Podcasts by Net Assessment
Hosts Melanie Marlowe and Christopher Preble debate their way through some of the toughest and most contentious topics related to war, international relations, and strategy. This podcast is brought to you by War on the Rocks.
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Dysfunction in Washington from 2023-12-11T16:23
Net Assessment is back! Chris, Melanie, and Zack return after a hiatus and start by debating a recent article entitled “The Dysfunctional Superpower” by Robert Gates. They agree that Wa...
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Is Washington Making a Bad Bet on India? from 2023-06-29T13:07
Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to discuss Ashley Tellis’s newest article, “America’s Bad Bet on India.” Tellis argues that if America thinks India will fight on its side in a conflict wit...
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Keeping the Right Secrets Secret from 2022-03-31T15:52:14
Chris and Zack are joined by special guest co-host, Emily Harding of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The three review the Biden administration...
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Russia’s War in Ukraine: How Does this End? from 2022-03-22T12:43:48
Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. They explain what has been surprising to each of them thus far in the conflict. Why has Russia struggled so mightily? Why h...
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Putin’s Taunt: What Are You Going To Do About It? from 2022-03-03T15:57:27
On a somber day, Chris, Melanie, Zack, ponder the implications of the war in Ukraine. What, if any, lessons should we take away from the inability to deter Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine?...
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The Pacific is Not So Pacific from 2022-02-17T17:59:42
Melanie, Chris, and Zack sit down to talk about the Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, which was released last week as the national security advisor was warning of an imminent Russian...
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The Biden Doctrine: Muddling Through? from 2022-02-03T16:57:36
As observers in Washington look back at the Biden administration’s first year and prepare for its forthcoming national security and defense strategies, the Net Assessment crew debates the virtue...
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Grading the Biden Team’s Foreign Policy from 2022-01-20T14:22:53
The Net Assessment crew assesses President Joe Biden’s foreign policy in his administration’s first year. There appear to have been more failures than successes, and Chris, Melanie, and Zack deb...
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A Heavy Price to Pay? from 2022-01-07T14:02:48
Chris, Zack, and Melanie talk about the massing of Russian troops near Ukraine’s eastern border and the Biden administration’s efforts to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. What is Putin’s motiv...
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A Slavish Devotion to Presence? from 2021-12-23T19:20:14
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate U.S. global posture. How can the National Defense Strategy bring resources and requirements into alignment? With the Defense Department having just compl...
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Talent Management for a Modern Military from 2021-12-10T12:27:33
Chris, Melanie, and Zack explore how the U.S. military recruits and retains top performers. In the recently released Marine Corps’ talent management report, Marine Corps Commandant David H. Berg...
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America and the Arctic: A Song of Fire and Ice from 2021-11-24T13:42:01
Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to talk about ongoing developments in the Arctic. Climate change is causing flooding and environmental damage, but it is also providing new opportunities fo...
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Richard Haass Is Here! from 2021-11-12T00:33:09
Chris, Melanie, and Zack welcome Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, to Net Assessment. They discuss what the United States has gotten right and wrong the last few deca...
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Should Biden Be Pro-Democracy or Anti-Autocracy? from 2021-10-29T12:43:41
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate Madeleine Albright's recent article on “The Coming Democratic Revival” in Foreign Affairs. They discuss whether the United States is in a position to promote demo...
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Richard Haass Is Unhappy from 2021-10-15T11:56:12
Chris, Melanie, and Zack return to discuss Richard Haass’s critique of “Washington’s new flawed foreign policy consensus.” The Council on Foreign Relations president laments the bipartisan turn ...
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Much Ado About AUKUS from 2021-09-30T04:44:53
Zack and Melanie are joined by Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, to discuss the AUKUS security agreement between Australia, the United States, and the United Ki...
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A Tale of Two Biden Doctrines from 2021-09-16T19:33:57
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate whether there is a "Biden doctrine" and if so, what exactly it is. They identify two separate threads in Biden's thinking and that of his team — one idealist visi...
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Did Anyone Win the ‘Global War on Terror’? from 2021-09-03T17:39:27
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss Daniel Byman’s article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “The Good Enough Doctrine: Lear...
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Afghanistan Debacle from 2021-08-20T11:11:40
Chris, Zack, and Melanie talk about the Biden administration’s disastrous military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Whose fault is this debacle? What is the manner of our exit doing to America’s cre...
