Fault Lines

Latest Episodes:

Episode 284: Need to Know? Or Need to Share? Secretary of Defense Austin’s Hospitalization. Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

Today, Jamil, Jess, and Les discuss U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s recent hospitalization and the breakdown of communication that had President Biden, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and Secretary Austin’s own Deputy Kathleen Hicks, who was on vacation, out of the loop. Sec. Austin’s absence occurred as the U.S. and its allies gave an ultimatum to Houthi rebels, as well as conducted a successful airstrike on the headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in central Baghdad.

Is the Secretary of Defense out of the Biden Administration’s decision-making loop? Why were key administration and Pentagon officials left in the dark over the Secretary’s hospitalization? Who ultimately should be held responsible for this breakdown?

Check out the sources that helped shape our expert's discussion!

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/07/politics/austin-hospitalization-leaders-not-informed/index.html

https://apnews.com/article/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-hospitalized-biden-859cc79631d6c96dbdff161faf8e4f96

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/top-military-officials-were-initially-unaware-austins-hospitalization-media-2024-01-07/

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/06/pentagon-took-3-days-to-inform-white-houses-nsc-of-austins-hospitalization-00134176

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3633506/statement-by-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-on-medical-care/

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@notTVJessJones

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Episode 283: Baghdad Drone Strike: Is the Biden Administration Getting Tough on Iran Proxies? Jan 05, 2024

Show notes

Today, Les, Morgan, and Jamil discuss the recent U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq that killed commander Abu Taqwa of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran backed militia group. This airstrike happened during a busy week for Middle East, with the continuation of the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza, Houthi forces’ attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea, and the recent ISIS bombing in Iran that killed 80 people. U.S. strikes in Iraq are a rare. While the U.S. states that the airstrike was necessary and proportional in the wake of recent attacks against U.S. forces stated in the Middle East, the Iraqi government argues that the strike is a breech of trust and sovereignty.

Is the U.S. airstrike a sign of a strengthened deterrence policy by the Biden Administration? Does the U.S. maintain credible deterrence in the region? What does the airstrike mean for the stability in the Middle East? How does this strike alter current U.S. policies and agreements with Iraq?

Check out the sources that helped shaped our experts discussion!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/04/us-strike-baghdad/

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-strike-kills-iran-backed-militia-leader-in-iraq-71256676

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/world/middleeast/us-drone-strike-baghdad-iraq.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/three-iran-backed-militia-fighters-killed-baghdad-drone-strike-sources-2024-01-04/

https://www.axios.com/2024/01/04/isis-iran-explosions-responsibility-kerman

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@jamil_n_jaffer

@morganlroach

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Episode 282: Turbulent Tides: The Houthi Threat in the Red Sea Jan 03, 2024

Show notes

Today, Morgan, Andy, and Bishop discuss the recent attacks against shipping vessels in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen by Houthi forces. The Red Sea plays a critical role in global trade and they discuss the implications of increasing attacks for the global economy and escalation of conflict in the Middle East. They also discuss potential U.S. responses to these attacks in light of Iran’s recent deployment of a warship to the region.

How do these attacks effect global trade? Is this an attempt at escalating conflict throughout the globe? What is Iran’s role? How does Iran’s recent deployment of a warship change the calculus for U.S. forces?

Check out the sources that helped shaped our experts discussion!

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/maersk-pauses-red-sea-sailings-after-houthi-attack-container-ship-2023-12-31/

https://jinsa.org/to-deter-houthi-strikes-in-red-sea-us-must-turn-from-defense-to-offense/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-01/iran-dispatches-warship-to-red-sea-after-us-sinks-houthi-boats

https://www.voanews.com/amp/no-sign-houthis-will-halt-red-sea-attacks-says-us/7418725.html

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@BishopGarrison

@AndyKeiser

@morganlroach

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RNDF Special Series: Trae Stephens – Understanding The Future of Tech Innovation and National Security Dec 15, 2023

Show notes

Recorded live at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Jamil and John interview Trae Stephens, Co-Founder and Chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems. Trae is also a Partner at Founders Fund, a venture capital firm that was the first institutional investor in SpaceX and Palantir Technologies, as well as an early investor in Facebook.

What is the relationship between tech innovation and American national security? How well does the Department of Defense integrate new technologies and companies into the defense industrial base? Where does America stand today in tech innovation compared to rivals such as China?

Join us after the holidays, on January 3rd, when the Fault Lines team returns to get you quickly up to speed three times a week on the national security and foreign policy debates shaking up America!

