What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH Should I Read This Summer? Chip War by Chris Miller Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

This August, the What the Hell crew brings you a summer reading series! Our first pick is Chip War, a book the NYT hailed as a cross between Mission Impossible and the China Syndrome. Nominally, this is the story of the semiconductor industry, but it is really a forecast of modern grand strategy, great power conflict, and the security of the global economy. It is no mistake that the book’s author, Chris Miller, set out to write a book about military strategy – and then realized that military strategy today is defined by applying advanced chips to systems. Beyond just military however, advanced chips make the world as we know it work. They are in your iPhone, your dishwasher, your car… the list goes on. The clincher? Almost all of these highly technical chips are made in Taiwan – one of the most geopolitically tense areas in the world.

Chris Miller is an Associate Professor of International History at Tufts University and a Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Fellow at AEI. He is also the co-director of the Fletcher School’s Russia and Eurasia program and the director of the Eurasia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. In addition to Chip War, Miller’s books include We Shall Be Masters: Russian Pivots to Asia from Peter the Great to Putin (Harvard University Press, 2021), Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia (University of North Carolina Press, 2018), and The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy: Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of the USSR (University of North Carolina Press, 2016). Chris is an alumnus of Harvard College and holds an MA and PhD from Yale.

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WTH Do Republicans Really Think About Foreign Policy? Roger Zakheim Explains Aug 02, 2023

Show notes

With the incessant politicization of real foreign policy issues, sometimes it is helpful to go back to the numbers. And in this case, the numbers are detached from the reality that anti-Ukraine Republicans are trying to sell. In fact, a new summer survey from the Reagan Institute finds that a 76% supermajority of Americans, including 71% of Republicans, agree that it is important to the US that Ukraine wins the war. This is not the “Ukraine fatigue” story we have been told. Moreover, support for aid increases substantially when respondents are given more information – where aid to Ukraine is going, how Ukraine has performed on the field. Knowing this, why are our leaders failing to give the America First case for aid to Ukraine?

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.

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WTH is Neocolonialist Environmentalism? Todd Moss Explains Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

One of America's greatest engines of growth is fossil fuels – cheap, reliable energy that jumpstarted the industrial revolution and paved the way for the security and prosperity we enjoy today. Others will not be so lucky. Many African countries lack energy security and are reliant upon foreign aid and international organizations that impose environmentally correct conditions on assistance. Indeed, rather than affording African nations the same pathway to prosperity that Western countries used, the left has decided that ‘what is for me is no longer acceptable for thee’ and is pushing green energy on the African continent. Africans like clean energy as much as the next guy (Kenya has geothermal, Ethiopia has hydro) but others (Mozambique, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria…) are forced to rely on natural gas. But the future of Africa and engines of growth are uninteresting to climate crusaders, who embrace neocolonialist conditions for aid to Africa, all the while jetting about in private planes. Instead of forcing climate terms on critical Africa assistance programs, as John Kerry is intent upon doing, or degrading the efficacy of the Power Africa initiative, perhaps the US and Europe should focus on alleviating poverty, truthfully.

Todd Moss, formerly Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, is the Executive Director of the Energy for Growth Hub, a fellow at the Center for Global Development, and a nonresident scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute and the Colorado School of Mines. He has a substack called Eat More Electrons.

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WTH Did Biden Blow It on NATO and Ukraine? Ambassador Kurt Volker Explains Jul 19, 2023

Show notes

Last week at the NATO summit in Lithuania, the world watched as Ukraine was denied an actionable plan for membership in the alliance. It was almost a rinse and repeat from 2008, when Ukraine and Georgia pushed for membership, and were offered a similarly passive statement – save for one major exception: today, Ukraine is actively fighting for its life. In fact, Ukraine is doing NATO’s job for it: defending Europe, upholding sovereignty, and keeping Russia’s imperialist ambitions at bay. And, notwithstanding the ire of National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan – who has labeled Ukraine ungrateful -- nobody (much less Zelensky) is arguing for membership during a hot war. Ukrainians want a secure plan forward, not a vague and gauzy set of commitments that amount to “maybe.” A roadmap is not actually hard to formulate (Marc and former Deputy Secretary of State Steve Biegun wrote one for Washington Post) so what is the hold-up? Are we really going to let Putin bully 31 (soon to be 32) countries into icing out a staunch ally?

Ambassador Kurt Volker is the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, the former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine. He's now a distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and a founding partner of the American University in Kyiv.

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WTH Happened with the Russian Mutiny? Yaroslav Trofimov Unravels the Mystery Jul 12, 2023

Show notes

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private military company Wagner Group, staged a rebellion against Putin’s regime in Russia on June 24th. For a brief moment, the Wagner forces took over Rostov-on-Don, and came within 125 miles of Moscow before coming under heavy fire by the Russian military, and turning back. Putin struck a deal with Belarus president Lukashenko wherein Prigozhin was exiled to Belarus in exchange for amnesty. But who is Prigozhin? None other than Putin’s former caterer. If it sounds ludicrous, that’s because it is – and the media is still abuzz with theories as to what happened. Are there cracks in Putin’s regime? What were Prigozhin’s motives? Why the hell did Putin meet with Prigozhin a week after the purported coup attempt? Most troubling of all, US intelligence appears as perplexed as it was on day one.

