The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Does President Biden need an Asia Tsar?  Why McDonalds peace theory is over.  The truth about liberal international relations theory.  Israel's grass-mowing theory of deterrence.  The difference between Taiwan and China.  Also this episode: What does Denzel Washington's Training Day have to do with Asian security?Paul MacDonald Tweet: https://twitter.com/pkmacdonald/status/1333778364151238657Sarah Cooper Tweet: https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1333639291902300161Caitlin Talmadge Tweet: https://twitter.com/ProfTalmadge/status/1333818338355527680?s=19Aram Hur Tweet: https://twitter.com/aramhur/status/1333820575513530373?s=19Paul Musgrave on McDonalds Peace Theory: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/26/mcdonalds-peace-nagornokarabakh-friedman/Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow

Why is the State Department's Office of Policy Planning so obsessed with George Kennan...and China's ideology?  The untold story of how America lost economic primacy in Asia, and why nobody talks about it now.  What is IR theory good for?  Why cancelling student debt matters.  The non-interview  at Australian National University.  Also this episode: what should we think about the Free Chosun movement against North Korea?  Alexander Lanoszka Tweet: https://twitter.com/ALanoszka/status/1328431684811968513?s=20John Lee Tweet: https://twitter.com/koreanforeigner/status/1328366779463200772?s=19Evan Feigenbaum Tweet: https://twitter.com/EvanFeigenbaum/status/1328063583058530307Suki Kim on the Free Chosun Movement: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/23/the-underground-movement-trying-to-topple-the-north-korean-regimeContributors: Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell, Gaby Magnuson

Australians are getting economically coerced by China but not everyone knows why.  Militarism is bad, but militarists who've never been in a fight are the worst.  What North Korea has in store for Biden in 2021.  A hypersonic missile arms race is coming to Asia, but is anyone paying attention?  And if Trump were throw a coup, how would we know in advance?  Also this episode: Van recommends some reading for budding IR scholars.John Culver Tweet: https://twitter.com/JohnCulver689/status/1326323417436581890?s=19James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1325700686957391872?s=19Paul Musgrave Tweet: https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1325555760944787457?s=19Contributors: Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow, Ciara Mitchell

What it's like to interview at Stanford University (!).  What Veep's Jonah Ryan can teach aspiring Washington technocrats.  On Trumpian fascism.  Why elite think tanks are ripe for corruption.  And what Larry David's "spite store" idea has to do with Trump's lame-duck foreign policy.  Also this episode: What are international-relations theories good for?Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1322939398044950530Timothy Simon Tweet: https://twitter.com/timothycsimons/status/1323512882055663616Max Berger Tweet: https://twitter.com/maxberger/status/1324134130997731328?s=20Xiaoyu Pu: https://twitter.com/pu_xiaoyu/status/1322015679755689986?s=19Aila Matanock and Paul Staniland on Militias in America: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-10-29/militarization-us-politics?amp&__twitter_impression=trueContributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Ciara Mitchell

What makes Elon Musk a wannabe totalitarian?  A new book on space expansionism paints a dark picture.  Why Taiwan is the O.G. China.  How to fit Milton Friedman and LL Cool J in the same sentence.  Stanford University's Hoover Institution controversy.  And resisting China's civil war narrative.  Paul Musgrave Tweet: https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1321163306296659968Paul Musgrave Tweet:https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1321113451540979714?s=19Ruben Gallego Tweet: https://twitter.com/RubenGallego/status/1320750911040360449James Palmer Tweet: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/1320605353365614592?s=19Contributors: Alex Auty, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson

What's 50 Cent's beef with Franz Fanon?  And what makes Ice Cube different than 50 Cent?  What to make of China's escalation of wolf-warrior diplomacy.  The progressive debate about American foreign policy--opposing US power or US militarism?  Also this episode--questioning Taiwan's future and how American hegemony ends. Alex Cooley and Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/CooleyOnEurasia/status/1319027614305181699Rabbi Jill Jacobs Tweet: https://twitter.com/rabbijilljacobs/status/1319024272174624768?s=20Stephen Wertheim on military supremacy: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/opinion/america-global-power.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=HomepageContributors: Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson, Pete McKenzie, Ciara Mitchell

How Washington punishes those who support peace.  What real diversity in foreign policy looks like.  Why rivalries make people stupid, especially great-power ones.  Why Vietnam is probably not Asia's next economic "miracle."  And who needs a literary agent?  Depends what you're trying to publish, and where.  Hunter Marston Tweet: https://twitter.com/hmarston4/status/1316198014747197440?s=19Kirk Serpes Tweet: https://twitter.com/KirkSerpes/status/1315942319825121281?s=19Stephen Walt Tweet: https://twitter.com/stephenWalt/status/1316540827074785281?s=20Patrick Iber: https://twitter.com/PatrickIber/status/1315762866675474439Contributors: Alex Auty, Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow

Why does Judd Apatow have a better grasp on the China problem than Washington does?  How should we understand the Indo-Pacific Quad, and what's a "speech-act institution?"  Does Turkey have an imperial foreign policy?  And why is nobody paying attention to India's sphere of influence?  Also this episode: What principles should guide East Asia policy?  The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft takes a decent crack at answering.  Dan Nexon Tweet: https://twitter.com/dhnexon/status/1312922875574341633Robert Kelly Tweet: https://twitter.com/robert_e_kelly/status/1313085718864904192?s=21Zack Beauchamp Tweet: https://twitter.com/zackbeauchamp/status/1314009093250654208Josh Lederman Tweet: https://twitter.com/JoshNBCNews/status/1313259283560177671?s=19Edward Alden on Biden and Trade Wars: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/02/biden-trump-trade-wars-election-2020/Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Jake Dellow, Gaby Magnuson 

The Black Panther Party's intersection with North Korea is fascinating and surprising.  Van sits down with Dr. Benjamin Young to talk about North Korea's relationship to radical leftist movements, the Black Panther Party, the travails of trying to work in academia, and Ben's upcoming book--Guns, Guerrillas, and the Great Leader.  

Black self defense is essential to minimize state violence.  Good strategy isn't infinite.  The war-game might be rigged, but it can still be fun.  Is the China-US relationship a security dilemma, or nah?  Klaus Schwab says neoliberalism is dead, but the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist.  Also this episode: Why is everything breaking and nothing working except for military procurement and missile development?  Corruption!Astra Taylor Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/astradisastra/status/1307430291754160128Kelsey Atherton Tweet: https://mobile.twitter.com/AthertonKD/status/1308423891631722499Yuna Wong Tweet: https://twitter.com/YunaHuhWong/status/1308449074778198017?s=19Matt Duss Tweet:https://mobile.twitter.com/mattduss/status/1308470852619558912Rob Cameron on Black self-defense: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/24/case-black-american-self-defense-protests/Tyson Brown on Strategy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/22/united-states-need-new-strategic-mindset-infinite-perspective/Contributors: Pete McKenzie, Gaby Magnuson, Jake Dellow, and Ciara Mitchell