Sirens: A Bombshell production

Bombshell welcomes back Amanda Sloat to dish on all the drama across the pond - Brexit, the selection of the new Tory leader, and Trump's visit, which was surely not (short)waisted [sic]. Foreign relations are a-twitter with elections in the European Union and Israel (yes, again). And Kim Jong Un thumbed his nose at the world to show that he of course does not murder his failed negotiators – he just imprisons them. The Trump administration has launched another salvo in a trade war with Mexico the same week it noticed USMC-A to Congress, proving that we do indeed contain multitudes. And did you happen to hear about what's going on with the USS John S. McCain? Also, Radha watched Good Omens and you should too. Links Trade – Mexico Andrew Van Dam, "As Mexico Becomes America's Top Source of Imported Goods, Here are the Products That Could Be Most Hit By Trump's Tariffs," Washington Post, May 31, 2019 Edward Alden, "Why Congress Cannot Allow the Trump Tariffs on Mexico to Stand," Council on Foreign Relations," May 31, 2019 Tom Hals and Brendan Pierson, "Trump's Mexican Tariffs Test Limits of U.S. Emergency Powers: Legal Experts," Reuters, May 31, 2019 Trade - China "China Threatens Sweeping Blacklist of Firms After Huawei Ban," Bloomberg, May 31, 2019 EU Election Jon Henley, "EU Elections Turnout Rises As Political Landscape Fragments," Guardian, May 26, 2019 NK Executions Laura Bicker, "North Korea Execution Reports – Why We Should Be Cautious," BBC, MAY 31, 2019 Brexit Amanda Sloat, "Brexit Endgame: A Withdrawal Agreement for Theresa May, But No Clarity on Brexit," Brookings, May 30, 2019 Thomas Wright, "How Trump Undermined Theresa May," Atlantic, May 31, 2019 The Role of Parliament in Today's Britain, Brookings, May 28, 2019 Israeli Elections Bernard Avishai, "A Climax to the Saga of Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman," New Yorker, June 1, 2019 Yaakov Katz, "Why is Israel Really Going to New Elections?" Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2019 USS McCain Barbara Starr and Devan Cole, "Shanahan: USS John McCain Request Made Directly to Seventh Fleet," CNN, June 2, 2019

This week the ladies dive into the recent Iran drama with Ariane Tabatabai. Next, they revisit some recent election results before turning to whirlwind trade developments, as talks with China fall apart and new restrictions are levied against Huawei. White House Mayhem never disappoints, and the ladies sound off on the moral and strategic bankruptcy of pardoning war criminals. Pop-culture brings us home. Links Elections Damien Cave, "Australia Elections Results: Prime Minister Scott Morrison Seizes a Stunning Win," New York Times, May 18, 2019 Hywel Griffith and Jay Savage, "Scott Morrison: How Australia's PM Built a 'Miracle' Election Win," BBC, May 19, 2019 Douglas Schorzman and Kai Schultz, "Polls Are Closed in India's Election: What Happens Next?" New York Times, May 19, 2019 Trade Brendan Murray, "Tariff Man Trump Just Had Himself a Week. Here's a Recap," Bloomberg, May 19, 2019 China Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher, "How Xi's Last-Minute Switch on U.S.-China Trade Deal Upended It," New York Times, May 16, 2019 Eamon Barrett, "China is Running Out of U.S. Good to Tariff, Has Other Trade War Weapons to Unleash," Fortune, May 18, 2019 Michael Schuman, "To China, Alls' Fair in. Love and Trade Wars," Atlantic, May 18, 2019 Julia Horowitz, " Huawei Takes the U.S.-China Trade War to a Dangerous New Level," CNN, May 16, 2019 Mexico – Canada Kayla Tausche and Jacob Pramuk, "US Reaches Deal to Lift Steel and Aluminum Tariffs on Canada and Mexico," CNBC, May 17, 2019 Iran "Iran Nuclear Deal: Tehran May Increase Uranium Enrichment," BBC, May 08, 2019 Becca Wasser and Ariane Tabatabai, Washington Post, "Irans Network of Fighters in the Middle East Aren't Always Loyal to Iran," May 21, 2019 Eric Brewer, Elisa Catalano Ewers, Ilan Goldenberg, Peter Harrell, Nicholas Heras, Elisabeth Rosenberg, and Ariane Tabatabai, "A Realistic Path for Progress on Iran," CNAS, January 29, 2019 Ariane Tabatabai, "Can Anyone Save the Iran Nuclear Deal?" New York Times, May 10, 2019 Huawei Frank Bajak and Tali Arbel, "Huawei Hit by US Export Controls, Potential Important Ban," AP News, May 16, 2019 Emily Feng, "S. Move to Isolate Huawei Sends Ripples Through Global Supply Chain," NPR, May 16, 2019 Emily Stewart, "The US Government's Ongoing Battle With Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei, Explained," Vox, May 21, 2019 War Crimes Dave Philipps, "Trump May Be Preparing Pardons for Servicemen Accused of War Crimes," New York Times, May 18, 2019

