Horns of a Dilemma

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, talks about Brexit. Sloat details the path of how Britain got to this point, as well as the number of efforts on the part of Theresa May and Boris Johnson to find a solution that would be amenable both to the British Parliament and to the European Union. Her insights help to understand both the long-term implications of Brexit, as well as the substantial challenges that are posed by the implementation of this agreement. The talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Aaron O’Connell, associate professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, and Paul Edgar, associate director of the Clements Center for National Security, moderate a conversation with retired Gen. Robert Neller, the 37th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. During the discussion, Neller focuses on the future of the Marines, the future of war, and vital threats to American national interests. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center and the Strauss Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, comes to the University of Texas to discuss his book, How Churchill Waged War: The Most Challenging Decision of the Second World War. Packwood explores issues that are lesser known than Churchill’s famous oratorical skills, such as how he organized for success in dealing with the unique challenges that confronted him as he assumed the premiership, how he dealt with questions of civil-military relations by assuming the role of defense minister, and how the features that made Churchill an indomitable war leader led ultimately to his transition from power after the war. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center, sits down with a panel of experts to discuss the origins and possible outcomes of the Brexit referendum. Will is joined by Michael Mosser, assistant professor of international relations and global studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Lorinc Redei, lecturer and graduate adviser for the Global Policy Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin, and Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center. 

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Charlie Laderman, lecturer in international history at the War Studies Department at King's College, discusses his book Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention, and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order. Laderman talks about the mass killing and death of Armenians during the period that preceded and shortly followed the independence of the Turkish Republic. The subject of this episode focuses on the question of how this incident signaled the rise of a global order based simultaneously on liberalism, sovereignty, and a commitment to human rights. This event took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center. 

In this episode of Horns of Dilemma, Calder Walton, assistant director of the Applied History Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, talks about election meddling in the past, present, and future. He describes the history of KGB interference in U.S. elections and how the U.S. has countered it. Walton discusses how the KGB found that they just couldn't just construct a lie out of whole cloth. Instead, they had to build on pre-existing divides that existed in America. KGB propaganda focused on issues of race, religion, and, strangely, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center, the Strauss Center, and the International Studies Project. 

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Darren Dochuk, associate professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, discusses his new book, Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America. Dochuk explores how oil grafted itself to the soul of the United States and became part of its identity. He uses the term "wildcat Christianity" to describe the actions of oil prospectors who used the profits from their ventures to support Christian missionary endeavors around the world and traces how the religious identity and cultural identity of the United States are intertwined with this natural resource. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, Will Inboden, executive director of the Clements Center, sits down with Professor Paul Pope and Dr. Kiril Avramov of the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas and Dr. Calder Walton, assistant director of the Applied History Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, to discuss the history of influence operations and active measures by the Soviet Union and Russia. Their wide-ranging discussion covers everything from Soviet active measures in Chile, to the theory of reflexive control that governed the Soviet strategy of conducting influence operations, to the response in the United States to Operation JADE HELM, Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the role of social media in advancing political warfare goals. Join us for a fascinating conversation about history that has urgent implications for today.

Sovereignty as a concept conveys that a single entity has the legitimate authority to exercise governance over a particular territory. So, how can an exclusive individual right be shared? John Ciorciari, associate professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and director of the Weiser Diplomacy Center and the International Policy Center, explores these questions at a talk he recently gave at the University of Texas. Specifically, he asks what sovereignty sharing is and why it matters, and what the conditions are under which it could work. Ciorciari uses examples from Cambodia, Liberia, and Guatemala to illustrate what sovereignty sharing looks like in practice, and why it matters. This talk took place at the University of Texas at Austin and was sponsored by the Clements Center.

In this episode of Horns of a Dilemma, TNSR's executive editor, Doyle Hodges, sits down with Laurie Blank, clinical professor of law and director of the International Law Clinic at Emory University, and Bobby Chesney, James Baker Chair in the Rule of Law and World Affairs and director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas, Austin. They discuss the field of national security law broadly, including why Americans have turned increasingly to law to address questions related to national security, even as public confidence in institutions associated with law has declined. They also dive into how law confers legitimacy on the process of national security decision-making and what the limitations of law are in addressing national security questions. Join us for a fascinating discussion on law, security, technology, and society.