The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

While America's war in Iran slides into higher casualties and greater costs, most of the world remains distracted from America's illegal blockade of Cuba--an act of war. Why the oil crisis is going to fuel a food crisis, which is going to sow revolutionary conditions around the world. How imperialism does and doesn't help explain the US bombing a dairy farm in Ecuador. Pete Hegseth's pastor praying for the death of Texas senate candidate James Talarico signals a wave of far right violence that will confront the victories of left populist democrats in 2026 and 2028. Tracking the latest in the Iran war reveals just how much we're experiencing epistemic collapse--did Iran even fire missiles at Diego Garcia? And who pays for war?  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Free episode crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! You might know Morgan Spector as the critically acclaimed leading man in The Gilded Age and The Plot Against America. Or for his appearances in Boardwalk Empire, Suits, Homeland, How to Make It In America (one of Van’s favorites), or even as a producer on The Big Scary “S” Word. What you might not know is that Morgan is both an impressive critic of policy and an advocate for democratic socialism. We invited Morgan on to talk about Independence Day (1996), a delicious conversation that’s next in our queue. But we also recorded an in-depth installment of “Politics Behind the Scenes,” our occasional side-convos with guests about the urgent real-world issues of the day. In this special episode, Morgan chops it up with Van Jackson  and Lyle Rubin about: Meaningful anti-imperialist positions on Russia’s war with Ukraine; The illegal war in Iran is also evil; Nationalizing the defense industry and taking the profits out of war; How we might envision a peace economy; Why we all love Graham Platner; The Israel problem in US foreign policy; Why we’re bullish on electoral leftism; and How the Democratic Party has shit the bed so bad that left populists have a real opportunity to takeover the party from within. A lot going on here. You don’t want to miss this episode with one of Hollywood’s best political minds. Subscribe to The Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com/ Subscribe to The Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com Catch The Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast

Why the Iran war is creating a global financial crisis. Why China doesn't want global hegemony, but if it did, now is the best time imaginable. Signs of American hegemonic decline. And Joe Kent's resignation from the Trump administration and how to read it in light of anti-semitism. Van Jackson and Matt Duss chopping up all that and more in this episode. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

What is the US shortage of standoff weapons? What's Iran's strategy? Why are missile defense systems moving from South Korea to the Middle East? And why is it wrong to believe that war with Iran comes at the expense of war with China? Can the US even defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion? In this episode live from the Kapiti Coast, Dr. Van Jackson analyzes the latest in the US and Israeli war with Iran and what it means for the balance of power in Asia. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

What is techno-industrialism, who benefits from it, and what does it mean for the working class? Maddy Crowell joins Julia Gledhill on the podcast to discuss her new article in Harper’s Magazine, in which she explores the effort to reindustrialize the United States through rearmament.  Read “The Plot to Save America,” here: https://harpers.org/archive/2026/03/the-plot-to-save-america-maddy-crowell-reindustrialization-weapons-manufacturing/  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

In this episode live on location in the Kapiti Coast (the background noise is the ocean), Dr. Van Jackson explains five truths about war with Iran that account for why the war happened, who benefits from it, and what comes next.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

As the Trump administration prepares for war with Iran, why does it suddenly care about manufacturing consent? Inside the US military's munitions shortfall and what it says about capitalism, oligarchy, and the US relationship with war. War games with artificial intelligence say chatbots choose escalation to nuclear war 95% of the time. What's at stake in Anthropic's fight with the Pentagon, and why it's not as it seems. The Democratic Party--and American democracy--has a Palantir problem. Also this episode: why two senior officers have been purged from the Joint Staff. Dr. Van Jackson breaks all that down and more.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

What did AOC reveal about her foreign policy vision during her trip to Germany and the Munich Security Conference? Why is the US about to illegally attack Iran, again? Proof from the New York Times that the Democratic Party as we know it is in crisis. And what we can learn about tech-worker backlash against AI and Anthropic's fight with the Pentagon.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0q9ZVYoIQY Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

