Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
On this edition of Parallax Views, Christopher Mott, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace & Diplomacy and author The Formless Empire: A Short History of Diplomacy and Warfare in Central Asia, joins Parallax Views to discuss his recent CovertAction Magazine piece "Samantha Power and the Cosmopolitan Crusaders". Applying his knowledge as someone who has worked inside the U.S. State Department, Chris explains the foreign policy thought of the diplomat and government official Samantha Power, whose influential book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide was foundational to R2P (Responsible to Protect) doctrine. R2P, Mott explains, holds that powerful nations (ie: the U.S. and NATO-aligned states) have a duty to stop human rights abuses around the world. Although a noble cause in theory, Mott argues that R2P in practice has not always worked perfectly in practice. In this regard Mott examines the Obama-era intervention into Libya on humanitarian grounds and how Libya has turned into a chaotic failed state that's led to the return of the slave trade to North Africa. In addition to all of this Mott and I also discuss:
- Fear of another Weimar moment haunting beltway foreign policy circles and the role that plays in driving interventionist policymaking
- The question of isolationism, the specter of WWII, and Stephen Wertheim's Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy
- Foreign policy realism and its variations including offensive realism and defensive realism
- Sun Tzu, the risks of war, diplomacy vs. military force, and the question of grand strategy
- The role of ideological, systemic, and economic factors in U.S. foreign policy
- Democratic Peace Theory, American exceptionalism, and Kantian liberal cosmopolitanism
- Sanctions, the potential critique of their effectiveness in achieving state policy goals, and the Iran deal/JCPOA; sanctions as a form of economic warfare
- Jihadism, cosmopolitanism, and state collapse
- U.S.-China relations, human rights rhetoric, and whataboutisms
- American exceptionalism as having a right, left, and center form
- U.S. foreign policy, puritanical morality plays, and protagonist syndrome
- Tyler Cowen's Bloomberg op-ed arguing for using "Wokeism" (a very vague term removed from its original context on Black Twitter) to rebrand American exceptionalism
- And much, much more!
Pegasus Spyware and NSO Group Scandal w/ Ali Winston
Peter Thiel's Military-Industrial Senate Candidate w/ Eli Clifton
Ben & Jerry's, Israel/Palestine, and Free Speech w/ Ret. Maj. Danny Sjursen
The NSA, Surveillance Programs, & Domestic Extremism w/ Jim Bovard
U.S. Funded Hip Hop Artists to Stoke Unrest in Cuba!? w/ Alan MacLeod
Cuba, the U.S., and Regime Changes w/ Adrian Delgado
2021 UFO Report and Exploitation in UFO Subculture w/ Jack Brewer
The Haiti Assassination & Private Mercenary Armies w/ Kelley Vlahos
After the Apocalypse: America's Role in a World Transformed w/ Andrew Bacevich
The Ferguson Uprisings and the Death of Danye Jones w/ Ray Nowosielski & John Duffy
Peter Thiel and the Roth Retirement Accounts Scandal w/ Justin Elliott
A Meta-Discussion About American History w/ William Hogeland
The Biden-Putin Summit and U.S.-Russia Relations w/ Anatol Lieven
Foreign Policy, the Border, & Diplomacy w/ Crashing the War Party's Barbara Boland
Dark Quadrant, Or the Intersection of Politics and Organized Crime w/ Jonathan Marshall
REPLAY: Mike Gravel on His Life, the Pentagon Papers, & Direct Democracy
Revisiting Oliver Stone’s NIXON (And More!) w/ Film Producer Eric Hamburg
Foreign Lobbies, Influence Peddling, and Think Tanks w/ Ben Freeman
The Iranian Election, Sanctions, & the JCPOA w/ Dr. Assal Rad
REPLAY: The John McAfee Interview
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Dairyland Frights
The Passionistas Project Podcast
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL