Elites, institutions, and the national security state

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Daniel Bessner is a historian and professor at the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, and the co-host of the foreign policy podcast American Prestige. He’s also the editor of the new Cambridge University Press volume Cold War Liberalism: Power in a Time of Emergency, which examines how liberal elites built the U.S. national security state and justified global dominance during the Cold War.

He joined Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan J. Robinson to discuss what the Cold War actually was, why the phrase “Cold War” obscures the mass violence it unleashed across the Global South, and what lessons this history holds for U.S. policy regarding contemporary tensions with China.

☢️ American Prestige Podcast: https://americanprestigepod.com/

☢️ Buy Daniel's Book: https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/history/diplomatic-and-international-history/cold-war-liberalism-power-time-emergency?format=PB

☢️ Follow Daniel on Twitter: https://x.com/dbessner

0:00–19:43 Defining Cold War Liberalism

19:43–23:39 The Myth of a “Cold” War

23:39–28:21 China, Taiwan, and Spheres of Influence

28:21–37:45 JFK and Elite-Driven Liberalism

37:45–42:32 The National Security State’s Legacy

42:32–45:57 Climate

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🦩THE MYTH OF AMERICAN IDEALISM: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738224/the-myth-of-american-idealism-by-noam-chomsky-and-nathan-j-robinson/