Clearer Than Truth

Edward Fishman is a leading scholar of economic statecraft and a former U.S. diplomat who helped design sanctions policies at the State Department and Treasury. He is currently a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and also teaches at its Center on Global Energy Policy. His book Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare (2025) offers a gripping, behind-the-scenes account of how the U.S. turned global finance, technology, and energy infrastructure into tools of geopolitical influence.Support the show

Barry R. Posen is the Ford International Professor of Political Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director Emeritus of its MIT Security Studies Program. A leading scholar in grand strategy and defense policy, his influential works include Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy and The Sources of Military Doctrine. Posen continues to shape debates on global power shifts, U.S. force posture, and military intervention through his teaching, research, and commentary.Support the show

Scott Kennedy is Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). A leading authority on Chinese economic policy and U.S.–China commercial relations, he has traveled to China for nearly four decades and focuses on China’s industrial policy, tech innovation, and global economic governance. His publications include The Business of Lobbying in China, The Fat Tech Dragon, and numerous policy reports on U.S.–China tensions. Support the show

Don Bentley is a bestselling American thriller author and former FBI Special Agent, SWAT team member, and U.S. Army Apache helicopter pilot. He currently continues the legacy of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, with his newest novel Denied Access, which takes fans back to Rapp’s early days as he battles threats to the CIA and a lover in peril. Bentley’s diverse writing portfolio also includes the Matt Drake series and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Jr. novels.Support the show

Jake Tapper, a CNN anchor and bestselling author, discusses pressing issues around free speech and political violence. He highlights the chilling effects of corporate compliance on American discourse and reflects on motivations behind today’s extreme actions. Tapper also delves into the nuances of prosecuting terrorists, advocating for criminal trials over military commissions. He shares insights on how the War on Terror has influenced U.S. policies and debates, while warning that military force alone can't eradicate extremist ideologies.

Jack Carr is a former U.S. Navy SEAL turned bestselling author known for his high-octane military thrillers. He burst onto the scene with The Terminal List, which was adapted into a Prime Video series, and has since written several more in the Reece series including Red Sky Mourning and Cry Havoc. In addition to fiction, he’s the author of Targeted: Beirut, a nonfiction work exploring the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings. Carr is also the host of the Danger Close podcast and draws heavily on his two decades of special operations experience in his writing.Support the show

Karen Elliott House is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and former managing editor, publisher, and international editor at The Wall Street Journal with over four decades of experience covering Saudi Arabia. Her latest book, The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia (2025), draws on exclusive interviews with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and offers a nuanced view of a ruler trying to modernize while consolidating power. House is also author of On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines — and Future. Support the show

Oona A. Hathaway is the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and President-Elect of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), beginning her presidency in 2026. She also holds appointments at Yale’s Department of Political Science and the MacMillan Center, and directs the Center for Global Legal Challenges. A leading scholar of international and national security law, her research examines the global legal order, war powers, cyber sovereignty, and accountability in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Hathaway is also a Guggenheim Fellow (2025–26) and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.Support the show

Paul Poast is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago, where he also serves as Deputy Dean for Doctoral Education and directs the Summer Institute for Social Research Methods. He’s a nonresident senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a foreign affairs columnist for World Politics Review. His research covers international security, alliance politics, and the political economy of warfare, and he is the author of books such as The Economics of War, Organizing Democracy, Arguing About Alliances, and Wheat at War.Support the show

Ryan Hass is an American foreign policy analyst and diplomat currently serving as the director of the John L. Thornton China Center and the Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies at the Brookings Institution. A former U.S. diplomat, he held senior roles including Director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolian Affairs at the National Security Council during the Obama administration, and served in diplomatic posts in Seoul and Beijing. Hass is a prolific author whose recent works include Stronger: Adapting America’s China Strategy in an Age of Competitive Interdependence (Yale University Press, 2021) and U.S.–Taiwan Relations (Brookings Institution Press, 2023), and he continues to shape conversations on U.S.-East Asia relations through Brookings and major media outlets .Support the show