Sirens: A Bombshell production

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha regroup for a "what did I miss" session to discuss the events of the last few weeks. Starting with the bizarre coup that wasn't in Venezuela, the ladies go on to talk about the Iran not-so-snap-back sanctions — including the Babysitter's Club analogy that you'll need in order to understand why everyone is so annoyed — and the potentially pending restart of the China trade war. They then turn to the dwindling number of inspector generals and remind everyone why process is their valentine. They close out this episode with a discussion of books that will help you to learn if you feel like, cope when you need help, and escape when you want to.

Jung Pak, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, joins Bombshell to discuss her fascinating and timely new book: Becoming Kim Jong Un. Radha, Erin, and Loren remind listeners that Afghanistan is still a thing even if the U.S. government would prefer it not to be. Also, did you know it's possible to restart a trade war amid the pandemic? Or that the United States is a participant in the JCPOA? Neither did we. Plus, pop culture!

This week the ladies are back with a normal-ish episode, complete with special guest Nora Bensahel! She helps them dive deep on COVID-19 impacts on the defense budget. From there, they explore possible changes to the "global order," Loren offers a tutorial on Hungary and Israel, and Radha schools us on trade issues. The ladies wrap up with a discussion of the most pressing issue of the day - haircuts. And issue a heartfelt socially distant hug to the Iyengar family. Links "Coronavirus: Iran and the US Trade Blame Over Sanctions," BBC, April 17, 2020 Jessie Yeung, "The US is Halting funding to the WHO. What Does This Actually Mean?" CNN, April 16, 2020 Thomas Y. Choi, Dale Rogers, Bindiya Vakil, "Coronavirus is a Wake-Up Call for Supply Chain Management," Harvard Business Review, March 27, 2020 David Barno and Nora Bensahel, "After the Pandemic: America and National Security in a Changed World," War on the Rocks, March 31, 2020 Thomas Wright, "Stretching the International Order to Its Breaking Point," Atlantic, April 04, 2020 Daniel W. Drezner, "The Most Counterintuitive Prediction About World Politics and the Coronavirus,"Washington Post, March 30, 2020 Thomas Wright and Kurt M. Campbell, "If Biden Wins, He'll Have to Put the World Back Together," Atlantic, April 13, 2020

This week Loren and Erin talk their way through all the coronavirus feelings: fear, hope, gratitude, some minor policy questions, and the pop culture that's giving us life. Stay home, be safe, wash your hands.

Kathleen Hicks, director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and all-around superhero, joins Loren, Radha, and Erin for an all-COVID-19 episode, starting with potential contributions by the Department of Defense to addressing this crisis. The ladies explore different angles of the global pandemic, including how it's impacting other ongoing international events, the economy, and domestic politics. Thanks be they also spend a lot of time on pop culture to soothe the soul.

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha reunite after a midwinter break to talk pandemics. They then turn to the Afghanistan "peace" deal, Israeli elections (third time's the charm?), and recent developments in Syria. As always, there's plenty of White House mayhem with a new chief of staff, and vacancies as far as the eye can see in Pentagon civilian leadership. Thankfully, Hilary Mantel books and Love is Blind provide a pop culture escape to soothe (or at least distract) the soul. Links Coronavirus Matthew Herper, "Susan Desmond-Hellmann: The Coronavirus is Alarming. Here's Why You Should Not Panic," Stat, March 6, 2020 "Covid-19 is Now In 50 Countries, and Things Will Get Worse," The Economist, February 2020 Afghanistan Diaa Hadid and Scott Neuman, "US, Afghanistan and Taliban Announce 7-Day Reduction in Violence," NPR Morning Edition, February 21, 2020 Shereen Qazi, "Will the Ghani-Abdullah Rivalry Undermine Afghan Peace Process?" Aljazeera, March 9, 2020 Kathy Gilsinan, "The US Once Wanted Peace in Afghanistan," Atlantic, February 29, 2020 David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt, and Thomas Gibbons-Neff, "A Secret Accord With the Taliban: When and How the US Would Leave Afghanistan," New York Times, March 8, 2020 Susannah George, "Thrown Under the Bus: Some Afghans View US-Taliban Peace Deal with Mix of Disbelief and Anger," Washington Post, March 7, 2020 Courtney Kube, Ken Dilanian, and Dan De Luce, "US Has Persuasive Intel Taliban Do Not Intend to Abide by Terms of Peal Deal, Officials Say," NBC New, March 6, 2020 Elizabeth Threlkeld, "Reading Between the Lines of Afghan Agreement," Lawfare, March 8, 2020 Pop Culture Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On, (St. Martin's Griffin, 2007) Wolf Hall, PBS Syria Jen Kirby, "Turkey and Russia Reached a Ceasefire in Syria. Will it Hold?" Vox, March 6, 2020 "Water Cannon and Tear Gas at Turkish-Greek Border," BBC, March 7, 2020 OSD Lara Seligman and Daniel Lippman, "Civilian Vacancies at Trump's Pentagon Hit New High," Politico, March 6, 2020

This week the ladies return to regular programming and try to catch up after one of the more crazy weeks in recent political memory. They start off with the Coronavirus crisis before returning to an old-standby, Brexit. They also provide some color commentary on the recent Irish elections. And how could they forget the new Middle East Peace Plan! That's before they get to impeachment, NSC firings, and White House Mayhem. Stick around and hear them gush about Little Women. Links Coronavirus "Deaths in China Surpass Toll From SARS," New York Times, February 9, 2020 Colleen Shalby, "Why Did the Government Mandate a Coronavirus Quarantine?" Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2020 Brexit Dharshini David, "Brexit Divorce: Five Key Things the UK Must Navigate," BBC, February 9, 2020 "Brexit: All You Need to Know About the UK Leaving the EU," BBC, January 27, 2020 Irish Elections Rory Carroll, "Ireland General Election: Sinn Féin Surges to 22% in Exit Poll," Guardian, February 8, 2020 Middle East Peace Peter Beaumont, "Trump's Middle East Peace Plan: Key Points at a Glance," Guardian, January 28, 2020 Irish Election Riley Beggin, "Irish Election Yields a Three-Way Near Tie and a Sinn Féin Surge," Vox, February 9, 2020 "Sinn Féin is the Most Popular Party Among All Age Groups up to 65," Journal, February 09, 2020 Travel Ban "Trump Travel Ban, Part II," Wall Street Journal, February 07, 2020 "Trump Administration Adds Six Countries to Travel Ban," New York Times, January 31, 2020 Pop Culture Marlon and Jake Read Dead People, Podcast

Erin, Radha and Loren welcome three special guests for their annual "manniversary" episode: Hayes Brown from Buzzfeed, Tommy Vietor of Pod Save the World, and Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe join them to talk about communicating national security in this crazy world.

This week Bombshell welcomes Suzanne Maloney of Brookings to chat all things Iran. And because we love our listeners so much, we extended the discussion for the whole show to consider legality, effectiveness, process, and what happens next. Also, Megxit. Duh. Links Jonathan Marcus, "Qasem Soleimani: Why Kill Him Now and What Happens Next?" BBC, January 3, 2020 Agnes Callamard, "The Targeted Killing of General Soleimani: Its Lawfulness and Why It Matters," Just Security, January 8, 2020 Loveday Morris, "US Leaders Rally Behind Tattered Iran Deal, Ignoring Trump's Call to Ditch It," Washington Post, January 10, 2020 Brian Naylor, "Trump Administration Announces More Economic Sanctions Against Iran," NPR, January 10, 2020 Rick Noack, Armand Emamdjomeh, and Joe Fox, "How U.S. Sanctions Are Paralyzing the Iranian Economy," Washington Post, January 10, 2020 Ian Talley and Isabel Coles, "US Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account if. Troops Told to Leave," Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2020 Robert Jervis, "On the Current Confrontation with Iran," War on the Rocks, January 9, 2020 Suzanne Maloney, "The Lull in Hostilities Between Iran and the U.S. Is Just Escalation in Disguise," Politico, January 11, 2020

Erin, Radha, and Loren mull over 2019, muse about 2020, and debate Rise of the Skywalker. We will be with you again.

This week Radha and Erin lead a special live episode from the NatSec Girl Squad Conference. They are joined by Dana Stroul, Kim Kagan, and Mara Karlin who all recently participated in the Congressionally mandated Syria Study Group. Listen in as the ladies discuss Syria policy, study group process, and answer audience questions! Links "Syria Study Group Final Report," USIP, September 24, 2019 Nat Sec Girl Squad

This week Radha, Erin, and Loren reunite to drink eggnog (or not!) and talk about events in London, from interrupting violent attacks with narwhal tusks to interrupting NATO ministerials with middle school-esque drama. The ladies then turn to protests in the Middle East, predictions on China trade deals, and Hong Kong legislation. Rounding it out is a lively discussion of all the mayhem that ensued when Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer (not that Richard Spencer) resigned. After that, the ladies have a much-needed pop culture discussion on all the holiday movies they're looking forward to watching. Links London Terrorist Attack Catherine Kim, "London Bridge Stabbing Attack: What We Know," Vox, December 1, 2019 Peter Bergen, "London Terrorist Attack Brings Home a Chilling Reality," CNN, November 30, 2019 Iran Hannah Brown, "Why Economic Hardships Finally Sparked Iranian Protests," Vox, December 2, 2019 Farnaz Fassihi and Rick Gladstone, "Iran Strengthens Response to Protests," New York Times, November 26, 2019 China/Hong Kong Yen Nee Lee, "US Law Backing Hong Kong Protests Could End Up Hurting Everyone: the US, China, and Hong Kong," CNBC, November 28, 2019 Gina Heeb, "In Latest Sign of Trade-War Pain, the Trump Administration Announces Tariff Relief for Dozens of Chinese Products," Markets Insider, November 29, 2019 Michael Bociurkiw, "Trump's Risky Move on Hong Kong," CNN, November 29, 2019 Keith Bradsher, Javier C. Hernandez, and Alexandra Stevenson, "China Condemns US Over Hong Kong: That Won't Stop Trade Talks," New York Times, November 28, 2019 NATO "Funding NATO," North Atlantic Treaty Organization, June 27, 2018 Steven Erlanger, "NATO Offers a Budget Bonbon as Summit Nears," New York Times, November 28, 2019

