Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. We probe beyond the hive mind of ...
Eric and Eliot try to parse the firehose of insanity and self-harm emanating from the Trump Administration. They discuss the disestablishment of the Office of Net Assessment in the Pentagon, a little known but important institution created during the Cold War. They also discuss the silencing of the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and Radio Marti despite the vital role these institutions played in the country's success in the Cold War. They discuss Eliot's Atlantic article on why invading Canada has not worked out well for the United States in the past and how the Trump Administration's policies are pushing the Canadians (among others) to contemplate canceling their order of F-35 fighter aircraft and joining the European Union. In addition they discuss Bibi Netanyahu's attempt to fire Ronen Bar, the head of Israel's internal security service the Shin Bet and whether or not BIbi needed Trump's example to go after the Israeli "deep state."
Eliot on invading Canada:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/us-canada-relations-trump/682046/
New York Times report on DOGE cuts to the National Nuclear Security Administration
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/federal-job-cuts-nuclear-bomb-engineers-scientists.html
Eliot on the late Andrew Marshall:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/andrew-marshall-brain-pentagon-passed-away/588952/
Axios report on Netanyahu firing Ronen Bar:
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/16/netanyahu-fire-shin-bet-ronen-bar
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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57:23
Russia Is a Habitual Treaty Violator
Eric and Eliot welcome Lt. Col. (ret.) Alexander Vindman, former director for Europe on the National Security Council during the first Trump term and author of The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself about Russia and Betrayed Ukraine (New York: Public Affairs Press, 2025). They discuss the U.S. government's prioritization of US-Russia relations over Ukraine policy across multiple Administrations and the tendency towards a transactional relationship with Ukraine as well as the degree of agency and responsibility of Ukrainian officials for this chronic state of affairs. They touch on the Obama Administration's underwhelming response to the seizure of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine in 2014 as well as Trump's vulgar transactionalism and personal grudge against Zelensky as a motivation for the Oval Office meltdown two weeks ago. Eric and Eliot also discuss their respective articles in the Dispatch and the Atlantic on Russia's habit of violating agreements it has reached and Ukraine's success in fighting a war of attrition against Russia despite the media's misreporting of the state of the war. They also discuss the generational damage to American alliances and national security intellectual capital that the second Trump term is creating, Trump hostage envoy Adam Boehler's direct negotiation with Hamas terrorists, Trump's mistaken reference to Viktor Orban as the leader of Turkey, and Elon Musk and Marco Rubio's trashing of Poland's Foreign Minister on Twitter.
The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine:
https://a.co/d/dTa2qN8
Eric & Frank Miller's latest on Russian treaty violations:
https://thedispatch.com/article/russia-history-broken-treaties-agreements/
Eliot & Phillips O'Brien's latest on the rate of attrition in Ukraine:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/03/russia-ukraine-war-status/681963/
Eliot on the Trump administration's reputational damage to the U.S.:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/buzz-saw-pine-forest/681984/
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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56:57
Is American Decline an Illusion?
Eliot and Eric welcome Michael Beckley, Associate Professor of Political Science at Tufts University, non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author of Unrivalled: Why America Will Remain the World's Sole Superpower, and co-author, with Hal Brands of Danger Zone. They discuss his article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, "The Strange Triumph of a Broken America." They discuss the paradox of American power: Americans always think their country is in decline even when it is going from strength to strength economically and remains the most powerful and dynamic economy in the world. Michael recounts the many metrics that show that the American economy has vastly outstripped not only its autocratic rivals but its allies and the countries of the global south. They discuss the historical tradition of declinism in America and why it finds a ready audience. They also discuss America's great strengths --its geographical position, its relatively healthy demographics and its decentralized political institutions which have allowed the country to be a resilient source of innovation and dynamic economic growth. They also touch on how these strengths have also been, in a sense, liabilities. How they can lead to domestic political and social fragmentation as well as chronic strategic insolvency. They consider the danger of declining powers and how Russia and China fit into that framework, as well as relative versus absolute decline, what social psychology tells us about the propensity for risk taking when it comes to either holding onto what one currently has as opposed to seeking speculative gains as well as the degree of damage that the Trump Administration can do to the nation's traditional comparative advantages.
Michael Beckley's Latest in Foreign Affairs:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/strange-triumph-broken-america-michael-beckley
Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World's Sole Superpower:
https://a.co/d/5bpnkN5
Understanding America’s Contested Primacy:
https://csbaonline.org/uploads/documents/2010.10.21-Understanding-Americas-Contested-Supremacy.pdf
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia
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53:36
Emergency Podcast: An Oval Office Ambush
Eric and Eliot bemoan the shameful meltdown in the Oval Office between VP Vance, President Trump and President Zelensky. They discuss Vance’s ambush and whether he executed it alone or in concert with Trump and note that those who are blaming Zelensky for rising to the bait are objectively pro-Putin. They discuss Vance’s dark political views and they consider what Europeans can and should do. They also discuss Trump’s delegation of responsibility to others and his “Trump Gaza” AI generated video. Eric asks only partially tongue in cheek what the odds are on Trump declaring himself a god by the end of the term.
Robert Harris' Cicero Trilogy:
https://a.co/d/fHShy26
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
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39:25
A Disgraceful Episode of American Diplomacy
Eric and Eliot mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine with a shout out to the brave Ukrainians who are resisting Russian tyranny. They discuss the Friday night massacre at the Pentagon, noting the remarkable personal qualities of General C. Q. Brown and his role as Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. They touch on the role of the JAGS and the dangers to good order and discipline that will result from having pliant lawyers. They also discuss the very troubling U.S. vote in the UN General Assembly against the resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine putting us in the company of Russia, Belarus, Nicaragua and North Korea. They consider what kind of negotiators Trump and Steve Witkoff will be and how international negotiations differ from real estate transactions. Finally, they consider some of the intellectual currents swirling around Trumpism and agree that they merit careful consideration.
Eliot on the Pentagon's Friday Night Massacre:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/lawful-enormously-destructive/681809/
Eric on PBS News Weekend:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-potential-consequences-of-trumps-unprecedented-pentagon-shakeup
Gen. C. Q. Brown Amidst the Death of George Floyd (2020):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw4MI1v8I0k
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast cosponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. We probe beyond the hive mind of Washington conventional wisdom on national security and foreign affairs.
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