Logo
    Search

    IS: Off the Page

    IS: Off the Page brings policymakers, academics, and practitioners into conversation about security issues of global importance. In each episode, we will discuss a recent piece of research published in International Security, and more importantly, go beyond each article’s findings to engage in contemporary, real-world policy.
    enBelfer Center for Science and International Affairs17 Episodes

    Episodes (17)

    17-The Little-Known History of Radiological Weapons

    17-The Little-Known History of Radiological Weapons

    Guests:

    Sarah Bidgood is Director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

    Usha Sahay is Senior Editor at POLITICO Magazine, where she focuses on foreign affairs and global issues. She is also the host of “A Most Terrible Weapon,” a podcast produced by War on the Rocks about the dawn of the nuclear age. Previously, she was Managing Editor of War on the Rocks.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Samuel Meyer, Sarah Bidgood, and William C. Potter, “Death Dust: The Little-Known Story of U.S. and Soviet Pursuit of Radiological Weapons,” International Security, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Fall 2020), pp. 51– 94.

    Related Readings:

    Originally released on June 22, 2021.

    16-Concealing and Revealing Clandestine Military Capabilities

    16-Concealing and Revealing Clandestine Military Capabilities

    Guests:

    Austin Long is Vice Deputy Director for Strategic Stability in the Joint Staff J5 at the U.S. Department of Defense.

    Ernest J. Herold is Executive Director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies—Americas and a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army. He was previously the Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment at NATO and Business Development Executive for NATO, U.S. European Command, and U.S. Africa Command at IBM.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Brendan Rittenhouse Greene and Austin Long, “Conceal or Reveal? Managing Clandestine Military Capabilities in Peacetime Competition,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Winter 2019/20), pp. 48–83.

    Related Readings:

     

    Originally released on June 22, 2021.

    15-Technology, Diplomacy, and the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

    15-Technology, Diplomacy, and the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

    Guests:

    Christopher Lawrence is Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and International Affairs at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

    Ankit Panda is the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also editor-at-large at the Diplomat and a contributing editor at War on the Rocks.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Christopher Lawrence, “Normalization by Other Means—Technological Infrastructure and Political Commitment in the North Korean Nuclear Crisis,” International Security, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Summer 2020), pp. 9–50.

    Related Readings:

    Originally released on May 6, 2021.

    14-Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Cheater’s Dilemma

    14-Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Cheater’s Dilemma

    Guests:

    Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo, where she also directs the Oslo Nuclear Project and the Peace and Conflict Studies Master’s Program.

    Kori Schake is Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Dr. Schake has previously worked at the U.S. State Department, U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, “Cheater's Dilemma: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Path to War,” International Security, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Summer 2020), pp. 51–89.

    Related Readings:

    Originally released on March 16, 2021.

    13-What Allies Want: A Look at East Asia

    13-What Allies Want: A Look at East Asia

    Guests:

    Iain D. Henry is a Lecturer in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. 

    Abraham M. Denmark is the Director of the Asia Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Denmark previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia from 2015 to 2017.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Iain D. Henry, “What Allies Want: Reconsidering Loyalty, Reliability, and Alliance Interdependence,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Spring 2020), pp. 45–83.

    Related Readings:

    Originally released on December 10, 2020.

    12-Liberal Values, Material Interests, and the Inconsistencies of U.S. Democracy Promotion

    12-Liberal Values, Material Interests, and the Inconsistencies of U.S. Democracy Promotion

    Guests:

    Arman Grigoryan is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Relations at Lehigh University.

    Sarah Sewall is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center and Executive Vice President for Policy at In-Q-Tel. She previously served as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights from 2014 to 2017.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Arman Grigoryan, “Selective Wilsonianism: Material Interests and the West’s Support for Democracy,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Spring 2020), pp. 150–200.

    Related Readings:

    Sabrina Tavernise, “Protesters and Police Clash as Armenia Unrest Grows,” New York Times, March 2, 2008.