This week Loren, Erin, and Radha are joined by the peerless Mira Rapp-Hooper. Taking a break from stalking her perfect oat milk, Mira walks the ladies through alliances and shifting demands with Japan and Korea. The ladies do a whirlwind review of Hong Kong, Bolivia, auto tariffs, and pardons. After 5 words (plus margin of error) on impeachment stories of note, Erin and Radha (yup Radha) discuss the new Star Wars series where to Loren's dismay Radha declares her love of Star Wars puppets (especially those teddy bears). Links Mira Rapp-Hooper, Shields of the Republic: The Triumph and Peril of America's Alliances, (Harvard University Press, 2020) Asia Simon Denyer and Min Joo Kim, "In South Korea, Military Cost Dispute and Trump's Moves in Syria Fuel Doubts Over US Commitment," Washington Post, November 4, 2019 Phil Stewart and Joyce Lee, "Pentagon's Esper Says it is Crucial South Korea Pays More for US Troops," Reuters, November 15, 209=19 Maggie Shum, "Hong Kong's District Council Elections Take Place on Nov. 24 Or Not," Washington Post, November 14, 2019 Anna Kam, Casey Quackenbush, and Ryan Ho Kilpatrick, "Day of Rage Plunges Hong Kong Into Turmoil After Police Shoot Protester," Washington Post, November 11, 2019 Bolivia "Bolivia Crisis: What's Next After Evo Morales' Resignation?" BBC, November 13, 2019 Natasha Bennett, "Bolivian Protesters Unseated a President. So Why Are They Still in the Streets?" Washington Post, November 15, 2019 Santiago Anria and Jennifer Cyr, "Is Bolivia's Democracy in Danger? Here's What's Behind the Disputed Presidential Election," Washington Post, October 30, 2019 Trade Ben White and Doug Palmer, "Trump Expected to Delay Auto Tariff Decision for 6 More Months," Politico, November 11, 2019 David Shepardson, "Automakers Around World Await Trump Tariff Decision," Reuters, November 15, 2019 Camila Domonoske and Avie Schneider, "Trump Delays Auto Tariffs for 6 Months," NPR, May 17, 2019 Reuters, "Trump Expected to Delay European Auto Tariff Decision: EU Officials," New York Times, November 11, 2019 Pardons Dave Philipps, "Trump's Pardons for Servicemen Raise Fears That Law of War Are History," New York Times, November 16, 2019

This week the ladies of Bombshell go deep on the Syria raid and the "value" of high-value targeting, before turning their attention to popular protests in Iraq and Lebanon. Of course, no episode would be complete without a Brexit update! Radha regales us with CFIUS tales and we all lament the attacks on LTC Vindman. Also, will the NDAA ever pass? Links Tamara Qiblawi, "Protests Toppled Two Governments in Three Days, But the Fight is Only Beginning," CNN, November 2, 2019 Sara Khairat, "What Triggered Iraq's Mammoth Protests?" Aljazeera, November 1, 2019 Alissa Rubin, "Iraq Demonstrations Grow, and Government Scrambles to Respond," New York Times, November 1, 2019 Jen Kirby, "The Future of Brexit Will Be Decided in December 12 Election," Vox, October 29, 2019 Mark Landler and Stephen Castle, "Boris Johnson Has Big Lead in UK Election. That Might Not Mean Much," New York Times, November 2, 2019 Leo Shane III and Joe Gould, "What's in the Emergency Defense Policy Bill?" Defense News, October 30, 2019 John M. Donnelly, "Skinny Defense Bill Omits Key Element: Military Construction," Roll Call, November 1, 2019 Joe Gould, "Congress Mulls Spring Continuing Resolution to Avoid Government Shutdown," Defense News, October 25, 2019 Greg Roumeliotis, Yingzhi Yang, Echo Wang, and Alexandra Alper, "Exclusive: US Opens National Security Investigation Into TikTok," Reuters, November 1, 2019

Melissa Dalton from CSIS joins Loren, Radha, and Erin to offer a thorough, if morose, update on the U.S. military withdrawal from northern Syria and where that leaves Syrian Kurds. Bombshell returns to the topic of the United Kingdom which....might have a Brexit deal? The ladies also dive into the implications of recent NBA/China drama and what's going on with the impeachment inquiry, and amazingly have a disagreement about political speech by uniformed and retired military. Links Cameron Abadi, "Why Is Turkey Fighting Syria's Kurds?" Foreign Policy, October 17, 2019 Benjamin Mueller and Matina Stevis-Gridneff, "What Is in the New Brexit Deal?" New York Times, October 17, 2019 Adam Taylor, "What Is Happening with Brexit Now? Boris Johnson's Plans for the Irish Border and the E.U. Explained," Washington Post, October 17, 2019

Bombshell takes a step back to offer some context to the whirlwind of Ukraine and related investigations: what's with Ukraine's political trajectory, why is it a magnet for crises involving external actors these days, and how is it being impacted by today's scandals? In Trump's trade negotiations with China, how have elections become intertwined with those discussions? Turning to the White House, President Trump has had multiple crises emerge from calls with foreign leaders - how does his process shape those results. The NSC staff is wrapped up with today's whistleblower investigation - who are they, and how can their role be politicized? In reacting to these events, President Trump's language has taken an authoritarian tinge—what does political science tell us about his actions? And lastly, the president has suggested violence may erupt if he's pushed out of office - how should we think about the military's role in such scenarios? Links Ukraine Philip Bump and Aaron Blake, "The Full Trump-Ukraine Timeline," Washington Post, October 4, 2019 Bryan Bender and Wesley Morgan, "How US Military Aid Became a Lifeline for Ukraine," Politico, September 30, 2019 "Ukraine Profile – Timeline," BBC, September 10, 2019 Alex Ward, "The Last 24 Hours in the Ukraine Drama Were the Worst for Trump Yet. Here's What Happened," Vox, October 4, 2019 Impeachment legal Counsel Advice Radha Iyengar, Tweet, October 2, 2019 Trump Leader Calls Carol D. Leonnig, Shane Harris, and Josh Dawsey, "Trump's Calls with Foreign Leaders Have Long Worried Aides, Leaving Some Genuinely Horrified," Washington Post, October 4, 2019 Authoritarianism Barbara Geddes, Joseph Wright, and Erica Frantz, Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions: A New Data Set, (American Political Science Association, June 2014) Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, "This is How Democracies Die," Guardian, January 21, 2018 Ari Berman, "How Endangered Is American Democracy?" New York Times, April 13, 2018 Jennifer Mercieca, "Mueller Report Illustrates Trump's Authoritarian Rhetorical Tactics," Just Security, May 1, 2019

This week Bombshell is blessed by the return of Tamara Cofman Wittes to help everyone understand Iran's possible motives in the strike on an Aramco facility and what Saudi Arabia might do next. And as a bonus she sticks around to dive into Israeli elections. Then Erin, Radha, and Loren take a deep, nerve-calming breath to dive into the current White House Mayhem: the ouster of John Bolton, the arrival of Robert O'Brien, and the whistleblower-Ukraine monstrosity. Also, Erin saw Moulin Rouge and you should too, if you can can can. Links Aramco Attacks Stephen Kalin, "Saudi Arabia to Wait for Investigation Before Responding to Attacks: Minister," Reuters, September 21, 2019 Lara Seligman and Elias Groll, "In Muted Response to Iran Strikes, US to Send Reinforcements to Saudi Arabia," Foreign Policy, September 20, 2019 Suzanne Maloney, "Why Iran's Leadership Thinks Escalation Can Pay Off," Washington Post, September 18, 2019 Eric Schmitt, Julian E. Barnes, and David D. Kirkpatrick, "To Find Clues in Saudi Oil Attacks, US Examines Missile and Drone Parts," New York Times, September 17, 2019 Israeli Elections Jeremy Sharon, "Liberman Declines to Recommend Gantz or Netanyahu to Form Government," Jerusalem Post, September 23, 2019 Oren Libermann, "Why No One is Israel Seems Able to Win an Election," CNN, September 22, 2019 Aaron Heller, "Arab Lawmakers in Israel Endorse Gantz for Prime Minister," ABC News, September 22, 2019 New National Security Advisor John Hudson and John Wagner, "Trump Realigns National Security Team with a Low-Profile Adviser," Washington Post, September 18, 2019 John Gans, "The Dangers of a Weak National Security Adviser," Politico, September 19, 2019

