The Un-Diplomatic Podcast
Global power politics, for the people. Hosted by Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss. The views expressed are theirs alone (not those of any institution or employer).
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 49 minutes
- Episodes
- 259
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
Writer's Room 1: The Book Project Begins | Ep. 58
As I officially launch a new book project, I'm also launching a new occasional series within The Un-Diplomatic Podcast called Writer's Room. It's going to track my journey of writing my third book w…
Unipolar-Moment Hawks, Democrats' Bad Strategy, Aussie Hedging, Kiwi's Strategic Style over Substance | Ep. 57
The Democratic Party's foreign policy is controlled by unipolar-moment hawks. Australian strategists are making plans for conflict with China without the US. New Zealand has a China policy that loo…
GTFO with Anti-Progressive Leftism, Taiwan Nukes, the Military Power Fallacy, the meaning of Kim Jong Un's Restraint | Ep. 56
There's NOTHING progressive about working with the MAGA right. Why the arguments for US military superiority keep changing but the demand stays the same. Also this episode: Does Taiwan need nukes? …
How NOT to Network in DC, Asia's 'Deterrence is Failing' Trap, China-India v. North Korea | Ep. 55
Deterrence is not failing in Asia, America is. A little advice about how NOT to network in Washington. What's more dangerous, the Sino-Indian conflict or North Korea? Also this episode: how intern…
Bernie's Foreign Policy Brain Trust: Interview w/ Matt Duss | Hustle Ep. 54
In this episode, Van sits down with Matt Duss, senior foreign policy adviser to former presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders. Matt shares his backstory, including his pathway into foreign p…
Can Liberals and Marxists Get Along? Where's the Left on China Decoupling? Australia's Dilemma, Singapore's Warning | Ep. 53
Can liberals and Marxists find common cause? The left often weighs in on China, but is silent on the biggest strategic question of our time: Should the United States seek to decouple its economy fro…
Left Technocracy vs Kleptocracy, Black Lives Matter is Foreign Policy, China Hawks against Order, Stop Terrorizing Antifa | Ep. 52
Joe Biden needs progressive technocracy to fight the transnational corruption and oligarchy that threatens democracies everywhere. The demands of the Black Lives Matter campaign are the best foreign…
The Anti-China Think Tank, Corrupt Cocktail Parties, India v. China, Marines v. Pentagon, North Korea v. Everyone | Ep. 51
How much does it cost to buy a Washington Post columnist? One fancy dinner at the State Department. The think tank behind Trump's anti-China campaign. North Korea getting dangerous and nobody payin…
China's Useful Idiot, Hawks Failing Up, Arms-Racing to Security, NZ Conspiracy Theory, GOP against International Order, Getting Taiwan Wrong | Ep. 50
HR McMaster proves that in Washington, hawks only fail up. Are Republicans against international order? Chinese Netizens wants Trump to win the election because they think he's a racist joke who he…
Kissinger's Legacy, Anti-War Biden, Cancel Space Force, Wrong on Iran, Incompetence All the Way Down | Ep. 49
Biden's best chance of winning might be embracing the anti-war movement. Democracies for Taiwan. Is there anything Australia can do to save the United States? Is the US Space Force a militarist bo…
Creative Defense Hawks, Strategic Nihilism, Doing Korean Peace Right, and Speaking China's Language | Ep. 48
American foreign policy is a reality TV show. Through the China looking glass with HR McMaster. Also this episode:Why is Korean peace a dirty phrase in Washington? Did a member of Congress just t…
The Blob's Debate Dilemma, Orwell on Nuclear Tyranny, On Becoming a North Korea Watcher, GOP War on China, Big Data BS | Ep. 47
The "Blob" national security establishment is necessary, often wrong, and loses any argument where it concedes that it's a Blob. Are nuclear weapons inherently undemocratic and tyrannical? George O…
Korea Doves and Japan Hawks, Grand Strategy Isn't Over, the Disappearing Dictator, We're All BBC Dad Now | Ep. 46
Grand strategy is more necessary--and harder to do--than ever. Alliance management with Japan and South Korea is becoming impossible when one is a hawk and the other a dove. What the hell is happen…
The Chris Murphy Doctrine, Gen X Hawks and Gen Z Doves, the Neoliberal Split on China, Cyberpunk, Socialists for Biden | Ep. 45
Why Senator Chris Murphy might end up being the Henry Kissinger of the Left. Are Millennials more hawkish on China than Boomers and Gen X? Chicago Council on Global Affairs has polling data that te…
Debating Black Swans, the War Metaphor, the Irony of Competing with China, North Korea Doesn't Want Help | Ep. 44
Does the novel Coronavirus pandemic count as a Black Swan? Van Jackson goes deep on why it was and why it matters. Is strategic competition within interdependence possible? The neoliberal irony of st…
Korea Watcher Feud, Steinbeck v. Matt Damon, Fascist-Free NATO, Proxy Paradigm Wars in IR, Singapore has No Plan B | Ep. 43
Singapore's not happy with any of the great powers, but do they have a Plan B for a failure of US leadership? Should NATO expel Hungary for turning into a dictatorship? What happened in the latest …
Is US China Policy Racist? EU Expansion Debate, Dueling Chinese Diplomats, Arms-Racing with North Korea, and the Nightmare of Election Suspension | Ep. 42
Is US China policy racist? A better question is whether Pompeo is the Sebastian Gorka of China policy. How to make sense of dueling Chinese diplomats. Will the European Union expand, even as it's c…
The Pentagon versus Deterrence, Pompeo's War, US-China Conspiracy Theories, Beijing's Hegemony on the Cheap | Ep. 41
Why does the Pentagon keep getting deterrence wrong? Why is Mike Pompeo threatening the families of staff who work for the International Criminal Court? And what makes Russia so different from Chin…
Liberal Foreign Policy's Limits, Dictator Dilemmas, Oil Wars, and the China Debate's McCarthyist Turn | Ep. 40
Why liberal foreign policy is a bad fit for dark times. What Netflix's Narcos can tell us about order and stability in international relations. Why Russia started an oil price war with Saudi Arabia.…
Does Taiwan Need US Nukes? War State v. Welfare State? Why Hawks Don't Get the Vietnam War, Still. Is Biden Killing the Democratic Party or Saving It? | Ep. 39
The dangers of low-yield nukes in Taiwan. Why great power competition requires democracy and equality at home. Thinking through the risks and benefits of arms control summitry with China, and why …