Deep State Radio

Max Boot's great new book "The Road Not Taken" about American intelligence officer Edward Lansdale not only offers great insights into an intriguing character and a pivotal moment in American and modern world history, it is searingly relevant to today. Would an expert like Lansdale even be heard today by a disconnected president who is trying to discredit the intelligence community? Would the kind of carefully built expertise he accumulated be valued in a government that doesn't even care to have ambassadors in key outposts worldwide? Max Boot joins Rosa Brooks of Georgetown and Deep State Radio host David Rothkopf for a discussion of the book and why its lessons are so important today.

It is impossible to prove that Trump role model Tony Montana was actually speaking about former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort when he said, "this country was built on laundered money" but he might as well have been. And it may be that the money laundered by Manafort ultimately brings him down...and possibly turns the tide against the president and his family. Or perhaps they did their own money laundering. It's too early to tell. But that doesn't stop our experts Susan Hennessey of Lawfare, Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University from trying to figure out where we are in this mess with the latest indictments and maneuverings. Tune in to hear what they have to say

America's problems extend far beyond Russiagate. In fact, they extend far beyond porn stars and having half the cabinet under investigation, failures in Puerto Rico and near nuclear war with North Korea. They include unprecedented levels of overt corruption in the White House...but perhaps worse for a system that depends on checks and balances, they go further to the fact that no one in Congress seeks to call out or stop that corruption. Or gun violence. Or the war on science. Or financial recklessness. Or any of the other ills that currently plague the U.S. How did we get here? Who's to blame? What's to be done? Tune in to find out. Or at least for therapeutic purposes.

The Mueller indictment charging 13 Russians for their efforts to illegally influence America's 2016 presidential election rocked Washington and sent shockwaves worldwide. The President of the U.S. tried to frame it as vindication because it did not point to his own personal collusion with the Russians (or that of any other U.S. individual). But...as our experts Evelyn Farkas, Kori Schake and Ed Luce point out...we're just in the early days of this investigation and many more indictments are yet to come. Where will that leave the U.S.-Russia relationship? American standing? Trump? Tune in to find out.

America has an unrealistic Korea policy (denuclearization) that it is not really pursuing that hard (what with not having an ambassador to South Korea, gutting the State Department and leaving it to Mike Pence who is actually not a human being but a not-so-lifelike cardboard cutout). This might not work out so well, argue our experts like our Kori Schake, Rosa Brooks, David Sanger and Joe Cirincione. We also discuss Syria and Iran. Which also may not turn out so well. So…get a drink, settle in to a comfortable chair, put a pillow over your head to muffle your screams…and join us!

We’ve had nuclear weapons for more than 70 years. But we have never had a president quite as deranged as Donald Trump before and the result has made more people pay much closer attention to U.S. nuclear weapons policy than they did in recent years. We bring together this week a great panel to discuss the Nuclear Posture Review, Trump and how to save the world including Joe Cirincione, Jeffrey Lewis, David Sanger, Kori Schake and Rosa Brooks. One thought: implant the nuclear code in a kitten and make the president kill the kitten to get it before he can use the nuclear code. Another: Bury the nuclear code in a 10 page long memo and thus rest assured this president will never find it. Tune in!

The Olympics in Korea have prompted a temporary thaw in North-South relations on the Korean peninsula and plenty of political theater including some from the mummified human remains known to the world as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. Join our experts, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown, Kori Schake of IISS, Evelyn Farkas of the Atlantic Council and Ed Luce of the Financial Times for a discussion about what a "bloody nose" really means and why if the U.S. economy and markets often much further the world is likely to be a much more dangerous place. Enjoy!

There's intelligence and then there's basic common sense. Much of the discussion about the recent memo the House released has been lacking in both. Fortunately, however, our experts at Deep State Radio, Georgetown University's Rosa Brooks, IISS' Kori Schake, the Atlantic Council's Evelyn Farkas and the FT's Ed Luce, have plenty of both and on this episode they put the memo in perspective...while also learning how to pronounce basic English vocabulary and learning a few words in New Jersey-ese. Tune in.

There were so many candidates. And Ed Luce of the Financial Times, Kori Schake of IISS and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University are keenly aware of some of the biggest dopes on the international stage. But in this first ever awarding of this prestigious prize (which Ed made up on this very episode) we have landed on a great choice…and hopefully established a great new milestone in the history of pointy headwear. Tune in for this and more including a discussion of whether we should be as afraid of the world as Donald Trump would like us all to be.

Calm down. We don’t mean “Trumpocalypse” as in the end of the world. We mean it in the sense of the end of the Trump presidency. Who knows, with some luck this could be Trump’s last State of the Union. And that would be good on so many levels. For example, as our experts Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake and Ed Luce note, it would save us from having to listen to the inevitable tedious and misleading stories about how the U.S. president has become more presidential and is getting the hang of his job. He’s not. And listening to this episode of Deep State Radio will help you understand why…and why you should be thankful that the State of the Deep State is strong.

Contrary to what those outside the Deep State may think, the U.S. government has recently undergone an explosion of creativity. Recently we have seen a National Security Strategy, a National Defense Strategy and a Nuclear Posture Review. Some think these are just empty academic exercises. But others, like our guests the Atlantic Council’s Christine Wormuth, Georgetown’s Rosa Brooks and Kori Schake, soon to be of the IISS, see more. They see divisions between senior officials. They see a president who doesn’t know what any of these documents say or mean. And, with a special eye on nukes, they see plenty of good reason to invest now in a used missile silo. Tune in!

Do you ever get the impression people are laughing at you, America? More so recently? It could just be your imaginations. But in the view of our experts, Ambassador Nick Burns, Rosa Brooks and Kori Schake, the reason is all the actual laughter you are hearing from everywhere in the world. The world’s view of America, as recent polls have shown, is at a low point. The question is whether this is something new, a turning point, or we were always this funny (or flawed). Tune in to this episode of Deep State Radio for answers.

Among other things, our amazing Rosa Brooks is part of an elite team of hypocrisy specialists who travel the globe in search of hypocrites in government. Recently, she and her fellow hypocrinauts visited Turkey where they found a rich vein to explore...and plenty of Turks who say the Trump Administration has taught them a lot. MAGA. Join us for the latest episode of #DeepStateRadio and then Tweet at us with great show ideas--the five best win great swag each week. With Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, David Sanger, Edward Luce and host, David Rothkopf.

While the people of Hawaii were terrified by an errant alert indicating an incoming ballistic missile attack, the rest of the country remained frightened by what would happen even if there were not such an attack. Judging from Donald Trump's plans for nuclear weapons and his temperament, of course, the risk of going without further such scares decreases daily. On this episode of Deep State Radio, Kori Schake, Rosa Brooks, Ed Luce and David Sanger discuss why putting a couple books on your head won't improve your nuclear posture and, of course, shitholes. Lots of discussion of shitholes. Shitholes as far as the eye can see. Join us.

Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA and yet oddly, a former Congressman who still seems to be running for something, threw down the gauntlet to the true Deep State when he said that New York Times reporter and Deep State Radio stalwart got it wrong on how the CIA missed the sudden acceleration of North Korea's nuclear program. Tune in to this episode to hear the man known to all as "David You're Exactly Right Sanger" responds. Then join in for a wide ranging discussion of what happens to the world when America crawls into a hole and pretends its not there. Featuring Mr. Sanger, Benjamin Pauker of Vox, Kori Schake en route to England and Evelyn Farkas of the Atlantic Council.