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha are joined by War on the Rock's new editor-in-chief Becky Zimmerman to talk about the talks that never were with the Taliban and catch up on the situation in Afghanistan more generally. The ladies then turn to the chaos in the UK, ongoing protests in Hong Kong, the release of classified information by the President (again!), MILCON spending for the border wall, and the Mattis book. Whew! After all that, the dive into pop culture with book and podcast rec's for all. Links Afghanistan Erin Banco and Asawin Suebsaeng, "Trump and His Team Send Clashing Messages on US Troops in Afghanistan," Daily Beast, August 30, 2019 Mujib Mashal, "US Deal with Taliban Meets Afghan Resistance as Violence Intensifies," New York Times, September 5, 2019 Jennifer Jacobs, Nick Wadhams, and Eltaf Najafizada, "Trump Says He Canceled Secret Camp David Talks with the Taliban," Bloomberg, September 7, 2019 Mujib Mashal, "Taliban Talks Hit a Wall Over Deeper Disagreements, Officials Say," New Yorkt Times, September 8, 2019 "President Ghani's Visit to Washington Postponed: Sources," TOLO News, September 6, 2019 Brexit "How Bad is Boris Johnson? We Can't Even Find the Words," Globe and Mail, September 5, 2019 Amanda Sloat, "Brexit Endgame: Boris Jonson Loses Control," Lawfare, September 6, 2019 "Brexit Extension: PM to 'Test Law to Limit' to Avoid Delay," BBC News, September 8, 2019 Yemen "The Latest on the Situation in Yemen," NPR, September 4, 2019 Hong Kong Mike Ives, Tiffany May, and Elaine Yu, "Hong Kong Protesters Return to Streets After Leader Announces Concessions," New York Times, September 7, 2019 Saudi/UAE Aziz El Yaakoubi, David Evans, Ros Russell, and Tuqa Khalid, "Saudi Arabia, UAE Urge Yemen Government and Separatists to Halt Fighting," Reuters, September 8, 2019 Iran Eric Adams, "Everything We Know About America's Secret KH-11 Recon Satellites," Popular Mechanics, September 6, 2019 MILCON Chantal Da Silva, "Here's Every Military Construction Project in the US Being Pushed Back to Fund Trump's Border Wall," Newsweek, September 5, 2019

Tori Whiting of the Heritage Foundation joins Radha in geeking out over trade chaos and the potential for a recession -Bombshell's very first guest economist. Erin, Radha, and Loren catch up on the impact of over a century of South Korea-Japan tensions and offer a small ray of light in the latest political agreement news out of post-Bashir Sudan before turning to the G7, that meeting of world leaders. And to Loren and Erin's infinite delight, we devote all of pop culture to the military career of Logan Echolls and the new Disney-Star Wars releases. Links Korea-Japan Grace Shao, "South Korea is Scrapping a Security Deal with Japan: Here's Why it Matters," CNBC, August 23, 2019 David Brown, "Pentagon Worried Over South Korea-Japan Rift," Politico, August 23, 2019 Choe Sang-Hun, "South Korea Signals End to 'Final' Deal with Japan Over Wartime Sex Slaves," New York Times, November 21, 2018 Isabel Reynolds and Jihye Lee, "South Korea to Withdraw from Japan Intel Pact to US Chagrin," Bloomberg, August 22, 2019 Climate "Amazon Fires: Why the Rainforest Helps Fight Climate Change," BBC, August 24, 2019 Naomi Oreskes, Michael Oppenheimer, and Dale Jamieson, "Scientists Have Been Underestimating the Pace of Climate Change," Scientific American, August 19, 2019 Dan Vergano, "We're Living Through a Climate Emergency Right Now - We Just Aren't Paying Attention," Buzz Feed News, August 22, 2019 Andrew Freedman and Jason Samenow, "The Greenland Ice Sheet Poured 197 Billion Tons of Water into the North Atlantic in July Alone," Washington Post, August 3, 2019 G7 "Boris Johnson to Ask Trump Not to Escalate Trade War," CNN, August 25, 2019 Andrew Freedman, "Climate Change Could Cost the US up to 10.5 percent of its GDP by 2100, Study Finds," Washington Post, August 19, 2019 Amanda Macias, "Trump Hints at a Very Big Trade Deal with Britain Post Brexit," CNBC, August 25, 2019 Michael Collins and John Fritze, "Iranian Official Javad Zarif Arrives Unexpectedly at G7 Amid Tensions. Trump's Response? No Comment," USA Today, August 25, 2019 Sudan Jen Kirby, "Sudan Signs Power-Sharing Deale as its Former Dictator Goes to Trial," Vox, August 19, 2019 "New Sudan: Thousands Celebrate as Protesters, Army Sign Deal," Aljazeera, August 18, 2019 Jamal Mahjoub, "A Season of Hope in Sudan," New York Times, August 22, 2019 Pompeo Nick Wadhams and Jennifer Jacobs, "Republican Donors Told to Wait as Pompeo Considers Kansas Senate Run," Bloomberg, August 13, 2019 Maggie Haberman and Lara Jakes, "Pompeo Fuels Further Talk of Senate Race," New York Times, August 21, 2019 Pop Culture Linda Holmes, Glen Weldon, Margaret Wilson, and Christina Tucker, "Veronica Mars Returns with Melodrama and a New Mystery, NPR, August 9, 2019 Fandom, Tweets, August 23, 2019 Jennifer Ouellette, "Ewan McGregor Confirms He Will Return as Obi-Wan for New Star Wars Series," ARS Technica, August 24, 2019 James Hibberd, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Reveals Poster, Epic New Footage at D23 Expo," Entertainment Weekly, August 24, 2019 "Who is Rey?" Adam Serwer, December 24, 2015

The great Meg Guliford joins Erin and Radha for this week's episode of Bombshell, while Loren enjoys a much deserved vacay. The ladies take a tour of world hotspots with a discussion of North Korean missile tests, the Kashmir crack down, and ongoing protests in Hong Kong. Radha schools us all on currency manipulation before we turn to Director of National Intelligence drama. The show wouldn't be complete without an exploration of domestic terrorism and white supremacist violence — alongside a heartfelt celebration of Toni Morrison Links Meg Guliford North Korea Dagyum Ji, "Kim Jong Un Guided Test-Fire of New "Superior Tactical" Weapon on Saturday: KCNA," NK News, August 11, 2019 Josh Smith, David Brunnstrom, "US Still Hopes for Talk After Latest North Korean Missile Tests," Reuters, August 12, 2019 Kashmir Sameer Yasir, Susasini Raj, and Jeffrey Gettleman,"Inside Sashmir, Cut Off from the World: A Living Hell of Anger and Fear," New York Times, August 10, 2019 Atul Singh and Manu Sharma, "What Lies Behind India's Bold Bet on Kashmir?" Fair Observer, August 10, 2019 Ashan I. Butt, "India Just Pulled Jammu and Kashmir's Autonomy. Here's Why That is a Big Deal for This Contested Region," Washington Post, August 7, 2019 Hong Kong Alice Fung and Yanan Wang, "Tear Gas Fired in Hong Kong With No End In Sight to Protests," AP News, August 11, 2019 Michael C. Davis and Victoria Tin-bor Hui, "In Hong Kong, What Happens Now That Beijing Has Called the Protests a 'Color Revolution?" Washington Post, August 10, 2019 "Hong Kong Protests: Key Dates as Peaceful Rallies Against Extradition Bill Turn to Violent Clashes," Channel News Asia, August 8, 2019 Andrew Thomas, "What's the Economic Cost of Hong Kong Protests?" Aljazeera, August 7, 2019 Ho-Fung Hung, Thomas Kellogg, Antony Dapiran, and Victoria Tin-Bor Hui, "Will Hong Kong Unravel?" China File, August 7, 2019 DNI Zachary Cohen, "Top Intel Official Interrupted Meeting to Urge His Deputy to Resign," CNN, August 9, 2019 Alison Durkee, " John Ratcliffe Is Already Out As Trump's DNI Pick," Vanity Fair, August 2, 2019 Amy Zegart, "The Next Director of National Intelligence: A Thankless Job is Getting Even Harder," Foreign Affairs, August 9, 2019 Terrorism Brian Pascus, "What is "Domestic Terrorism" and What Can the Law Do About It," CBS News, August 10, 2019 Charlie Savage, "What Could a Domestic Terrorism Law Do?" New York Times, August 7, 2019 Trade Scott Lanman and Enda Curran, "Why the US Labeled China a Currency Manipulator," Washington Post, August 7, 2019 Doug Palmer, "New IMF Report Doesn't Back Trump's Currency Manipulation Charge Against China," Politico, August 9, 2019 Paul Krugman, "China Tries to Teach Trump Economics," New York Times, August 9, 2019 Shawn Donnan and Jenny Leonard, "Trump Still Has Plenty of Ways to Escalate His China Trade War," Bloomberg, August 9, 2019 Pop Culture Yohana Desta, "Yes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is Really Writing for the New Veronica Mars," Vanity Fair, September 26, 2018

This week on Bombshell Loren and Erin hold down the fort and ask the brilliant Elsa Kania to explain the new Chinese defense white paper. Britain has a new PM, Pakistan's visited the US, and there are ongoing protests in Moscow and Hong Kong. Meanwhile, we might have a budget deal? And the president keeps trying to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. Erin finally saw Capt. Marvel and we collectively wish cast a real Mara Jade adventure. Links China Mike Yeo, "China: US in Pursuit of Absolute Military Superiority," Defense New, July27, 2019 Anthony H. Cordesman, "China's New 2019 Defense White Paper," CSIS, July 24, 2019 Elsa B. Kania, "Innovation in the New Era of Chinese Military Power," CNAS, July 25, 2019 Elsa B. Kania, "China's Army Can intervene in Hong Kong, Says Beijing," CNAS, July 24, 2019 Imran Khan Asad Hashim, "Q&A: Was Pakistan PM Imran Khan's Visit to the U.S. a Success?" Aljazeera, July 25, 2019 Michael Kugelman, "Despite Khan's Visit, U.S.-Pakistan Ties Aren't Ready for a Reset," World Politics Review, July 26, 2019 Russia Protests "Russia Protests: Thousand Arrests at Moscow Rally," BBC, July 27, 2019 Hong Kong protests "Hong Kong: Thousands Mobilize for Anti-Triad Rally," DW, July 27, 2019 Budget Deal Burgess Everett and Melanie Zanona, "Trump Fumes Over Border Wall as Budget Deal Advances," Politico, July 28, 2019 Hyten Confirmation Helene Cooper, "I have a Moral Responsibility to Come Forward: Colonel Accuses Top Military Nominee of Assault," New York Times, July 26, 2019

