bloggingheads

My latest bloggingheads diavlog is with the New America Foundation's Flynt Leverett, who co-authored an op-ed last week that didn't sit too well with me.  We discuss the Leveretts' proposal for a grand bargain with Iran and all of its implications. 

I come away from the diavlog even more skeptical of the Leverett proposal -- the more I listened, the more I thought that:

1. Today's Iran would not go for it;
2. The collateral damage inflicted on our allies would be nontrivial;
3. There is no domestic political support for such an initiative; and,
4. From a realpolitik perspective, it's not demonstrably better than the alternatives.  

Opinions will vary, however -- give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments. 

No, that's not the name of my new band -- though, man, that would be a geekily awesome name for a band -- but a cue for my latest bloggingheads diavlog with NSN's Heather Hurlburt.  Topics include Iran, the G-20 summit, and multilateralism more generally:

One follow-up note -- I've been amused to read the reactions to the G-20 summit, which range from (justifiably) mocking the communique to complaining that the summit failed to develop a cure for cancer to worries about a new oppressive global governance mechanism.

I believe that I might be the only blogger who thinks that the G-20 solved the Goldilocks problem of not being meaningless without being so binding that there's no wiggle room.  The peer review mechanism is the best enforcement arrangement that's possible given the heterogeneous cluster of countries involved, and I give the Obama administration full marks for setting its agenda on macroeconomic imbalances. 

That is all

My latest bloggingheads diavlog with with Reihan Salam of the New America Foundation.  As it's the anniversary of Lehman going under, we talk about the political economy of the financial crisis, Ben Bernanke, the future of trade, and the future more generally:

Go check it out. 

My latest bloggingheads diavlog is with David Frum.  We discuss the situations in Iran and North Korea, and whether John Bolton is the Glenn Beck of U.S. foreign policy. 

My latest bloggingheads -- with NSN's Heather Hulburt -- is now online.  We chat about Obama's recent trip, carbon tariffs, and the future of the Doha round. 

One of the bloggingheads commenters labels our pairing "Drezburt," and I can live with that.  Enjoy! 

These are a few of my favorite things to talk about with Henry Farrell on bloggingheads.  Check it out at the bloggingheads site, or watch it here: 

For more on apologies in international relations, do check out Jennifer Lind's excellent new book Sorry States:  Apologies in International Relations.  Or check out an excerpt of it in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs. 

My latest bloggingheads diavlog is now online, with NewMajority's David Frum.  Topics discussed include David's takedown of Rush Limbaugh, the future of the GOP, why Glenn Beck is one crazy motherf***er, and whether past political history is any guide for thinking about the future.

Go check it out. 

My latest bloggingheads with Matthew Yglesias is up.  Topics discussed include Obama's first month, why less earmarks means more grandiose slabs of pork, and how to do an end-run around Hugo Chavez. 

Go check it out.