Michael Brenes on Great Power Rivalry's Threat to Peace and Democracy
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Michael Brenes. Dr. Brenes is Co-Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and Lecturer in History at Yale University. His research interests include United States foreign policy, political history, and political economy. He is the author of For Might and Right: Cold War Defense Spending and the Remaking of American Democracy, published by University of Massachusetts Press in 2020, as well as the co-author (with fellow former Security Dilemma guest Van Jackson) of The Rivalry Peril: How Great-Power Competition Threatens Peace and Weakens Democracy. Our conversation focused on why a framework of "great power competition" is unlikely to reinforce peace and democracy, Cold War liberalism, and the principles of a progressive foreign policy.
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Candace Rondeaux on the Wagner Group
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Candace Rondeaux, the author of Putin’s Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia’s Collapse into Mercenary Chaos. She serves as the Senior Director for the Future Frontlines and Planetary Politics programs at New America, and is a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Previously, she advised the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and served as the South Asia bureau chief for The Washington Post. Our conversation today discussed the origins of the Wagner Group, the role of mercenaries in Russia’s national security strategy, and more. You can purchase the book, which was released May 13, here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/candace-rondeaux/putins-sledgehammer/9781541703087/?lens=publicaffairs
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Daniel McCarthy on Liberalism and Empire
This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Daniel McCarthy, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Age. Mr. McCarthy is a leading light in the conservative movement for a more restrained U.S. foreign policy. He is a regular contributor to The Spectator, and the former editor of The American Conservative, the magazine founded by conservatives opposed to the war in Iraq. He also worked on the Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign. Our conversation covered the connection between liberalism and empire, how the experience of the American Revolution shaped U.S. foreign policy, as well as about contemporary conservative foreign policy thought from Pat Buchanan to Trump.
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Curt Mills on Trump's Foreign Policy 100 Days In
This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Curt Mills, the Executive Director of The American Conservative, where he previously served as senior reporter and contributing editor. He specializes in foreign policy and campaign coverage. Our conversation touched on some of the Trump Administration's seminal initiatives, including diplomacy with Russia and Iran, the potential annexation of Greenland, and more. We also discussed the President's national security personnel and where the respective political parties could go on foreign policy in 2028.
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John Vick on Africa and the Middle East
This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and Michael Culp spoke with John Vick, the Executive Director of Concerned Veterans for America. John Vick enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003, and deployed to al-Anbar, Iraq in 2005. He has also served in the Navy, mobilizing twice in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, and he continues to serve in the Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer supporting U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). Our conversation discussed U.S. Middle East and Africa policy, careers in military intelligence, and how to combat the U.S. military's recruiting crisis.
U.S. foreign policy for the future. Security Dilemma brings you conversations with the experts, policymakers, and thinkers charting new paths forward from the wreckage of recent decades and toward a national security and defense policy guided by prudence and restraint. Cohosts John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi bring you the information you need to shape a wiser approach.
Security Dilemma is a podcast of the John Quincy Adams Society, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing a new generation of foreign policy leaders.
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