Erin, Radha and Loren reunite with author and general badass Nada Bakos to talk about her new book, The Targeter. Foreign relations are pretty lit these days: possible Russian funding of far-right politics in Italy, tiny steps of progress in Afghan govt-Taliban negotiations, and an unexpected political agreement in post-coup Sudan. The music hasn't stopped in the latest round of DOD musical chairs and the UK ambassador to the US was defenestrated by tweet. All in all stranger than fiction - so do read more fiction! Links Sudan Nadine Awadalla, Eltayeb Siddig, and Khalid Abdelaziz, "Thousands Demonstrate in Sudan to Mark 40 Days Since Deadly Crackdown," Reuters, July 13, 2019 Richmond Danso, "After Another Attempted Coup, What's Next for Sudan?" Washington Post, July 13, 2019 Italy/Russia Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli, "Italian Prosecutors Investigate Report That League South Russian Funding," Politico, July 11, 2019 Iran Tanker David D. Kirkpatrick, "U.K Offers to Return Seized Iranian Oil Tanker," New York Times, July 13, 2019 Erin Cunningham, "Britain to 'Facilitate' Release of Seized Iranian Tanker – As Long As it Doesn't Go to Syria," Washington Post, July 14, 2019 Afghanistan David Zucchino and Farooq Jan Mangal, "Seeking Revenge Taliban Target Afghan Soldiers' Family," New York Times, July 9, 2019

Erin, Radha and Loren return after some technical difficulties to rehash the G20, a newsy leader summit full of the president reversing the well-honed positions of his staff. Radha explains how China and the US are talking trade again, with a re-opening of US exports to Huawei and a gentle ask that China remake itself utterly. White House mayhem reminds us all that we almost went to war with Iran and we have no leaders anywhere at the Department of Defense. And do you have summer reading material to distract yourself from the world? Bombshell can help with its summer reading list. Links Bombshell's Summer 2019 Reading List G20 Megan Henney, "At G20 Summit in Japan, These Were the Biggest Moments You Missed," Fox Business, June 29, 2019 Spencer Kimball, "It's a Temporary Timeout: Trump and Xi Agree to Negotiations, But Offer No Clear Path to End US-China Trade War," CNBC, June 29, 2019 Iran Conor Finnegan, "Iran May Stand Down on Nuclear Threat After Europe, China Work to Bypass US Sanctions," ABC News, June 28, 2019 Trade Keith Bradsher, "A China-US Trade Truce Could Enshrine a Global Economic Shift," New York Times, June 29, 2019 Michael Martina and Jonathan Landay, "Experts Think Trump Policy on China Counterproductive: Draft Letter," Reuters, June 29, 2019

Bombshell welcomes back Amanda Sloat to dish on all the drama across the pond - Brexit, the selection of the new Tory leader, and Trump's visit, which was surely not (short)waisted [sic]. Foreign relations are a-twitter with elections in the European Union and Israel (yes, again). And Kim Jong Un thumbed his nose at the world to show that he of course does not murder his failed negotiators – he just imprisons them. The Trump administration has launched another salvo in a trade war with Mexico the same week it noticed USMC-A to Congress, proving that we do indeed contain multitudes. And did you happen to hear about what's going on with the USS John S. McCain? Also, Radha watched Good Omens and you should too. Links Trade – Mexico Andrew Van Dam, "As Mexico Becomes America's Top Source of Imported Goods, Here are the Products That Could Be Most Hit By Trump's Tariffs," Washington Post, May 31, 2019 Edward Alden, "Why Congress Cannot Allow the Trump Tariffs on Mexico to Stand," Council on Foreign Relations," May 31, 2019 Tom Hals and Brendan Pierson, "Trump's Mexican Tariffs Test Limits of U.S. Emergency Powers: Legal Experts," Reuters, May 31, 2019 Trade - China "China Threatens Sweeping Blacklist of Firms After Huawei Ban," Bloomberg, May 31, 2019 EU Election Jon Henley, "EU Elections Turnout Rises As Political Landscape Fragments," Guardian, May 26, 2019 NK Executions Laura Bicker, "North Korea Execution Reports – Why We Should Be Cautious," BBC, MAY 31, 2019 Brexit Amanda Sloat, "Brexit Endgame: A Withdrawal Agreement for Theresa May, But No Clarity on Brexit," Brookings, May 30, 2019 Thomas Wright, "How Trump Undermined Theresa May," Atlantic, May 31, 2019 The Role of Parliament in Today's Britain, Brookings, May 28, 2019 Israeli Elections Bernard Avishai, "A Climax to the Saga of Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman," New Yorker, June 1, 2019 Yaakov Katz, "Why is Israel Really Going to New Elections?" Jerusalem Post, June 2, 2019 USS McCain Barbara Starr and Devan Cole, "Shanahan: USS John McCain Request Made Directly to Seventh Fleet," CNN, June 2, 2019

This week the ladies dive into the recent Iran drama with Ariane Tabatabai. Next, they revisit some recent election results before turning to whirlwind trade developments, as talks with China fall apart and new restrictions are levied against Huawei. White House Mayhem never disappoints, and the ladies sound off on the moral and strategic bankruptcy of pardoning war criminals. Pop-culture brings us home. Links Elections Damien Cave, "Australia Elections Results: Prime Minister Scott Morrison Seizes a Stunning Win," New York Times, May 18, 2019 Hywel Griffith and Jay Savage, "Scott Morrison: How Australia's PM Built a 'Miracle' Election Win," BBC, May 19, 2019 Douglas Schorzman and Kai Schultz, "Polls Are Closed in India's Election: What Happens Next?" New York Times, May 19, 2019 Trade Brendan Murray, "Tariff Man Trump Just Had Himself a Week. Here's a Recap," Bloomberg, May 19, 2019 China Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher, "How Xi's Last-Minute Switch on U.S.-China Trade Deal Upended It," New York Times, May 16, 2019 Eamon Barrett, "China is Running Out of U.S. Good to Tariff, Has Other Trade War Weapons to Unleash," Fortune, May 18, 2019 Michael Schuman, "To China, Alls' Fair in. Love and Trade Wars," Atlantic, May 18, 2019 Julia Horowitz, " Huawei Takes the U.S.-China Trade War to a Dangerous New Level," CNN, May 16, 2019 Mexico – Canada Kayla Tausche and Jacob Pramuk, "US Reaches Deal to Lift Steel and Aluminum Tariffs on Canada and Mexico," CNBC, May 17, 2019 Iran "Iran Nuclear Deal: Tehran May Increase Uranium Enrichment," BBC, May 08, 2019 Becca Wasser and Ariane Tabatabai, Washington Post, "Irans Network of Fighters in the Middle East Aren't Always Loyal to Iran," May 21, 2019 Eric Brewer, Elisa Catalano Ewers, Ilan Goldenberg, Peter Harrell, Nicholas Heras, Elisabeth Rosenberg, and Ariane Tabatabai, "A Realistic Path for Progress on Iran," CNAS, January 29, 2019 Ariane Tabatabai, "Can Anyone Save the Iran Nuclear Deal?" New York Times, May 10, 2019 Huawei Frank Bajak and Tali Arbel, "Huawei Hit by US Export Controls, Potential Important Ban," AP News, May 16, 2019 Emily Feng, "S. Move to Isolate Huawei Sends Ripples Through Global Supply Chain," NPR, May 16, 2019 Emily Stewart, "The US Government's Ongoing Battle With Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei, Explained," Vox, May 21, 2019 War Crimes Dave Philipps, "Trump May Be Preparing Pardons for Servicemen Accused of War Crimes," New York Times, May 18, 2019

This week Erin and Radha hold down the fort and return to some of Bombshell's greatest hits topics, starting with North Korean missile tests and a double feature from ISIS (a new video from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and the horrific attacks in Sri Lanka), and spinning some militias in Libya and new Iran sanctions for good measure. With the continuing mayhem in Washington, they turn to the chaos in Venezuela, lack of data from Afghanistan, and of course the "clash of civilizations" on the horizon with China. With Loren out, Erin has to skip Game of Thrones coverage and talk princess TV and tiaras with Radha. Links Libya Mieczyslaw Boduszynski and Christopher Lamont, "Trump Changed US Policy Toward Libya. This is Why it Matters," Washington Post, May 03, 2019 Al Baghdadi/Sri Lanka Frank Gardner, "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Why is it So Difficult to Track Down IS Leader?" BBC, May 01, 2019 Souad Mekhennet "In ISIS Leaders Video Appearance, Messages to Followers, Rivals, and the West," Washington Post, May 02, 2019 Iran Sanctions "Six Charts That Show How Hard US Sanctions Have Hit Iran," BBC, May 02, 2019 Osama Bin Javaid, "Iran Sanctions Explained," Aljazeera, May 04, 2019 Matthew Lee, "US Renews Iran Sanctions Waivers for Civilian Nuclear Work," AP, May 03, 2019 "Clash of Civilization" Daniel Drezner, "Let's Grade the State Department's Director of Policy Planning on Her Grand Strategy Musings," Washington Post, May 01, 2019 Paul Musgrave, "The Slip That Revealed the Real Trump Doctrine," Foreign Policy, May 02, 2019 "A Better Reading of History Must Bring Home the Truth That the Basic Factor in Human Affairs is Not Politics, But Race," Lawyers Guns Money Blog, May 03, 2019 Jessica Chen Weiss, "No China and the US Aren't Locked in an Ideological Battle. Not Even Close," Washington Post, May 04, 2019 Afghanistan "US Military Stops Releasing Information Tracking Progress in Afghanistan," CBS, May 01, 2019 Sri Lanka James Griffiths, "A Weeks After the Easter Sunday Attacks, Sri Lanka is No Closer to Understanding or Healing," CNN, April 28, 2019 Venezuela Karen DeYoung, "US Officials Weigh Options for Venezuela as Trump Describes Positive Call with Putin," Washington Post, May 03, 2019 Anthony Faiola, "Guaido Says Opposition Overestimated Military Support Before Failed Uprising," Washington Post, May 04, 2019