    “How To Be Good Neighbours,” The Economist, March 1, 2014.

    John J. Mearsheimer, “Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault: The Liberal Delusions That Provoked Putin,” Foreign Affairs, September/October 2014. 

    Aaron David Miller, “Values vs. Interests: How Should America Deal with Bad Guys?,” The National Interest, May 2, 2017.

    “Trump’s Strange Silence on Belarus,” Washington Post, August 21, 2020.

    11-Rethinking the Norms and Practices of U.S. Civil-Military Relations

    11-Rethinking the Norms and Practices of U.S. Civil-Military Relations

    Guests:

    Risa Brooks is the Allis Chalmers Associate Professor of Political Science at Marquette University and a non-resident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    Joseph L. Votel is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Army and previously served as Commander of U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. Votel is currently a non-resident Senior Fellow here at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and he is also the President and CEO of Business Executives for National Security.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Risa Brooks, “Paradoxes of Professionalism: Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in the United States,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Spring 2020), pp. 7–44.

    Related Readings:

    Celeste Ward Gventer, Jessica D. Blankshain, Raphael S. Cohen, Lindsay P. Cohn, Paul Eaton, Lauren Fish, “Policy Roundtable: Civil-Military Relations Now and Tomorrow,” Texas National Security Review, March 27, 2018.

    Risa Brooks, “What Can Military and Civilian Leaders Do to Prevent the Military’s Politicization,” War on the Rocks, April 27, 2020.

    Joseph Votel, “An Apolitical Military Is Essential to Maintaining Balance among American Institutions,” Military Times, June 8, 2020.

    Jim Golby, “America’s Politicized Military Is a Recipe for Disaster,” Foreign Policy, June 18, 2020.

    Alice Hunt Friend, “A Military Litmus Test? Evaluating the Argument that Civilian Defense Leaders Need Military Experience,” Just Security, August 19, 2020.

    10-Great Power Politics in the Middle East and Arab-Israeli Conflict—Détente to 2020

    10-Great Power Politics in the Middle East and Arab-Israeli Conflict—Détente to 2020

    Guests:

    Galen Jackson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Williams College.

    Aaron David Miller is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Between 1978 and 2003, Miller served at the State Department as an historian, analyst, negotiator, and advisor to Republican and Democratic secretaries of state, where he helped formulate U.S. policy on the Middle East and the Arab-Israel peace process.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Galen Jackson, “Who Killed Détente? The Superpowers and the Cold War in the Middle East, 1969–1977,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Winter 2019/20), pp. 129–162.

    Additional Related Readings:

    09-U.S. Electoral Constraints, Military Strategy, and the Iraq War

    09-U.S. Electoral Constraints, Military Strategy, and the Iraq War

    Guests

    Andrew Payne is the Hedley Bull Research Fellow in International Relations at the University of Oxford.

    Emma Sky is the director of the Yale World Fellows Program and a Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Sky served as the Governate Coordinator of Kirkuk for the Coalition Provisional Authority from 2003 to 2004, as well as an advisor to the Commanding General of U.S. forces in Iraq from 2007 to 2010.

    International Security Article

    This podcast is based on Andrew Payne, “Presidents, Politics, and Military Strategy: Electoral Constraints during the Iraq War,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Winter 2019/2020), pp. 163–203.

    Additional Related Readings:

    David D. Kirkpatrick and Adam Nagourney, “In an Election Year, a Shift in Public Opinion on the War,” New York Times, March 27, 2006.

    Peyton M. Craighill, “Public Opinion Is Settled as Iraq War Concludes,” Washington Post, November 6, 2011.

    Emma Sky, “The Death of the U.S.-Iraqi Relationship,” Foreign Affairs, January 3, 2020.

    Lauren Gambino, “Iran Crisis Pushes Foreign Policy to the Fore in Democratic Primary,” Guardian, January 9, 2020.