This week Erin and Radha hold down the fort and return to some of Bombshell's greatest hits topics, starting with North Korean missile tests and a double feature from ISIS (a new video from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the horrific attacks in Sri Lanka), and spinning some militias in Libya and new Iran sanctions for good measure. With the continuing mayhem in Washington, they turn to the chaos in Venezuela, lack of data from Afghanistan, and of course the "clash of civilizations" on the horizon with China. With Loren out, Erin has to skip Game of Thrones coverage and talk princess TV and tiaras with Radha. Links Libya Mieczyslaw Boduszynski and Christopher Lamont, "Trump Changed US Policy Toward Libya. This is Why it Matters," Washington Post, May 03, 2019 Al Baghdadi/Sri Lanka Frank Gardner, "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Why is it So Difficult to Track Down IS Leader?" BBC, May 01, 2019 Souad Mekhennet "In ISIS Leaders Video Appearance, Messages to Followers, Rivals, and the West," Washington Post, May 02, 2019 Iran Sanctions "Six Charts That Show How Hard US Sanctions Have Hit Iran," BBC, May 02, 2019 Osama Bin Javaid, "Iran Sanctions Explained," Aljazeera, May 04, 2019 Matthew Lee, "US Renews Iran Sanctions Waivers for Civilian Nuclear Work," AP, May 03, 2019 "Clash of Civilization" Daniel Drezner, "Let's Grade the State Department's Director of Policy Planning on Her Grand Strategy Musings," Washington Post, May 01, 2019 Paul Musgrave, "The Slip That Revealed the Real Trump Doctrine," Foreign Policy, May 02, 2019 "A Better Reading of History Must Bring Home the Truth That the Basic Factor in Human Affairs is Not Politics, But Race," Lawyers Guns Money Blog, May 03, 2019 Jessica Chen Weiss, "No China and the US Aren't Locked in an Ideological Battle. Not Even Close," Washington Post, May 04, 2019 Afghanistan "US Military Stops Releasing Information Tracking Progress in Afghanistan," CBS, May 01, 2019 Sri Lanka James Griffiths, "A Weeks After the Easter Sunday Attacks, Sri Lanka is No Closer to Understanding or Healing," CNN, April 28, 2019 Venezuela Karen DeYoung, "US Officials Weigh Options for Venezuela as Trump Describes Positive Call with Putin," Washington Post, May 03, 2019 Anthony Faiola, "Guaido Says Opposition Overestimated Military Support Before Failed Uprising," Washington Post, May 04, 2019