This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin explore the world's many recent elections - in Israel, India, Indonesia, and Ukraine. They then return to Northern Ireland, not to talk about Brexit, but to unpack resurgent sectarian violence. The recent coup in Sudan rounds out a very sporty Keeping up Foreign Relations. Radha notes we're still waiting on a big trade summit with China before we dive headfirst into the Mueller report and speculate wildly on the ongoing counter-intelligence investigation(s). DoD remains opaque as ever, while DHS gets purged. Finally, a lively Pop Culture round-up to take our minds off all this mayhem. Links Trade Enda Curran "How the US-China Trade War Reached A Turning Point," Washington Post, April 18, 2019 Jeff Cox, "US Trade Deficit Falls in February As Shortfall with China Decreases 28%," CNBC, April 17, 2019 DHS: Ronald Brownstein, "Trump's Immigration Policies Unify White Republicans," Atlantic, April 11, 2019 Sudan Nandita Balakrishnan, "Sudan's Upheaval is the Latest Examples of a Gray Zone Coup," Washington Post, April 17, 2019 Mai Hassan and Ahmed Kodouda, "Sudan Ousted Two Autocrats in Three Days. Here's What's Next," Washington Post, April 15, 2019 Protests "Protests in Sudan Are Escalating. Here's What You Need to Know," Washington Post, April 10, 2019 "Generals Overthrew Sudan's President Bashir, But They Can't Agree On What Comes Next," Washington Post, April 16, 2019 Election "FP's Guide to the Indian Elections," Foreign Policy, April 18, 2019 Arys Aditya, "After Record One-Day Indonesia Election, Result Still Weeks Away," Bloomberg, April 20, 2019 Ilan Goldenberg, "The Future of the Two-State Solution is at Stake," April 08, 2019 Northern Ireland "Lyra McKee Murder: Journalist Shot Dead During Derry Rioting," BBC, April 19, 2019 "Petrol Bombs Thrown at Police in Derry As Journalist Kill," Guardian, April 19, 2019 Ed O'Loughlin and Richard Perez-Pena, "Lyra McKee, Northern Ireland Journalist, Is Killed in 'Terrorist Incident,' Police Say," New York Times, April 19, 2019 Bonnie Weir, "Brexit and a Border Town: Troubles Ahead in Northern Ireland?" New York Review of Books, April 11, 2019 Mueller Benjamin Wittes, "Notes on the Mueller Report: A Reading Diary," Lawfare, April 19, 2019 Joshua Geltzer and Ryan Goodman "Mueller Hints at a National-Security Nightmare," New York Times, April 19, 2019 Pop Culture Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Teaser Spencer Kornhaber, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Might Spark and Old Fight," April 12, 2019 Andrew Dyce, "Star Wars Already Made Rey a True Skywalker (You Just Missed It)," Screen Rant, April 20, 2019

The ladies of Bombshell take on proteins and Afghanistan policy all in one segment with special guest Frances Brown. Across the pond, Brexit is going nowhere fast and NATO is celebrating a grand birthday while the American president is questioning whether he wants to keep paying dues. In It's Aghast, 5G is fast, the future, and not so much fun for American competitiveness. And in White House mayhem, the Congress mustered up some war powers energy to get the US out of the military operations in Yemen that the administration claims we aren't in, while the president visited the border just defenestrating his Homeland Security Secretary. Links Huawei/5G Ahiza Garcia, "Verizon Launches First 5G Phone You Can Use on a 5G Network in US," CNN, April 3, 2019 Milo Medin and Gilman Louie, "The 5G Ecosystem: Risks and Opportunities for DOD," Defense Innovation Board, April 2019 Zak Doffman, "Huawei May Have Claimed 5G Victory Over the US But Is Now In A Street Fight," Forbes, April 5, 2019 Keith Johnson and Elias Groll, "The Improbable Rise of Huawei," Foreign Policy, April 3, 2019 Saudi Human Rights Vivian Yee and David Kirkpatrick, "Saudis Escalate Crackdown on Dissent, Arresting Nine and Risking US Ire," New York Times, April 5, 2019 Alex Ward, "Saudi Arabia Is Detaining American Activists 6 Months After Khashoggi's Murder," Vox, April 5, 2019 ALQST, Tweets, April 4, 2019 Joyce Lee and Dalton Bennett, "The Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi," Washington Post, April 1, 2019 Brexit Heather Stewart and Daniel Boffey, "Hopes of Brexit Progress Fade as Labour Says May Has Failed to Compromise," Guardian, April 5, 2019 Afghanistan Fahim Abed, "Taliban Attack Kills Dozens in Afghanistan Despite U.S. Efforts in Peace Talks," New York Times, April 4, 2019 Barbara Walter, "Hoping That Peace Comes to Afghanistan? Dream On," Washington Post, January 30, 2019 Mexico Border Molly O'Toole, Noah Bierman, and Eli Stokols, "As Trump Threatens to Close Border, Experts Warn of Billions in Economic Damage," Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2019 Maegan Vazquez, "Trump Heads to US-Mexico Border After a Week of Confusing Threats," CNN, April 6, 2019 NATO Karen Donfried, "3 Ways Europe Is Looking At A Fray NATO," Defense One, April 2, 2019 Rachel Rizzo and Carrie Cordero, "Bolstering Congressional Support for NATO," CNAS, March 20, 2019 Yemen Elisa Catalano Ewers and Nicholas Heras, "Congressional Action on Yemen Isn't Only About Yemen," CNAS, February 27, 2019

Join Bombshell for a rousing discussion of the fathomless train wreck that is Brexit and the increasing lack of predictability of the upcoming Israeli elections. Believe it or not, China trade talks are not going as well as they might, as we discuss in "It's Aghast." In White House mayhem, President Trump issued a tremendous press release on the fourth or fifth defeat of ISIL with some bombast and a little general life advice, while recognizing the generally illegal Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights, crapping on his own North Korea policy, and putting out a DOA defense budget. We're all fine here, how are you? Links Ana Swanson, "Trump Administration Strikes Tougher Stance Ahead of China Talk," New York Times, March 22, 2019 Ian Austen, "What's Going on Between Canada and China? Our Experts Share Their Thoughts," New York Times, March 22, 2019 Yen Nee Lee, "A Trade Deal Could Come in Weeks, But it Won't Remove 'Contentious' Issues, Says Former US Diplomat," CNBC, March 24, 2019 Audit of the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund's Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2017 Kathy Gilsinan, "The 'Caliphate' Is Dead, but Americans Might Not Be Any Safer," Atlantic, March 23, 2019 Tamara Cofman Wittes and Ilan Goldenberg, "Trump's Golan Fiasco: Recognizing the Disputed Territory Won't Help Israel. But It Will Reverberate All Over the World," Politico, March 22, 2019

Erin, Radha, and Loren made the trip to Duke University to join the Carlucci National Security Symposium at the Sanford School of Public Policy. On the agenda for this special live show: topics we want presidential candidates to debate, big ideas we want to stop hearing about in foreign policy and what big issues that bridge the public and private sectors should we be worrying more about. It is unclear whether Erin has performed enough penance for visiting Duke in basketball season.

This week Dr. Tanvi Madan joins the ladies to explain the brewing crisis between India and Pakistan in Kashmir. Then Radha breaks down last week's trade negotiations with China (what really is an MOU anyway and what happened to our leverage?). We revisit Venezuela as the Vice President prepares for a trip to the region and then discuss the humanitarian and policy implications of the "ISIS wives." White House Mayhem lives up to its name with uncoordinated Syria policies, rogue nuclear reactor deals, and sad faces in Munich. We're all enjoying the many escapes offered by Pop Culture. Links Kashmir Emily Lalwani and Emily Tallo, "Driver, Decision, Deilemmas: Understanding the Kashmir Crisis and Its Implications," War on the Rocks Sumit Ganguly, "Narendra Modi Should Calm Tensions in Kashmir Rather Than Inflame Them," Foreign Policy It's Aghast Bob Davis, "Officials Play Down Apperance of Rift Between Trump and Lighthizer on Trade," Wall Street Journal "US and China Are Sketching the Outlines of a Deal to End the Trade War," CNBC KUFR Venezuela Dennis Romero, "Venezuela's Maduro Cuts Ties with Colombia Amid Border Conflict," NBC News ISIS women Meghna Chakrabarti, "Return from ISIS: American Women Want Out of Extremism," WBUR "The Difficult Diplomacy Involved in Returning Former ISIS Fighter and Their Families," Washington Post Vira Mironova "Is the Future of ISIS Female?" New York Times Jayne Huckerby, "When Women Become Terrorists," New York Times White House Mayhem Syria "White House Will Keep About 400 Troops in Syria, Reversing Previous Decision," NPR Saudi Nuclear tech "Multiple Whistleblowers Raise Grave Concerns with White House Efforts to Transfer Sensitive U.S. Nuclear Technology to Saudi Arabia," Oversight Alex Ward, "House Dems Reveal. New Info on a Shady White House Plan to Sell Nuclear Tech to Saudi Arabia," Vox "The Hostility Toward Foreign Policy Community, Explained," Washington Post Munich Thomas Wright, "The Moment the Transatlantic Charade Ended," Atlantic Daniel Estrin, "Munich Security Conference Reveals A Growing Rift Between U.S. and Its Allies," NPR