Yaroslav Trofimov is the Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal. He covered the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 and has been working out of Ukraine since January 2022. He previously served as Rome, Middle East, and Singapore-based Asia correspondent, as bureau chief in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and as a Dubai-based columnist on the greater Middle East. He is the author of two books: Faith at War (2005) and Siege of Mecca (2007).

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WTH is Going On with the Supreme Court? Jonathan Turley Explains Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

The Supreme Court went out with a bang in 2023 – before heading off to recess, SCOTUS struck down affirmative action, ruled Biden’s loan forgiveness grab unconstitutional, and prioritized the First Amendment in a creative design case. Each of these cases (save for KBJ’s recusal on the affirmative action vote) was decided 6-3: the conservative majority versus the liberal bloc. Despite the ensuing media mayhem that accompanied the rulings, however, the cases are each staked squarely in the law – not political pandering. Indeed, politics aside, Biden lacked the authority under the HEROES Act to forgive billions in debt; the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause prevents quotas based on race in universities; the First Amendment prohibits forcibly asking an individual to provide services for a cause they are opposed to. Polls suggest that Americans are losing faith in the efficacy of the Courts, but likely only think so based on the political fervor that persuades us that these decisions were not made in good faith. So, we brought in a legal expert to explain just how these decisions are made.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. At GWU, he is also the Director of the Environmental Law Advocacy Center, and Executive Director for the Project for Older Prisoners. Professor Turley has served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, judges, members of Congress, and more. He publishes columns on jonathanturley.org.

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WTH is Going On with the Hunter Biden Whistleblower? Peter Schweizer Explains Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

If you thought the Trump indictment capped the pattern of White House prosecutions, well, you’d be wrong (though see the WTH joint op-ed on how to end the prosecutorial death loop). Now, Hunter Biden has been indicted on misdemeanor charges of tax evasion – news that was decried as a “sweetheart deal.” But a former IRS investigator and FBI officials who came forward to Congress present a government cover-up, from the DOJ disallowing a 2018 investigation into Hunter Biden, to limitations on actually collecting information. And of course, this story has deep roots in 2009, when Joe Biden became Vice President of the United States. At that moment, Hunter set up his “international financial business.”The facts are muddled (no thanks to US institutions charged with un-muddling them) but there remain clear questions that must be answered: from whom did the Bidens receive money, and what was it for?

Peter Schweizer is the president of the Government Accountability Institute and senior editor at Breitbart News. He is the former William J. Casey Fellow at the Hoover Institution. His most recent book is Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win.

Download the transcript here.

WTH is the Left Waging War on Things That Work? Noah Rothman Explains Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

The dictators of the nanny state are waging war on things that work. Daily appliances that make life manageable (your gas stoves, your AC, your lawn equipment) are increasingly under assault, with dubious climate/equity rationales. But the effects on climate are negligible, and the myriad electric substitutions don’t just have environmental costs of their own, many simply don’t work. So what is really going on? Instead of protecting the consumer as these bans claim to do, this new technocratic bullying is imposing a lifestyle brand – electric cars, electric stoves, heat pumps, etc. If you don’t like it… well, you *will* like it. The progressive Puritans will make sure of that.

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review, a former MSNBC commentator, and a former associate editor for Commentary Magazine. He is the author of The Rise of the New Puritans: Fighting Back Against Progressives' War on Fun.

Download the transcript here.

WTH is Going On with the Trump Indictment? John Yoo Weighs In Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

When the Founders conceived the U.S. Constitution, they were under the assumption that the head of state in America would be guided by honor – that an impeachment would virtually never be necessary, that the shame of the prospect would force the accused to step down from office. That model of leadership with integrity is absent in today’s political climate. In former president Donald Trump’s second, and more serious indictment, he has been charged with 37 counts relating to his retention of classified documents. Yes, Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden should also be prosecuted – but that does not exonerate Trump. But it is also true that we have never prosecuted Presidents before: not Clinton, not Nixon, not LBJ, not even Jefferson Davis. The DOJ is crossing a line - not a constitutional line, but a “bright line” of institutional practice, as our guest calls it, and that is enormously significant. Where did statesmanship go? Just where will this Trump indictment lead the nation?

John Yoo is a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the former head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. He is the Emmanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. He is also a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the Hoover Institution. His most recent book is Defender in Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power.

Download the transcript here.

WTH is the America First Case for Supporting Ukraine? Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

Over the past 15 months, Ukrainians have surpassed expectations in their response to the Russian invasion, showing valor and resilience. But more than a year into the fighting, many of those who advocate for aid to Ukraine still do so as a matter of idealism. Voters should know that it is also in the United States’ vital national interests. President Biden, our commander-in-chief, has a responsibility to explain to the American people what is at stake in the war in Ukraine: the consequences of failure, the consequences of success, and America’s role. In this special episode of WTH, Dany interviews Marc on his important piece for the Washington Post, where he has collected the 10 strongest arguments for why helping Ukraine will make the United States safer, more prosperous, and more secure.

Download the transcript here.

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