Launching “Pacific Pundit”

Too many Americans know too little about the dynamics of the Asia-Pacific. As a lifelong Asia hand, this troubles me, and Pacific Pundit, an independent podcast distributed by War on the Rocks, seeks to rectify this problem. I’m betting this podcast will help get U.S. policy toward Asia “right,” and put the United States back in touch with its longstanding Pacific heritage. The podcast is a unique vehicle for this dual purpose. Policy debates need historical perspective and theoretical insights. Only through a collision of these worlds can we really make sense of Asia and where it’s headed. And only by understanding the U.S.-Asia nexus can we position U.S. policy to get the region “right.” We’ve been a resident Pacific power for more than a century, and that isn’t going to change. The question is simply how best to live in and with an ever-changing Asia-Pacific. A podcast that crosses disciplinary and professional boundaries might be the answer.

Listen to the first episode, “Offshore Balancing is For Suckers,” below.

Subscribe on iTunes, Pocket Casts, RSS feed, or download.

Van Jackson is a senior editor at War on the Rocks, an associate professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, and an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.  He is also the author of the new book Rival Reputations: Coercion and Credibility in US-North Korea Relations (Cambridge University Press). The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect those of the Department of Defense, DKI-APCSS, or the U.S. government.