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(Dis)Integrated Deterrence? from 2021-08-05T12:47:22
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate the Pentagon's new concept of "integrated deterrence" and try to divine its meaning and importance. They struggle to differentiate the concept from existing theor...
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Solving the Navy’s Strategic Bankruptcy from 2021-07-22T17:28:12
Special guest Chris Dougherty joins Chris and Melanie to discuss his recent War on the Rocks Listen
Solving the Russia Riddle from 2021-07-08T12:41:50
Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to talk about Samuel Charap's article, "Expanding the Scope for Statecraft in US-Russia Policy." Does the United States need to "gird itself for sustained c...
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Learning from SolarWinds from 2021-06-24T14:32:13
Chris, Melanie, and Zack dig into Marcus Willett’s “Lessons of the SolarWinds Hack” in the latest issue of Survival. They explore the distinction between cyber espionage and cyber defen...
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Taiwan: Middle Path or Muddled Strategy? from 2021-06-10T15:18:12
The Net Assessment team debates Patrick Porter and Michael Mazarr's recent study on "Countering China's Adventurism Over Taiwan: A Third Way" written for the Lowy Institute. Chris, Melanie, and ...
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Middle Class Foreign Policy from 2021-05-27T15:02:39
Using Charles Kupchan and Peter Trubowitz's Foreign Affairs article "Why an Internationalist Foreign Policy Needs a Stronger Domestic Foundation" as a basis for discussion, Chris, Zack,...
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Building a New Defense Strategy from 2021-05-13T15:01:05
Chris, Melanie, and Zack, discuss Frank Hoffman’s recent War on the Rocks essay, “U.S. Defense Strategy after the Pandemic,” which makes the case for adjusting U.S. strategic objectives...
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Mission Accomplished in Afghanistan? from 2021-04-29T15:00:42
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate the wisdom of President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan. They discuss the argument made by Meghan O'Sullivan and Richard Haass that ...
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Democracy and Grand Strategy from 2021-04-15T16:45:20
Chris, Zack, and Melanie discuss Hal Brands and Charles Edel’s article “A Grand Strategy of Democratic Solidarity.” Is it possible, and is it wise, to construct a grand strategy of democratic so...
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Busting Myths About China from 2021-04-01T16:02:34
Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss the recent War on the Rocks article "Beyond Colossus or Collapse: Five Myths Driving American Debates about China." Authors Evan Medeiros and Jude Blanc...
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A Podcast for the Middle Class from 2021-03-18T14:51:18
Melanie, Chris, and Zack debate the Joe Biden administration's Interim National Security Strategic Guidance. They commend the administration for issuing the document so early into its t...
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The Color of Money from 2021-03-04T15:15:52
Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to discuss U.S. sanctions programs and how to make them more effective. In a recent War on the Rocks article focused on sanctions, Edward Fishman argue...
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Should Europe Defend Itself? from 2021-02-18T15:46:31
Chris, Melanie, and Zack wade into the long-running debate on whether Europe can defend itself (chiefly from Russia), and how hard it should try. In a recent article, Barry Posen from the Massac...
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Primacy Anxiety from 2021-02-04T14:59:22
Chris, Melanie, and Zack debate whether the United States should pursue primacy. They discuss the Donald Trump administration's "Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific," and compare some of it...
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Six Blind Men, the Elephant, and the Defense Budget from 2021-01-21T16:03:24
Chris, Zack, and Melanie sit down to discuss Thomas Spoehr’s article “The Six Blind Men and the Elephant: Differing Views on the U.S. Defense Budget.” How should we assess whether the defense bu...
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Capitol Breach and Cold War Lessons for Sino-U.S. Ties from 2021-01-08T14:25:37
Chris, Melanie, and Zack begin the show with a sober look at the events of Jan. 6, when a pro-President Donald Trump mob ransacked the Capitol and drove legislators from both chambers. In the en...
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Net Assessment Goes to the Movies from 2020-12-31T15:24:21
Chris, Melanie, and Zack end the year with a special episode of Net Assessment where they do a deep dive into their favorite films and television series. They discuss their favorite spy movie, W...
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2020 Vision from 2020-12-17T13:51:41
Melanie, Chris, and Zack wrap up 2020 by reviewing developments over the last year and debating what might happen in 2021. They disagree over the wisdom of Lloyd Austin's nomination for secretar...
