Eliot and Eric are joined by Juan Carlos Pinzón, former Colombian Minister of Defense and two-time Ambassador to the U.S. They discuss the success of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe's counterinsurgency efforts against FARC and narco-trafficking, the subsequent domestic developments in Colombia that have led to significant backsliding on narco-trafficking, as well as the current prosecution of the former President in Colombia's courts of law. They also discuss the revival of leftism in the Western Hemisphere and the Trump Administration's initial diplomatic undertakings in the region.
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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57:26
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57:26
Trump’s Amateur Diplomacy Tests U.S. Allies
Eric and Eliot discuss Secretary Hegseth's restoration of the '"Reunion" memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, the President's nationalizing of the DC National Guard to engage in law enforcement in the nation's capital, and the diplomatic pratfalls of Steve Witkoff whose misinterpretation of President Putin has resulted in the misbegotten forthcoming summit in Alaska between Trump and Putin. To distract themselves from the administration's ongoing idiocy Eric and Eliot discuss their summer reading including Toby Wilkinson's A World Beneath the Sands, H. Ridder Haggard's She, and Daniel Silva's An Inside Job among others.
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55:42
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55:42
Putin's Growing Body Count
Eliot and Eric welcome Fred Starr, former President of Oberlin University and current Chairman of the Central Asia and Caucasus Institute (CACI). They discuss the current situation in Russia and highlight the logistic difficulties and enormous human and material losses that Russian forces are facing. They also discuss Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan which are rich in mineral and hydrocarbon resources but have been governed by strongmen in the post-communist era. Finally, they conclude the conversation with an overview of the Caucuses highlighting the desire of many former Soviet states to escape Moscow's imperial shadow.
Red and Hot: The Fate of Jazz in the Soviet Union:
https://a.co/d/a8EbOiO
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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1:01:38
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1:01:38
What is Israel's Plan?
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.
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.
Ireland