Ep 149. Is an alliance with Israel geostrategically useful to the US? Plus sanctions on Russia and the UN’s Role

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In this listener questions episode, Jason and Jane discuss a range of issues from Israel-Gaza, to football hooliganism, to Kaliningrad (the Russian exclave), to the possibility of mega ordering institutions. They start by analysing the strategic importance of an alliance with Israel to the US by dissecting the Realist and Neo-conservative cases. Jane and Jason revisit the controversy of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from Birmingham by delving into the intersection of football and politics and the difference of fan culture in the US and UK. After the break, Jane and Jason tackle the questions: do sanctions on Russia go far enough? Could there be sanctions against the Kaliningrad exclave? Are we closer to nuclear war with Russia since the drone strikes? Why are we normalising Trump’s White House renovations? And as they Order the Disorder: we return as always to the need for a mega ordering club of democracies, how we decide on a common set of European values, and if the Ave Europe charity is on the right track.

Producer: George McDonagh

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Show Notes Links:

Join the Mega Orderers Club via this link: https://disorder.supportingcast.fm/

Read the Ave Europa Charter: https://ave-europa.eu/charter/ 

Mearsheimer on ‘The Israel Lobby's Awesome Power’ https://mearsheimer.substack.com/p/the-israel-lobbys-awesome-power

And push back against his thoughts: https://www.israelfactcheck.com/debunking-mearsheimer-walt-s-theories-on-israel-influence 

Some background on Kaliningrad: https://besacenter.org/kaliningrad-russias-exclave-in-europe/ 

Other perspectives on the rights of football fans and Maccabi hooliganism: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/21/police-intelligence-on-extreme-maccabi-fans-with-history-of-violence-led-to-villa-park-ban

Fighting for the rights of football fans

How a Cambridge researcher fought for the rights of football fans and won: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/footballact2012 

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