The Secure Line

Becky is back from Afghanistan. It’s Alex’s first episode back since podcast paternity leave. And we have so much to talk about! Trump swipes left on the UK Ambo. DOD musical chairs continues. Iran pushes back. And the next President is gonna need to solve some problems. Also: Radioactive rattlesnakes.

Mentioned:

Ganesh Sitaraman: The Emergence of a Progressive Foreign Policy, https://warontherocks.com/2019/04/the-emergence-of-progressive-foreign-policy/

Van Jackson: Wagering on a Progressive vs Liberal Theory on National Security: https://tnsr.org/roundtable/wagering-on-a-progressive-versus-liberal-theory-of-national-security/

Radioactive Rattlesnakes: https://www.wdrb.com/news/national/rattlesnake-uranium-whiskey-found-during-traffic-stop/article_3d21172f-81b8-57dc-a120-35347e8cba05.html

Brief updates on Iran and North Korea before diving deep into President Trump’s personalization of the state, including wrapping himself in the military at this week’s 4th of July celebrations in Washington, DC. Then Xander explains what the Arctic Council is and why we should pay attention to it.

After four months of podcast paternity leave, the Secure Line is back! Thank you all who hung around and waited patiently for host Dave’s little baby to learn how to sleep at night. This week on The Secure Line: Acting Secretaries of Everything, stumbling towards war with Iran, and Beto’s war tax idea.

Mentioned:

Dave, Caitlin, and Tony take a look at democracy backsliding in Europe and what to do about it. Then a discussion of DOD’s war-funding account gets into the broader question of national security spending priorities. And finally, Iran’s 1979 revolution turned 40 this week, so we touched on how it continues to impact US policy and politics.

Mentioned in the show: What Comes Next: Lessons for the Recovery of Liberal Democracy by Rachel Kleinfeld and David Solimini. Via the Democracy Fund and Carnegie Endowment. https://www.democracyfund.org/publications/what-comes-next-lessons-for-the-recovery-of-liberal-democracy

Reminder: The Secure Line will take a short hiatus when host Dave Solimini’s baby is born some time in the next few weeks.

What was notable about the State of the Union? What was missing? What what’s going to happen at the Trump-Kim Summit later this month? Also: Alex goes deep on Bob Marley and Xander likes bad movies.

This week the team breaks down the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment testimony and the president’s response. US wants more money from ROK. We aren’t optimistic about a possible peace deal in Afghanistan. And Alex gives us an update on a slew of nuclear policy issues.

The teach catches up on court challenges to the DOD ban on trans service members, deep dives into the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and then goes under the radar to cover the impact of political unrest in Zimbabwe, Sudan, and DRC. That, and updates on the Trump-Kim summit and Huawei.

Special guest Ali Wyne joins Xander and Dave this week. We chase the news of the President’s unusual secrecy over his meetings with Vladimir Putin. We go under the radar on the UK’s Brexi-tastophe. And we dive waaaaaayy deep on US-China trade relations and the intersection with technology issues. That and tangents into Iranian missiles and North Korean meetings. And Korean TV.

The Secure Line is back from our long holiday nap. And old friend Matt Fay is back as well. This week Dave, Alex, and Matt talk the border wall, the Syria withdrawal, and Kim Jung Un’s birthday trip to China.