How did opposition to the Iraq War become the largest peace movement in recorded history? Why is the world ripe for a new generation of peace activism? And why is it so important to diagnose militarism as a primary cause of global insecurity today? Dr. David Cortright--a legendary peace activist and peace scholar--joins the pod to offer an oral history of the global peace movement in the context of his career, from protesting the Vietnam War to running SANE (The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy) and co-founding Win Without War. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast David Cortright in International Policy Journal: https://cippolicy.substack.com/p/no-to-wars-of-conquest-in-venezuela David Cortright's latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Peaceful-Superpower-Lessons-Largest-Movement/dp/1613322046 Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Recorded on location in the wilds of New Zealand’s Kapiti Coast. Why is America declining? Grand strategists, pundits, and scholars have been debating the best label for US foreign policy during the Trump presidency: illiberal hegemony; neo-royalism; reactionary nationalism; predatory hegemony. But none of these labels offer an account of themselves. Why is the US engaged in predatory behavior abroad? Why has American hegemony ended? The answer can be found in imperialism and its causes. A crisis of capitalism is accelerating imperial decline, which is birthing what you might call the Age of Primitive Accumulation. Geopolitics has fundamentally changed, and if we don't recognize the shift as a turn to imperialist foreign policy--which facilitates primitive accumulation--we will fail to understand and respond to the darkness washing over the world. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

How the Pentagon is facilitating the rapid expansion "ghost network" concentration camps in America. Why arms control is dying and what to make of the New START Treaty's expiration. Jeff Bezos has effectively killed The Washington Post--what's next? Why neoconsevative foreign policy hawks still run Washington. And the importance of Gary Stevenson's story in The Trading Game for understanding the decline of empire. Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss cover all that and more in the latest episode. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

The US State Department has been coordinating far right separatists in Alberta--the imperialism threat to Canada is real. Denmark's debt weapon and the EU's anti-coercion instrument got Trump to temporarily back off of invading Greenland. Why is the fantasy of returning industrial manufacturing so important to the American far right (and some progressives)? The confession of a Biden administration adviser to supporting war crimes in Gaza. And just how bloody is drone warfare? New data from the Russia-Ukraine war reveals something on the order of World War I, with very little to show for it in terms of territorial conquest. Julia Gledhill, Van Jackson, and Matt Duss discuss all that and more in the latest episode of the pod.Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Free crossover episode with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Do US troops have a threshold for the kind of unlawful order they’re unwilling to follow? If Venezuela wasn’t a breaking point, is Greenland? Can the US have mid-term elections under martial law? Will troops fire on fellow Americans if ordered? And why is the permanent war economy at the root of everything from economic insecurity to America’s imperial boomerang in the form of ICE, National Guard deployments, and militarized policing?In this urgent behind-the-scenes episode, guest Jeremy Wattles joins Van Jackson and Lyle Jeremy Rubin to talk about all that and more. Available wherever you get your podcasts.Subscribe to The Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com/Subscribe to The Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave the most important speech about international relations in 50 years. In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson and guest Dr. Seva Gunitsky sit down to dissect Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They discuss the many shades of realism in international relations, what it means to acknowledge the contradictions of the "rules-based international order," and where the world goes now that American hegemony is officially over. Subscribe to Seva's newsletter: https://hegemon.substack.com Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Are protests in Iran a prelude to revolution? The root causes of Iranian unrest are economic. Why Joseph Stiglitz thinks it’s time to isolate and contain the United States. Why Silicon Valley’s network-state advocates have fixated on taking over Greenland, and why the geopolitics of the network state could lead to World War III. The case for nationalizing the defense industry and taking the profits out of war. And why Trump wants a $1.5 trillion-dollar war machine, and why Dr. Van Jackson predicted he would. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Dr. Van Jackson tackling a host of dark issues in this episode. How to explain US imperialism in Venezuela. NATO's existential trouble and America's threat to annex Greenland. The economics of American empire. How the Trump administration quietly killed the last initiative for a progressive global order. And the struggle against A.I. data centers. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

