Anastasiia Lapatina, a Ukraine Fellow at Lawfare, joins Eric Ciaramella and Alex Zerden, both contributing editors with deep insights into national security. They discuss significant shifts in U.S. foreign policy toward Syria, analyzing the implications of lifting sanctions. The conversation also highlights Ukraine's daring drone attack on Russian targets, a pivotal moment with potential ramifications for the ongoing conflict. They delve into the balance of military strategy and geopolitical dynamics, scrutinizing the need for continued Western support in this complex landscape.
01:10:20
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Arctic Norway Security Anecdote
Anastasiia Lapatina shared her recent experience attending a conference in Arctic Norway focused on security issues.
She witnessed subtle Russian aggression along the Norway-Russia border and investigated regional security dynamics there.
insights INSIGHT
Complexity of Syria Sanctions Shift
The Trump administration reversed decades of sanctions on Syria, issuing broad exceptions but not removing the sanctions entirely.
Unwinding extensive sanctions built over 46 years is complex and can't be swiftly undone by a simple declaration.
insights INSIGHT
Sanctions Relief May Not Spur Investment
The US aims to avoid a collapse in Syria's transitional government by easing sanctions to spur economic activity.
However, temporary licenses and risk-averse firms limit long-term investment and economic recovery.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two
Henrik Meynander
This is the long description for the History of Finland
The Watchdog
How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two
Steve Drummond
The Watchdog explores the Truman Committee's efforts to combat corruption and inefficiency in the U.S. war effort during World War II. Through meticulous research, Steve Drummond highlights how Truman's leadership in this committee not only helped win the war but also paved his path to the presidency. The book offers a compelling narrative of political integrity and bipartisan cooperation.
This week, Scott sat down with Lawfare’s Ukraine Fellow Anastasiia Lapatina and Contributing Editors Eric Ciaramella and Alex Zerden to talk through the week’s big national security and foreign policy news, including:
“The Road to Damascus.” Over the past two weeks, the Trump administration has done an extraordinary about-face on U.S. policy towards Syria, installing almost universal exceptions to most existing sanctions programs and promising to end others. European and other allies seem poised to follow suit, all in an effort to forestall the feared collapse of the post-Assad transitional government being headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, himself a former terrorist leader. But will it be enough to put post-Civil War Syria on the road to recovery? And will this new policy orientation prove sustainable?
“No Fly Zone.” Ukraine struck a historic blow deep into Russian territory over the weekend with a daring series of coordinated drone attacks—dubbed “Operation Spider Web”—that may have wiped out as much as a third of Moscow’s strategically important long range bombers. But will the attack help drive the costs of the conflict home to Russia, or trigger another round of escalation? And how will it be received by the Trump administration, several senior members of which are skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine?
“Double Taxation.” President Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs suffered a pair of defeats in federal court last week, as two different courts chose to enjoin them, for two different sets of reasons. While both decisions have since been stayed, it’s a discouraging sign for the viability of the legal authorities being relied on by the Trump administration. Yet President Trump has continued to threaten tariffs aggressively, including against Europe. How big a threat are these legal holdings to the Trump administration’s policy agenda? And how will they impact its efforts to negotiate new bilateral trade deals, with allies and rivals alike?
In Object Lessons, Eric polished off the last of The Rehearsal’s Season 2 and was left in awe of the show’s ability to actually become a show. Nastya returned from colder climates with a warm endorsement of all things Finland: its history, its icy stare at Russia, and its impressive ability to survive both. Speaking of war, Scott dove sword-first into fantasy, reminded of Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy after the new release of “The Devils.” And Alex kept it historical with a recommendation of “The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two,” by Steve Drummond.
The Lawfare Podcast 