The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

The Australian right's red-baiting flop on China. New Zealand's trucker protests have morphed into a mob.   Dwayne Johnson could actually be the next president because America loves unqualified "cool bros."  How Van has evolved on China rivalry stuff.  Progressives debate Russia-Ukraine.  South Korean nukes.  The limits of Ben & Jerry's theory of peace.  Jake Grumbach Tweet: https://twitter.com/JakeMGrumbach/status/1493277842062209025Graham Webster Tweet: https://twitter.com/gwbstr/status/1495458935565742084Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Tweet: https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/status/1489393235655106562Evan Laksmana Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanLaksmana/status/1495191322738962432?s=20&t=M23YweHXACSR7Iiew3tN5gEric Gomez Tweet: https://twitter.com/EricGomezAsia/status/1490182380572839938?t=wr-Vv7hpPTTBaBahsqNF2w&s=19Terrell Jermaine Starr Piece on Progressive Russia-Ukraine Policy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/11/progressives-defend-ukraine/?utm_source=PostUp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Editors%20Picks%20OC&utm_term=39416&tpcc=Editors%20Picks%20OCContributors: Jake Dellow, Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

With Van out, guest host James Palmer from Foreign Policy magazine joins the pod to talk about whether realists or liberals are more annoying, the debate over Russian invasion, escalation ladder messiness, and China watching. Contributors: Hunter Marston, Ciara Mitchell, Alex Auty

In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with James Palmer, Deputy Editor at Foreign Policy Magazine, award-winning travel writer, and best-selling author. They talk about James's life reporting in China and getting out just in time.  His best-selling first book about the Russian pro-Nazi monarchist who briefly took over Mongolia.  Anti-Americanism in South Korea.  And advice writing and pitching the big magazines in foreign policy.

In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with John Feffer, co-director of the Foreign Policy in Focus project at the Institute for Policy Studies.  They talk about John's new book, Right Across the World: The Global Networking of the Far-Right and the Left Response.  They also talk about writing novels and plays as a foreign policy analyst, or doing foreign policy analysis as a playwright.  Remembering the way arms control used to be a reactionary arguments against disarmament.  Institute for Policy Studies: https://ips-dc.orgSplinterlands Trilogy of Novels: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1039-splinterlandsFoamers Novel: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/first-edition/Foamers-Berson-Jon-Scribner-New-York/231272502/bdRight Across the World Book: https://www.amazon.com/Right-Across-World-Networking-Far-Right/dp/0745341896

With Van out, guest host Dr. Emma Ashford from The Atlantic Council joins the pod to talk about the credibility problem with extended nuclear deterrence, the restrainer perspective on Russia versus Ukraine, Washington's paralysis on international trade, and the complications with measuring power between China and the US. Contributors: Hunter Marson, Ciara Mitchell, Jake Dellow

Where have all the peace intellectuals gone?  How do you make enemies into friends?  What's it like to be mixed-race in national security?  Should we do away with economic sanctions entirely?  Is it easier to shape the world than to shape China?  What's Russia's freaking problem?  Seva Gunitsky Tweet: https://twitter.com/SevaUT/status/1462766445121650696Ben Scott Tweet: https://twitter.com/Ben_G_Scott/status/1460444100008628224Mike McFaul Tweet: https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1462624691680514060?t=krF4h150FaPW08quGY0H4A&s=19Law Boy Esq. Tweet: https://twitter.com/The_Law_Boy/status/1462193648586698759?t=j3TbRRLJqxnM9UhEJqDXlA&s=19Lowy Institute Essays on Order in Asia: https://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/indo-pacific-operating-system/#articlesContributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

In this Hustle edition of the show, Dr. Van Jackson sits down with Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, author of multiple books including the novel The 2020 Commission, co-host of the Arms Control Wonk podcast, and founder of the Arms Control Wonk blog.  That's a lot of stuff. 

With Van Jackson out, Dr. John Delury (Professor at Yonsei University) joined the crew as guest host. This episode talks about his America's imperial blindspot in the Pacific, what Kissinger can't teach Asia, why historians aren't in the prediction business, China rivalry, and the South Korean presidency.  Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Hunter Marston, Alex Auty

Rather than the normal show, this week's episode is a recording of Dr. Van Jackson's keynote lecture at Ritsumeikan University, addressing the concept of nuclear precarity and what it means for the risks of nuclear war in East Asia.  

What does the American public think about China, internal v. external threats, and who benefits from US foreign policy?  This week we were joined by Craig Kafura with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs to discuss the results of their recent survey about all things foreign policy.  Also this episode: the Philippines' Duterte problem as a structural issue; a review of a review of Rush Doshi's book on Chinese grand strategy; and North Korean hypersonic glide vehicles.Chicago Council Survey: http://www.thechicagocouncil.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/ccs2021_fpmc_0.pdfB-Minus IT Tweet: https://twitter.com/b_minus_lt/status/1444517854607409152?s=19Anand Giridharadas Tweet: https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1444260873661464579?s=20Christophe Deloire Tweet: https://twitter.com/chrisdeloire/status/1447524766542450693Contributors: Hunter Marston, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell