Talking Policy

Wars are horrible and costly. They devastate economies and communities, upending lives and leaving trauma and destruction in their wake. So why do we fight them?

On this episode of Talking Policy, UC San Diego distinguished professor and IGCC senior fellow David Lake shares a new theory about war that views them as less about “winning” and more as evidence of failure—an event in which everyone loses relative to agreements and compromises that might have been reached without fighting. In an era of growing global uncertainty; protracted wars in Europe, Africa, and beyond; and the threat of new wars, this new way of thinking may provide fresh clues about how to prevent conflicts from starting in the first place.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian army invaded Ukraine in what would become the largest attack on a European country since World War II. Last year, IGCC assembled a roundtable of experts led by guest host Jesse Driscoll, an associate professor of political science at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, for a conversation to mark the second anniversary of the invasion.

One year on, we’ve reunited Jesse with two of the same experts to reflect on another year of war. Paul D’Anieri is a professor of political science and public policy at UC Riverside, and author of Ukraine and Russia: From Civilized Divorce to Uncivil War. Jess Peake is the director of the International Comparative Law Program at the UCLA School of Law and a recent Pulitzer Prize nominee for her article “War Crimes by Any Name” for Los Angeles Lawyer.

This interview was conducted on February 3, 2025. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

The inauguration of Donald Trump caps off an extraordinary political comeback. Trump’s brand of anti-establishment populism, once thought an anomaly, is now at the apex of U.S.—and indeed global—politics. As the “Make America Great Again” movement seeks to rewrite the political rulebook, Talking Policy host Lindsay Shingler speaks with five University of California experts to unpack what this political revolution means for the world. 

Tai Ming Cheung, IGCC director and UC San Diego professor, examines the implications of a hawkish approach to China for Washington’s relationship with Beijing. Caroline Freund, dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, looks ahead to what a nationalist trade policy could mean for the U.S. and global economy. IGCC postdoctoral fellow on technology and international security Nicolas Wittstock analyzes what an “energy dominance” agenda could imply for U.S. clean technology development and broader climate objectives. Rupal Mehta, chair of research and postdoctoral fellows program and senior fellow at the Center of Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, discusses what “America First” could mean for the global security architecture and managing threats from U.S. adversaries. Finally, IGCC research director for democracy and global governance and UC San Diego distinguished research professor Stephan Haggard unpacks how Trump will manage U.S. leadership of the liberal international order amid heightened competition between democracies and autocracies.

These interviews were recorded over the course of January 7th to January 17th. The views expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of their institutions or funders.

Over a span of thirty years, climate and the environment went from a nuisance to become a top-tier priority for U.S. military leaders. Sherri Goodman, a senior fellow at the Wilson Center, details the keys to this military environmental awakening in her new book, Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security. In this episode, Sherri sits down with Talking Policy host Lindsay Shingler to discuss the core themes from her book, and what she has learned over her long career as an environmental advocate and change agent within the highest ranks of American military leadership.

This interview was conducted on November 4, 2024. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

With several major wars threatening to spill over into wider regional conflicts, and a U.S. presidential election looming, the question of what power an American president has to wage war has become more pressing. In a new episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler sits down with Patrick Hulme, an IGCC affiliate and Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Stanford University, to take a deeper look at U.S. presidential war powers. Patrick explains how presidential war powers have evolved and what U.S. allies think, and weighs in on what a Harris or Trump presidency may imply for future U.S. involvement in foreign wars.

This interview was conducted on August 28, 2024. The conversation was edited for length and clarity. 

A new, dangerous nuclear era is upon us. China is rapidly expanding its arsenal; Russia is threatening to use its nukes in Ukraine; and North Korea is undertaking provocative tests of its delivery systems. Is a nuclear arms race at hand?

In this special episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by three experts who have devoted much of their careers to nuclear weapons security. Alex Bell is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Affairs in the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability at the U.S. State Department; Gov. Jerry Brown is the executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and John Scott is a nuclear scientist who serves as Division Leader of X-Theoretical Design at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Together, they answer the question of how the world can step back from the nuclear brink.

In the fifth and final episode of our podcast miniseries, Democracy and Its Discontents, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by the two leaders of IGCC’s Future of Democracy initiative, Emilie Hafner-Burton and Christina Schneider, who reflect on the state of American democracy and why it is worth protecting and strengthening. Emilie Hafner-Burton is a professor at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy and author of Making Human Rights a Reality. Christina Schneider is a professor of political science at UC San Diego, an expert in research on the domestic politics of international cooperation, and the author of two books, including The Responsive Union: National Elections and European Governance.

Why are voters in democracies around the world being wooed by aspiring autocrats? What do these types of leaders promise, and do they actually deliver?

In the fourth episode of our podcast miniseries, Democracy and Its Discontents, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by Stephan Haggard to analyze the track record of “strong states” that have elected populist leaders. Stephan is a research professor at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy and serves as research director for democracy and global governance at IGCC.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric has proved to be an effective tool for some political voices to translate cultural and economic anxieties into votes in their bid for power. As a result, partisan division is at an all-time high, and political leaders continue to stoke the flames of prejudice.

In the third episode of our podcast miniseries Democracy and Its Discontents, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by Zoltan Hajnal, who explains how and why the discourse around immigration is so effective at overshadowing all other dividing lines in American politics and creating confusion and division throughout the country. Zoltan, a professor of political science at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, is author of White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics, and co-author of a new book: Race and Inequality in American Politics: An Imperfect Union.

Democracy is supposed to be by and for the people, but limitless, unregulated money flowing into politics weakens the voice of the majority and gives outsized influence to elites who can distort the democratic process in their favor. What is the point of the rule of law, when it’s essentially for sale?

In the second episode of our democracy miniseries, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by UCLA professor Marty Gilens, author of Democracy in America? What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It. Together, they look at the role of money in U.S. elections—and in American politics as a whole—and explore the corrosive impact it has on representation.