Sirens: A Bombshell production

Bombshell returns in 2019 with a new set of Bombshell questions and a guest, Dana Stroul, to give our best shot at explaining US-Syria policy. Secretary Pompeo has finished a whirlwind tour (while his staff are unpaid) trying to do the same, and at least one of the parties to potential US-North Korea summit seems to be doing its homework (guess which). The team digs deep into the longest government shutdown in history and considers just what kind of emergency it would be if Trump used national emergency powers to build a wall. Plus, lots of pop culture for the new year. Syria Policy Robbie Gramer, "Mike Pompeo Is Flying Solo in the Middle East," Foreign Policy Keeping up Foreign Relations North Korea Jon Herskovitz and Youkyung Lee, "North Korea's Nuclear Program Quietly Advances, Pressuring Trump," Bloomberg It's Aghast Brexit "Theresa May Facing Crunch Vote on Her Brexit Deal," BBC China Marilyn Haigh, "US Trade Representative's Office Will Have Only About 30% of Its Staff Due to the Shutdown As China Talks Approach March Deadline," CNBC "China's Annual Trade Surplus With U.S. Hits Record Despite Trump's Tariff Offensive," Wall Street Journal White House Mayhem Shutdown Javier Zarracina and Li Zhou, "The Astonishing Effects of the Shutdown, In 8 Charts," Vox "Everything You Need to Know About the Government Shutdown," Washington Post National Emergency Elizabeth Goitein, "What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency," Atlantic Quinta Jurecic, "Everyone Calm Down About That Declaration of National Emergency," Lawfare

Loren and Erin travel to Kansas City for a special live recording at the National World War I Museum. Joined by John Ismay and Steve Leonard, they dig into the many aspects of the Forever Wars including some Civ-Mil 101, opportunities for oversight and accountability, and everyone's favorite GWOT film. Links Amy Schafer, "Generations of War," CNAS Conflicting Partisan Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy, Pew Research Center Nikki Wentling, "Tom Hanks Thinks Hollywood Isn't Best Suited to Tell Stories of Iraq, Afghanistan Wars," Stars and Stripes

This ONE TIME we huddled for an emergency podcast. Because the Secretary of Defense resigned in protest. That doesn't happen everyday. At least we hope not. Enjoy!

This week Radha, Loren, and Erin sit down to try and figure out just what the hell happened in 2018. Storm clouds gather as the ladies discuss what NatSec stories we missed - and what we'll still be talking about in 10 years. But Radha brings the sunshine as we discuss the most important events for the military services in 2018 (which sadly has not resulted in any Space Marines). We wrap up with a review of the Administration's secret villains and heroes and put a bow on it with movie plot lines that best capture 2018. Links "Jaw-Jaw," War on the Rocks Keith Bradsher and Ailin Tang, "China's Economy Slows Sharply, in Challenge for Xi Jinping," War on the Rocks Sophie Richardson, "China disappeared Interpol's chief. The world can't pretend it's business as usual." Washington Post Heidi Blake, Tom Warren, Richard Holmes, Jason Leopold, Jane Bradley, Alex Campbell, "From Russia With Blood," BuzzFeed News Alex Horton, "The Army kicked out dozens of immigrant recruits. Now it's allowing them back amid a legal battle." Washington Post Gina Harkins, "The Military's Officer Promotion System May See Major Shake Up," Military.com Lara Seligman, "Strong Economy Poses Recruitment Challenge for the U.S. Army," Foreign Policy Paul Scharre, "A Million Mistakes a Second," Foreign Policy Michael C. Horowitz, "The Algorithms of August," Foreign Policy Zach Dorfman, "Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents," Foreign Policy David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth, Glenn Thrush, Alan Rappeport, "Marriott Data Breach Is Traced to Chinese Hackers as U.S. Readies Crackdown on Beijing," New York Times Emma Ashford and Trevor Thrall, "The Battle Inside the Political Parties for the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy," War on the Rocks Katie Mettler, Callum Borchers, Nick Kirkpatrick, "'You're fired': A timeline of Team Trump departures," Washington Post Walt Hickey and Gus Wezerek, "The Definitive Analysis Of 'Love Actually,' The Greatest Christmas Movie Of Our Time," FiveThirtyEight

