Fault Lines

In our last episode of 2019, Dana, Jamil and Lester welcome special guest Elisa Catalano, former Director for the Middle East and North Africa on the National Security Council and former Senior Policy Advisor at the State Department, to the podcast. The group takes on the Washington Post’s 6-part series on the war in Afghanistan and the foreign policy aspects of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The original Rum Bunch is back and talking about protests in Hong Kong and oppression in Xinjiang. In this China-focused episode, our band of former Hill staffers discuss what makes these two very important challenges to American values distinct, why the president and Congress treat them very differently, and how the U.S. Republican and Democratic parties see the democracy protests in Hong Kong and China's repression of its own people in Xinjiang Province in basically the same way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What better way to begin Thanksgiving week than to listen to our motley bunch discuss Turkey… and Iran? Jodi, Dana, Lester and guest Matthew Heiman review protests in Iran, Turkish incursions into Syria, and how Washington is responding. Is it “Groundhog Day” in Iran? (What would Bill Murray do?)Also included: a serious discussion of changing power dynamics in the Middle East and how that affects American interests. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In an interview format this week, Fault Lines spends some quality time with Norman Roule, former National Intelligence Manager for Iran. Lester and Norm discuss the past forty years of difficult US-Iran relations, the nature of the Tehran regime, and possible paths forward for the Iranian people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dana, Jodi, Lester and guest commentator Matthew Heiman take on the seeming wave of popular protests seen around the world in places like Lebanon, Chile, Iraq, France, Algeria and Sudan. They also discussed the dilemma for U.S. policymakers when a democratic friend of the United States, like India or Brazil, makes policy decisions that may not be in accord with U.S. interests and lastly, the group briefly talked about the recent killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Dana, Jamil and Lester delve into two hot spots. First, in Syria, they explored the implications of President Trump's abrupt pullout of American troops for the region and American politics. Second, they'll take a look at the dustup between the NBA and China, and what it might mean for the politics of US national security - and they'll also decide who is the greatest basketball player of all-time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Fault Line experts delve into two hot spots. First, in the Middle East, where Iran attacked Saudi oil facilities, they examine possible reactions from President Trump, who is now without former National Security Advisor John Bolton, as well as the American public's limit regarding Iranian aggression. They also argued over whether China, with an ongoing trade dispute with the US, upcoming elections in Taiwan, and continued global attention on China's crackdown on Uighurs, tempers its response to near open revolt in Hong Kong, and whether Congress is going to do something in light of the Administration’s seeming disinterest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.