This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin explore the world's many recent elections - in Israel, India, Indonesia, and Ukraine. They then return to Northern Ireland, not to talk about Brexit, but to unpack resurgent sectarian violence. The recent coup in Sudan rounds out a very sporty Keeping up Foreign Relations. Radha notes we're still waiting on a big trade summit with China before we dive headfirst into the Mueller report and speculate wildly on the ongoing counter-intelligence investigation(s). DoD remains opaque as ever, while DHS gets purged. Finally, a lively Pop Culture round-up to take our minds off all this mayhem. Links Trade Enda Curran "How the US-China Trade War Reached A Turning Point," Washington Post, April 18, 2019 Jeff Cox, "US Trade Deficit Falls in February As Shortfall with China Decreases 28%," CNBC, April 17, 2019 DHS: Ronald Brownstein, "Trump's Immigration Policies Unify White Republicans," Atlantic, April 11, 2019 Sudan Nandita Balakrishnan, "Sudan's Upheaval is the Latest Examples of a Gray Zone Coup," Washington Post, April 17, 2019 Mai Hassan and Ahmed Kodouda, "Sudan Ousted Two Autocrats in Three Days. Here's What's Next," Washington Post, April 15, 2019 Protests "Protests in Sudan Are Escalating. Here's What You Need to Know," Washington Post, April 10, 2019 "Generals Overthrew Sudan's President Bashir, But They Can't Agree On What Comes Next," Washington Post, April 16, 2019 Election "FP's Guide to the Indian Elections," Foreign Policy, April 18, 2019 Arys Aditya, "After Record One-Day Indonesia Election, Result Still Weeks Away," Bloomberg, April 20, 2019 Ilan Goldenberg, "The Future of the Two-State Solution is at Stake," April 08, 2019 Northern Ireland "Lyra McKee Murder: Journalist Shot Dead During Derry Rioting," BBC, April 19, 2019 "Petrol Bombs Thrown at Police in Derry As Journalist Kill," Guardian, April 19, 2019 Ed O'Loughlin and Richard Perez-Pena, "Lyra McKee, Northern Ireland Journalist, Is Killed in 'Terrorist Incident,' Police Say," New York Times, April 19, 2019 Bonnie Weir, "Brexit and a Border Town: Troubles Ahead in Northern Ireland?" New York Review of Books, April 11, 2019 Mueller Benjamin Wittes, "Notes on the Mueller Report: A Reading Diary," Lawfare, April 19, 2019 Joshua Geltzer and Ryan Goodman "Mueller Hints at a National-Security Nightmare," New York Times, April 19, 2019 Pop Culture Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Teaser Spencer Kornhaber, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Might Spark and Old Fight," April 12, 2019 Andrew Dyce, "Star Wars Already Made Rey a True Skywalker (You Just Missed It)," Screen Rant, April 20, 2019

The ladies of Bombshell take on proteins and Afghanistan policy all in one segment with special guest Frances Brown. Across the pond, Brexit is going nowhere fast and NATO is celebrating a grand birthday while the American president is questioning whether he wants to keep paying dues. In It's Aghast, 5G is fast, the future, and not so much fun for American competitiveness. And in White House mayhem, the Congress mustered up some war powers energy to get the US out of the military operations in Yemen that the administration claims we aren't in, while the president visited the border just defenestrating his Homeland Security Secretary. Links Huawei/5G Ahiza Garcia, "Verizon Launches First 5G Phone You Can Use on a 5G Network in US," CNN, April 3, 2019 Milo Medin and Gilman Louie, "The 5G Ecosystem: Risks and Opportunities for DOD," Defense Innovation Board, April 2019 Zak Doffman, "Huawei May Have Claimed 5G Victory Over the US But Is Now In A Street Fight," Forbes, April 5, 2019 Keith Johnson and Elias Groll, "The Improbable Rise of Huawei," Foreign Policy, April 3, 2019 Saudi Human Rights Vivian Yee and David Kirkpatrick, "Saudis Escalate Crackdown on Dissent, Arresting Nine and Risking US Ire," New York Times, April 5, 2019 Alex Ward, "Saudi Arabia Is Detaining American Activists 6 Months After Khashoggi's Murder," Vox, April 5, 2019 ALQST, Tweets, April 4, 2019 Joyce Lee and Dalton Bennett, "The Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi," Washington Post, April 1, 2019 Brexit Heather Stewart and Daniel Boffey, "Hopes of Brexit Progress Fade as Labour Says May Has Failed to Compromise," Guardian, April 5, 2019 Afghanistan Fahim Abed, "Taliban Attack Kills Dozens in Afghanistan Despite U.S. Efforts in Peace Talks," New York Times, April 4, 2019 Barbara Walter, "Hoping That Peace Comes to Afghanistan? Dream On," Washington Post, January 30, 2019 Mexico Border Molly O'Toole, Noah Bierman, and Eli Stokols, "As Trump Threatens to Close Border, Experts Warn of Billions in Economic Damage," Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2019 Maegan Vazquez, "Trump Heads to US-Mexico Border After a Week of Confusing Threats," CNN, April 6, 2019 NATO Karen Donfried, "3 Ways Europe Is Looking At A Fray NATO," Defense One, April 2, 2019 Rachel Rizzo and Carrie Cordero, "Bolstering Congressional Support for NATO," CNAS, March 20, 2019 Yemen Elisa Catalano Ewers and Nicholas Heras, "Congressional Action on Yemen Isn't Only About Yemen," CNAS, February 27, 2019

