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None Of The Above

117 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 62 ratings

As the United States confronts an ever-changing set of international challenges, our foreign policy leaders continue to offer the same old answers. But what are the alternatives? In None Of The Above, the Eurasia Group Institute for Global Affairs' Mark Hannah asks leading global thinkers for new answers and new ideas to guide an America increasingly adrift in the world.

www.noneoftheabovepodcast.org

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Episodes

Airstrikes in East Africa (from the archive): Catherine Besteman and Amanda Sperber on U.S. Militarism in Somalia

November 09, 2021 14:24 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MB

This week we bring back a timely episode from season 1 with journalist Amanda Sperber and anthropologist Catherine Besteman, who helped us understand an important, yet underreported topic: America’s military involvement in Somalia. Since we last spoke to Catherine and Amanda, The New York Times has reported that the terrorist organization, Al Shabab, is at its “strongest in years” and that the Biden administration may be debuting a new Somalia policy in the coming weeks. But will the adminis...

Episode 16: Airstrikes in East Africa (from the archive)

November 09, 2021 14:24 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MB

This week we bring back a timely episode from season 1 with journalist Amanda Sperber and anthropologist Catherine Besteman, who helped us understand an important, yet underreported topic: America’s military involvement in Somalia. Since we last spoke to Catherine and Amanda, The New York Times has reported that the terrorist organization, Al Shabab, is at its “strongest in years” and that the Biden administration may be debuting a new Somalia policy in the coming weeks. But will the admini...

Episode 15: The Powell Paradox

October 26, 2021 15:20 - 22 minutes - 30.7 MB

What impact did Colin Powell, America’s 65th secretary of state under President George W. Bush, who passed away last week, make on US foreign policy? What is the legacy he leaves behind, and how does it inform where the United States is headed? This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined by Ravi Agrawal, Editor in Chief of Foreign Policy magazine to discuss Powell’s lasting impact. Though much remains to be seen, Agrawal assesses the defining attributes of an emerging B...

The Powell Paradox: Ravi Agrawal on How Colin Powell’s Mixed Legacy Lives on in the Biden Era

October 26, 2021 15:20 - 22 minutes - 30.7 MB

What impact did Colin Powell, America’s 65th secretary of state under President George W. Bush, who passed away last week, make on US foreign policy? What is the legacy he leaves behind, and how does it inform where the United States is headed? This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined by Ravi Agrawal, Editor in Chief of Foreign Policy magazine to discuss Powell’s lasting impact. Though much remains to be seen, Agrawal assesses the defining attributes of an emerging B...

Insecure: Spencer Ackerman on How the War on Terror Destabilized America

October 12, 2021 21:10 - 31 minutes - 43.5 MB

Although President Biden has ended the war in Afghanistan, America’s twenty-year global war on terror has not yet drawn to a close. Initiated by the Bush administration, and waged in various forms under four presidents, the war on terror has shaped not just US foreign policy, but many aspects of American life. This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined by Spencer Ackerman, whose new book, Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump contends...

Episode 14: Insecure

October 12, 2021 21:10 - 31 minutes - 43.5 MB

Although President Biden has ended the war in Afghanistan, America’s twenty-year global war on terror has not yet drawn to a close. Initiated by the Bush administration, and waged in various forms under four presidents, the war on terror has shaped not just US foreign policy, but many aspects of American life. This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined by Spencer Ackerman, whose new book, Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump contend...

Episode 13: The Germany of Asia? (from the archive)

September 28, 2021 10:00 - 22 minutes - 21.3 MB

Tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula this past month. In mid-September, both North and South Korea tested ballistic missiles just hours apart. And though Pyongyang had signaled interest in convening discussions to formally end the Korean War, it launched a short-range missile on Tuesday. This week on None Of The Above, we’re bringing back another one of our favorite episodes from Season 1 with Korea expert Sue Mi Terry. When we sat down with Sue in 2019, Donald Trump was president...

