    •      02:04 Beginnings 

    •      04:25 A weapon is the purpose

    •      07:31 Enrichment   

    •      12:32 JCPOA   

    •      16:54 “The worst deal…” 

    •      18:46 Can Iran reach the U.S.?    

    •      23:53 Dismantle the program 

    •      29:01 Splitscreen

    •      34:09 Risky and futile   

    •      41:02 Pacing  

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Michael Doran, senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute, joins the show to discuss “restraintism” as a factor in Trump’s choices in the Middle East.

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Times 

    •      01:46 Introduction

    •      02:20 What is it? 

    •      05:01 Left, right, center 

    •      06:56 Syria ’07   

    •      11:47 Iraq Study Group   

    •      17:21 Populist expression 

    •      27:34 Balance    

    •      30:20 Obama v Trump 

    •      34:56 Oscillation

    •      42:16 Back to JCPOA?    

    •      45:49 Snapback 

    •      47:44 Syria ’25

    •      52:09 Iran and Turkey

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Lord Andrew Roberts, the Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and chair of the 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, joins the show to discuss October 7th revisionism, the potency of antisemitism, and the strange effort to reinterpret World War II.

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Times 

    •      01:56 Introduction

    •      02:35 Why? 

    •     03:48 No room for debate 

    •      05:34 Not “accidental”   

    •     16:13 Cooper’s conclusions   

    •      20:13 Peace with Hitler 

    •      22:53 Destroying the foundation    

    •      25:06 Free speech

    •      27:39 Gaza endgame

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Jonathan Horn, former White House speechwriter and author of The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines, joins the show to discuss the defeats, victories, and legacies of Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Wainwright, the highest-ranking American POW of WWII.

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Times 

    •      01:56 Introduction

    •      04:36 Arthur MacArthur 

    •      09:33 The Philippines 

    •      16:13 Wainwright   

    •      18:20 War Plan Orange   

    •      27:06 Crisis 

    •      32:34 MacArthur leaves    

    •      35:20 Bataan and surrender   

    •      43:18 Captivity 

    •      48:34 Postwar 

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Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and co-author of No Limits? The China-Russia Relationship and U.S. Foreign Policy, joins the show to discuss Beijing-Moscow cooperation and the prospects of the U.S. driving a wedge between them.

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Times 

    •      02:05 Introduction

    •      02:21 Sino-Soviet split 

    •     06:20 Spheres of influence 

    •      09:17 Domination  

    •     13:20 Stabilizing effect   

    •      22:15 Xi & Putin 

    •      28:19 Pacific expansion    

    •      35:20 More resources  

    •      41:06 America in, Russians out, Germans down

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Walter Russell Mead, Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft at the University of Florida's Hamilton Center and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, joins the show to talk about the role of economic issues in Trump’s strategic views.

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Times 

    •      01:34 Introduction

    •      04:09 Mercantilism & physiocracy 

    •      08:50 Silicon Valley 

    •      14:01 Coalitions  

    •      16:26 How things worked   

    •      22:52 Post-war policy & China 

    •      33:17 Tariffs    

    •      42:50 Executive overreach 

    •      45:53 The dollar 

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Lara Burns, retired FBI Special Agent and head of terrorism research at the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University, joins the show to talk about how Islamist groups operate in the United States.

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Watch the interview on YouTube - Ep 185: Lara Burns on the Hamas Threat in America

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Times 

    •      01:32 Introduction

    •      01:48 Terrorism squad

    •     03:10 The Muslim Brotherhood

    •      06:20 Hamas 

    •     14:26 The money   

    •      26:03 Oppressors 

    •      32:39 American Muslims for Palestine  

    •     35:18 All connected   

    •      43:07 Information campaign 

    •      50:19 Understanding 

    •      55:01 Fighting back

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Alexander Burns, Assistant Professor of History at Franciscan University and author of Infantry in Battle 1733-1783 (From Reason to Revolution), joins the show to talk about how combat evolved in the decades between Marlborough and Napoleon.

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Times 

    •     01:45 Introduction

    •     02:19 1733

    •     06:20 Infantry in battle

    •     10:54 Achieving results  

    •     14:19 Tactical effectivness    

    •     18:40 Prussia  

    •     24:17 More than fear  

    •     29:45 Early nationalism   

    •     33:12 American evolution 

    •     38:50 Drones and prestige

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