Join Bombshell for a rousing discussion of the fathomless train wreck that is Brexit and the increasing lack of predictability of the upcoming Israeli elections. Believe it or not, China trade talks are not going as well as they might, as we discuss in "It's Aghast." In White House mayhem, President Trump issued a tremendous press release on the fourth or fifth defeat of ISIL with some bombast and a little general life advice, while recognizing the generally illegal Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights, crapping on his own North Korea policy, and putting out a DOA defense budget. We're all fine here, how are you? Links Ana Swanson, "Trump Administration Strikes Tougher Stance Ahead of China Talk," New York Times, March 22, 2019 Ian Austen, "What's Going on Between Canada and China? Our Experts Share Their Thoughts," New York Times, March 22, 2019 Yen Nee Lee, "A Trade Deal Could Come in Weeks, But it Won't Remove 'Contentious' Issues, Says Former US Diplomat," CNBC, March 24, 2019 Audit of the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund's Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2017 Kathy Gilsinan, "The 'Caliphate' Is Dead, but Americans Might Not Be Any Safer," Atlantic, March 23, 2019 Tamara Cofman Wittes and Ilan Goldenberg, "Trump's Golan Fiasco: Recognizing the Disputed Territory Won't Help Israel. But It Will Reverberate All Over the World," Politico, March 22, 2019

Erin, Radha, and Loren made the trip to Duke University to join the Carlucci National Security Symposium at the Sanford School of Public Policy. On the agenda for this special live show: topics we want presidential candidates to debate, big ideas we want to stop hearing about in foreign policy and what big issues that bridge the public and private sectors should we be worrying more about. It is unclear whether Erin has performed enough penance for visiting Duke in basketball season.