Episode 12: Moscow Meddling

September 14, 2021 18:06 - 21 minutes - 30.1 MB

Since the end of World War II, policymakers have puzzled over the proper way to approach Russia. U.S.-Russia relations have arguably deteriorated to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War as a myriad of issues strain the relationship. From election interference to cyberattacks and Russia’s military expansion Westward, is America’s response effective? Or, does the United States need to consider a new approach? This week, Eurasia expert Terrell Jermaine Starr joins us to discuss the ...

Episode 12: Moscow Meddling

September 14, 2021 18:06 - 21 minutes - 30.1 MB

Since the end of World War II, policymakers have puzzled over the proper way to approach Russia. U.S.-Russia relations have arguably deteriorated to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War as a myriad of issues strain the relationship. From election interference to cyberattacks and Russia’s military expansion Westward, is America’s response effective? Or, does the United States need to consider a new approach? This week, Eurasia expert Terrell Jermaine Starr joins us to discuss the ...

Episode 11: Unlikely Alliance

August 31, 2021 15:36 - 26 minutes - 36.3 MB

In April, President Biden announced he would withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Within months, Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban. The Biden administration’s evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats and Republicans, including one of this week’s guests, Representative Peter Meijer (R-MI-3). But Meijer is also a critic of America’s twenty-year war in Afghanistan, something he shares with our second guest, Representative Ro Khanna...

Episode 10: The Burden of American Power (from the archive)

August 17, 2021 10:00 - 31 minutes - 29.3 MB

This week, we’re bringing back an episode from Season 1 with journalist and political analyst Peter Beinart. When we spoke with Peter last spring, we discussed the questionable value of America’s extensive overseas military network and the limits of America’s global role. From Taiwan to Afghanistan, what price are Americans willing to pay to pursue stability and security around the globe? Does American expansionism around the globe make the U.S. more powerful and influential? While some sug...

Episode 9: Linked Destinies

August 03, 2021 19:25 - 28 minutes - 39 MB

On July 1, the Communist Party of China celebrated its 100th anniversary. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a speech that unsettled some China watchers with provocative comments about the existing world order. Symptomatic of increasing U.S.-China tensions, Xi’s speech comes amid efforts in both countries to decouple these two large and intertwined national economies. But is decoupling in either country’s best interests? This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined b...

Episode 8: In Spite of Hardliners

July 20, 2021 17:04 - 28 minutes - 39.8 MB

President Biden campaigned on a swift return to the Iran nuclear deal. But with Iran freezing what have become laborious negotiations until the new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, takes office next month, the prospect for a revitalized agreement remains uncertain. Is Tehran solely to blame for this impasse? This week, Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined by Barbara Slavin and John Glaser to make sense of U.S.-Iran relations and the implications of Raisi’s election. While a dea...

Episode 7: Reclaiming History (from the archive)

July 07, 2021 06:00 - 32 minutes - 29.6 MB

This week, we’re bringing back another one of our favorite episodes from Season 2. When we sat down with Bishop Garrison last summer, he was directing national security outreach at Human Rights First. Today, Bishop’s new role has become the center of much discussion in Washington, as he attempts to tackle white supremacy and racism in the ranks of the U.S. military as Senior Advisor to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.  America’s institutions continue to reckon with their roles in legacie...

Episode 6: The World We’ve Made

June 22, 2021 14:32 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MB

For many, America’s Cold War victory validated the country’s self-image as a “shining city upon the hill,” whose democratic ideals were worthy of emulation. More than thirty years later, as authoritarianism and ultranationalism surge around the world, it is worth asking whether a dark undercurrent of America’s international conduct is somehow responsible. This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah sits down with Ben Rhodes, President Obama’s deputy national security advisor. Ben ...

Episode 5: Totalized War (from the archive)

June 08, 2021 19:01 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MB

This week, we're bringing back one of our favorite episodes from Season 1. When we caught up with Rosa Brooks two summers ago, Donald Trump was president, and despite his stated desire to end endless wars, the conclusion of America's war in Afghanistan was not yet in sight.  What happens when the distinction between war and peace starts to disappear? Together, Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah and Rosa Brooks explore the causes and consequences of this alarming trend, and discuss i...

