On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts John Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Danny Bessner about his new article in The Ideas Letter (https://www.theideasletter.org/essay/power-without-ideology/?) about why the emerging multipolar world order will be less characterized by ideological contestation than by spheres of influence. Danny is the is the Anne H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the foreign affairs podcast American Prestige (https://americanprestigepod.com/) with fellow former SD guest Derek Davison.

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Revisits the Marcellus Papers
• How the China Consensus Came to Be and What It Misses with Jake Werner

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Gay and A.J. Manuzzi have a conversation with the Quincy Institute's Nick Cleveland-Stout about his research on the foreign influence lobby in Washington and how foreign and corporate influence distort American foreign policy.

Nick is a research associate in the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at QI. He investigates foreign influence, think tank funding, and war profiteering. Previously, he conducted research on US-Brazil relations as a Fulbright fellow at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Nick has been involved with JQAS in some capacity for years, co-founding a JQAS campus chapter at Colorado College before completing the Society’s Marcellus Policy Fellowship, and now serving as a JQAS Strategic Leaders Fellow.

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• World Order After the Iran War with Danny Bessner

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, Dr. Lyle Goldstein returns to the show to discuss the Trump-Xi summit, Washington's China policy, and his new co-authored book on Russia-China maritime cooperation and its implications for U.S. grand strategy (The New Cold War at Sea: Maritime Implications of the China-Russia Quasi-Alliance - available now at https://www.amazon.com/New-Cold-War-Sea-Quasi-Alliance/dp/1682479943). Dr. Goldstein is the Director of the Asia Program at Defense Priorities, as well as Director of the China Initiative at the Brown University Watson Institute. He is the founder of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the Naval War College.

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• Tracking Foreign Influence with Nick Cleveland-Stout
• World Order After the Iran War with Danny Bessner

This week on Security Dilemma, John Gay and guest co-host Adam Abdel-Qader spoke with Dr. Jon Lindsay about his new book, Age of Deception: Cybersecurity as Secret Statecraft (https://www.jstor.org/content/oa_book_monograph/10.7591/jj.24033720). Dr. Lindsay is an Associate Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. His research focuses on the role of emerging technology in global security. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, he served in the U.S. Navy with operational assignments in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• The Foreign Influence Fight for War with Iran with Nick Cleveland-Stout
• World Order After the Iran War with Danny Bessner

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts John Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interviewed Dr. Jasen Castillo and Dr. John Schuessler, both Associate Professors and Co-Directors of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at Texas A&M University, about U.S. grand strategy and their current projects on extended deterrence and whether the United States can learn to live with rival regional hegemons.  Prior to joining A&M, Dr. Castillo worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Strategy and Plans Office, as well as at the RAND Corporation. Currently, he is working on a book project exploring the military requirements of deterrence and U.S. nuclear weapons policy. Dr. Schuessler, meanwhile, previously taught at the Air War College, was chair of the Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association, and wrote the book Deceit on the Road to War: Presidents, Politics, and American Democracy.

Learn more about the Bush School here!

Apply for our ⁠⁠⁠Summer Conference⁠⁠⁠!

https://jqas.org/2026-summer-conference/

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Discusses the Marcellus Papers

• Cyber Deterrence with Jon Lindsay

• Russia-China Maritime Cooperation with Lyle Goldstein
• The Foreign Influence Fight for War with Iran with Nick Cleveland-Stout
• World Order After the Iran War with Danny Bessner

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts John Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Fulton Armstrong, a longtime analyst of Latin American affairs in government and academia. Fulton is a writer, analyst and adjunct professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School Program in Washington, D.C. and a Fellow at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University. Previously, he followed Latin American affairs for almost 30 years in a number of U.S. government positions, serving as senior professional staff member responsible for Latin America affairs on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, National Intelligence Officer for Latin America, chief of staff of the Director of Central Intelligence’s Crime and Narcotics Center, Director for Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council, and as a staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives. In this conversation, we discussed Trump’s Latin America policy and the latest on Venezuela, Cuba, and other hot spots throughout the region.

Apply for our ⁠⁠Summer Conference⁠⁠!

https://jqas.org/2026-summer-conference/

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Discusses the Marcellus Papers

• Cyber Deterrence with Jon Lindsay
• Realism and Nuclear Weapons with Jasen Castillo and John Schuessler
• Russia-China Maritime Cooperation with Lyle Goldstein

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay spoke with Dr. Michael Neagle about his book Chasing Bandits: America's Long War on Terror (https://uncpress.org/9781469691046/chasing-bandits/) and why America's 21st century "bandit wars" resemble previous bouts of American war and expansionism. Dr. Neagle is a Professor of History at Nichols College. In addition to Chasing Bandits, he is the author of America’s Forgotten Colony: Cuba’s Isle of Pines. In this episode, we discussed Chasing Bandits and the ways in which U.S. policymakers and politicians have leveraged popular understandings of so-called “bandits” to mobilize public support for war abroad.

Apply for our ⁠Summer Conference⁠!

https://jqas.org/2026-summer-conference/

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Discusses the Marcellus Papers

• The Donroe Doctrine with Fulton Armstrong
• Cyber Deterrence with Jon Lindsay
• Realism and Nuclear Weapons with Jasen Castillo and John Schuessler
• Russia-China Maritime Cooperation with Lyle Goldstein

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay spoke with Dr. Albert Wolf. Dr. Wolf is Research Fellow at Habib University in Karachi. His research focuses on security studies, with particular attention to the Middle East, the relationship between domestic political survival and international relations, as well as nuclear proliferation.  He has served as a foreign policy advisor to several presidential campaigns, as well as a foreign affairs staffer on Capitol Hill. In this episode, we discussed why America’s Iran strategy is proving counterproductive and the politics of diplomacy within Iran.Apply for our Summer Conference!

https://jqas.org/2026-summer-conference/

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Discusses the Marcellus Papers

• Chasing Bandits: A History of American Wars with Non-State Actors with Michael Neagle

• The Donroe Doctrine with Fulton Armstrong
• Cyber Deterrence with Jon Lindsay
• Russia-China Maritime Cooperation with Lyle Goldstein

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On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay invited Curt Mills, Executive Director of The American Conservative, back on the show to discuss the Iran War's reception in Trumpworld and on the Hill.

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Discusses the Marcellus Papers

• Chasing Bandits: A History of American Wars with Non-State Actors with Michael Neagle
• The Iran Ceasefire with Albert Wolf
• The Donroe Doctrine with Fulton Armstrong
• Russia-China Maritime Cooperation with Lyle Goldstein

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On this episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay are joined again by Jennifer Kavanagh. Jennifer is a Senior Fellow & Director of Military Analysis at Defense Priorities. Her research focuses on U.S. military strategy, force structure and defense budgeting, the defense industrial base, and military interventions and alliances in Asia and the Middle East. She is also the former director of RAND’s Army Strategy program and an alum of the Society’s Strategic Leaders Fellowship. In this episode, we discussed the impact of the Iran War on U.S. defense readiness. 

Listener Questions:

We are opening up SD to listener-submitted questions! Submit questions you'd like to ask future guests ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Please specify the episode pertaining to the question in your response.

Upcoming recordings include:

• JQAS Discusses the Marcellus Papers

• Chasing Bandits: A History of American Wars with Non-State Actors with Michael Neagle
• The Politics of the Iran War on the Right with Curt Mills

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