This week Paula Garcia Tufro joins the Radha, Loren, and Erin to discuss the brewing crisis in Venezuela. Then the ladies fashion an update on Brexit, explore uncharted waters in Iraq, and ask what is the point of a second North Korea summit when nothing has happened since the first! Radha unpacks recent trade negotiations with China before the group asks the unanswerable question: just how much money can you shove into OCO? Finally, Erin and Loren profess their undying love for Matthew Goode. Links Venezuela Ethan Bronner, "Venezuela's Maduro Is Doomed? They Said That About Syria's Assad," Bloomberg Keeping up Foreign Relations Brexit William James, "May to Promise New BExit Debate in Push for More Negotiating Time," Reuters Jon Henley, Jennifer Rankin, and Richard Partington, "Countdown to Brexit: The Key Dates as UK's EU Exit Approaches," Guardian Peter Flanagan, "Why Ireland's Border Commands Its Own Brexit Backstop," Bloomberg Iraq Simona Foltyn, "Will Iraq's Old Divisions Undermine Its New Prime Minister?" Foreign Policy Jennifer Hansler, "Trump's Iraq Comment Prompts Confusion and Condemnation," CNN North Korea Bruce W. Jentleson, "Trump, Kim, and the Three P's of Summit Diplomacy," War on the Rocks Robert E. Kelly, "The Second Trump-Kim Summit: Getting Beyond the Photo Op," War on the Rocks Uri Friedman, "South Korea Becomes a Testing Ground for Trump's Grievances with Allies," Atlantic Russell Goldman, "A Guide to Trump and Kim Jong-un's Next Summit Meeting," New York Times It's Aghast China Trade Jeff Mason, "S.-China Trade Talks Resume Next Week, Focus on Intellectual Property," Reuters Patti Domm, "Trade War Headlines Could Get Much Worse Before They Get Betters As the US Looks to Europe," CNBC White House Mayhem Defense Budget Tony Bertuca, "Pentagon Planning a Mammoth FY-20 War Budget to Avoid Spending Cap," Inside Defense Fitzgerald Bryan McGrath, "The Fitzgerald Collision: In Search of the Onus," War on the Rocks

It's our 2nd annual Manniversary episode! We dug deep to find the most smoldering hot takes from the men in the national security arena. Join us for a far-ranging discussion with Stan McChrystal, Jeffrey Lewis, and Clint Watts! Links Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, Jay Mangone, Leaders: Myth and Reality, (Portfolio 2018) Jeffrey Lewis, The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel, (Mariner Books, 2018) Clint Watts, Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake New, (Harper, 2018)

Bombshell returns in 2019 with a new set of Bombshell questions and a guest, Dana Stroul, to give our best shot at explaining US-Syria policy. Secretary Pompeo has finished a whirlwind tour (while his staff are unpaid) trying to do the same, and at least one of the parties to potential US-North Korea summit seems to be doing its homework (guess which). The team digs deep into the longest government shutdown in history and considers just what kind of emergency it would be if Trump used national emergency powers to build a wall. Plus, lots of pop culture for the new year. Syria Policy Robbie Gramer, "Mike Pompeo Is Flying Solo in the Middle East," Foreign Policy Keeping up Foreign Relations North Korea Jon Herskovitz and Youkyung Lee, "North Korea's Nuclear Program Quietly Advances, Pressuring Trump," Bloomberg It's Aghast Brexit "Theresa May Facing Crunch Vote on Her Brexit Deal," BBC China Marilyn Haigh, "US Trade Representative's Office Will Have Only About 30% of Its Staff Due to the Shutdown As China Talks Approach March Deadline," CNBC "China's Annual Trade Surplus With U.S. Hits Record Despite Trump's Tariff Offensive," Wall Street Journal White House Mayhem Shutdown Javier Zarracina and Li Zhou, "The Astonishing Effects of the Shutdown, In 8 Charts," Vox "Everything You Need to Know About the Government Shutdown," Washington Post National Emergency Elizabeth Goitein, "What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency," Atlantic Quinta Jurecic, "Everyone Calm Down About That Declaration of National Emergency," Lawfare

Loren and Erin travel to Kansas City for a special live recording at the National World War I Museum. Joined by John Ismay and Steve Leonard, they dig into the many aspects of the Forever Wars including some Civ-Mil 101, opportunities for oversight and accountability, and everyone's favorite GWOT film. Links Amy Schafer, "Generations of War," CNAS Conflicting Partisan Priorities for U.S. Foreign Policy, Pew Research Center Nikki Wentling, "Tom Hanks Thinks Hollywood Isn't Best Suited to Tell Stories of Iraq, Afghanistan Wars," Stars and Stripes

This ONE TIME we huddled for an emergency podcast. Because the Secretary of Defense resigned in protest. That doesn't happen everyday. At least we hope not. Enjoy!

This week Radha, Loren, and Erin sit down to try and figure out just what the hell happened in 2018. Storm clouds gather as the ladies discuss what NatSec stories we missed - and what we'll still be talking about in 10 years. But Radha brings the sunshine as we discuss the most important events for the military services in 2018 (which sadly has not resulted in any Space Marines). We wrap up with a review of the Administration's secret villains and heroes and put a bow on it with movie plot lines that best capture 2018. Links "Jaw-Jaw," War on the Rocks Keith Bradsher and Ailin Tang, "China's Economy Slows Sharply, in Challenge for Xi Jinping," War on the Rocks Sophie Richardson, "China disappeared Interpol's chief. The world can't pretend it's business as usual." Washington Post Heidi Blake, Tom Warren, Richard Holmes, Jason Leopold, Jane Bradley, Alex Campbell, "From Russia With Blood," BuzzFeed News Alex Horton, "The Army kicked out dozens of immigrant recruits. Now it's allowing them back amid a legal battle." Washington Post Gina Harkins, "The Military's Officer Promotion System May See Major Shake Up," Military.com Lara Seligman, "Strong Economy Poses Recruitment Challenge for the U.S. Army," Foreign Policy Paul Scharre, "A Million Mistakes a Second," Foreign Policy Michael C. Horowitz, "The Algorithms of August," Foreign Policy Zach Dorfman, "Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents," Foreign Policy David E. Sanger, Nicole Perlroth, Glenn Thrush, Alan Rappeport, "Marriott Data Breach Is Traced to Chinese Hackers as U.S. Readies Crackdown on Beijing," New York Times Emma Ashford and Trevor Thrall, "The Battle Inside the Political Parties for the Future of U.S. Foreign Policy," War on the Rocks Katie Mettler, Callum Borchers, Nick Kirkpatrick, "'You're fired': A timeline of Team Trump departures," Washington Post Walt Hickey and Gus Wezerek, "The Definitive Analysis Of 'Love Actually,' The Greatest Christmas Movie Of Our Time," FiveThirtyEight

This week Erin, Loren, and Radha read the G20 tea leaves, opine on continued chaos in Afghanistan, and remind you about all the White House mayhem from Saudi politics to a Moscow Trump Tower. Radha gets way too excited about USMCA (pronounced U-Smack-Ah) and all things trade before the ladies round some pop culture. Keeping Up Foreign Relations Afghanistan Rahim Faiez, "At Least 40 People Killed in Deadly 24 Hours Across Afghanistan," TIME John Bacon, "3 American service members killed in Afghanistan roadside bombing," USA Today Jessica Purkiss and Abigail Fielding-Smith, "Uptick in U.S. Air Strikes on Buildings in Afghanistan Raises Questions," Just Security Ukraine Andrew Higgins, "Ukraine, on a War Footing, Looks Westward for Help," New York Times Andrew Osborn, "Citing Russia threat, Ukraine boosts security at ports, power plants," Reuters Alex Ward, "Russia just openly attacked Ukraine. That could mean their war will get worse." Vox It's Aghast G20 "US-China trade war: Deal agreed to suspend new trade tariffs," BBC Krishanadev Calamur, "The G20 Communique Bookends the George H.W. Bush Era," Atlantic "Perceptible improvement in India-China relations, say Modi and Xi on G20 sidelines," India Today USMCA Jen Kirby, "USMCA, the new trade deal between the US, Canada, and Mexico, explained," Vox White House Mayhem Yemen Jordan Tama, "Why is the Senate challenging Trump on Yemen? Here's what you need to know." Washington Post Scott R. Anderson, "Taking Stock of the Yemen Resolution," Lawfare New START Joe Gould, "US lawmakers tangle over nuclear arsenal, Russia treaties," Defense News L'Affaire Russe John McLaughlin, Tweet Emma Loop, "The House Intelligence Committee Will Investigate Trump's Company's Plan To Give Putin A $50 Million Penthouse," BuzzFeed News Anthony Cormier and Jason Leopold, "The Definitive Story Of How Trump's Team Worked The Trump Moscow Deal During The Campaign," BuzzFeed News Border Emily Kopp, "Immigration Experts: Tear Gas Has Been Used at the Border for Years, But Never on Children," Roll Call Government Shutdown Niv Elis, "Border wall bickering raises odds of shutdown," Hill Michael Collins, "Another government shutdown? Congress has a week to pass a spending bill to keep the lights on," USA Today Pop Culture Orli Matlow, "Woman's fake viral pic with Michael B. Jordan turned into reality. Anything is possible!" Someecards Owen Gleiberman, "Film Review: 'The Favourite,'" Variety

