The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

What is the nuclear revolution and why can't we agree on it? What is the Third Nuclear Age, why is it problematic as a concept, and what special dangers or opportunities might it hold? How important is multipolarity, and what counts as a pole? What counts as "emerging technologies" and how do they affect the risks of nuclear war? Is arms control possible in advanced conventional (non-nuclear) weaponry? And why is China expanding its nuclear arsenal? Dr. Benjamin Zala and Dr. Van Jackson talk about all this and more in the first of two episodes on the topic.Third Nuclear Age article by Andrew Futter and Ben Zala: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-international-security/article/strategic-nonnuclear-weapons-and-the-onset-of-a-third-nuclear-age/91EEB3B77D348252815F9F7B59DB8A32Thinking clearly about China's nuclear expansion: https://www.duckofminerva.com/2021/11/whos-afraid-of-chinas-nukes.htmlThe limits of strategy under multipolarity: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/p/what-happens-when-you-do-primacyThird Nuclear Age project site: https://thethirdnuclearage.comBen Zala's book, National Perspectives on a Multipolar Order: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526159373/Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com  

The legendary New Leftist and historian Michael Kazin joins the pod to talk about his recent essay in Dissent, "Reject the Left-Right Alliance in Ukraine." We also talk he ended up on the New Left, socialism in the Democratic Party, why he supported Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, the politics of being anti-war, the role of World War I in leftist historical memory, and his recent book What It Took To Win: A History of the Democratic Party.Dissent Essay: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/reject-the-left-right-alliance-against-ukraineWhat It Took To Win Book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374200237/whatittooktowinWar Against War Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/War-Against-War/Michael-Kazin/9781476705910Follow Michael Kazin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkazinSubscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.comBuy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomaticNow on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast

What Fareed Zakaria doesn't get about the dollar supremacy debate. Why American exceptionalists can't see Asian arms-racing clearly. Why AUKUS is controversial, in Australia, New Zealand, and across Asia. A Rorschach test on the corrosive US-Saudi Arabia relationship. And what the battle against LGBTQ persecution in Uganda says about all of us.Fareed Zakaria's dollar supremacy debate segment: https://twitter.com/FareedZakaria/status/1640058728752840707 Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomaticBen Zala's Tweet: https://twitter.com/DrBeeZee/status/1640598052254924803Matthew Sussex in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/time-to-grow-up-australias-national-security-dilemma-demands-a-mature-debate-202040F Moudouthe's Tweet: https://twitter.com/F_Moudouthe/status/1638597420035571714?cxt=HHwWhIC88f_qu70tAAAAEvan Laksmana's Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanLaksmana/status/1640253266507321344

How do African Americans view America's role in the world?  What does it mean when Black Americans say the US should "keep out" of foreign interventions?  What explains Black Republican hawkishness?  What is the Suge Knight theory of national inclusion?  Does Kanye West have anything to do with Democrats losing Black voters, or it Democratic Party hawkishness?  Van sits down to discuss all this and more with Dr. Christopher Shell. Report on How Black Americans Feel About the Possible Use of Military Force in Ukraine and Taiwan: https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/02/21/how-black-americans-feel-about-possible-use-of-military-force-in-ukraine-and-taiwan-pub-89066Report on How Do Black Americans Feel About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/03/02/how-do-black-americans-feel-about-wars-in-afghanistan-and-iraq-pub-89134Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcastNewsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

For the pod's first movie night, Van, Colette Shade, and Matt Duss discuss the 1998 cult political comedy, Bulworth. Did Bulworth presage Bernie Sanders? Where are the Bulworth Democrats today? How did the War on Terror set back the progressive movement 20 years? Why do reactionaries sometimes find hip-hop attractive? What does it say that politicians aren't safe among the people they represent? Could a movie like this be made today? Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com Watch Bulworth: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/bulworth 

We're trying to do more to spotlight interesting journal article-based academic research in a non-boring way. So today Van sits down with Dr. Samantha Leigh Payne to talk about her new history on fears of an Atlantic revolution in the Reconstruction Era.  How did the US civil war alter global power politics? What role did the US civil war play in the abolition of slavery elsewhere? What role did slaves themselves play in the revolutionary potential of that post-civil war moment? And what role is their for violence in progressive world making?Sam's article, "'A General Insurrection in the Countries with Slaves': The U.S. Civil War and the Origins of An Atlantic Revolution, 1861-1866": https://academic.oup.com/past/article/257/1/248/6490596 Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic

Kate and Hunter are back with Van. What's up with the "Rage Against the War Machine" protests? Is it really antiwar? Working class versus middle class--what's the diff? Cambodia versus economic statecraft. Biden's parochial progressivism. Congressional competency on foreign policy. And the nonsensical, unaccountable, dictator-loving Biden doctrine for the Middle East. Also this episode: a quick primer on racial capitalism!Ryan Morgan Tweet: https://twitter.com/ryanheadedsouth/status/1624536732182904837?t=uCCF0KcAD7K4xoEzSCmJug&s=19Andrew Nachemson Tweet: https://twitter.com/ANachemson/status/1624723853363773440Leonard Bernardo: https://twitter.com/leonardbenardo1/status/1627867024591360001Olufemi Taiwo on racial capitalism in Hammer & Hope Magazine: https://hammerandhope.org/article/issue-1-article-8Atlantic Council Speech on the "Biden doctrine for the Middle East": https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/transcript/brett-mcgurk-sets-out-the-biden-doctrine-for-the-middle-east/

Van does battle with voices ranging from John Mearsheimer and Robert Kagan to Joseph Nye and Hillary Clinton in this book launch at the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy for his book, Pacific Power Paradox: American Statecraft and the Fate of the Asian Peace. Must listen! Original Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoVm4MrK4aU&t=412sBuy Pacific Power Paradox: https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Power-Paradox-American-Statecraft/dp/0300257287/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KE1Q04ZJVROB&keywords=pacific+power+paradox&qid=1676789479&sprefix=%2Caps%2C759&sr=8-1Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.comBuy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/undiplomatic 

Dr. Matthew Specter, author of The Atlantic Realists, discusses the relationship between realism and liberalism in international relations, the impact of political theorists Carl Schmitt and Hans Morgenthau, and the complexities of shaping a progressive foreign policy using realist theory.

Dr. Matthew Specter, author of 'The Atlantic Realists,' discusses the diverse perspectives of realism, its imperial origins, and surprising connections to the Nazis. They also explore the importance of historical context in understanding figures like Mahan and critique the focus on the interwar crisis. Additionally, they delve into the similarities between realism and liberalism in international relations.