Episode 4: Empty Promises

May 25, 2021 19:14 - 28 minutes - 64.1 MB

In 2015, following Myanmar's first free election in a quarter-century, Western governments, including that of the United States, staked their hopes for democracy on Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Once regarded as a nascent democracy, Myanmar has sharply backslid in recent years. Suu Kyi’s denial of what the United Nations deems a genocide of the country’s Rohingya population coupled with her fall from power in February’s military coup, shows th...

Episode 3: Illiberal Allies

May 12, 2021 14:45 - 28 minutes - 39.7 MB

After the Cold War, many in the United States believed democracy was fait accompli around the world. Thirty years later, it is on shaky ground. U.S. allies such as Turkey, Hungary, and Poland are sliding into authoritarianism .In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, dreams of economic and social stability are finding renewed purchase over more liberal values. President Biden plans to host a global summit for democracies to restore American alliances and revive democracy’s competitiv...

Episode 2: Proven Right

April 27, 2021 17:50 - 21 minutes - 30.1 MB

On September 14th, 2001, Congress passed a 60-word joint resolution granting President George W. Bush nearly unchecked authority to fight a “War on Terror." Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California was the sole vote against that resolution. She warned that the broad authorities granted by its Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) would be abused by the executive branch. Nearly twenty years later, Representative Lee's concerns have tragically been validated, as the war authorizati...

Proven Right: Barbara Lee and the Prophecy of Forever Wars

April 27, 2021 17:50 - 21 minutes - 30.1 MB

On September 14th, 2001, Congress passed a 60-word joint resolution granting President George W. Bush nearly unchecked authority to fight a “War on Terror." Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California was the sole vote against that resolution. She warned that the broad authorities granted by its Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) would be abused by the executive branch. Nearly twenty years later, Representative Lee's concerns have tragically been validated, as the war authorizati...

Episode 1: Beyond the Pacific

April 13, 2021 12:24 - 25 minutes - 34.9 MB

President Biden came into office vowing to restore America’s longstanding alliances across the Atlantic. However, while Europe’s security relationship with the United States remains relatively strong, Europe’s economic ties to China have surged. Will Europe keep growing closer to America's strategic rival? If so, what are the consequences for American security and prosperity? This week, Ian Bremmer, the political scientist and founder of the Eurasia Group Foundation, joins host Mark Hannah t...

Episode 18: Reflections From Mexico

March 30, 2021 20:20 - 24 minutes - 55.4 MB

Mexico ought to occupy a prominent place on the list of America’s foreign policy priorities, given its proximity. Yet political leaders in the United States historically devote resources and attention to further reaches of the globe, neglecting their Southern neighbor and downplaying the ways in which the two countries' histories and futures are intertwined. That might be changing with President Biden. This week, Jorge Castañeda, who was Mexico’s foreign minister, joins the Eurasia Group Fou...

Episode 17: Memories of Gitmo

March 16, 2021 17:02 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MB

Few places in the world symbolize America’s “War On Terror” as poignantly as Guantanamo Bay. Opened in January 2002, the detention center has extrajudicially imprisoned terrorism suspects without due process throughout four presidencies. One such prisoner was Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a man from Mauritania, who was kidnapped, tortured, and detained without charges, for fourteen years. While imprisoned, Mohamedou wrote a memoir about his confinement. After a lengthy review process, the book was p...

Episode 16: Should We Stay Or Should We Go?

March 02, 2021 17:41 - 28 minutes - 66.2 MB

In just two months, U.S. troops are slated to withdraw from Afghanistan per an agreement with the Taliban. It’s unclear whether President Biden will adhere to the terms of the agreement, or whether he’ll try to extend the withdrawal deadline and keep American troops in Afghanistan. Many are calling on the president to prolong the troop deployment until Afghanistan stabilizes -- or perhaps indefinitely. Others argue the May 1 deadline is the best chance in two decades for the U.S. to finally ...

Episode 15: Can Europe Defend Itself?