Erin, Radha, and Loren invited Dr. Lindsay Cohn of the U.S. Naval War College to join their posse and explain America's history of employing the military for domestic purposes. In Keeping Up Foreign Relations, UK Prime Minister Theresa May is still negotiating the terms of her break up with the EU, and new revelations on the tragic killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi are giving us a collective heart attack. A new entrant to White House mayhem, First Lady Melania Trump, flexes her muscle to oust the fifth Deputy National Security Advisor of the Trump administration, and we assess the assessment of the National Defense Strategy commission. Finally, come what may, we commit to developing a holiday shopping list for you festive needs this season. UPCOMING EVENT: The American Public and the War on Terror https://my.theworldwar.org/2307 (Tue, 4 Dec, Kansas City) Border Deployment Alice Hunt Friend, "5 reasons to be concerned about deploying U.S. troops along the southern border," Washington Post Lindsey P. Cohn, "The Precarious State of Civil-Military Relations in the Age of Trump," War on the Rocks Keeping up Foreign Relations Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler, "Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU," BBC Frank Langfitt, "Here's What You Need To Know About Brexit After A Tumultuous Week In The U.K.," NPR Jasmine Andersson, "What is the customs union, and how is it different to the single market," iNews John Cassidy, "The Brexit Fantasy Goes Down in Tears," New Yorker Saudi Arabia Alex Ward, "Trump doesn't want to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi. His new sanctions prove it." Vox Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Josh Dawsey, "CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi's assassination," Washington Post White House Mayhem Abigail Tracy, "'I don't know how you recover from that': The cruel, unusual fate of Mira Ricardel," Vanity Fair Aaron Mehta, "A 'crisis of national security': New report to Congress sounds alarm," Defense News Eric Edelman, et al., "Providing for the Common Defense: The Assessment and Recommendations of the National Defense Strategy Commission," USIP Lara Seligman, "How the Generals Are Routing the Policy Wonks at the Pentagon," Foreign Policy Pop Culture Roger Cormier, "15 Things You Might Not Know About Moulin Rouge!," Mental Floss Alan Sepinwall, "'The Little Drummer Girl' Review: Ignore the Plot, Admire the Beauty of Le Carre Thriller," Rolling Stone Katy Waldman, "HBO's 'My Brilliant Friend' Understands Its Source Material, But Its Diligence Feels Misspent," New Yorker Ryan McPhee, "Moulin Rouge! Musical Sets Broadway Dates Theatre; Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo to Star," Playbill

Loren, Erin, and Radha meet up in a special short episode to talk about the election aftermath. What will happen with the change in the house, who is on the Senate armed services committee, and what is oversight anyway?! Plus, a quick discussion on the defense budget and why data and statistics should be a year-round pastime!

This week Tamara Cofman Wittes joins the Bombshell ladies to discuss the fallout of the Khashoggi assassination and the future of US-Saudi relations. We get further bogged down in Afghanistan and try to understand the migrant caravan moving north from Central America. Then Radha tries to cheer us up by explaining the intricacies of the Universal Postal Union. For icing on the cake, we dive deep into the INF treaty and wonder if the Defense Department really being asked to cut its budget. Saudi Emma Ashford, "The U.S.-Saudi alliance was in trouble long before Jamal Khashoggi's death," War on the Rocks Keeping up Foreign Relations Caravan Delphine Schrank, "Thousands of caravan migrants take shelter in southern Mexico," Reuters Afghanistan Dan Lamothe, "U.S. general wounded in attack in Afghanistan," Washington Post Thomas Ruttig, "The Killing of Razeq: Removing the Taleban's strongest foe in Kandahar, an indirect hit at elections," Afghanistan Analysts Network Ashley Jackson, "The Taliban Just Won a Key Battle for Afghanistan's Future," Foreign Policy Matthieu Aikins, "The Master of Spin Boldak," Harper's Maija Liuhto, "Regional leaders are defying Afghanistan's president. The latest is a police chief who was once a close U.S. ally," LA Times It's Aghast Jen Kirby, "Here's why Trump threatened to pull out of a 144-year-old postal treaty," Vox Daniel W. Drezner, "The Trump administration's brinkmanship with *checks notes* the Universal Postal Union," Washington Post White House Mayhem INF Treaty Amy F. Woolf, "Russian Compliance with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: Background and Issues for Congress," Congressional Research Service Jacob Heim, "Missiles for Asia? The Need for Operational Analysis of U.S. Theater Ballistic Missiles in the Pacific," RAND Julian Borger and Martin Pengelly, "Trump says US will withdraw from nuclear arms treaty with Russia," Guardian Steven Pifer, "The Trump administration is preparing a major mistake on the INF Treaty," Brookings Budget Aaron Mehta, "Trump appears to call for defense spending cuts," Defense News Pop-Culture Caroline Hallemann, "Everything We Know About the New Masterpiece PBS Adaptation of Les Miserables," Town & Country "Death Comes to Pemberley," PBS

This week, Loren, Radha, and Erin are reunited to discuss such cheery topics as political assassinations and sexual violence (albeit in the form of Nobel Prizes awarded to combat it). Radha dives deep on NAFTA 2.0, and we work our way through the crazy Chinese hacked hardware story. Rounding out White House Mayhem, John Bolton is back and joins the president and vice president in making blustery foreign policy speeches. And Erin demands answers on Banksy's newest prank. New WOTR podcast: Melanie Marlowe, Bryan McGrath, and Christopher Preble, "Net Assessment," War on the Rocks KUFR Nobel prize Emily Sullivan, "Nobel Peace Prize Goes To Denis Mukwege And Nadia Murad For Fighting Sexual Violence," NPR Saudi-Turkey "Jamal Khashoggi: Turkey says journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate," BBC Karim Fahim, "Turkey concludes Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi killed by 'murder' team, sources say," Washington Post Trade Heather Long, "U.S., Canada and Mexico just reached a sweeping new NAFTA deal. Here's what's in it." Washington Post Jacob M. Schlesinger and Josh Zumbrun, "Trump Aims to Model New Trade Deals on Revised Nafta," Wall Street Journal Phil Levy, "Trump Faces A Car Conundrum On NAFTA Deal," Forbes Jeff Daniels, "New NAFTA falls short of 'more ambitious goals' for agribusiness, says CoBank report," CNBC Jordan Robertson and Michael Riley, "The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies," Bloomberg James Cook, "Apple and Amazon deny report that Chinese 'spy' chips were used to infiltrate their networks," Telegraph Ian Bogost, "The Chinese Motherboard Hack Is a Crisis, Even If It Didn't Really Happen," Atlantic WH Mayhem Jane Perlez, "Pence's China Speech Seen as Portent of 'New Cold War,'" New York Times Van Jackson, "Competition with China Isn't a Strategy," War on the Rocks David M. Herszenhorn, "Rebuking Trump, major powers reaffirm Iran nuclear deal," Politico Lara Seligman, "Bolton Puts Mattis in a Tight Spot on Syria," Foreign Policy Jarrett Blanc, "Here's Why World Leaders Are Laughing at Trump," Politico Pop-Culture Allison Quinn, "Banksy Painting Self-Destructs Seconds After Being Sold for $1.4 Million at Auction," Daily Beast

This week on bombshell Erin and Radha drink at Kori Schake's favorite bar in the world. Joined by Amelia Egghart, they discuss why climate change is still a thing and the (lack of) process in national security issues from Syria to Korea. They also remind us why you shouldn't start a land or trade war in Asia. And of course all the White House mayhem that's fit to print. Did we mention the guest was a chicken? Venezuela https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/americas/donald-trump-venezuela-military-coup.html https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-venezuela/us-preparing-actions-in-coming-days-against-venezuela-pompeo-to-fox-news-idUSKCN1M12RF China https://www.npr.org/2018/09/21/650554494/china-fires-back-against-u-s-sanctions-for-purchases-of-russian-weapons https://thehill.com/policy/finance/407871-5-things-to-know-about-trumps-escalating-trade-war-with-china Israel/Russia https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-russia-syria/israel-showed-russia-proof-syria-to-blame-for-downed-plane-israeli-military-idUSKCN1M11HL https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-to-study-israeli-data-related-to-downed-plane/4578956.html Climate https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/trump-environmental-policies-rollbacks/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-climatechange/governments-not-on-track-to-cap-temperatures-at-below-2-degrees-u-n-idUSKCN1LI03S

The Army and Navy Club in Washington, DC, hosted Loren and Radha this week for a live show. Lara Seligman of Foreign Policy and Valerie Insinna of Defense News joined the Bombshell crew to discuss defense journalism in the Trump administration, what it's like to cover a 17 year old war, and the most mayhem of mayhem weeks the White House has had in the last year. To listen to the audience Q&A for this episode, sign up for the War Hall at https://warontherocks.com/subscribe