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Can Biden Bring Intelligence Back? from 2020-12-03T16:15:18
Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to discuss Joshua Rovner’s recent War on the Rocks article, “Intelligence in the Biden Administration.” Rover argues that President-elect Joe Biden...
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How Do Americans Want to Engage the World? from 2020-11-12T16:17:22
The crew convenes for the first show after Joe Biden’s election victory to consider how Americans want to engage with the rest of the world, and whether the incoming Biden administration will be...
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To Infinity and Beyond: Battle Force 2045 from 2020-10-29T14:58:54
Bryan McGrath rejoins the Net Assessment team to discuss the U.S. Navy's Battle Force 2045 proposal. Bryan, Melanie, Chris, and Zack agree that the proposed 500 ship force is a fantasy that will...
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We Need to Talk About Nukes from 2020-10-15T16:04:10
Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to talk about U.S. nuclear policy. Should the United States have a "no first use" policy? If so, would that affect choices our allies and partners, as well ...
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Understanding America’s Declining Global Influence from 2020-10-01T14:35:26
Why is America’s global influence in decline? And what can be done to get it back? In a recent study, the RAND Corporation’s James Dobbins, Gabrielle Tarini, and Ali Wyne, trace the former unipo...
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The Revenge of Ideology from 2020-09-17T14:16:37
Melanie, Chris, and Zack debate the role of ideology in American foreign policy. Bridge Colby and Robert Kaplan have recently Listen
The Future Ain’t What it Used to Be from 2020-09-03T15:09:13
Zack, Chris, and Melanie get together to talk about what American foreign policy might look like after Jan. 20, 2021. Would President Joe Biden seek a restoration of Obama administration policie...
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Time to Rethink U.S. Policy Toward Putin’s Russia? from 2020-08-20T15:04:21
Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss the renewed debate over the present and future of U.S.-Russian relations. Two competing open letters make the case for or against the status quo, which is increa...
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Deterring by Denial in Asia from 2020-08-06T14:43:47
Melanie, Chris, and Zack debate Michèle Flournoy’s recent Foreign Affairs article about how to prevent war in Asia by reinforcing deterrence against China. They discuss the importance o...
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Money and Might from 2020-07-23T15:05:03
The 2017 National Security Strategy states that “economic security is national security.” Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to discuss how the United States might strengthen and use its econ...
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COVID-19 and U.S. Global Leadership from 2020-07-09T15:23:15
Melanie, Zack, and Chris unpack why the United States has failed to contain the novel coronavirus. Most blame poor leadership in the United States — from the White House to public health officia...
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America's Foreign Policy Consensus: Blob's Your Uncle? from 2020-06-25T15:04:07
The Cato Institute's Emma Ashford joins Melanie and Zack to discuss her recent article on how to "Build a Better Blob." They debate whether the foreign policy community is hostile to non-mainstr...
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Sources of American Power from 2020-06-11T14:26:05
Chris, Zack, and Melanie get together to talk about former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates’s Foreign Affairs article, “The United States Must Recover the Full Range of Its Power.” Against the bac...
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Big Trouble in a Little China Strategy? from 2020-05-28T14:43:36
Chris and Melanie welcome Zack Cooper as the new co-host of Net Assessment. They discuss the White House's new China strategy and debate whether the strategy matches President Trump's own views ...
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The End of the World as We Know It? from 2020-05-14T15:53:26
Zack Cooper joins Melanie and Chris for a discussion of the post-COVID-19 international order. The struggle in both the United States and China to overcome the economic and health effects of the...
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Pathogen to War from 2020-04-30T14:27:16
Chris and Melanie are joined by Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute to discuss Mark Hannah's recent War on the Rocks article "Stop Declaring War on a Virus." They discuss w...
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COVID-19 and the Future of Global Trade from 2020-04-16T14:27:41
The coronavirus pandemic has severely disrupted the global economy, and its impact is likely to last for many months. But some foresee (and are hoping for) permanent changes to global trade: The...
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The Meaning of Public Service from 2020-04-02T14:37:30
Chris and Melanie sit down with Mark Cancian of CSIS to discuss the final report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. They discuss what public service i...
