None Of The Above

In December 2019, The Washington Post obtained and published internal documents, now known as The Afghanistan Papers, from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). These documents revealed top political and military leaders systematically lied to the American public about the war in Afghanistan's progress, and continued its mission despite knowing victory was unachievable. Why do both Democratic and Republican administrations continue misleading us, and what is at stake? Mark Hannah sits down with Kelley B. Vlahos this week to discuss a culture in Washington which leads to a perpetual investment in unnecessary war. They discuss the military-industrial complex, military restraint, and where conservatism fits into it all. What is the conservative case against these wars, and how can we break the blob mentality which perpetuates America's troubling cycle of miring itself in unnecessary wars? Kelley B. Vlahos is a national security and foreign policy writer and columnist in Washington, DC and is the executive editor of The American Conservative magazine. @KelleyBVlahos

Does American expansionism around the globe make the U.S. more powerful and influential? Does the U.S. gain by flexing its military muscle, or would it benefit more from preserving its resources? This week, Mark Hannah sits down with journalist Peter Beinart to discuss the limits of America's global role. From Taiwan to Hong Kong, what price are Americans willing to pay to pursue stability and security around the globe? While some suggest the threat or use of military intervention promotes American interests around the world, our guest insists a lack of humility in U.S. foreign policy undermines America's values, credibility, and security. Peter Beinart is a contributor to The Atlantic and an editor-at-large of Jewish Currents magazine. He is the author of The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris and The Crisis of Zionism. @PeterBeinart

On Monday, President Donald Trump and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi inked a new defense deal as violence escalated in response to Modi's controversial Citizen Amendment Act. Over 3 billion dollars' worth of American-made helicopters and military equipment will go to the Indian armed forces. What interests are being served by this defense deal, and how will India use this new weaponry? Mark Hannah sits down with two leading experts on US-India relations to unpack American and Indian security interests in the region, including shared concern about a rising China in the Indo-Pacific. Is India a reliable security partner for the United States? And will we see any blowback in nearby Pakistan, China, or Kashmir, as a result of this deal? Dhruva Jaishankar is the director of the US Initiative at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation. He is the author of the 2019 report, "Acting East: India In The Indo-Pacific." Aparna Pande is the director of the Hudson Institute's Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia. Her latest book is titled From Chanakya to Modi: Evolution of India's Foreign Policy.

The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the typical American voter doesn't know or care much about foreign policy. We at the Eurasia Group Foundation questioned this. So we traveled to New Hampshire in advance of last night's Democratic primary to hear for ourselves what voters there have to say about foreign policy. The degree of knowledge and strength of opinions might surprise you, and help explain the victory of Bernie Sanders. As Congress debates the limits of the president's war powers, presidents are, these days, mostly constrained by public opinion and its expression on election day. EGF recently released a study, "Indispensable No More? How The American Public Sees U.S. Foreign Policy," to better understand the foreign policy preferences of American voters nationwide. By and large, Americans desire a less aggressive foreign policy. In this episode, we see if that holds true in one of America's first primary states.

In an era of intense political polarization, how can we bring people together and effect political change? This week, actor and comedian Kal Penn joins None Of The Above to discuss how he got involved in public service and public engagement. He shares lessons learned from working on comprehensive immigration reform in the Obama White House, reflections on his cultural diplomacy work, and the inspiration behind his new series Sunnyside, which features one of the most diverse casts on television. Kal Penn is an actor and comedian, and also served as the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement under President Barack Obama. He produced and stars in the American television series Sunnyside on NBC.

In October, two China experts joined None Of The Above to discuss Washington's response to the rise of China. Today's episode digs deeper and unpacks the very notion of great power competition, and whether America requires this strategic framework to succeed as a global hegemon. Jacob Stokes and Ali Wyne sit down with Mark Hannah to evaluate Washington's obsession with great power competition and the strategic purpose of America confronting a rival like China. Is America in the throes of a new Cold War? Or does the U.S.-China conflict distract from what will always be an entangled, complicated, yet necessary, relationship? Jacob Stokes is a senior policy analyst in the China Program at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He previously worked on the national security staff of Vice President Joe Biden. Ali Wyne is an international and security policy analyst at RAND Corporation. He is a coauthor of Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master's Insights on China, the United States, and the World (2013) and a contributing author to Power Relations in the Twenty-First Century: Mapping a Multipolar World? (2017).

As the Cold War ended, many in the national security establishment thought history had ended: American-style democracy and capitalism were triumphal and terminal. What implications would this have for U.S. foreign policy? Andrew Bacevich, the president of the newly launched Quincy Institute, observes how America has attempted to make the world in its image through coercion and excessive military power -- and continues to do so today. This policy, Bacevich argues, has led to a series of military interventions that are often unjustified and counterproductive. How did U.S. foreign policy fail to learn from its history? And what are organizations such as the Quincy Institute going to do about this worrisome trend? Andrew Bacevich is president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University and the author of many books, most recently The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory.

What does the end of the "American empire" look like? What are other tools America can invest in? Kate Kizer joins EGF's Mark Hannah to explore the principles which drive progressive U.S. foreign policy. Kate dives into what those principles look like in practice: a human centered economy, ending America's involvement in foreign conflicts humanely, and building policy around transnational, people-centered movements. How does America achieve this while maintaining its own national security? And what is the likelihood these policies will get implemented come 2021? Kate Kizer is policy director at Win Without War, a diverse network of activists and organizations working for a more peaceful, progressive U.S. foreign policy.

Nuclear weapons are the forgotten existential threat. Yet, they can alter the course of history in an afternoon. Leading nuclear policy expert, Joe Cirincione, joins Mark Hannah to discuss the dangers of a policy orientation geared toward maintaining, modernizing, and growing a large nuclear arsenal. According to Joe, proliferation of nuclear weapons in the U.S. makes us less safe as other countries rush to compete with this great power or develop new nuclear capabilities as a deterrent against U.S. intervention. How can the U.S. scale its nuclear capabilities back, and what's at stake? Joe Cirincione is president of Ploughshares Fund. He is the host of Press The Button, a weekly podcast dedicated to nuclear policy and national security, and the author of Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late.

The foreign policy establishment sees America locked in a fierce and strategic competition with China. With the ongoing trade war, the protests engulfing Hong Kong, and China's rising geopolitical influence, are Washington's fears and hardliner policies justified? Two China experts, Isaac Stone Fish and Stephen Orlins, join None Of The Above to discuss and debate Washington's appropriate response to this rising power and offer new and divergent ways of thinking about the U.S.-China relationship. Isaac Stone Fish is a journalist, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, and a senior fellow at the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. Stephen Orlins is the president of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Prior to that, he was the managing director of Carlyle Asia and the chairman of one of Taiwan's largest cable television and high-speed internet providers.