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha read the G20 tea leaves, opine on continued chaos in Afghanistan, and remind you about all the White House mayhem from Saudi politics to a Moscow Trump Tower. Radha gets way too excited about USMCA (pronounced U-Smack-Ah) and all things trade before the ladies round some pop culture. Keeping Up Foreign Relations Afghanistan Rahim Faiez, "At Least 40 People Killed in Deadly 24 Hours Across Afghanistan," TIME John Bacon, "3 American service members killed in Afghanistan roadside bombing," USA Today Jessica Purkiss and Abigail Fielding-Smith, "Uptick in U.S. Air Strikes on Buildings in Afghanistan Raises Questions," Just Security Ukraine Andrew Higgins, "Ukraine, on a War Footing, Looks Westward for Help," New York Times Andrew Osborn, "Citing Russia threat, Ukraine boosts security at ports, power plants," Reuters Alex Ward, "Russia just openly attacked Ukraine. That could mean their war will get worse." Vox It's Aghast G20 "US-China trade war: Deal agreed to suspend new trade tariffs," BBC Krishanadev Calamur, "The G20 Communique Bookends the George H.W. Bush Era," Atlantic "Perceptible improvement in India-China relations, say Modi and Xi on G20 sidelines," India Today USMCA Jen Kirby, "USMCA, the new trade deal between the US, Canada, and Mexico, explained," Vox White House Mayhem Yemen Jordan Tama, "Why is the Senate challenging Trump on Yemen? Here's what you need to know." Washington Post Scott R. Anderson, "Taking Stock of the Yemen Resolution," Lawfare New START Joe Gould, "US lawmakers tangle over nuclear arsenal, Russia treaties," Defense News L'Affaire Russe John McLaughlin, Tweet Emma Loop, "The House Intelligence Committee Will Investigate Trump's Company's Plan To Give Putin A $50 Million Penthouse," BuzzFeed News Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold, "The Definitive Story Of How Trump's Team Worked The Trump Moscow Deal During The Campaign," BuzzFeed News Border Emily Kopp, "Immigration Experts: Tear Gas Has Been Used at the Border for Years, But Never on Children," Roll Call Government Shutdown Niv Elis, "Border wall bickering raises odds of shutdown," Hill Michael Collins, "Another government shutdown? Congress has a week to pass a spending bill to keep the lights on," USA Today Pop Culture Orli Matlow, "Woman's fake viral pic with Michael B. Jordan turned into reality. Anything is possible!" Someecards Owen Gleiberman, "Film Review: 'The Favourite,'" Variety

Erin, Radha, and Loren invited Dr. Lindsay Cohn of the U.S. Naval War College to join their posse and explain America's history of employing the military for domestic purposes. In Keeping Up Foreign Relations, UK Prime Minister Theresa May is still negotiating the terms of her break up with the EU, and new revelations on the tragic killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are giving us a collective heart attack. A new entrant to White House mayhem, First Lady Melania Trump, flexes her muscle to oust the fifth Deputy National Security Advisor of the Trump administration, and we assess the assessment of the National Defense Strategy commission. Finally, come what may, we commit to developing a holiday shopping list for you festive needs this season. UPCOMING EVENT: The American Public and the War on Terror https://my.theworldwar.org/2307 (Tue, 4 Dec, Kansas City) Border Deployment Alice Hunt Friend, "5 reasons to be concerned about deploying U.S. troops along the southern border," Washington Post Lindsey P. Cohn, "The Precarious State of Civil-Military Relations in the Age of Trump," War on the Rocks Keeping up Foreign Relations Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler, "Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU," BBC Frank Langfitt, "Here's What You Need To Know About Brexit After A Tumultuous Week In The U.K.," NPR Jasmine Andersson, "What is the customs union, and how is it different to the single market," iNews John Cassidy, "The Brexit Fantasy Goes Down in Tears," New Yorker Saudi Arabia Alex Ward, "Trump doesn't want to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi. His new sanctions prove it." Vox Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Josh Dawsey, "CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination," Washington Post White House Mayhem Abigail Tracy, "'I don't know how you recover from that': The cruel, unusual fate of Mira Ricardel," Vanity Fair Aaron Mehta, "A 'crisis of national security': New report to Congress sounds alarm," Defense News Eric Edelman, et al., "Providing for the Common Defense: The Assessment and Recommendations of the National Defense Strategy Commission," USIP Lara Seligman, "How the Generals Are Routing the Policy Wonks at the Pentagon," Foreign Policy Pop Culture Roger Cormier, "15 Things You Might Not Know About Moulin Rouge!," Mental Floss Alan Sepinwall, "'The Little Drummer Girl' Review: Ignore the Plot, Admire the Beauty of Le Carre Thriller," Rolling Stone Katy Waldman, "HBO's 'My Brilliant Friend' Understands Its Source Material, But Its Diligence Feels Misspent," New Yorker Ryan McPhee, "Moulin Rouge! Musical Sets Broadway Dates Theatre; Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo to Star," Playbill

Loren, Erin, and Radha meet up in a special short episode to talk about the election aftermath. What will happen with the change in the house, who is on the Senate armed services committee, and what is oversight anyway?! Plus, a quick discussion on the defense budget and why data and statistics should be a year-round pastime!