A special holiday crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin are joined by the preeminent nuclear scholar Scott Sagan to discuss A House of Dynamite, the 2025 political thriller that imagines nuclear catastrophe not as spectacle or obvious madness, but as an orderly sequence of decisions made under crushing time pressure. Structured as interlocking vignettes rather than a single command-room drama, the film moves between the White House, STRATCOM, missile defense sites, continuity bunkers, and civilian spaces, sketching a system that largely works as designed and still produces annihilation.The film’s opening establishes its governing logic. Inclination is flattening. Timelines shrink. Judgment collapses into procedure. “Nineteen minutes to impact.” “Sixteen minutes.” “Confirm impact.” Across locations, professionals do their jobs calmly while the meaning drains out of their actions. A senior officer tells a junior colleague to keep the cafeteria line moving. A staffer compiles names and Social Security numbers for the dead. Phones come out. Final calls are made. The end of the world arrives not with hysteria, but with etiquette.Much of the tension turns on probability. Missile defense is described as “hitting a bullet with a bullet.” Sixty-one percent becomes the moral threshold, a coin toss bought with billions of dollars. Baseball chatter at STRATCOM blends into DEFCON alerts. A Civil War reenactment at Gettysburg unfolds alongside real-time catastrophe, collapsing past and present forms of American mass death into a single frame.Scott is critical of the film’s portrayal of nuclear command and control. He argues that its depiction of retaliatory decision-making is wrong, that no president would order nuclear strikes against loosely defined adversaries without firm attribution or confirmation, and that the film risks backfiring by encouraging faith in ever more elaborate missile defenses rather than disarmament. Lyle pushes back, questioning whether this confidence in institutional sanity is warranted, especially given the political moment. Either way, the film lands a disturbing insight. The danger is not wild irrationality, but systems that normalize impossible choices. Nuclear war here would not look like collapse. It would look like competence.Further ReadingScott’s Wiki page“Just and Unjust Nuclear Deterrence” by ScottThe Limits of Safety: Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons by Scott“Thinking and Moral Considerations” by Hannah ArendtReview of A House of Dynamite in Bulletin of Atomic Scientists by Scott and Shreya Lad“Peacecraft and the Nuclear Policy Dilemma” by Van“Fresh Hell: Unjust Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Testing” by Van

Free crossover episode with the American Prestige Podcast! Julia Gledhill and Van Jackson joined Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison to breakdown the Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy. They discuss how the document leans on civilizational framing, portrays competition as existential conflict, omits diplomacy and institutions in favor of coercion and deal-making, and deemphasizes democracy promotion. They also touch on the strategy’s treatment of Europe and Latin America, its assumptions about American power, and what the new NSS suggests about the direction of U.S. foreign policy.Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch The Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Subscribe to American Prestige: https://americanprestigepod.com/episodes/8205629503Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Free crossover episode with The Jacob Shapiro Podcast! It's a strategy of primitive accumulation masquerading as a culture warrior grand strategy. It's doing white Christian nationalism as foreign policy, imperialism in Latin America, far-right revolution in Europe. And what about China? In this crossover episode between The Un-Diplomatic Podcast and The Jacob Shapiro Podcast, Dr. Van Jackson--a former national security strategist--explains the significance of the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy and what it means for the world. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/ Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Subscribe to The Jacob Shapiro Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxCZUG9iBM6De2apZUIsnPA Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

Free episode crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin are joined by returning guest Sam Carliner to take on Marines, Netflix’s new 250th-anniversary docuseries, an unmistakable propaganda piece (it’s literally featured on the official Marine Corps website) that nonetheless reveals more candor than the institution intended. Directed by Chelsea Yarnell, whose style veers into Riefenstahl-lite, the series moves through the familiar mythology: Marines as the “meanest, baddest motherfuckers,” war as manhood, China as the next “bloody” proving ground. But between the clichés, something truer keeps slipping out.The Marines themselves come across not as caricatures but as young people grasping for purpose. Some raised amid violence, poverty, absent fathers, and broken homes; others from supportive families, following beloved relatives into the Corps, seeking adventure, education benefits, or what they sincerely understand as patriotic duty. Some speak with chilling bravado about killing; others struggle openly with faith, family, and the sense that combat is the only place they’ll ever feel whole. A sniper mourns the disbanding of scout-sniper platoons as if losing a piece of himself. A Huey pilot wonders how to make “non-emotional decisions” when his whole life has been shaped by emotion, and a mother tries to bless a choice she privately cannot support.And despite itself, the series also exposes the machinery surrounding them. Deployments that make no sense. A surreal shipboard announcement about Yemen, where Houthi attacks are called “unprovoked” with no mention of the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza driving them, all delivered in a breezy “Good morning, Team America” tone. Marines saddled with the weight of great-power delusions they never chose. The political culture is bankrupt, but the individuals inside it are often heartbreakingly earnest. That tension, between Yarnell’s promo frame and the unfiltered vulnerability of the people she films, turns Marines into something worthwhile. Even in its worst moments, the series forces a deeper question: What happens when a society offering so little to its young men teaches them that violence is the only stable form of meaning?Subscribe to The Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.comFurther ReadingUSMC press release on the docuseriesSam’s SubstackThe Rivalry Peril by Van and Michael BrenesPain is Weakness Leaving the Body by LyleGangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan M. KatzWar Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges