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National Security
Critical Theory May 12, 2022

The Politics of Immunity

Security and the Policing of Bodies

Mark Neocleous

Hosted by Catriona Gold
Our contemporary political condition is obsessed with immunity. The immunity of bodies and the body politic; personal immunity and herd immunity; how to immunize the social system against breakdown. The …

National Security

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Interviews with scholars of national security about their new books.

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast May 2, 2022

Breached!

Why Data Security Law Fails and How to Improve It

Daniel J. Solove and Woodrow Hartzog

Hosted by Mark Klobas
Digital connections permeate our lives-and so do data breaches. Given that we must be online for basic communication, finance, healthcare, and more, it is alarming how difficult it is to …
National Security April 29, 2022

Chinese Communist Espionage

An Intelligence Primer

Peter Mattis and Matthew Brazil

Hosted by John Sakellariadis
In Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer (Naval Institute Press, 2019), authors Mathew Brazil and Peter Mattis present an unprecedented look into the murky world of Chinese espionage. An introduction-cum-reference …
Law April 27, 2022

The Practice and Problems of Transnational Counter-terrorism

Fiona De Londras

Hosted by Jane Richards
The attacks of 9/11 changed the course of the global counter-terrorism order which has entrenched a system of global governance. This institutional creep is arguably eroding national borders, spheres of domestic …
Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel April 27, 2022

Ramadan Violence

A Conversation with Ambassador Dore Gold

Dore Gold

Hosted by Renee Garfinkel
A hilltop at the heart of Jerusalem, Israel, is known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. It has been the site …
Catholic Studies April 22, 2022

Errand Into the Wilderness of Mirrors

Religion and the History of the CIA

Michael Graziano

Hosted by Allison Isidore
Michael Graziano’s intriguing book fuses two landmark titles in American history: Perry Miller’s Errand into the Wilderness (1956), about the religious worldview of the early Massachusetts colonists, and David Martin’s …
General History April 20, 2022

The Insurgent's Dilemma

A Struggle to Prevail

David H. Ucko

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
Despite attracting headlines and hype, insurgents rarely win. Even when they claim territory and threaten governmental writ, they typically face a military backlash too powerful to withstand. States struggle with …
Economics April 7, 2022

Indefensible

Seven Myths that Sustain the Global Arms Trade

Nic Marsh et al.

Hosted by Sidney Michelini
Although there is often opposition to individual wars, most people continue to believe that the arms industry is necessary in some form: to safeguard our security, provide jobs and stimulate …
Political Science April 4, 2022

Crippling Leviathan

How Foreign Subversion Weakens the State

Melissa M. Lee

Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty
Policymakers worry that "ungoverned spaces" pose dangers to security and development. Why do such spaces exist beyond the authority of the state? Earlier scholarship—which addressed this question with a list …
Nordic Asia Podcast March 28, 2022

The Security Dilemma in the Korean Peninsula

Foreign Policy of Yoon Seok-youl, the Incoming President of South Korea

Sungmin Cho

Hosted by Myunghee Lee
South Korean presidential election ended and the conservative party candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol won the election. How will he balance the relationships between Korea and the US and China? The current …
General History March 23, 2022

Gangsters of Capitalism

Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire

Jonathan M. Katz

Hosted by Nathan Hopson
Jonathan Katz’s Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) tells the story of the birth and maturation of …
Public Policy March 22, 2022

American Exceptionalism

A New History of an Old Idea

Ian Tyrrell

Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Today I talked to Ian Tyrell about his book American Exceptionalism: A New History of an Old Idea (U Chicago Press, 2021).The idea that the United States is unlike every other …
The Future of . . . with Owen Bennett-Jones March 22, 2022

The Future of Disorder

A Discussion with Helen Thompson

Helen Thompson

Hosted by Owen Bennett-Jones
In her book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century (Oxford UP, 2022), Cambridge academic Helen Thompson gets beyond the ephemeral and analyses instead the role of more fundamental drivers …
Political Science March 21, 2022

The Building and Breaking of Peace

Corporate Activities in Civil War Prevention and Resolution

Molly M. Melin

Hosted by Lamis Abdelaaty
Private corporations are rarely discussed as playing a role in efforts to curb civil violence, even though they often have strong interests in maintaining stability. Violence often damages the infrastructure …
Asian Review of Books March 17, 2022

Afghan Napoleon

The Life of Ahmad Shah Massoud

Sandy Gall

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon
On September 9th, 2001, Ahmed Shah Massoud—called one of the greatest guerilla leaders in history, alongside names like Che Guevara and Ho Chi Minh, was assassinated by two Al-Qaeda suicide …
General History March 15, 2022

Partition and Peace in Civil Wars

Dividing Lands and Peoples to End Ethnic Conflict

Carter R. Johnson

Hosted by Miranda Melcher
In Partition and Peace in Civil Wars: Dividing Lands and Peoples to End Ethnic Conflict (Routledge, 2021), Dr. Carter Johnson examines whether partition is an effective means to resolve ethnic …
Central Asian Studies March 14, 2022

Atomic Steppe

How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb

Togzhan Kassenova

Hosted by Luca Anceschi
This month we are delighted to host Togzhan Kassenova on our NBN Central Asian Studies podcast. Dr Kassenova is the author of the beautifully researched yet very readable Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the …
Political Science March 7, 2022

How to Prevent Coups D'État

Counterbalancing and Regime Survival

Erica de De Bruin

Hosted by Susan Liebell
Today I talked to Erica De Bruin about her book How to Prevent Coups d’état: Counterbalancing and Regime Survival (Cornell University Press, 2020). Rulers structure institutions so as to protect their survival …
Military History February 23, 2022

Nazis on the Potomac

The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation that Helped Win World War II

Robert K. Sutton

Hosted by Boris Karpa
Robert K. Sutton's Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation that Helped Win World War II (Casemate, 2022) is the first full account of the crucial work done at Fort …
Economic and Business History February 16, 2022

The Economic Weapon

The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War

Nicholas Mulder

Hosted by Mathias Fuelling
Economic sanctions dominate the landscape of world politics today. First developed in the early twentieth century as a way of exploiting the flows of globalization to defend liberal internationalism, their …