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What the Hell Is Going On

By: AEI Podcasts
  • Summary

  • The American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen address the questions we’re all asking in their podcast, “What the Hell Is Going On?” In conversational, informative and irreverent episodes, Pletka and Thiessen interview policymakers and experts, asking tough, probing questions about the most important foreign policy and security challenges facing the world today.
    Copyright © American Enterprise Institute
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Episodes
  • WTH: MAGA Isolationism Is A Myth! The Reagan Institute’s Roger Zakheim Explains
    Jun 27 2024

    The numbers are in, and it’s clear that Americans of all political stripes – Democrats, independents, and both MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans – want America to be engaged and leading on the world stage. The Reagan Institute’s new summer survey shows that the vast majority of Americans want a strong military; support defending NATO allies; and continue to support Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. But hidden in the crosstabs is an important finding: The myth of MAGA isolationism and Republican support for Russia is just that, a myth. Self-identified “MAGA Republicans” were more internationalist than “non-MAGA Republicans” on every issue and the number of Democrats and Republicans who want Russia to win over Ukraine is a statistical tie.

    Roger Zakheim serves as the Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He previously practiced law at Covington & Burling LLP where he led the firm’s Public Policy and Government Affairs practice group. Before joining Covington he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee where he managed the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act. He was also the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.

    Read the transcript here.

    Find the Reagan Institute's summer survey here.

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    46 mins
  • WTH Extra! Is Trump an Isolationist? Dany and Marc Discuss
    Jun 25 2024

    In this new WTH Extra! series, Dany and Marc discuss Marc’s recent Washington Post column, Biden’s Latest Attack on Trump is Wildly Inaccurate. Is Trump really the isolationist his detractors make him out to be? Or is he the second coming of Charles Lindbergh some of his supporters hope for? Turns out, the isolationists who claim to represent the MAGA agenda might not be so representative after all.

    Read Marc’s column in the Washington Post here.

    Subscribe to our substack here.

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    18 mins
  • #WTH Russia Eyes Georgia Next. David Kramer Explains
    Jun 20 2024

    Georgia’s parliament in Tbilisi recently overrode a presidential veto on a “foreign agents” law that sparked an uproar domestically and from the country’s Western allies. Critics decried the legislation—which requires any organization receiving more than 20% of its funding from foreign sources to register as an “agent of foreign influence”—as yet another element in the Russian takeover of the small South Caucasian nation. Russia still occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory. Why should Americans care about Russian games in a country of 3 million people? Because for Vladimir Putin, Georgia is just the beginning of his ambitions in Europe. And the Georgian people are among the most pro-American in the region, at one point the second largest troop contributor to our war on al Qaeda. Standing up for Georgia now means avoiding conflict later.

    David Kramer serves as the Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute. Prior to joining the Bush Institute, he taught at Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, and served as an Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs. David chairs the board of the Free Russia Foundation and serves on the board of the International Republican Institute.

    Read the transcript here.

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    43 mins

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