February 16, 2021 20:28 - 32 minutes - 75.2 MB

President Biden promises to restore and renew America’s commitment to NATO and its European allies. Supporters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization argue Russian aggression compels continued American military engagement on the continent. But is Russia really so threatening and is Europe really so weak? Professor Barry Posen of MIT joins the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah to discuss the future of the alliance and America’s security interests in Europe. They cover Posen’s recent p...

Episode 14: Biden’s Foreign Policy Team

February 02, 2021 18:10 - 23 minutes - 53.3 MB

As the Biden administration takes shape, many wonder whether it will implement a truly progressive foreign policy agenda. President Biden’s early action to freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia has given progressives hope. However, several key national security and foreign policy appointments project a more complicated picture. Katrina vanden Heuvel, long-time editor and part owner of The Nation, joins Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah to unpack early indications of whether President Bide...

Episode 13: War Power Politics

January 19, 2021 19:59 - 31 minutes - 72 MB

The so-called war on terror will soon be twenty years old -- and there is no end in sight. The legal basis for this endless war is grounded in two authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs), passed in 2001 and 2002. AUMFs are designed to keep presidents accountable to Congress, stopping short of formal declarations of war. However, the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs specify no geographic bounds or sunset provisions. They have been interpreted by every president since 2001 to authorize militar...

Episode 12: Countries in Glass Houses

January 13, 2021 18:39 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MB

After the violent riots on Capitol Hill last Wednesday left America’s democratic institutions shaken, foreign policy leaders in Washington grappled with America’s credibility on the world stage. The next day, the Atlantic Council’s Emma Ashford wrote a provocative piece in Foreign Policy arguing, “It’s a sign of how broken U.S. foreign-policy debates are that the primary reaction from many commentators was to worry about America’s moral authority and global leadership.”  Eurasia Group Fou...

Episode 11: Foreign Affairs Update

December 23, 2020 20:13 - 34 minutes - 78.6 MB

As Washington prepares to transition from a Trump to a Biden presidency, how might we expect America’s global role to change in the years ahead? This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah speaks with Inkstick Media’s Laicie Heeley and The Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor to suss out the possible consequences for U.S. foreign policy. From the Middle East to China, this week’s episode explores what’s in store for the future of the international order (such as it is).    Laicie H...

Episode 10: Militarizing Public Health?

December 08, 2020 16:29 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MB

Multiple promising vaccines for the coronavirus are nearing FDA approval, and the United States is gearing up for widespread vaccination. While the beginning of the end of the coronavirus crisis is in sight, the effect of the virus on international politics remains less clear.  This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah is joined by defense procurement and national security expert Dr. Eugene Gholz. They discuss what role the military should (and shouldn’t) play in distributing the...

Episode 9: Regime Change

November 24, 2020 01:16 - 32 minutes - 74.5 MB

President-elect Joe Biden sees the world very differently than President Trump. He’s promised to reinvigorate diplomacy, and his approach to a range of pressing national security challenges – from Afghanistan to Iran to China – will likely diverge starkly from that of the current president. Biden has also begun to assemble his foreign policy team. State Department senior staffers and long-time Biden aides Anthony Blinken and Jake Sullivan will reportedly be nominated as Secretary of State a...

Episode 8: Will President Biden End The War?

November 10, 2020 17:18 - 38 minutes - 88.6 MB

In February 2020, the U.S. government and the Taliban signed an agreement with steps to end the war in Afghanistan. With Intra-Afghan talks also underway between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the end to the war is in sight… though it’s not without complications. In recognition of Veterans Day and the election of a new president who will now inherit America’s longest war, Mark Hannah speaks with retired Army general Donald Bolduc and Kabul-based journalist Ali Latifi. What do we know...

Episode 7: At the Crossroads (Again)

October 27, 2020 18:02 - 26 minutes - 61.3 MB

The 2016 U.S. presidential election may have been the most divisive election in modern memory. The aftermath has left the United States in a period of “agonizing reappraisal” over America’s role in the world. Four years later, the United States appears to still be at a crossroads between Donald Trump’s vision of an “America First” foreign policy and Joe Biden’s promised restoration of a “liberal international order.” This week, host Mark Hannah is joined by Margaret Hoover and David Eisenhow...