This week Tamara Cofman Wittes joins the Bombshell ladies to discuss the fallout of the Khashoggi assassination and the future of US-Saudi relations. We get further bogged down in Afghanistan and try to understand the migrant caravan moving north from Central America. Then Radha tries to cheer us up by explaining the intricacies of the Universal Postal Union. For icing on the cake, we dive deep into the INF treaty and wonder if the Defense Department really being asked to cut its budget. Saudi Emma Ashford, "The U.S.-Saudi alliance was in trouble long before Jamal Khashoggi's death," War on the Rocks Keeping up Foreign Relations Caravan Delphine Schrank, "Thousands of caravan migrants take shelter in southern Mexico," Reuters Afghanistan Dan Lamothe, "U.S. general wounded in attack in Afghanistan," Washington Post Thomas Ruttig, "The Killing of Razeq: Removing the Taleban's strongest foe in Kandahar, an indirect hit at elections," Afghanistan Analysts Network Ashley Jackson, "The Taliban Just Won a Key Battle for Afghanistan's Future," Foreign Policy Matthieu Aikins, "The Master of Spin Boldak," Harper's Maija Liuhto, "Regional leaders are defying Afghanistan's president. The latest is a police chief who was once a close U.S. ally," LA Times It's Aghast Jen Kirby, "Here's why Trump threatened to pull out of a 144-year-old postal treaty," Vox Daniel W. Drezner, "The Trump administration's brinkmanship with *checks notes* the Universal Postal Union," Washington Post White House Mayhem INF Treaty Amy F. Woolf, "Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress," Congressional Research Service Jacob Heim, "Missiles for Asia? The Need for Operational Analysis of U.S. Theater Ballistic Missiles in the Pacific," RAND Julian Borger and Martin Pengelly, "Trump says US will withdraw from nuclear arms treaty with Russia," Guardian Steven Pifer, "The Trump administration is preparing a major mistake on the INF Treaty," Brookings Budget Aaron Mehta, "Trump appears to call for defense spending cuts," Defense News Pop-Culture Caroline Hallemann, "Everything We Know About the New Masterpiece PBS Adaptation of Les Miserables," Town & Country "Death Comes to Pemberley," PBS

This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin are reunited to discuss such cheery topics as political assassinations and sexual violence (albeit in the form of Nobel Prizes awarded to combat it). Radha dives deep on NAFTA 2.0, and we work our way through the crazy Chinese hacked hardware story. Rounding out White House Mayhem, John Bolton is back and joins the president and vice president in making blustery foreign policy speeches. And Erin demands answers on Banksy's newest prank. New WOTR podcast: Melanie Marlowe, Bryan McGrath, and Christopher Preble, "Net Assessment," War on the Rocks KUFR Nobel prize Emily Sullivan, "Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Denis Mukwege And Nadia Murad For Fighting Sexual Violence," NPR Saudi-Turkey "Jamal Khashoggi: Turkey says journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate," BBC Karim Fahim, "Turkey concludes Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed by 'murder' team, sources say," Washington Post Trade Heather Long, "U.S., Canada and Mexico just reached a sweeping new NAFTA deal. Here's what's in it." Washington Post Jacob M. Schlesinger and Josh Zumbrun, "Trump Aims to Model New Trade Deals on Revised Nafta," Wall Street Journal Phil Levy, "Trump Faces A Car Conundrum On NAFTA Deal," Forbes Jeff Daniels, "New NAFTA falls short of 'more ambitious goals' for agribusiness, says CoBank report," CNBC Jordan Robertson and Michael Riley, "The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies," Bloomberg James Cook, "Apple and Amazon deny report that Chinese 'spy' chips were used to infiltrate their networks," Telegraph Ian Bogost, "The Chinese Motherboard Hack Is a Crisis, Even If It Didn't Really Happen," Atlantic WH Mayhem Jane Perlez, "Pence's China Speech Seen as Portent of 'New Cold War,'" New York Times Van Jackson, "Competition with China Isn't a Strategy," War on the Rocks David M. Herszenhorn, "Rebuking Trump, major powers reaffirm Iran nuclear deal," Politico Lara Seligman, "Bolton Puts Mattis in a Tight Spot on Syria," Foreign Policy Jarrett Blanc, "Here's Why World Leaders Are Laughing at Trump," Politico Pop-Culture Allison Quinn, "Banksy Painting Self-Destructs Seconds After Being Sold for $1.4 Million at Auction," Daily Beast

This week on bombshell Erin and Radha drink at Kori Schake's favorite bar in the world. Joined by Amelia Egghart, they discuss why climate change is still a thing and the (lack of) process in national security issues from Syria to Korea. They also remind us why you shouldn't start a land or trade war in Asia. And of course all the White House mayhem that's fit to print. Did we mention the guest was a chicken? Venezuela https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/americas/donald-trump-venezuela-military-coup.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-venezuela/us-preparing-actions-in-coming-days-against-venezuela-pompeo-to-fox-news-idUSKCN1M12RF China https://www.npr.org/2018/09/21/650554494/china-fires-back-against-u-s-sanctions-for-purchases-of-russian-weapons https://thehill.com/policy/finance/407871-5-things-to-know-about-trumps-escalating-trade-war-with-china Israel/Russia https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-russia-syria/israel-showed-russia-proof-syria-to-blame-for-downed-plane-israeli-military-idUSKCN1M11HL https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-to-study-israeli-data-related-to-downed-plane/4578956.html Climate https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/trump-environmental-policies-rollbacks/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-climatechange/governments-not-on-track-to-cap-temperatures-at-below-2-degrees-u-n-idUSKCN1LI03S