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Defending U.S. Interests in Cyberspace from 2020-03-19T14:41:21
Amidst the deepening Coronavirus crisis, Melanie and Chris discuss another type of invisible danger: the threats posed by both state and non-state actors in cyberspace. They’re joined by the Mar...
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Why Is America Leaving Afghanistan Now? from 2020-03-05T15:00:10
The Net Assessment crew is back to discuss Carter Malkasian’s Foreign Affairs article, “How the Good War Went Bad: America’s Slow-Motion Failure in Afghanistan.” In this episode, Melani...
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Show Me the Money from 2020-02-20T13:13:58
In this episode, Chris and Melanie are joined by Thomas Spoehr of the Heritage Foundation to talk about President Trump's FY2021 defense budget request: What's good in this budget, what's really...
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Debating the AUMFs from 2020-02-06T15:53:08
Special guest Alice Hunt Friend joins Melanie and Chris for a very timely discussion about the possible repeal of the Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) that presidents have used t...
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Trying Hard to be Good? from 2020-01-23T14:31:07
Chris Brose of Anduril Industries joins Chris and Melanie to talk about Joseph Nye’s Texas National Security Review article, “What is a Moral Foreign Policy?” Should morality be taken i...
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Is America’s China Strategy Working? from 2020-01-09T14:33:40
After a long holiday hiatus, Hudson’s Patrick Cronin joins Melanie and Chris in a spirited discussion of U.S. policy toward China. How is this competition like the Cold War with the Soviet Union...
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The Looming End of Pax Americana? from 2019-12-12T15:23:10
The Net Assessment crew is back and this week they are breaking down an article written by Brian Stewart in Quillette titled, "Listen
Can Bryan Pass the Turing Test? from 2019-11-14T14:06:04
Chris, Bryan, and Melanie talk about the Interim Report issued by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence last week. What kinds of expectations should we have about AI being ...
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Strategy and Exit Strategies: Essential or Misleading? from 2019-10-31T12:26:54
Melanie, Chris, and guest host Claude Berube discuss the promise and pitfalls of exit strategies. When policymakers plan to embark on foreign wars, should they also prepare a plan for extricatin...
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We Just Don’t Make Policy Like We Used To from 2019-10-17T14:19:17
Join Chris, Melanie, and Bryan as they dive into Professor Philip Zelikow’s recent article in the Texas National Security Review titled, “To Regain Policy Competence: The Software of Am...
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Syria: A Sad Tale from 2019-10-03T13:21:44
Bryan is celebrating the anniversary of our first episode on a beach, so this week, Chris and Melanie are joined by Tom Karako of CSIS. In this episode they discuss the Syria Study Group Report,...
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What Can We Do About Terrorism? from 2019-09-19T13:34:15
What have we learned in the 18 years since 9/11? Chris, Melanie, and Bryan discuss whether counterterrorism policy takes account of academic research on the subject. Going forward, the goal shou...
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Mattispalooza: Deconstructing the Legacy of James Mattis from 2019-09-05T08:30
Join Chris, Melanie, and Bryan as they assess Jim Mattis' legacy as secretary of defense and the media splash he is making while promoting his new book. Mattis is a complicated character, and hi...
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Does Trump’s Trade War Spell the End of the Global Order? from 2019-08-21T20:10:26
This week the gang talks about President Trump’s trade policies and why trade wars can be bad and hard to win. Do we have a strategy for success, or is the president simply venting frustration t...
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Explaining Mission Creep in Afghanistan from 2019-08-08T13:51:33
Special guest Rick Berger joins Bryan and Chris for a discussion of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and the state of civil-military relations. The post-9/11 mission expanded from counterterrorism to...
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Bold Strokes from the Commandant of the Marine Corps from 2019-07-25T13:05:10
Join Melanie, Chris, and Bryan as they discuss the recently released Commandant's Planning Guidance, a document from the new Marine Corps Commandant General David Berger that has taken the seapo...
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Is America Poised to Lose the Next War? from 2019-07-10T21:12:59
Bryan, Chris, and Melanie take on a new report by Chris Dougherty that argues that, unless America changes how it fights wars to more closely align with the priorities laid out in the 2018 N...
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Deciphering the Trump Administration’s Iran Policy from 2019-06-27T13:21:16
Melanie, Bryan, and Chris discuss the Trump administration’s recent struggles to explain its policy toward Iran. What does President Donald Trump hope to achieve? What evidence is there that the...