Episode 6: American Supremacy

October 14, 2020 18:08 - 34 minutes - 78.4 MB

Historian Stephen Wertheim traces America’s decision for global military dominance back to World War II in a widely anticipated book published this month. Some anticipated Donald Trump would follow through on a campaign promise to end America’s endless wars, and finally break the United States from the globe-spanning role in which it cast itself. But Wertheim points out that President Trump is as conventional in his quest for military dominance as most other presidents before him. This week,...

Episode 5: With the World Watching

October 02, 2020 12:36 - 35 minutes - 80.6 MB

Commentators describe the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election as a "hot mess inside a dumpster fire," "a bad reality TV show," and "a complete disaster." What insights on American foreign policy might we – and the rest of the world – draw in its aftermath? In this episode, host Mark Hannah is joined by Doug Wilson, the national security policy advisor for Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s erstwhile presidential campaign. Doug also served in the Obama administration as the former Assi...

Episode 4: Strange Bedfellows

September 15, 2020 13:16 - 28 minutes - 64.2 MB

The United States has been mired in endless war for more than a generation. This week, journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept sits down with the Eurasia Group Foundation’s Mark Hannah to discuss the true costs of America’s militarized foreign policy.  Are journalists so used to reporting on the polarization of the American electorate that they miss the close collaboration between Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pursue pro-war policies? Ultimately, Glenn argues, “the policies ...

Episode 3: Reclaiming History

September 01, 2020 17:43 - 29 minutes - 68.5 MB

In the wake of protests surrounding the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, America’s institutions are reckoning with their roles in legacies of slavery and racism. The U.S. military is no exception. This week, Bishop Garrison, a U.S. Army veteran and former homeland security and defense official, joins None Of The Above to discuss this reckoning. From the renaming of Army bases named after Confederate figures to the recruitment of veterans by white nationalist organizations ...

Episode 2: The Atomic Bomb’s First Victims

August 18, 2020 13:10 - 23 minutes - 54.2 MB

The U.S. bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago this month. Although nuclear weapons haven’t been used in combat since, they continue to proliferate across the globe. This week, two activists from New Mexico explain the lesser known costs of the production of nuclear weapons, from the devastation inflicted on indigenous communities by impact testing and mining around the Los Alamos National Laboratory, to the risks modernization poses to national security. As the U...

Episode 1: Endless War Comes Home

August 04, 2020 17:13 - 29 minutes - 66.7 MB

In May 2020, the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor touched off some of the largest protests in U.S. history and shone a spotlight on police militarization. This week, the ACLU's Hina Shamsi explains the connections between brutal police tactics and the ongoing War on Terror, from the Insurrection Act to drone strikes overseas. More than fifty years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned of the interconnected evils of racism and militarism, can America overcome police viole...

Episode 26: Airstrikes in East Africa

May 28, 2020 16:42 - 27 minutes - 62.6 MB

This episode marks the end of the first season of the Eurasia Group Foundation podcast, None Of The Above. We conclude our season with a topic that gets far too little attention in the mainstream media: the history of the U.S. military’s involvement in Somalia, a country deeply mired in terrorism, poverty, and war. Mark sits down with Nairobi-based journalist Amanda Sperber and anthropologist Catherine Besteman to unpack why the United States is waging an unofficial drone war in Somalia and ...

Episode 25: On Peace (and Pandemic) in Afghanistan

May 07, 2020 20:42 - 31 minutes - 72.3 MB

In February, the Taliban and U.S. government signed a peace deal. The U.S. would draw down its troop presence and persuade the Afghan government to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for a ceasefire. However, since the agreement was signed, the Afghan government’s release of prisoners has stalled and Taliban attacks on Afghan forces have surged. Now, coronavirus spreads from neighboring Iran to the war-torn country just as the prospects for peace dim. How and when will the longest war in ...

Episode 24: The Trump Doctrine?

