Is the NSC Unwell?
ChinaTalk1 Feb 2024

Is the NSC Unwell?

Heart attacks, prostate cancer, Jake Sullivan awake for a home invasion attempt at 4 AM because he was just up working on a random Tuesday night? Is the national security bureaucracy in America unwell? To discuss, I have on today John Gans, a former Pentagon speechwriter, who’s had many, many other jobs in Washington. He is also the author of the fantastic “White House Warriors,” a history of the National Security Council. We get into: Why the organizational design of the NSC leads to such crushing burdens for midlevel and senior staffers The kinds of high-flyers that are drawn to the national security complex and what keeps them there How POTUS’s time constraints impact decision-making Why NSC’s historically are excellent at spotting problems but often overeager when crafting solutions The NSC’s role in America’s “forever wars.” Roosevelt, Kennedy, Nixon, and Trump’s “maverick model” of running the NSC compared to the Eisenhower vision of “regular order” How seemingly prosaic technological innovations like track changes and video conferencing have dramatically changed national security policymaking How reading Shakespeare can improve the quality of our policy-making What a better model could look like Illustration from the New Yorker's recent feature on Sullivan. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/16/trial-by-combat Outtro audio from Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episoder(517)

Second Breakfast: Battleships, Golden Dome,  Greenland, Kash, Presidential Comedy

Second Breakfast: Battleships, Golden Dome, Greenland, Kash, Presidential Comedy

Bryan Clark (former submariner at Hudson), Eric Robinson, and Justin McIntosh report for duty. Davos disco: https://suno.com/s/2SpR62beigk2JeDr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

24 Jan 1h 12min

The Future of Economic Security with Dan Kim and Chris Miller

The Future of Economic Security with Dan Kim and Chris Miller

Is there such a thing as MAD in economic warfare? How should we measure the effectiveness of our industrial policy tools, and what outcomes should we be aiming for anyway? Our guest today is Dan Kim,...

21 Jan 1h 20min

Party Time! Jon Czin on US-China in 2025 and 2026

Party Time! Jon Czin on US-China in 2025 and 2026

Jon Czin spent years as a top China analyst at the CIA, served as China Director on Biden’s National Security Council, and now works at the Brookings Institution. We talk through: Xi, Trump, and w...

19 Jan 1h 1min

Richard Danzig on Cyber and AI

Richard Danzig on Cyber and AI

Richard Danzig, national treasure, joins the podcast to discuss the national security implications of AI in the cyber context. Do note we conducted this interview in July of 2025. We discuss Richard...

17 Jan 1h 44min

The China Commission Reports!

The China Commission Reports!

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission late last year released its annual report to Congress. ChinaTalk welcomes two commissioners to the pod to discuss. Before joining the Hoover Ins...

17 Jan 59min

Ben Buchanan on AI and Cyber

Ben Buchanan on AI and Cyber

Happy New Year! This is your reminder to fill out the ChinaTalk audience survey. The link is here. We’re here to give the people what they want, so please fill it out! ~Lily 🌸 Ben Buchanan, now a ...

11 Jan 1h 22min

Second Breakfast: Iran, $500B for Defense...and should we pity RTX?

Second Breakfast: Iran, $500B for Defense...and should we pity RTX?

Bryan Clark joins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

9 Jan 55min

Transistor Radio: WFE and Doug's Claude Code Psychosis

Transistor Radio: WFE and Doug's Claude Code Psychosis

but in a nice way happy new year! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Jan 56min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
stopp-verden
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
det-store-bildet
rss-gukild-johaug
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
fotballpodden-2
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-ness
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
bt-dokumentar-2