Podcast appearances and mentions of Paul R Pillar

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi spoke with John Byrnes, the Strategic Director of Concerned Veterans for America to discuss how his experiences being at Ground Zero on 9/11 and serving in America's post-9/11 wars shifted his perspective on U.S. foreign policy to a belief in realism and restraint. Mr. Byrnes joined the Marine Corps in 1991 out of high school and served four years, deployed to Somalia in 1993. He joined the New York National Guard, serving at Ground Zero after the September 11th terrorist attacks and was deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring from the National Guard in 2018.He also has a new article out in The American Conservative, in which he discusses his foreign policy evolution and the lessons policymakers should draw from our post-9/11 wars.LISTENER SURVEY: Please answer our two-question survey of Security Dilemma listeners. Respondents who provide their email address will be entered into a drawing. The first prize is a signed copy of John Mearsheimer's The Tragedy of Great Power Politics; there are also digital copies of our recent reading group book, Paul R. Pillar's Why America Misunderstands the World. Respond to the survey ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay spoke with Jonathan Guyer of the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group. Jonathan is the Program Director of IGA's flagship Independent America program, which is focused on interrogating the conventional wisdom of US foreign policy and informing the public about America's changing role in the world. He was previously a senior foreign policy writer at Vox and managing editor of The American Prospect. Our conversation today discussed U.S. Middle East policy, the rise of Silicon Valley-based defense firms, and the "revolving door" between industry and government.LISTENER SURVEY: Please answer our two-question survey of Security Dilemma listeners. Respondents who provide their email address will be entered into a drawing. The first prize is a signed copy of John Mearsheimer's The Tragedy of Great Power Politics; there are also digital copies of our recent reading group book, Paul R. Pillar's Why America Misunderstands the World. Respond to the survey ⁠here⁠.

On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Ted Jones, the Senior Director for National Security and International Programs at the Nuclear Energy Institute. An expert on international energy markets and nuclear trade policy, he leads initiatives related to nuclear energy exports. In addition to his work on nuclear trade policy and promotion, Mr. Jones serves as liaison to stakeholders in the nuclear policy and national security communities. Mr. Jones previously served as policy director of the U.S.-India Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure there, he led a successful campaign to change U.S. law and international rules to admit India to the global commercial nuclear trade. In this episode, we discussed the global nuclear supply chain, energy security, and careers with industry trade groups. LISTENER SURVEY: Please answer our two-question survey of Security Dilemma listeners. Respondents who provide their email address will be entered into a drawing. The first prize is a signed copy of John Mearsheimer's The Tragedy of Great Power Politics; there are also digital copies of our recent reading group book, Paul R. Pillar's Why America Misunderstands the World. Respond to the survey here.

NOTE: Record 5/29; Released 8/2/24; subject matters deal with history as well as current events that are still unraveling before us now; also Producer's Credits on this episode were recorded in July so if you are a new $10 or above tier subscriber on Patreon you'll hear your producer's credit on the next episode. On this edition of Parallax Views, Paul R. Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the CIA and a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, returns to discuss his incredibly interesting book, Beyond the Water's Edge: How Partisanship Corrupts U.S. Foreign Policy. You're probably thinking that's an incredibly academic title that indicates a rather dry survey of how Republicans and Democrats have handled U.S. foreign policy over the years in ways that were more driven by ideological concerns rather than National Security interests. But while Pillar's book is a scholarly examination of those issues, one should not mistake the book for being a boring look at these matters. Which is to say that Pillar exposes all kinds of skullduggery related to how political partisans, especially on the Republican side of the spectrum but also encompassing the Democratic Party as well, when it's come to U.S. foreign policy over the years. Case in point: there's an entire section on the October Surprise. For those unfamiliar the October Surprise was an alleged plot by the Ronald Reagan campaign to pay of the Iranians to not release the hostages of the Iran hostage crisis until after the election in order to sabotage Jimmy Carter's reelection chances. Paul and I will cover that as well as skullduggery related to Richard Nixon and the Vietnam war. And by the end of the conversation, we'll delve into the ideological underpinning of the neoconservatives that made up the George W. Bush administration and pushed America into the Iraq War. Additionally, we'll discuss Donald Trump, Russiagate, George HW Bush's showdown with AIPAC on Israel, how Wilson and FDR dealt with WWI and WWII, Israel/Palestine, and a number of other issues. I won't give away all the subjects we cover because this is one you really just need to listen to.

