The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Van spoke at the New Zealand Fabian Society about how the Democratic and Republican Party’s views on foreign policy are changing, and what those changes (and continuities) mean in the context of the …

Matt reports out on his recent trip to China. Israel's terrorism in Lebanon and the horizontal escalation happening before our eyes. And Pakistan as a case study of why geopolitics, climate adaptatio…

The MAGA foreign-policy braintrust in Trump world is militarism all the way down. The unpopularity of the Democratic Party's popular front. The problem with threat inflation about disinformation. A d…

The election is nearing, and students are going back to school. What does this mean for student organizers demanding a ceasefire in Gaza? For the uncommitted movement? In this episode, Julia facilita…

What are the differences between nuclear disarmament and nuclear abolition? How do disarmers and abolitionists balance the need for policy change with the need for sustainable, intersectional organiz…

Cross-promotion! Van Jackson joined the Hegemonicon podcast and is sharing the experience here with Un-Diplomatic listeners. Van and show host William Lawrence discuss the dangerous strategy of globa…

"This is what courage looks like." Today Matt talks to three people -- two Biden appointees and one career military -- who made the courageous choice to resign in protest over US support for the Gaza…

What just happened in Venezuela? Matt Duss is joined by two great Latin America experts to talk about Maduro's very shady re-election, and how the US should respond. 

Paarlberg's piece: https://intern…

J.D. Vance imagines a global color line. Kamala Harris has an unprecedented opportunity to move beyond primacy and embrace a progressive foreign policy—will she take it? Biden's claim that America is…

What can a revolution with progressive values look like? What kinds of non-violent resistance against oppression are possible? And what does everyday guerilla warfare do to people with humanist commi…

The vegetable versus the fascist? The Democratic Party is in chaos. Why AOC and the Squad back Biden (for now). Biden's Trumpian turn. The truth about Biden's foreign policy record.

An emergency live episode of the Un-Diplomatic podcast. Van explains the situation the Democratic Party faces: who will replace Biden, why it's likely Kamala Harris, why Bernie should be her running …

Navigating the politics of Washington think tanks. Matt's interview with The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner. Robert O'Brien wants the entire Marine Corps to relocate to Asia. Arundhati Roy is a target o…

“One man’s deterrence is another man’s escalation.” Van spoke at an event rolling out a recent report, What Should Be Done? Practical Policies to Prevent Nuclear Escalation. At the event and in the r…

Van, Julia, and Matt discuss how to think about Biden's Gaza ceasefire deal. Why "peace through strength" is a chauvinist meme. A.I. is a violent grift that hasn't changed war. Mexico's election of C…

Van made an appearance on the Squaring the Circle podcast, a military-facing show that got into his origins in the national security state. The discussion talks about the importance of a working-clas…

This re-released conversation with Daniel Immerwahr is one of our all-time top ten episodes, initially released on December 30, 2022. In Part II of Van's sit-down w/ Professor Daniel Immerwahr (autho…

This re-released conversation with Daniel Immerwahr is one of our all-time top ten episodes, initially released on December 28, 2022. Why do geopoliticians blow off climate change and environmental d…

Out of the maybe 20 live events I spoke at in the US recently, only one—one!—was actually recorded and you’re about to hear it. 

About this Event: 

From the War on Terror to the militarization of the P…

Why is “debt-trap diplomacy” nothing more than an anti-China meme? Why is the geopolitical interpretation of Chinese overseas lending wrong, and what does that suggest about US/Western estimates of C…