Month: August 2022

Briefings

Background Briefing: August 8, 2022

On By gram

 

Biden’s Big Wins Defy Pundits Who Were Writing His Political Obituary

We begin with the turnaround in political prognostication as President Biden pulls off a series of big wins after many pundits in the press were writing his political obituary. Joining us to discuss the passage of the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act is John Nichols, who is The Nation magazine’s Washington correspondent. His books include People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy, The Fight for the Soul of the Democratic Party: The Enduring Legacy of Henry Wallace’s Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist Politics, and most recently, Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis. We discuss his latest article at The Nation, “Schumer’s Inflation Reduction Act Includes a Smart Tax on Corporations.”

 

Russia’s Reckless Endangerment of Europe’s Biggest Civilian Nuclear Reactors

Then we look into the reckless endangerment of Europe’s biggest civilian nuclear reactors by the Russian military who reports suggest are mining the coolant intakes and other parts of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants in what the UN Secretary General describes as a “suicidal” act while this week the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the site is “completely out of control” and that “every principle of nuclear safety has been violated.” Joining us is Bennett Ramberg, who was a foreign policy analyst in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs at the Department of State during the George H.W. Bush administration. He is the author of Nuclear Power Plants as Weapons For The Enemy: An Unrecognized Military Peril and we discuss his article at Project Syndicate, “The Danger of Nuclear Reactors in War.”

 

Putin’s Disastrous War in Ukraine is Making Major Wars Less Likely

Then finally we assess the extent to which Putin’s disastrous war in Ukraine is giving wars a bad name making it less likely that major wars between states will happen. Joining us is Dr. John Mueller, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a professor emeritus of both political science and dance at The Ohio State University. His books include Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda, Chasing Ghosts: The Policing of Terrorism, and most recently, The Stupidity of War: American Foreign Policy and the Case for Complacency. And we discuss his article at Foreign Affairs, “The Upside of Putin’s Delusions: Moscow’s Disastrous Invasion of Ukraine Will Reinforce the Norm Against War.”