Erin, Radha, and Loren head back to school from summer break, with smiling and shining faces. This week they catch up on some extensive Kabul mayhem, covering recent Taliban forays into Afghan-government controlled cities, the state of possible negotiations among both parties, and how this fits into new changes on command at ISAF and CENTCOM. Revisiting a topic that's come up since the first episode of Bombshell, the ladies check in on U.S. support to the coalition campaign in Yemen and recent USG and Congressional frustrations with civilian casualties in the region - are we any closer to the end of our rope in enabling Saudi operations there or business as usual? And the enormous growth Chinese harassment of Uighurs in Xinjiang combined with the technological prowess of the Chinese surveillance state has a terrible alchemy that other autocratic states may find attractive. Radha continues her trade segment "It's Aghast" and talks through the current shenanigans with Mexico and Canada as well as a rapid rundown of our many trade tax tools! After some White House mayhem where it's clear that process is still our valentine we delight and quibble over the new Jack Ryan series. Keeping up Foreign Relations Afghanistan https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2018/08/analysis-gen-nicholson-says-us-strategy-in-afghanistan-is-working-despite-the-facts.php http://time.com/longform/ghazni-fight-taliban/ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-politics-security/rows-resignations-underscore-afghanistans-security-crisis-idUSKCN1LI0CN Yemen https://twitter.com/Brian_Castner/status/1031961797249646592 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-45257631 https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/20/politics/yemeni-bombmaker-dead/index.html https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/08/yemen-saudi-airstrike-school-bus/567799/ China https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/31/asia/china-xinjiang-uyghur-intl/index.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/former-inmates-of-chinas-muslim-re-education-camps-tell-of-brainwashing-torture/2018/05/16/32b330e8-5850-11e8-8b92-45fdd7aaef3c_story.html?utm_term=.0b9c4d3c852f https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/08/china-surveillance-technology-muslims/567443/ https://www.npr.org/2018/08/31/643736351/u-n-urges-china-to-stop-detaining-uighurs-political-reeducation-centers-reported It's Aghast China tariffs https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2018/08/23/china-trade-war-update-preparing-for-trump-vs-xi/#6bdc310814a0 https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-china-tariff-second-list-of-goods-products-worth-16-billion-2018-8 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/08/24/china-trade/?utm_term=.256b6f1a0647 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-tariffs/trump-ready-to-ratchet-up-china-trade-war-with-more-tariffs-report-idUSKCN1LF2BP NAFTA https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nafta-canada-trump-trudeau-twitter-1.4807836 https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/naftas-economic-impact https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-was-all-set-to-terminate-inside-trumps-sudden-shift-on-nafta/2017/04/27/0452a3fa-2b65-11e7-b605-33413c691853_story.html?utm_term=.8873dabcb477 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-trump/trump-says-mexico-trade-deal-near-nafta-hurdles-seen-easing-idUSKCN1LA0H0 https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-mexico-close-to-resolving-issues-holding-up-nafta-talks-1535214739 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/01/trumps-playing-tough-with-canadians-he-needs-them/?utm_term=.724c9007d666 White House Mayhem https://www.vox.com/2018/8/28/17790546/north-korea-trump-pompeo-letter-trip https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mccains-funeral-was-a-melancholy-last-hurrah-for-whats-been-lost-in-trump-era/2018/09/01/156784c6-ad46-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html?utm_term=.2369d4ecda58 Pop Culture http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/jack-ryan-amazon-review.html

While the ladies of Bombshell will talk with just about anyone, should the U.S. government? Bombshell dives into President Trump's proclivity for theatrical political summits with adversaries, following up on current efforts in Afghanistan, North Korea, and Iran. Radha introduces a new segment on trade: It's Aghast! And the National Defense Authorization Act is a 2500 page gold mine of wonky policy fun. Keeping up Foreign Relations North Korea "North Korea continuing nuclear programme - UN report," BBC News Ellen Nakashima and Joby Warrick, "U.S. spy agencies: North Korea is working on new missiles," Washington Post Uri Friedman, "Two Ways to Read the Newest Intelligence on North Korea," Atlantic Pakistan Elections Colin Cookman, "A Tilted Playing Field: What Pakistan's Electoral Shifts Could Mean for Imran Khan's Government," War on the Rocks Alyssa Ayres, "Election 2018: So Far, No Cause for Celebration," Council on Foreign Relations Afghanistan Strategy Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Helene Cooper, "Newest U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan Mirrors Past Plans for Retreat," New York Times Spencer Ackerman, "Inside the Secret Taliban Talks to End America's Longest War," Daily Beast Idrees Ali, "Exclusive: After discouraging year, U.S. officials expect review of Afghan Strategy," Reuters It's Aghast Jack Ewing, "Europe Feels the Squeeze of the Trump Trade Tariffs," New York Times Shawn Donnan, "Trump's hopes for EU trade deal hampered by agriculture," Financial Times Doug Palmer, "US sides with Russia in WTO national security case against Ukraine," Politico White House Mayhem NDAA Mark Cancian, "What Really Matters In The Defense Authorization Act & What Didn't Get Done," Breaking Defense Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould, "Senate moves to empower Pentagon's policy chief as enforcer," Defense News Office of Management and Budget, "Follow-on to Statement of Administration Policy," Executive Office of the President Leo Shane III and Tara Copp, "Pentagon braces for massive change to officer promotions," Military Times Tom Vanden Brook, "Generals and admirals caught in sex scandals could lose clearances under defense funding bill," USA Today Space Force Marcus Weisgerber, "Exclusive: Pentagon To Start Creating Space Force -- Even Before Congress Approves It," Defense One Paul Scharre, "The US Military Should Not Be Doubling Down on Space," Defense One

Alina Polyakova of Brookings joins the Bombshell crew to dive into the fallout from the Helsinki Summit. Radha furthers our education on tariffs, er trade taxes, as the great trade war of 2018 slouches toward chaos. Meanwhile, Teresa May's Brexit woes continue as she mucks around with Northern Ireland. And despite Secretary Pompeo's personal attention, President Trump is catching on to the fact that Singapore did not set up the greatest of deals with North Korea. In White House mayhem Trump's NSC is trying desperately to stay out of his line of sight as they manage crises he won't like - like the reemergence of ISIS in Iraq. Plus, Supergirl and puppies, airplane movies, Bombshell books, early gray fudge, and rose all day. Helsinki Fallout Alina Polyakova and Benjamin Haddad, "Europe in the New Era of Great Power Competition," Foreign Affairs Alina Polyakova, "Trump Has Trapped Himself Into Cracking Down on Russia," Atlantic Alina Polyakova, "Putin didn't have to push the Kremlin's narrative. Trump did it for him." Washington Post Julia Ioffe, "The surreal world," Washington Post All the Tariffs Louis Nelson, Victoria Guida, Adam Behsudi, "Trump threatens tariffs on all $500 billion worth of Chinese imports," Politico "The world trading system is under attack," Economist Hersh Shefrin, "Playing Trade War Chicken," Forbes Ana Swanson, "Republicans Bow to White House on Chinese Telecom Firm ZTE," New York Times Merrit Kennedy, "In Face Of Protectionism, EU And Japan Sign Huge Open-Trade Deal," NPR Raymond Colitt, Patrick Gillespie, Carolynn Look, "World Economic Leaders Condemn President Trump's Twitter Trade Rants at G-20 Summit," Time/Bloomberg Megan Cassella, "Trump's new midterm threat: A trade war smacking voters," Politico John Bowden, "Mnuchin: US open to removing Russian aluminum producer from sanctions list," Hill Brexit "The Great British Venn Diagram," QNTM Henry Farrell, "Theresa May's Brexit speech may break the Northern Ireland peace process," Washington Post "Brexit: May calls for EU to 'evolve' position on 'unworkable' backstop," Irish Times North Korea John Hudson, Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonnig, "In private, Trump vents frustration over lack of progress on North Korea," Washington Post Christopher Dickey, "Kim's Still Got His Nukes, and Hasn't Returned Our Heroes," Daily Beast ISIS Liz Sly and Mustafa Salim, "ISIS is making a comeback in Iraq just months after Baghdad declared victory," Washington Post Weekend Edition Saturday, "The Current State of ISIS," NPR Louisa Loveluck, "Syrian army raises flag above city considered as birthplace of uprising against Assad," Washington Post

This week we do our best impersonation of the Georgetown set recording from 1789 and lamenting the world gone to hell. We break down Pompeo's trip to North Korea, Theresa May's Brexit woes, and the NATO summit which has already been overrun by chaos Muppets. With so much White House mayhem, we focus on Trump's upcoming meeting with Putin, and Radha gets on her soapbox about MAVNI and suitability screenings. Need a pop-culture escape? We suggest Crazy Rich Asians and Sharp Objects. Dahlia Lithwick, "Chaos Theory," Slate Daniel Russel, "The Singapore Honeymoon Is Over," Foreign Policy Jane Vaynman and Vipin Narang, "There are signs North Korea is still working on its nuclear program. Here's why 'denuclearization' is so problematic." Washington Post Nick Wadhams, "Inside Pompeo's Fraught North Korea Trip," Bloomberg Alex Hunt and Brian Wheeler, "Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU," BBC Silvia Amaro, "There's now a real chance the UK won't get a Brexit deal—here's what that means for markets," CNBC John Cassidy, "Boris Johnson's resignation can't disguise the harsh reality of Brexit," New Yorker Robert Hutton, "U.K. Labour Open to Brexit Referendum If May's Deal Fails," Bloomberg Mark Newton, Rachel Rizzo, Julianne Smith, and Jim Townsend, "More Than Burden Sharing," CNAS Kathleen Hicks, "Press Briefing: Allied and Partner Contributions to NATO: Redefining Security Investment," CSIS Heather Hurlburt, "Even the Best-Case Scenario for What Trump Does at the NATO Summit Is Pretty Grim," New York Magazine Victoria Newland, "In Two Summits, a Moment of Truth for Trump," New York Times Tara Copp, "Here's the bottom line on the future of MAVNI: Many foreign-born recruits may soon be out," Military Times Jeff Schogol and Adam Linehan, "No, President Trump Is Not Purging The Military Of Immigrants," Task & Purpose Beth J. Asch, Jennie W. Wegner, Troy D. Smith, "The Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) Program," RAND Ben Mathis-Lilley, "The Pentagon Says It's Not Purging Immigrant Recruits, but Some Evidence Says Otherwise," Slate Alex Ward, "Why Trump may not be to blame for immigrants being booted from the military," Vox Alex Horton, "ICE is moving to deport a veteran after Mattis assured that would not happen," Washington Post

Bombshell goes international! Loren warily crosses the border to visit Stefanie von Hlatky, Stephanie Carvin, and Elaine Bunn for a special Canadian episode at the Kingston Conference on International Security. The ladies give deterrence a playlist and it's own film series, then dive deeper into what deterrence means to the public and How to Teach Your President About Deterrence. And since deterrence is above all a human interaction, we discuss that elephant in the room: what it means to be a woman in the field.

In the most ambitious crossover event since that one time on TGIF, Bombshell joins Rational Security for a very special joint episode. Radha, Erin, Loren, Shane, and Susan take on our hellscape of a government's evolving policy on family separation; Radha as a Real Life Economist schools us on the not-so-cleansing fire of the latest trade wars, and, of course we go full blast on Space Force. You knew it was coming. It's real. And it's spectacular.