FDD's Foreign Podicy

The media have changed a lot in recent years – not for the better. The New York Times certainly isn’t the newspaper it used to be.  Ashley Rindsberg has written a book making the case that, even in its best days, The Times often failed to live up to its reputation as the newspaper of record, pursuing and publishing the truth, as the paper’s founder put it, “without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect or interests involved.” The title of Mr. Rindsberg’s book: The Gray Lady Winked: How The New York Times’s Misreporting, Distortions and Fabrications Radically Alter History. Ira Stoll is a journalist and author, the media columnist of the Algemeiner, and editor of Smartertimes.com. They join host Cliff May to talk about The Times in particular and the state of journalism in general on this special edition of Foreign Podicy in association with FDD’s Barish Center for Media Integrity. 

John Bolton has had quite a few challenging jobs. Among them: presidential national security advisor, ambassador to the United Nations, and several senior positions in the State Department. He has an original and provocative new essay in National Review on the so-called “rules-based international order.” He discusses that and other current issues, crises, and conflicts with Reuel Marc Gerecht, a senior fellow at FDD, formerly a case officer at the CIA, and Foreign Podicy host Cliff May.

Negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran have not gone well. President Biden may soon have to choose between two unappealing options: allowing the theocratic regime to become a nuclear-weapons power or using military force to prevent that outcome. Mark Dubowitz, FDD’s chief executive, and Matthew Kroenig, a former senior policy advisor at the Pentagon, now a professor of government at Georgetown University, and director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Strategy Initiative, recently published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal arguing that one of those options is decidedly worse than that other. They join Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to discuss.

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) H.R. McMaster is a soldier and a scholar and, these days, a commentator – one might even say a pundit. His recent essay for National Review is titled: “Preserving the Warrior Ethos” – a contrarian theme in an age where the dominant culture valorizes victims and too many political leaders fail to grasp the nexus between military strength and diplomatic effectiveness. He discusses warriors, wars and related topics with Foreign Podicy host Cliff May, and Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power.

In recent years, it’s become apparent that the People’s Republic of China intends to eat America’s lunch. No one is more responsible for revealing that than Matthew Pottinger, a former journalist who went on to earn an honest living serving in the U.S. Marines, and, in the previous administration, as Deputy National Security Advisor. He’s currently a distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution and he chairs FDD’s China Program. China’s rulers have an impressively comprehensive strategy for achieving dominance in Asia sooner, and globally later. One important component has now been revealed by FDD Adjunct Fellow Craig Singleton who previously spent more than a decade serving in a series of sensitive diplomatic national security roles with the U.S. government. He has published a new report on the “modern-day Trojan Horses” that have gained entry into America’s universities – supporting the military-industrial complex of the People’s Republic of China. Matt Pottinger and Craig Singleton join FDD Foreign Podicy host Cliff May for a wide-ranging discussion.

On December 9th and 10th, President Biden hosted what he called the Summit for Democracy – a virtual conference to which he invited 110 governments. Three principal items on the agenda: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and advancing human rights. Did this “summit” make any progress or at least chart a way forward? What’s been the reaction from authoritarians, corrupt politicians, and human rights abusers? Based on what criteria were invitations issued – or not issued? What, if anything, comes next? To discuss such riddles, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by Brian Katulis, Vice President for Policy at the Middle East Institute, non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and co-editor of the Liberal Patriot; and Reuel Marc Gerecht, formerly a Middle East specialist in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, now a senior fellow at FDD.

The People’s Republic of China recently tested an advanced new hypersonic glide vehicle that circles the Earth and is designed to evade U.S. defenses and conduct a nuclear attack against the American homeland. A new Pentagon report reveals that Beijing is expanding the size of its nuclear arsenal much faster than expected and that in 2020 China’s rulers launched more ballistic missiles for testing and training “than the rest of the world combined.” Moscow conducted an anti-satellite test on November 15 that created more than 1500 pieces of trackable space debris, putting American astronauts (and Russian cosmonauts) on the International Space Station in danger. The test also demonstrated again Russia’s ability to target American satellites that we depend on for our security. Meanwhile, Iran continues to expand its ballistic missile arsenal and inch toward a nuclear weapons capability. As the Biden administration prepares its Nuclear Posture Review for publication next year, what should we understand about the Chinese and Russia nuclear weapons threats to Americans and our allies and what should we do about it? Should the U.S. adopt a “sole purpose” or “no first use” nuclear policy? What is the status of U.S. efforts to modernize our nuclear deterrent? What is the role of missile defense in all of this, and what level of defense spending is needed to secure our nation? U.S. Congressman Mike Turner, who represents Ohio’s 10th district, is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and serves as Ranking Member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which oversees, among other things, strategic deterrence, nuclear weapons, missile defense, and space. To discuss these issues and more, Representative Turner sat down with senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power, Bradley Bowman, on this special edition of Foreign Podicy.

Andrew Roberts has been described as one of Britain’s greatest historians. That’s not true. He’s one of the world’s greatest historians, as his biographies of Napoleon, and Churchill – along with a long list of other significant books – have made clear. His new book: The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III. He joins Foreign Podicy host Cliff May for a conversation about George III, the American Revolution, and other controversies both historical and contemporary.

In 2005, Israelis withdrew from Gaza – every soldier, every farmer, every synagogue, every grave. It was an historic land-for-peace experiment – and it failed. In May, Hamas began firing missiles at Israeli cities, towns, and villages, sparking the fourth intense armed conflict since Hamas defeated Fatah and began ruling Gaza. Many in the international media blamed Israel more than Hamas – despite the fact that it was Hamas that attacked; despite the fact that Hamas used human shields, a clear violation of international and U.S. law; despite the fact that Hamas’ intentions toward Israelis are openly and unambiguously genocidal. Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s senior vice president for research, a ground-breaking scholar of Middle Eastern affairs, has now produced the first and, so far, only book on this conflagration: Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus served as the international spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces during the fighting. Both join Foreign Podicy host Cliff May to discuss why Hamas fights and how Israel defends itself.

If the United Nations Human Rights Council were a figment of George Orwell’s imagination, you’d probably say: “Okay, very entertaining but, even accounting for dramatic license, this is a bit over the top.” The UNHRC is a club for many of the world’s worst and most chronic violators of human rights (read FDD’s assessment here). Among the privileges of membership: virtual immunity to criticism. The U.S., by contrast, is fair game for criticism. And Israel has long been the council’s whipping boy. President Trump and his ambassador the UN, Nikki Haley, withdrew from the UNHRC three years ago. President Biden has reversed that policy. The U.S. has just won election to that body again – with the Biden administration promising that re-engagement will lead to reform. Joining host Cliff May to discuss the UN and human rights are Rich Goldberg, senior advisor to FDD, who has held senior positions in the House, Senate, and National Security Council; Orde Kittrie,  a senior fellow at FDD and a tenured professor of law at Arizona State University;  and Morgan Viña, who served as Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, and is now Vice President for Government Affairs at JINSA, the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.