Security Dilemma

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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On this week's special, quick-hit edition of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay spoke with John Byrnes, Strategic Director of Concerned Veterans for America about the risk of American ground forces entering the war in Iran. Mr. Byrnes joined the Marine Corps in 1991 out of high school and served four years, deployed to Somalia in 1993. He joined the New York National Guard, serving at Ground Zero after the September 11th terrorist attacks and was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring from the National Guard in 2018. 

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 Iran War's Impact on US Military Readiness with Jennifer Kavanagh
• 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

On this episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay are joined by Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, as they have a conversation about the ongoing U.S.-Iran war and the new Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei. Sina has a professional background in producing research and analysis on U.S.-Iran relations, U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East, and nuclear policy issues. He was also previously a senior research analyst at the National Iranian American Council.

You can check out his recent article in The Nation here: https://www.thenation.com/article/world/iran-massacre-bombing-protests/

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

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, co-hosts A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay were joined by Dr. Michael Desch, the Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations at the University of Notre Dame and founding Brian and Jeannelle Brady Family Director of the O'Brien Notre Dame International Security Center to discuss Dr. Desch's new Foreign Affairs article "Ukraine is Losing the War."

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
• Why Realism Still Matters with Patrick Porter
• Iran with Sina Toossi