    Andrew Payne, “Trump Just De-escalated in the Middle East. Here’s Why We Shouldn’t Be Surprised,” Washington Post, January 11, 2020.

    Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Julian E. Barnes, “Trump Wants Troops in Afghanistan Home by Election Day. The Pentagon Is Drawing Up Plans,” New York Times, May 26, 2020.

    08-Chinese Views on Nuclear Escalation

    08-Chinese Views on Nuclear Escalation

    Guests:

    Fiona Cunningham is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University.

    Admiral Cecil Haney (ret.) previously served as the Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, as well as Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Admiral Haney is currently on the Center for a New American Security Board of Directors.

    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Fiona S. Cunningham and M. Taylor Fravel, “Dangerous Confidence? Chinese Views on Nuclear Escalation,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Fall 2019), pp. 61-109.

    Additional Related Readings:

    Caitlin Talmadge, The US-China Nuclear Relationship: Why Competition Is Likely to Intensify (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2019).

    “Warheads Up: China’s Nuclear Arsenal Was Strikingly Modest, But That Is Changing,” Economist, November 21, 2019.

    Eric Heginbotham et al., China’s Evolving Nuclear Deterrent: Main Drivers and Issues for the United States (Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, 2017).

    M. Taylor Fravel, "China's 'World-Class Military' Ambitions: Origins and Implications," Washington Quarterly, Vol. 43, Issue 1 (2020), pp. 85-99.

    07-The Post-Conflict Politics of Migration and Refugee Return

    07-The Post-Conflict Politics of Migration and Refugee Return

    Guests:

    Stephanie Schwartz is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California.

    Anne C. Richard served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration in the Obama Administration (2012-2017). She is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Walsh School of Foreign Service’s Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University.


    International Security Article:

    This podcast is based on Stephanie Schwartz, “Home, Again: Refugee Return and Post-Conflict Violence in Burundi,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Fall 2019), pp. 110-145.
     

    Additional Related Reading:

    Stephanie Schwartz, “Sending Refugees Back Makes the World More Dangerous,” Foreign Policy, November 27, 2019.

    Anne C. Richard, “US Diplomacy on Refugees and Migrants: Inside Recent History,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 20 (Fall 2019), pp. 42-50.

    Megan Bradley, “Rethinking Return: Defining Success in Refugee Repatriation,” World Politics Review, December 3, 2013.

    Kevin Sieff, “‘What Other Choice Do I have?’: How Debt-Ridden Refugees Are Being Forced to Return to a War Zone,” Washington Post, December 15, 2017.

    Kathleen Newland and Brian Salant, “Increased Focus on Forced Return of Migrants and Asylum Seekers Puts Many in Peril,” Migration Policy Institute, December 12, 2017.

    “Tanzania: Burundians Pressured into Leaving,” Human Rights Watch, December 12, 2019.

    Louisa Loveluck, “Assad Urged Syrian Refugees to Come Home. Many Are Being Welcomed with Arrest and Interrogation,” Washington Post, June 2, 2019.

    06-Deterring Wartime Atrocities and the Yugoslav Tribunal

    06-Deterring Wartime Atrocities and the Yugoslav Tribunal

    Guests:

    Jacqueline R. McAllister is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kenyon College.

    Wesley K. Clark is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Army and was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO during the Kosovo War. He is currently a Senior Fellow at UCLA’s Burkle Center.

    International Security Article:

    This episode is based on Jacqueline R. McAllister, “Deterring Wartime Atrocities: Hard Lessons from the Yugoslav Tribunal,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Winter 2019/20), pp. 84-128.
     

    Additional Related Readings:

    Wesley K. Clark, “John Bolton is dead wrong. The U.S. has every reason to cooperate with the International Criminal Court,” Washington Post, September 21, 2018.

    Dan Sabbagh, “‘Still Needed’: NATO Marks 20 Years in Kosovo,” Guardian, June 12, 2019.

