Eric and Eliot are back from the break and have lots to discuss. They note the anniversary of January 6th and the somewhat successful efforts by MAGA types to rewrite its history in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Eric talks about the world that Trump will inherit which will be much more disorderly and dangerous that what he inherited in his first term as President, including an Iran on the cusp of having a nuclear weapons capability, the largest land war in Europe since World War II with battlefield situation for Ukraine looking grim even as Russia faces catastrophic losses of men and material, and Russia and China escalating an increasingly aggressive hybrid war of sabotage in the Baltic, off Taiwan and farther afield. They discuss turbulence of politics in the democratic world and the various causes of the rise of populist nationalism which has affected not just the U.S. but democracies around the world. They discuss Elon Musk's unprecedented role as an agent of political disruption around the democratic world and its byproducts in the UK, Germany, and Canada. Finally, they reprise their discussion of the futile efforts by members of the Biden Administration to polish and shape its foreign policy legacy through interviews and speeches when the final verdict will be rendered by historians likely to be unaffected by these transparently self-interested efforts.
Eric on Conversations With Bill Kristol:
https://conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation/eric-edelman-on-the-world-trump-inherits/
JINSA Iranian Nuclear Report:
https://jinsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Day-1-Strategy-to-Defeat-Iran-12.19-Compressed.pdf
Phillips OBrien on Biden's legacy burnishing:
https://substack.com/home/post/p-154316690
Secretary Blinken Interview:
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
I wonder about the potential for armed as well as diplomatic conflict with our NATO allies - those which will no longer be allied with the U.S. - due to The Oath-Breaking SoB's pronouncements particularly concerning Greenland and Canada. Panama is another, related matter, but outside of NATO.
Oh, yes...Ukraine and The SoB's lies concerning it.
It's said that history is written by the winner. What's that say if Trump can successfully rewrite history from only four years ago, that we all watched on television?
And what exactly IS Trump's version of Jan 6th? It's been all over the place all along. First it was ANTIFA who should be punished to the full extent of the law for all the damage done and laws broken, then it was a crowd of peaceful tourists who did nothing bad, then it was patriots in righteous indignation trying to save the country, then it was... BLM rioting over the summer that justifies the release of said patriots??
I mean how do you even write this stuff?
Wow. Another outstanding discussion. I’m so glad I found this podcast, and could kick myself for not having known about it sooner. I would like to ask Eric question #1, and both of you question #2.
#1 - Eric, as a former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, what do you think of Trump’s nomination of Elbridge Colby for that job, and do you think that if Hegseth is confirmed as SecDef, Colby can keep him (Hegseth) from being the disaster I think he’s going to be. I saw in the NYT today that Susie Wiles thinks these “crazy” nominees (like Hegseth) are “disrupters” who will have a support layer beneath them who will be able to tamp down any ill effects the disrupter creates. Wiles says Trump likes a governing model with a disrupter at the top and stable people underneath.
#2 - Have the two of you watched the recent Battlegrounds episode where HR McMaster interviewed the outgoing Foreign Minister of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis? He told McMaster some frightening details on the war Russia is currently waging on the Balkan countries in particular, and Europe in general. You touched on this briefly with regard to the deep sea cable cutting, for example, but it obviously goes way beyond that, even to both Russia and China using TikTok as a weapon. Could you discuss this in more depth, and maybe have Landsbergis himself on your show? He made quite the case for how imperative it is for Ukraine to defeat Russia, how Ukraine is defending all of Europe right now, and also the US. I fear that the incoming administration (including people like Elbridge Colby, and most definitely JD Vance) doesn’t realize how vitally important a Ukrainian victory is.
With deep respect, I look forward to your next episode. Please don’t ever leave The Bulwark. You’re the best thing they have going now that Beg to Differ is gone (although Mona is a treasure and I hope her solo podcast fills the gap).
I suspect that Wiles is giving an ex post rationalization of what Trump is doing at the moment. I cannot seriously imagine that Trump is wedded to any "governing model".
Another masterclass. Thank you!
Btw, I was taking notes on the writers you mentioned. Is there a reading list?
What a wonderful, infomative conversation. Thank you.
Thanks for your insights gentlemen. Always a good listen!