April 22, 2020 20:22 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MB

Donald Trump ran his 2016 presidential campaign on ending America’s endless wars. But throughout his presidency, he has increased military deployments in the Middle East and threatened conflicts with Iran, Venezuela, China, and North Korea. And now, he has declared war on the coronavirus. Does this make Trump a hawkish commander-in-chief? Or, has he lived up to his promise to wind down wars and not start new ones? What kind of national security leader is he? This week, Mark Hannah digs into ...

Episode 23: What Do Hongkongers Want?

April 09, 2020 17:17 - 29 minutes - 27.1 MB

Since 1997, Hong Kong has been a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. The freedoms China promised the people of this semi-autonomous region are slowly eroding. Throughout the year, Hongkongers have taken to the streets to protest mainland China’s encroaching influence. The protests persist today, even amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. In January, as the coronavirus began its global spread, Mark Hannah traveled to Hong Kong to meet with a leader of the protests, a...

Episode 22: The Washington Game

March 25, 2020 21:33 - 33 minutes - 76.4 MB

In December 2019, The Washington Post obtained and published internal documents, now known as The Afghanistan Papers, from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). These documents revealed top political and military leaders systematically lied to the American public about the war in Afghanistan’s progress, and continued its mission despite knowing victory was unachievable. Why do both Democratic and Republican administrations continue misleading us, and what is a...

Episode 21: The Burden of American Power

March 11, 2020 19:57 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MB

Does American expansionism around the globe make the U.S. more powerful and influential? Does the U.S. gain by flexing its military muscle, or would it benefit more from preserving its resources? This week, Mark Hannah sits down with journalist Peter Beinart to discuss the limits of America’s global role. From Taiwan to Hong Kong, what price are Americans willing to pay to pursue stability and security around the globe? While some suggest the threat or use of military intervention promotes...

Episode 20: Namaste, Trump

February 28, 2020 19:54 - 23 minutes - 42.9 MB

On Monday, President Donald Trump and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi inked a new defense deal as violence escalated in response to Modi’s controversial Citizen Amendment Act. Over 3 billion dollars’ worth of American-made helicopters and military equipment will go to the Indian armed forces. What interests are being served by this defense deal, and how will India use this new weaponry? Mark Hannah sits down with two leading experts on US-India relations to unpack American and Indian sec...

Episode 19: Primary Sources

February 12, 2020 17:27 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MB

The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the typical American voter doesn’t know or care much about foreign policy. We at the Eurasia Group Foundation questioned this. So we traveled to New Hampshire in advance of last night’s Democratic primary to hear for ourselves what voters there have to say about foreign policy. The degree of knowledge and strength of opinions might surprise you, and help explain the victory of Bernie Sanders.     As Congress debates the limits of the presiden...

Episode 18: Changing The Status Quo

January 27, 2020 15:09 - 30 minutes - 69.6 MB

In an era of intense political polarization, how can we bring people together and effect political change? This week, actor and comedian Kal Penn joins None Of The Above to discuss how he got involved in public service and public engagement. He shares lessons learned from working on comprehensive immigration reform in the Obama White House, reflections on his cultural diplomacy work, and the inspiration behind his new series Sunnyside, which features one of the most diverse casts on televisi...

Episode 17: China Rising Part 2

January 08, 2020 16:56 - 31 minutes - 71.4 MB

In October, two China experts joined None Of The Above to discuss Washington’s response to the rise of China. Today’s episode digs deeper and unpacks the very notion of great power competition, and whether America requires this strategic framework to succeed as a global hegemon. Jacob Stokes and Ali Wyne sit down with Mark Hannah to evaluate Washington’s obsession with great power competition and the strategic purpose of America confronting a rival like China. Is America in the throes of a n...

Episode 16: Peace, The Norm. War, The Exception.

December 13, 2019 14:40 - 32 minutes - 73.3 MB

As the Cold War ended, many in the national security establishment thought history had ended: American-style democracy and capitalism were triumphal and terminal. What implications would this have for U.S. foreign policy? Andrew Bacevich, the president of the newly launched Quincy Institute, observes how America has attempted to make the world in its image through coercion and excessive military power -- and continues to do so today. This policy, Bacevich argues, has led to a series of milit...

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