Eric and Eliot address the latest buffoonery emanating from the Pentagon before turning to a discussion about Trump's evolving position on Russia. They also address the horrendous situation in Gaza and try to apportion blame as fairly as possible given the difficulty of parsing statements by both Hamas and the Israeli government. The conversation includes updates on the situations in Syria, Iran, and domestically on Columbia University's recent settlement with the Trump Administration.
Secretary of Defense Hegseth's Think Tank Ban:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/28/pentagon-think-tank-ban-confusion-reaction-00480095
Hegseth's Clash with Pentagon Leadership:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/us/politics/hegseth-pentagon-leadership.html
Matti Friedman: Is Gaza Starving? Searching for the Truth in an Information War:
https://www.thefp.com/p/matti-friedman-is-gaza-starving-searching-for-truth-in-information-war
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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1:05:35
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1:05:35
The Unlikely Rise of MBS (w/ Karen Elliott House)
Eric and Eliot welcome Karen Elliott House, former long-time correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, President of Dow Jones International, Publisher of the Wall Street Journal and author of The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed Bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia (New York: HarperCollins, 2025). They discuss the rise of MBS, the scope of the changes he has wrought in the Kingdom in less than a decade in power, the ongoing forces of resistance to change, his effort to replace Islam with nationalism as a force binding Saudis together, and MBS's views of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a "middle power' in a world of great power competition.
The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia:
https://a.co/d/etBZ1Yp
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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1:02:58
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1:02:58
The International Order is Dead
Eric and Eliot welcome Rebecca Friedman Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper to Shield of the Republic to discuss their recent article in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, "Absent at the Creation?: American Strategy and the Delusion of a Post-Trump Restoration." They discuss the speed with which Trump has imposed policy changes, the likelihood that old international order will be irreparably broken by the end of this term, the limits of American resilience, and the emergence of a multipolar world order. They also discuss challenges to American pre-eminence of emerging technologies and "compounding geopolitical risks" that Trump's cuts to research, assault on universities, and limits on tech transfer to China will do to U.S. innovation and international competitiveness. Note: After this episode was recorded the Trump administration announced approval of AI semiconductor chip sales to China.
Rebecca Lissner & Mira Rapp-Hooper's latest in Foreign Affairs:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/absent-creation-rebecca-lissner
An Open World: How America Can Win the Contest for Twenty-First-Century Order:
https://a.co/d/bHYjPGk
Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America’s Alliances:
https://a.co/d/8hzZNaI
Wars of Revelation: The Transformative Effects of Military Intervention on Grand Strategy
https://a.co/d/a65aUif
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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57:43
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57:43
Is Trump Losing Control of the Pentagon?
Eric and Eliot cover the latest Pentagon dysfunction, with military aid to Ukraine stalled and mixed signals on Trump’s defense policy. They also look at the Iran strikes, Trump’s shifting posture on Putin, and the growing strain inside the MAGA foreign policy orbit.
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55:11
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55:11
Eric and Eliot's Strike Assessment
Eric and Eliot host a special Shield of the Republic episode to discuss the Iranian response to Trump's strike on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. They assess the largely symbolic Iranian attack on al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as an attempt to take an off ramp from further escalation as they did in the aftermath of the Soleimani strike in 2020. They also touch on why Trump did it, the difficulties of bomb damage assessment, what happened to the HEU and are there other Iranian facilities, the Israeli intelligence brief, the cracks in MAGA, Trump's sudden endorsement of regime change and the hypocrisy of those calling for a Congressional vote to legitimize the actions given their prior support for Obama's operation in Libya and Clinton's campaigns in Bosnia and Kosovo all of which took place without a vote.
Eliot's Latest in The Atlantic:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/trump-iran/683287/
Eric (with Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh) in Foreign Affairs:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/right-path-regime-change-iran
Where Does Iran Go Now? (The New York Times):
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/opinion/iran-iranians-regime.html
Inside the spy dossier that led Israel to war (The Economist):
https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/06/18/inside-the-spy-dossier-that-led-israel-to-war
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. We probe beyond the hive mind of Washington conventional wisdom on national security and foreign affairs.
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