This week Dr. Tanvi Madan joins the ladies to explain the brewing crisis between India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Then Radha breaks down last week's trade negotiations with China (what really is an MOU anyway and what happened to our leverage?). We revisit Venezuela as the Vice President prepares for a trip to the region and then discuss the humanitarian and policy implications of the "ISIS wives." White House Mayhem lives up to its name with uncoordinated Syria policies, rogue nuclear reactor deals, and sad faces in Munich. We're all enjoying the many escapes offered by Pop Culture. Links Kashmir Emily Lalwani and Emily Tallo, "Driver, Decision, Deilemmas: Understanding the Kashmir Crisis and Its Implications," War on the Rocks Sumit Ganguly, "Narendra Modi Should Calm Tensions in Kashmir Rather Than Inflame Them," Foreign Policy It's Aghast Bob Davis, "Officials Play Down Apperance of Rift Between Trump and Lighthizer on Trade," Wall Street Journal "US and China Are Sketching the Outlines of a Deal to End the Trade War," CNBC KUFR Venezuela Dennis Romero, "Venezuela's Maduro Cuts Ties with Colombia Amid Border Conflict," NBC News ISIS women Meghna Chakrabarti, "Return from ISIS: American Women Want Out of Extremism," WBUR "The Difficult Diplomacy Involved in Returning Former ISIS Fighter and Their Families," Washington Post Vira Mironova "Is the Future of ISIS Female?" New York Times Jayne Huckerby, "When Women Become Terrorists," New York Times White House Mayhem Syria "White House Will Keep About 400 Troops in Syria, Reversing Previous Decision," NPR Saudi Nuclear tech "Multiple Whistleblowers Raise Grave Concerns with White House Efforts to Transfer Sensitive U.S. Nuclear Technology to Saudi Arabia," Oversight Alex Ward, "House Dems Reveal. New Info on a Shady White House Plan to Sell Nuclear Tech to Saudi Arabia," Vox "The Hostility Toward Foreign Policy Community, Explained," Washington Post Munich Thomas Wright, "The Moment the Transatlantic Charade Ended," Atlantic Daniel Estrin, "Munich Security Conference Reveals A Growing Rift Between U.S. and Its Allies," NPR

This week Paula Garcia Tufro joins the Radha, Loren, and Erin to discuss the brewing crisis in Venezuela. Then the ladies fashion an update on Brexit, explore uncharted waters in Iraq, and ask what is the point of a second North Korea summit when nothing has happened since the first! Radha unpacks recent trade negotiations with China before the group asks the unanswerable question: just how much money can you shove into OCO? Finally, Erin and Loren profess their undying love for Matthew Goode. Links Venezuela Ethan Bronner, "Venezuela's Maduro Is Doomed? They Said That About Syria's Assad," Bloomberg Keeping up Foreign Relations Brexit William James, "May to Promise New BExit Debate in Push for More Negotiating Time," Reuters Jon Henley, Jennifer Rankin, and Richard Partington, "Countdown to Brexit: The Key Dates as UK's EU Exit Approaches," Guardian Peter Flanagan, "Why Ireland's Border Commands Its Own Brexit Backstop," Bloomberg Iraq Simona Foltyn, "Will Iraq's Old Divisions Undermine Its New Prime Minister?" Foreign Policy Jennifer Hansler, "Trump's Iraq Comment Prompts Confusion and Condemnation," CNN North Korea Bruce W. Jentleson, "Trump, Kim, and the Three P's of Summit Diplomacy," War on the Rocks Robert E. Kelly, "The Second Trump-Kim Summit: Getting Beyond the Photo Op," War on the Rocks Uri Friedman, "South Korea Becomes a Testing Ground for Trump's Grievances with Allies," Atlantic Russell Goldman, "A Guide to Trump and Kim Jong-un's Next Summit Meeting," New York Times It's Aghast China Trade Jeff Mason, "S.-China Trade Talks Resume Next Week, Focus on Intellectual Property," Reuters Patti Domm, "Trade War Headlines Could Get Much Worse Before They Get Betters As the US Looks to Europe," CNBC White House Mayhem Defense Budget Tony Bertuca, "Pentagon Planning a Mammoth FY-20 War Budget to Avoid Spending Cap," Inside Defense Fitzgerald Bryan McGrath, "The Fitzgerald Collision: In Search of the Onus," War on the Rocks

It's our 2nd annual Manniversary episode! We dug deep to find the most smoldering hot takes from the men in the national security arena. Join us for a far-ranging discussion with Stan McChrystal, Jeffrey Lewis, and Clint Watts! Links Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, Jay Mangone, Leaders: Myth and Reality, (Portfolio 2018) Jeffrey Lewis, The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel, (Mariner Books, 2018) Clint Watts, Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake New, (Harper, 2018)