When the world's at stake,
go beyond the headlines.

Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to discuss Richard Fontaine’s recent Foreign Affairs article on prioritizing national security threats. Why is it so hard for those in charge of the nation’s security to pick and stick to the most important national security priorities? How should the United States determine where scarce resources are allocated? If China is the nation’s main challenge, can the United States continue to expend resources at the current rate in Ukraine?

Chris is concerned about people who are hoping a new civil war starts in Afghanistan, Zack is dismayed at those insisting that the United States openly side with those in China protesting the government’s lockdown and other policies, and Melanie has an attaboy for Dr. John Hamre, recipient of the Reagan Foundation’s Peace Through Strength award.

Episode Reading:

• Richard Fontaine, “Taking on Russia and China,” Foreign Affairs, November 21, 2022.
• Hans van der Burchard and Gabriel Rinaldi, “Germany Backtracks on Defense Spending Promises Made After Ukraine Invasion,” Politico, December 5, 2022.
• Timothy Ash, “It’s Costing Peanuts for the US to Defeat Russia,” Center for European Policy Analysis, November 18, 2022
• Benjamin Katz and Doug Cameron, “Ukraine War Spurs Arms Makers to Boost Production,” Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2022.
• Bryan Bender and Lara Seligman, “‘We Haven’t Got This Figured Out Just Yet’: Pentagon, Industry Struggle to Arm Ukraine,” Politico, December 4, 2022.
• Stacie L. Pettyjohn, Andrew Metrick, and Becca Wasser, “The Kadena Conundrum: Developing a Resilient Indo-Pacific Posture,” War On The Rocks, December 1, 2022.
• Jonathan Schroeden, Twitter, December 4, 2022.
• Stephen Wertheim, “World War III Begins With Forgetting,” The New York Times, December 2, 2022.

Image: U.S. Mission to NATO