The Secure Line

GOPers in the Senate do not look kindly on attempts to cut diplomacy and development. We talk about two stories, what they mean, and why one idea to reform USAID might be worth considering. Then we take the time to walk through the crisis in Myanmar: What’s happening and the tensions in how policymakers think about responding to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. The show closes with three things to keep an eye on in the next month.

If you work in national security issues, you’ve been asked 42 times this month: “How scared should I be about North Korea?” So we figured it was time to answer it for everyone. What do they want? What can they do? What are the likely and unlikely scenarios? We got you covered. Then we dive deep into the Afghanistan strategy — focused not just on the security questions at stake, but the moral and values challenges at the heart of that 16 year long conflict.

For our milestone 10th anniversary episode, the team dives deep into why the Special Envoy and Ambassador roles being cut at the State Department are important. We join North Korea’s missiles mid-flight over Japan for a quick chat before coming back to earth and talking about NAFTA. Alex talks up a bank that sells uranium, and Xander reveals both her questionable taste in movies and why NASA wants to frack a volcano. Yeah, this one’s fun.

We return after a week off. The team takes a look at Charlottesville from the perspective of domestic terrorism and radicalization with guest expert Jasmine El-Gamal, before asking what impact these events and related politics have on our ability to execute a foreign policy. Then it’s a brief chat about the president’s speech on Afghanistan before wrapping up with good news.

As the rhetoric mounts over North Korea, we ask a simple question: How do you make a nuclear weapon? It’s essential context for understanding everything from North Korea to the Iran deal to spending on the American arsenal. We dive into the war of words and over North Korea’s program before touching on topics we think folks should keep an eye out for these next few weeks. And the show ends with some good news.

As Russia responds unhappily to new sanctions, we ask if they’ve decided Trump’s politics mean he simply can’t deliver changes to the relationship. Meanwhile, Tillerson’s staffing decisions continue to confuse us and threaten to undermine the State Department’s ability to recruit top talent. And we dive deep into the President’s tweet-order on trans servicemembers, the military’s reaction to it, and why it’s dangerous to use the military as a domestic political tool. All that and we manage to end on a happy note this week! (Also: Apologies for the just-dudes format this week – scheduling problems meant we lost a female contributor at the last minute.)

We continue our series on foreign assistance with a deep dive into American programs that empower women economically and politically through family planning, maternal and prenatal care, and other gender-focused assistance. We discuss what happens if those programs are cut and how these issues are connected to domestic political values. Our guest for that discussion is Talia Dubovi of CSIS. We also pull apart recent reporting on the president’s attempt to torpedo the nuclear agreement with Iran regardless of the fact that it’s been working, and what that means for American credibility around the world. Finally, learn the crazy story of how choosing the wrong font in a document may bring down the prime minister of Pakistan.

As promised, this is our first Bonus Episode! In episode 5 you heard a much-shortened version of Dave Solimini’s interview with Rose Jackson. Rose was Chief of Staff at the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and before that spent years as a practitioner, working around the world on these issues. There was so much packed into our discussion that we decided to make the whole interview available. It dives pretty deep into how foreign aid funding helps protect human rights around the world, the tensions between long-term and short-term American interests, and how “promoting human rights and governance” plays out in practical, real-world, terms.

In a jam-packed episode, we hear from former State Department official Rose Jackson about how America supports democracy and human rights through foreign assistance programs. It’s a deep dive into how foreign aid funding promotes values and increases security. Then the crew of regular contributors got together to talk about what ISIS could look like when it doesn’t control land anymore. Finally, we took a look back at the Iran nuclear agreement, inked two years ago this week, and ask what’s next. Oh — and apparently our contributors have a tendency to break out into spontaneous song.

For the first time, our recording is timed to respond to breaking news! After we’ve picked our jaws up off the floor over Trump Junior emails, it’s off to Europe. We step back and take a look at the President’s Warsaw speech, its unusual language, and why defining “the West” matters to him and us. Then we dive into why the fact that the White House didn’t book a hotel room for the President isn’t actually funny, but signals real problems in policy and planning. Under the radar lifts Secretary Mattis’ interview with a highschooler (http://mihsislander.org/2017/06/full-transcript-james-mattis-interview/) and the MAVNI program (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/06/26/the-pentagon-promised-citizenship-to-immigrants-who-served-now-it-might-help-deport-them/?utm_term=.9e2e9a92a466). Stick around until the end, because Rebecca breaks into song and we learn more about The Secure Line Mobile Surveillance Van.

The Secure Line goes nuclear and we welcome a new regular contributor. Episode 3 gets into the weeds on the nuclear weapons program of the DPRK  — that’s North Korea to most of us — their bomb and missile tests and the options and tools America and our allies have to respond. Then we take a step back and talk about the system of rules, norms, institutions, and treaties that make up international efforts to control nuclear weapons and prevent nuclear war. There’s even a little “not-a-Muslim-ban” and global gag rule analysis tossed in for flavor.

Our second-ever episode starts big with a backgrounder and discussion on NATO, its relationship to Monty Python, and an interview with former NATO and DOD official Mark Jacobson. Why was NATO created? What is its relevance today? And does Vladimir Putin dance? All will be answered and more. Then it’s off to Foggy Bottom for a deeeeep dive on the impact a lack of political appointees at the State Department can have on policymaking. Then it’s around the room for the best twitter tweets you aren’t following yet.

The Secure Line launches full episodes soon. Find out what we’re about in this preview.