On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex talk with Jim Lobe, contributing editor at Responsible Statecraft, about the life and legacy of Dick Cheney after his death this week at the age of 84. 

Together, they unpack Cheney's long and gruesome record, from working with Donald Rumsfeld to derail Kissinger's strategy of detente with the Soviet Union, to helping the perpetrators of Iran-Contra get pardoned, to selling the American people on a catastrophic invasion of Iraq. 

Jim also helps situate Cheney within the broader conservative foreign policy movement, arguing that he is not a neoconservative himself,  though he worked directly with the neocons to reshape U.S. foreign policy after the Cold War.

Finally, they survey Cheney's legacy today —  how his efforts to concentrate power in a "unitary executive" empowered every 21st century president to engage in reckless military actions, and how his belief that United States has the right and responsibility to unilaterally intervene militarily anywhere and anytime has become gospel in Washington, D.C. 

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Why is America seemingly always at war? Join the Quincy Institute’s Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan as they expose the monied interests, outdated ideologies, and entrenched powers that have driven the U.S. to wage nearly 400 wars and interventions.

Each episode, they’ll be joined by journalists, advocates, and experts to uncover who profits from America’s endless conflicts, and to imagine how we can build a better, more peaceful U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Quincy Institute: quincyinst.org
Contact the show: [email protected]

Show art by Justin Hantz

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