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Is Realism Realistic? from 2019-06-14T14:39:39
Is the Trump administration pursuing a realist foreign policy? In a recent speech, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicates that it is, while Brett McGurk, in his article in Foreign Affairs<...
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Hypersonic Weapons - Gimmick or Game Changer? from 2019-05-30T14:19:07
Chris is on a big adventure, so Bryan and Melanie are left alone to discuss hypersonic weapons and the challenges and opportunities they present for America's national security. Do they represen...
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A Failure of Leadership? Americans’ Views of U.S. Foreign Policy from 2019-05-16T13:13:35
Donald Trump won the Republican nomination in 2016 and then beat Hillary Clinton in the general election, in part, by pledging to focus on America’s domestic problems, including raising worker w...
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The Revolution in Military Affairs - Is Anything Different This Time? from 2019-05-02T13:30:07
Join Melanie, Chris, and Bryan as they dive into Christian Brose's Foreign Affairs piece on the revolution in military affairs and Brose's view that not only are we unprepared for futur...
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Is NATO Showing its Age? from 2019-04-18T12:44
Chris is on a beach somewhere soaking up the rays, so this week George Mason's Trevor Thrall joins the podcast. The gang discusses NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's address to Congress o...
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The Pentagon Can Count Ships (But Not Much Else) from 2019-04-04T08:00
In addition to “being the taxpayers’ greatest investment,” Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi writes that the Pentagon is also “the world’s largest producer of wrong numbers, an ingenious bure...
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Masterpiece Theater from 2019-03-21T09:00
In this episode, Chris, Bryan, and Melanie take a broad look at the administration's FY2020 defense budget request. They discuss whether or not it is the "masterpiece" that Pat Shanahan promised...
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Playing the China Card from 2019-03-07T04:33:50
Join Melanie, Chris, and Bryan for a discussion of how to think about great power competition with China. Using Brookings scholar Tarun Chhabra's recent report "Listen
Can Conservatism Save the Liberal Order? And What Are We Conserving? from 2019-02-21T05:09:59
What is the best way to preserve the liberal international order (such as it is) going forward? Some counsel conservatism. Jennifer Lind and William Wohlforth argue that “the United States and i...
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To Intervene or Not to Intervene? That is the Question from 2019-02-07T14:02:47
The crew looks at the crisis in Venezuela and considers the American and world responses to it. Is it any of Washington’s business what goes on there, and will any result have democratic legitim...
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Learning to Love the Bomb from 2019-01-23T19:46:26
Join Chris, Melanie, and Bryan — your Net Assessment podcasters — for a dive into nuclear weapons and grand strategy, and the degree to which they have impacted each other. The story is one of c...
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Is It the End of the World, As We Know It? from 2019-01-10T13:17:05
The United States has managed to avoid foreign policy catastrophes during the first two years of the Trump administration, but defenders of American primacy espy trouble on the horizon. Most Ame...
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Smoking Bonesaw from 2018-12-13T15:29:21
In our last episode before the holidays, we take a look at the US-Saudi relationship. With President Trump standing by Mohammad bin Salman even as the CIA blames him for the murder of journalist...
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The Establishment Strikes Back from 2018-11-29T16:23:48
Hop aboard! In this episode, the crew dissects the recently released report of the National Defense Strategy Commission. Melanie, Chris, and Bryan weigh in on the report’s strengths and weakness...
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Does the Pentagon Deserve Our Trust? from 2018-11-15T20:11:52
This episode kicks off with a discussion of the national security implications of the mid-term elections. With the Democratic Party retaking control of the House of Representatives, we expect to...
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INF-inite Assessment from 2018-11-01T16:22:10
Under the dark cloud of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, this week’s Net Assessment podcast focuses on President Donald Trump’s that he intends to withdraw the United States from t...
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The China Hand from 2018-10-18T16:06:41
This week’s Net Assessment podcast featured a deep-dive into the Vice President’s early October speech on the competition with China. Largely drowned out by the Kavanaugh SCOTUS controversy, Mel...
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Introducing Net Assessment from 2018-10-04T16:03:15
Net Assessment: The Trailer from 2018-10-01T15:42:55
War on the Rocks is excited to introduce an exciting new biweekly podcast: "Net Assessment." This new series features three assertive and experienced nati...
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