This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and Patrick Carver Fox spoke with Dr. Paul R. Pillar, a 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency who served as the National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005. A Vietnam veteran, he rose to serve as the Executive Assistant to CIA Director William Webster, the Deputy Director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center and now is a valuable critic of U.S. foreign policy as a non-resident fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies. Today, we're going to talk about Israeli airstrikes on Iranian diplomatic facilities in Damascus, tensions with Hezbollah, the Biden Administration's approach to the offensive in Gaza, the prospect of Israeli elections and more.

Kızıldeniz'de İsrail'e yük taşıyan gemileri hedef aldıklarını söyleyen Yemen'li Husîler, İsrail'in Gazze'deki katliamları durdurması halinde saldırılara son vereceklerini de ilân etmiştiler. İsrail'in Gazze'deki soykırımına adeta sponsorluk yapan, İsrail'in katliamlara son vermesi için hiçbir ciddi girişimde bulunmayan, BM'de ateşkes karar tasarılarını hep veto eden, Güney Afrika'nın İsrail'e karşı “Uluslararası Adalet Divanı”na yaptığı başvuruyu temelsiz addeden, başından beri İsrail'e silah ve cephane yağdıran ABD şimdiye kadar Kızıldeniz'de can kaybına yol açmayan saldırılara ‘misilleme' olarak Kuzey Yemen'e füze yağdırmaktan kaçınmadı. İsrail'in savaşı genişletmek istediği sır değil. Biden yönetimiyse güya savaşın yayılmaması için çalışıyor. “CIA”in analitik birimlerinde 28 yıl en üst düzeylerde görevler yapan, Georgetown Üniversitesi Güvenlik Çalışmaları Programı'nda misafir Profesör olarak yer alan Paul R. Pillar ise “Responsible Statecraft”da yayınlanan yazısında Yemen'e saldırıların İsrail›in Gazze›ye yönelik savaşını daha da genişletmekten başka bir işe yaramayacağına dikkat çekiyordu. ABD'nin bölgedeki askerî faaliyetlerinin kontrolden çıkmak suretiyle istenmeyen olayların tırmanmasına yol açabileceği uyarısında da bulunan Pillar ,“ABD saldırıları, İsrail'in Gazze'deki yıkımına daha fazla ABD desteği olarak görülecektir. Bu da ABD'yi İsrail'e yönelik, yıkımı uzatmak yerine sona erdirme şansı olan bir politikadan uzaklaştıracaktır. Arap devletlerinin diğer konularda ABD ile işbirliği yapma isteklerini de zayıflatır” diyordu. Biden yönetiminin Yemen'e hava saldırılarını Kongre'yi atlayarak gerçekleştirmesi de ABD'de tartışılıyor. Oysa Joe Biden 6 Ocak 2020'de “Twitter” hesabında yayınladığı mesajda “Açık olalım: Donald Trump, Kongre onayı olmadan bizi İran'la savaşa sokma yetkisine sahip değildir. Bir başkan, Amerikan halkının bilgilendirilmiş onayı olmadan bu ulusu asla savaşa sokmamalıdır” demişti. İranlı General Kasım Süleymanî 3 Ocak 2020'de ABD'nin Bağdat Havaalanı'na düzenlediği saldırıda hayatını kaybetmişti. Bu saldırı sebebiyle İran ve ABD arasında savaş çıkma ihtimalinden söz ediliyordu. Biden, dönemin ABD Başkanı Trump'ı bu sözlerle eleştirmişti. Biden'ın Trump'a karşı sarf ettiği sözler şimdi kendisine hatırlatılıyor. Demokrat Partili vekil Ro Khanna “X” hesabından yayınladığı mesajında “Başkan'ın Husilere karşı bir saldırı başlatmadan ve bizi başka bir Orta Doğu çatışmasına dahil etmeden önce Kongre'ye gelmesi gerekmektedir. Bu Anayasa'nın birinci maddesidir. Beyaz Saray'da Demokrat ya da Cumhuriyetçi, kim olursa olsun bunu savunacağım” diye yazdı. Sıkı Trumpçı Cumhuriyetçi Vekil Matt Gaetz ise “X” hesabında “Ro bu konuda kesinlikle haklı” dedi.