    Jacqueline R. McAllister, “Bending the Arc: How to Achieve Justice at the International Criminal Court,” Foreign Affairs, August 3, 2015.

    Eric Stover, Victor Peskin, and Alexa Koenig, “Radovan Karadzic and the (Very) Long Arc of Justice,” Foreign Policy, March 24, 2016.

    Marlise Simmons, “Yugoslavia Tribunal Leave Rich Legacy, but ‘Immense’ Challenges Remain,” New York Times, December 23, 2017.

    Jacqueline R. McAllister, “The Extraordinary Gamble: How The Yugoslav Tribunal’s Indictment Of Slobodan Milosevic During The Kosovo War Affected Peace Efforts,” Brown Journal of World Affairs, Fall/Winter 2019, 26(1): 201-213.

    Hayley Evans and Paras Shah, “ICC Appeals Chamber Authorizes Investigation Into Crimes in Afghanistan,” Lawfare, March 13, 2020.

    05-Domestic Politics, Nuclear Choices, and the Iran Deal

    05-Domestic Politics, Nuclear Choices, and the Iran Deal

    Guests:

    Elizabeth Saunders is an Associate Professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a faculty member in the Security Studies Program. She is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution.

    Suzanne Maloney  is the Interim Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where she focuses on the politics of Iran and the Persian Gulf.

    International Security Article:

    This episode is based on Elizabeth N. Saunders, “The Domestic Politics of Nuclear Choices — A Review Essay,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Fall 2019), pp. 146–184.

    Additional Related Readings:

    Originally released on February 13, 2020

    04-How to Enlarge NATO

    04-How to Enlarge NATO

    Guests:

    Mary Elise Sarotte is the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

    Douglas Lute is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. Ambassador Lute is also the former U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO from 2013 to 2017, as well as a career Army officer who retired from active duty in 2010 as a lieutenant general after 35 years of service.

    International Security Article:

    This episode is based on M.E. Sarotte, “How to Enlarge NATO: The Debate inside the Clinton Administration, 1993-95,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 7–41.

    Additional Related Readings:

    Originally released on January 15, 2020

    03-Debating ‘The End of War’

    03-Debating ‘The End of War’

    Guests:

    Michael Mousseau is a professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida.

    Graham Allison is the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University, and former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School.

    International Security Article:

    This episode is based on Michael Mousseau, “The End of War: How a Robust Marketplace and Liberal Hegemony Are Leading to Perpetual World Peace,” International Security, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 160–196.

    Additional Related Readings:

    Originally aired on December 20, 2019

    02-Chinese Coercion in the South China Sea

    02-Chinese Coercion in the South China Sea

    Guests:

    Ketian Zhang is an Assistant Professor of International Security in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

    Scott Swift is a retired admiral with nearly 40 years of experience in the U.S. Navy. Swift is a former commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet and was previously a Robert E Wilhelm Fellow at MIT’s Center for International Security.

    Susan Thornton is a retired senior U.S. diplomat with almost 30 years of experience with the U.S. State Department in Eurasia and East Asia. Until July 2018, Thornton was Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State. She is currently a Senior Fellow and Research Scholar at the Yale University Paul Tsai China Center and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution.  

    International Security Article:

    This episode is based on, Ketian Zhang, “Cautious Bully: Reputation, Resolve, and Beijing’s Use of Coercion in the South China Sea,”Vol. 44, No. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 117-159.

    Additional Related Readings:

    Originally aired on November 14, 2019

    01-Weaponized Interdependence

    01-Weaponized Interdependence

    Guests:

    Abraham Newman is a professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University. He currently serves as the Director of the Mortara Center for International Studies.

    Elizabeth Rosenberg is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

    International Security Article:

    This episode is based on, Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman, “Weaponized Interdependence: How Global Economic Networks Shape State Coercion,” Vol. 44, No. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 42-79.