Jacobin Radio The Dig: MAGA Empire w/ Aslı Bâli and Greg Grandin
13 snips
Jan 17, 2026 
Aslı Bâli, a law professor specializing in human rights, and Greg Grandin, a historian focusing on U.S. imperialism, dissect the MAGA model of U.S. foreign policy. They explore how Trump's approach mixes resource exploitation with ethno-nationalism. The conversation delves into the implications of U.S. interventions in Venezuela, linking coercion strategies to domestic policing under Trumpism. They also discuss the risks of these tactics backfiring in Latin America and the erosion of liberal internationalism amid rising global multipolarity.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Latin America As Imperial Laboratory
- Latin America often exposes U.S. power limits and becomes a lab for new projection tactics.
- Trump's Venezuela grab revealed operational constraints and had to work with existing elites.
Replace Elites, Not Systems
- Aslı Bâli describes a new model: replace or coerce elites rather than remake institutions.
- The goal is compliant actors who unlock resource deals and immigration rollbacks.
Spectacle As Strategy
- Rapid, shifting crises are deliberate: 'flood the zone' to avoid accountability.
- Project 2025 and performative norm-breaking use spectacle as strategy.