On this edition of Parallax Views, this episode is a double feature featuring two experts on U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East, and the Israel/Palestine conflict: Geoffrey Aronson and Paul R. Pillar, both of whom have recent articles in Responsible Statecraft that should be of interest to anyone following the Gaza War. Geoffrey Aronson, the former director for Foundation for Middle East Peace and the editor of the bimonthly Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories until June 2014 discusses his piece "The Ghost of Ariel Sharon Hovers Over the Gaza Strip" about how Gaza faces what he calls a "The Future is the Past, The Past is the Future" scenario when the current war ends. He takes us back to the policies of Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel in the early 2000's, and offers a grim picture of what Gaza will look like going forward, but also the failure of policies by both Israel and the United States. In the second segment of the show, Paul R. Pillar, an academic and 28-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency as well as a Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Studies of Georgetown University and a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, joins the show to discuss his articles "Is Gaza on track for permanent war?" and "With world's focus on Gaza, West Bank conflict brews". We'll discuss those articles as well as U.S. foreign policy, the October 7th Hamas attack, U.S. foreign policy, and much, much more.

Retired CIA officer Paul R. Pillar discusses the tensions between the intelligence community and policymakers, concerns over domestic abuses of the CIA and NSA, the continuing legacy of post-9/11 policy mistakes, the Russian war in Ukraine, the Biden administration's diplomacy with Iran, and how hyper-partisanship undermines national security policy. Show Notes:Paul R. Pillar bioPaul R. Pillar, “The Role of the Villain: Iran and U.S. Foreign Policy,” Political Science Quarterly 128, no. 2 (Summer 2013): pp. 211-231. Paul R. Pillar, Intelligence and U.S. Foreign Policy: Iraq, 9/11. And Misguided Reform (New York City: Columbia University Press, 2014).Paul R. Pillar, “Guantanamo Bay Remains a Moral Stain on America,” The National Interest, April 18, 2022. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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 should immediately rebuild relations with the intelligence agencies. How can he go about doing that in difficult political circumstances and after years of them being treated with contempt during the Donald Trump administration? What role does Congress have in ensuring our intelligence agencies are functioning properly? How will Biden use the intelligence community to enhance U.S. security and prosperity? The crew also wonders why, with other national security team members in place, Biden has not yet named a secretary of defense. Finally, Chris surprises us with a promise to make a holiday dessert, Melanie has some praise for those working on vaccines, and Zack gives a shout out to the Bombshell podcast hosts as their amazing show ends.    Links Joshua Rovner, "Intelligence in the Biden Administration," War on the Rocks, November 25, 2020 Robert Jervis, "Why Intelligence and Policymakers Clash," Political Science Quarterly, November 02, 2010 Samantha Lee, "Moderna's Groundbreaking Coronavirus Vaccine Was Designed in Just Two Days," Business Insider, November 26, 2020 Rosa Brooks, "It's Time for a Woman to Run the Defense Department," The New York Times, November 30, 2020 Christopher Krebs, "Trump fired me for saying this, but I'll say it again: The election wasn't rigged," The Washington Post, December 1, 2020 Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer, "Pentagon Purges Leading Advisors From Defense Policy Board," Foreign Policy, November 25, 2020 Zack Cooper, "Bad Ideas Series: 'Great Power Competition' Terminology," Center for Strategic and International Studies, December 1, 2020 Brad Stapleton, “The Problem with the Light Footprint: Shifting Tactics in Lieu of Strategy,” Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 792, June 7, 2016 Paul R. Pillar, “Intelligence, Policy, and the War in Iraq,” Foreign Affairs, March/April 2006

