Background Briefing: November 24, 2024
Trump’s Choice to Head the DOD Sees Half the Country as the Enemy and That There Will Be Civil War
We begin with Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Defense who is facing sexual assault charges which might well be the least of frightening prospects he poses. Fox News’s Pete Hegseth has called for a “national divorce” and believes the 74 million Americans who did not vote for Trump are what he considers the allied forces of “globalism”, “socialism”, “secularism”, “environmentalism”, “Islamism”, “genderism” and “leftism” which have to be defeated while “The military and police, both bastions of freedom-loving patriots, will be forced to make a choice. It will not be good. Yes, there will be some form of civil war.” Joining us to discuss how Hegseth appears more than willing to use the military to round up immigrants and Trump’s “enemies of the people” is Tom Mockaitis, a professor of history at DePaul University, where he teaches courses in British, Modern European, and Military History. His research and writing cover international security, terrorism, unconventional conflict, and military history. He has taught counter-terrorism courses at venues around the world as part of the U.S. Department of Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program and is the author of 6 books including ‘New’ Terrorism: Myths and Reality, Violent Extremists: Understanding the Domestic and International Terrorist Threat and Iraq and the Challenge of Counterinsurgency. A regular contributor to The Hill, we discuss his latest article, “A politicized military would be the Founders’ nightmare come true.”
The Arrest of Coup Plotters in Brazil is a Warning For a Military Takeover That Could Happen Here
Then we look into the arrests of military coup plotters in Brazil who planned to kill President Lula in a conspiracy involving Trump’s friend former President Bolsonaro and his top aides and how far right Americans close to Trump support such moves which could happen here. Joining us is James Green, the Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Professor of Modern Latin American History and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University and the author or co-editor of eleven books on Brazil and Latin America. The former president of the Brazilian Studies Association, he has traveled extensively throughout Latin America and lived in Brazil for eight years.
Putin’s Latest Nuclear Saber Rattling as NATO Crosses Its Red Lines
Then finally we assess Putin’s latest nuclear saber-rattling which has the Polish PM concerned a wider war could break out and Sweden’s government providing its citizens with a booklet with instructions to prepare for war. Joining us is Stephen Biddle, a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, Director of the International Security Policy Concentration and adjunct senior fellow for defense policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. His books include Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle and Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militias.