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@jamil_n_jaffer

@JohnCLipsey

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RNDF Special Series: Shannon Clark – Understanding The Future of Tech Innovation and National Security Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

Recorded live at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Les and Jess interview Shannon Clark, Senior Vice President, Federal, R+D, at Palantir Technologies, who also previously served as the Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council at the White House under President Obama and as an intelligence analyst in the Department of Defense.

How has the adoption of AI and other emerging technologies impacted the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel? What challenges does the U.S. national security enterprise have when adopting these emerging technologies and scaling them? How does the U.S.-China tech competition impact public-private sector cooperation?

Stay tuned for more of the Special Series at RNDF Understanding The Future of Tech Innovation and National Security! These are discussions you don’t want to miss!

Follow our experts on Twitter:

@notTVJessJones

@JohnCLipsey

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RNDF Special Series: Mara Rudman – Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

Recorded live at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Les and Jess interview Mara Rudman, a Member of the 2022 National Defense Commission, who also currently serves as a James Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.

Can the U.S. be a global leader handling all the world’s hotspots or should we only focus on China? How can we sell the benefits of global engagement to everyday Americans? How does the United States feed the mis/disinformation produced by global repressors?

Stay tuned for more of the Special Series at RNDF Understanding The Future of Tech Innovation and National Security! These are discussions you don’t want to miss!

Follow our experts on Twitter:

@notTVJessJones

@lestermunson

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RNDF Special Series: Secretary Leon Panetta - Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors Dec 08, 2023

Show notes

Recorded live at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Jess and Les interview Secretary Leon Panetta, who previously served as the 23rd Secretary of Defense and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Secretary Panetta is currently the Chairman of the Panetta Institute and an NSI Advisory Board member!

How has American engagement with the world changed over the last decade? Does the U.S. defense and policy-making communities have an accurate assessment of China’s power?

Should we be surprised by the increased collaboration of global repressors and what can we do about it?

Stay tuned for more of the Special Series at RNDF on Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors this week on Fault Lines! These are discussions you don’t want to miss!

Follow our experts on Twitter:

@notTVJessJones

@lestermunson

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RNDF Special Series: Ambassador Eric Edelman – Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

Recorded live at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Jess and John interview Ambassador Eric Edelman, who serves as Vice Chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy. Previously, Edelman served as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Ambassador to Turkey and Finland, and lastly, and most importantly, as Jess’ professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS.

How do policymakers and defense experts feel about the current state of geopolitics? Should the U.S. have anticipated the growing relationships between global repressors? What may 2024 have in store for the U.S. and our allies?

Stay tuned for more of the Special Series at RNDF on Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors this week on Fault Lines! These are discussions you don’t want to miss!

Follow our experts on Twitter:

@notTVJessJones

@JohnCLipsey

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RNDF Special Series: Matthew Pottinger: Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

Recorded live at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Les and John interviewed Matthew Pottinger. Pottinger is the current Chairman for the China Program at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD). Previously, Pottinger served in the White House for four years, in senior roles within the National Security Council, including serving as Deputy National Security Advisor from 2019-2021. Pottinger is credited with playing a key role in changing how the United States approaches China and raised awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to influence and interfere with U.S. institutions, including academia, the tech sector, and Wall Street.

Are global repressors, including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, really an “axis” of rogue regimes? How far does their collaboration go? Does the U.S. and its allies have the capacity to deal with these rogue regimes as well as managing the hot spots around the globe? Can, and should, the U.S. decouple from China? If so, how far can this de-coupling go?

Stay tuned for more of this Special Series at RNDF on Confronting the New Alliance of Global Repressors this week on Fault Lines! These are discussions you don’t want to miss!

Follow our experts on Twitter:

@lestermunson

@JohnCLipsey

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Episode 281: Announcing Fault Lines: RNDF Global Repressors Series Dec 01, 2023

Show notes

Today, Jamil, Jess, Les, and Morgan discuss the upcoming Reagan National Defense Forum (RNDF). This forum brings together the top U.S. defense and national security leaders from across the country to discuss and debate how the U.S. can lead the world in an era of increasingly complex challenges and opportunities. During RNDF, NSI and the Fault Lines crew will be recording live, conducting a series of interviews with bipartisan national security and technology leaders to discuss the growing collaboration between global repressor states such as China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran, as well as the critical importance of emerging technology and innovation to American national security.

Stay tuned for Fault Lines: RNDF Global Repressors Series going live next week! These are discussions you don’t want to miss!

Follow our experts on Twitter:

@notTVJessJones

@jamil_n_jaffer

@lestermunson

@morganlroach

Like what we're doing here?

Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe.

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