Rational Security: The “Trump Ruined My Dinner” Edition

4 snips

Sep 11, 2025

In this engaging discussion, Rebecca Ingber, a Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School and former diplomat, joins hosts to unpack significant national security dilemmas. They delve into the provocative incursion of Russian UAVs into Polish airspace and the potential NATO implications. The conversation shifts to Israel's sudden attacks on Hamas leaders, exploring its ramifications for regional diplomacy. They also tackle the complex legal justifications surrounding military actions and reflect humorously on the intersection of serious geopolitical issues and light-hearted anecdotes.

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ANECDOTE

Dinner Standup Turned Good News

Ben Wittes was stood up for dinner because his friends cancelled after a hostage was freed.
He was delighted to be stood up when Elizabeth Zirkoff's release was announced on social media.

INSIGHT

Drones Over Poland Test NATO Resolve

Poland reported dozens of armed Russian UAVs entered its airspace and NATO partners shot them down.
Russia and Belarus called the incursion accidental, but European officials viewed it as likely deliberate testing of NATO resolve.

INSIGHT

Article 4 Signals Concern, Not War

Poland invoked NATO Article 4, which triggers consultations, not automatic military response under Article 5.
Article 4 signals concern without declaring the incident an armed attack that would compel collective defense measures.

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This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Benjamin Wittes and Natalie Orpett, and Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School Rebecca Ingber, to talk through the week’s big national security news, including:

“Uninvited Aerial Vehicles.” The Polish government is claiming that nineteen armed Russian UAVs penetrated its airspace last night. While Russians are suggesting no attack was intended, Poland has invoked Article IV of the NATO Treaty and worked with allied NATO aircraft to shoot the drones down. What might be happening here? And does it mean we’re on our way to World War III as some are suggesting?
“Bibi is a Killer Negotiator. No, Wait—Switch That.” Within days of the Trump administration tabling another ceasefire proposal—and, by some accounts, making progress in pressuring Hamas to accept it—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized a set of missile strikes that killed the leaders of Hamas’s political wing in nearby Qatar. It’s the first such move in a Gulf country, many of which have moved towards normalization with Israel through the Trump-backed Abraham Accords. What explains Israel’s actions? And what do they portend for the conflict in Gaza and the region as a whole?
“Cruise Control.” A week has passed since the Trump administration took the controversial step of targeting a boat alleged to be smuggling narcotics at the direction of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua with lethal force. The Trump administration hasn’t repeated the move, but it’s said it intends to. And U.S. military assets—including strategic assets whose use in a counter-narcotics military campaign is far from clear—have continued to build up in the region, leading some to believe that a broader campaign against Venezuela itself may yet be in the offing. How likely is a broader campaign? And could its implications be, legally and politically?

In Object Lessons, Ben is cheering on a cadre of former FBI agents suing Kash Patel over their firings, and in the process, sings the praises of an accidental hero—the “Drizz.” Natalie, meanwhile, gets très littéraire with “The Elegance of the Hedgehog,” by Muriel Barbery—a book so French that almost nothing happens. Scott rang in his 8th wedding anniversary the traditional way: getting drunk in the basement and falling in love all over again—with The Paper. And Bec wonders just how much coin it’s going to take to change the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

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