On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Spencer Ackerman, a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award-winning reporter, who has covered the War on Terror and U.S. foreign policy for The New Republic, Wired, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, and Zeteo. He is also the author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump and the Forever Wars newsletter, and he is currently writing the new Iron Man series for Marvel Comics and The Torture and Deliverance of Majid Khan. Our conversation discussed the impact of the GWOT on U.S. politics, whether the GWOT is actually over, and the Biden Administration's foreign policy legacy.

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Sarang Shidore, the director of the Global South Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Our conversation discussed whether interests, ideology, or both drive the policies of some Global South states, whether China is part of the Global South, and what a better approach to the U.S.-Philippines alliance might look like.

Sarang Shidore's new Quincy Institute explainer on the U.S.-Philippines alliance: https://quincyinst.org/research/defending-without-provoking-the-united-states-and-the-philippines-in-the-south-china-sea/

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Skip Shelton, a career foreign policy professional with experience in defense, diplomacy, and development about the unique career journey that brought him from coordinating elections in Iraq and building roads in Afghanistan to working on Somalia's security assistance and conflict monitoring in Ukraine. The conversation also touches on how those experiences shaped Shelton's own views on American foreign policy.

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview John Schuessler, Associate Professor in the Department of International Affairs and Co-Director of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at Texas A&M University's Bush School of Government and Public Service. Dr. Schuessler is the author of Deceit on the Road to War: Presidents, Politics, and American Democracy. Our conversation explored whether offshore balancing is a viable grand strategy, examined the prospects of Iranian or Chinese regional hegemony and its impact on U.S. security, and discussed cases of presidential deceit during war.

On this week's episode ofSecurity Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Jeremy Shapiro, Research Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Shapiro was previously a fellow at the Brookings Institution, as well as a member of the State Department's policy planning staff, where he advised the Secretary of State on U.S. policy in North Africa and the Levant. He also served as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs during the Obama Administration. This week's conversation discusses Dr. Shapiro's piece describing the three main foreign policy factions in the Republican Party, European security, and the foreign policy legacy of the Biden Administration.

"Polarised power: The three Republican ‘tribes’ that could define America’s relationship with the world"

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Rose Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, discussing why Washington should take a "wait-and-see" approach to Syria's new government, President Trump's new Executive Orders on energy security, and whether the U.S. military needs to be in the Persian Gulf for oil.

This episode was recorded on January 30, 2025.

Dr. Kelanic's Defense Priorities explainer: https://www.defensepriorities.org/briefs/wait-and-see-a-post-assad-syria/

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi discuss their expectations for foreign policy in 2025, including how the incoming Trump Administration could approach the Middle East, China, Europe, Latin America, and more.

Link to Matt Duss's piece in The Guardian

Recorded 1/10/2025

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Janet Abou-Elias and Lillian Mauldin, co-founders of Women for Weapons Trade Transparency and Research Fellows at the Center for International Policy. Janet is also an alumna of the Society's Marcellus Policy Fellowship, for which she wrote a policy analysis on the War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel.

Our conversation, recorded in mid-November 2024, focused on arms transfers under the Trump Administration, the Biden Administration's arming of Israel in the Gaza conflict, and how War on Terror/War on Drugs era DoD authorities contribute to the militarization of the police.

Furthermore, we are now accepting applications for the upcoming Spring 2025 cohort of the Marcellus Policy Fellowship through January 13. This program is intended for students and early-career professionals interested in realism and restraint and looking to advance in the national security career space. The program bolsters the policy analysis and writing skills of participants, as well as unites them with a cohort of like-minded professionals under the tutelage of JQAS staff and expert guest speakers. Apply today!

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Dan Spokojny, a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer and the founder of fp21, a think tank devoted to promoting more evidence and learning based foreign policy processes. This conversation discussed knowledge management, groupthink, U.S. policy processes, and efforts at State Department reform.

You can learn more about fp21 here: https://www.fp21.org/

John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interview Jennifer Kavanagh, a Senior Fellow and the Director of Military Analysis at Defense Priorities, discussing the state of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

This episode was recorded on October 25, 2024