On this episode of The Critical Hour, co-hosts Dr. Wilmer Leon and Garland Nixon talk with Dr. Yolandra Hancock about the US COVID-19 death toll surpassing 140,000 on Saturday. Case numbers have increased in 42 out of 50 states over the past two weeks, according to Reuters. "America is losing about 5,000 people to the virus every week. By contrast, neighboring Canada has reported total deaths of 8,800 since the pandemic started," Reuters reported Sunday. What are we to make of this? "With tensions between the US and China rapidly increasing by the day, China's ambassador to the US said Washington must make a 'fundamental choice' over its relationship with Beijing," AntiWar.com reported Sunday. Ambassador Cui Tiankai said in a Saturday interview with CNN: “I think that the fundamental question for the United States is very simple. Is the United States ready or willing to live with another country with a very different culture, a very different political and economic system … in peace and cooperate on so many and still growing global challenges?”"President Donald Trump plans to assert new authority this week to dispatch federal law enforcement agents to American cities to quell 'unrest,' White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Sunday on Fox News," Mother Jones reported Sunday. What has happened to federalism, the separation of powers between the states and the national government, as well as the First Amendment's clear protection of the "right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"?"Consumer and workers' rights advocates are warning that new details of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's plan to shield businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits show just how far the Republican leader is willing to go to ensure corporations are not held accountable for endangering public health and safety," Common Dreams reported Saturday. What's going on with this? "As the pandemic continues to grow, Brazil's president is using the crisis to erode democracy, even invoking the style and words of Mussolini. For now, government emergency aid ensures the support of Brazil's poorest," Le Monde diplomatique recently reported. What happens next? Is there an undeclared war against Iran? "A series of violent attacks, involving explosions and fires, has been hitting Iran. The incidents have been too frequent and intense to be random accidents," Paul R. Pillar wrote in a July 14 piece for Responsible Statecraft. Are these incidents part of an organized effort? A June 24 headline in Jacobin read: "The Supreme Court Has Given the Green Light to Bosses and Financial Managers to Steal From Workers." What's happened with the Supreme Court's Thole v. US Bank ruling? "Rather than weighing in on the allegations of theft, [Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett] Kavanaugh and his conservative cadre slammed the courthouse door on the plaintiffs and every other plaintiff like them, thereby creating the conditions for an impossible-to-deter crime spree," David Sirota wrote in the article.A Monday headline in the Grayzone read: "Influential DC-based Ukrainian think tank hosts neo-Nazi activist convicted for racist violence." Has there been a mainstreaming of neo-Nazism in Ukrainian politics? Guests: Dr. Yolandra Hancock - Board-certified physician and obesity medicine specialist Danny Haiphong - Author and contributor to Black Agenda Report David Schultz - Professor of political science at Hamline University Ted Rall - American columnist, author and syndicated editorial cartoonist Dr. Linwood Tauheed - Professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Nino Pagliccia - Activist and writer Daniel Lazare - Journalist and author Jareth Copus - Author

As the presidency of Donald Trump passes the halfway point, the Middle East remains a region in turmoil. The Trump administration has aligned itself with strongmen in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt, which along with Israel have a common goal of frustrating Iranian expansion. What will be the fallout from policy reversals such as withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear accord and moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem? JListen to a discussion with Paul R. Pillar, Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University, on the United States' path forward in the Middle East and the possibility of war with Iran.

January 2014 featuring David Boaz, Daniel McCarthy, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, Richard Lindzen, Khaliah Barnes, Paul R. Pillar, Charles I. Plosser See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.