A Live Turkey

In the first Net Assessment recorded before a live audience, Chris, Zack, and Melanie discuss the U.S.-Turkish relationship. Has America “lost” Turkey? What are the benefits and limitations of transactional relationships, rather than alliances? How should NATO manage alliance members whose interests and behavior seem to be at odds with alliance purposes? They then take questions from participants in The Fund for American Studies programs. Chris has a grievance for a Pentagon program to discredit the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, Zack condemns China’s ongoing aggression against the Philippines, and Melanie has an attaboy for Bill Gates’s effort to build smaller and safer nuclear reactors.

Episode Reading

Nick Danforth and Aaron Stein, “Coming to Terms with the Loss of Turkey,” War on the Rocks, June 7, 2024.

Asli Aydintasbas, “It’s Time for America and Turkey to Reconcile,” Foreign Affairs, June 6, 2024.

Bill Gates, “We Just Broke Ground on America’s First Next-Gen Nuclear Facility,” Gates Notes, June 10, 2024.

Fergus Ryan, X, June 17, 2024.

Chris Bing and Joel Schectman, “Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic,” Reuters, June 14, 2024.

Zack Cooper and Gregory Poling, “The South China Sea Dog That Hasn’t Barked … Yet,” War on the Rocks, June 18, 2024