Security Dilemma
U.S. foreign policy for the future. Security Dilemma brings you conversations with the experts, policymakers, and thinkers charting new paths forward from the wreckage of recent decades and toward a national security and defense policy guided by prudence and restraint. Cohosts John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi bring you the information you need to shape a wiser approach. Security Dilemma is a podcast of the John Quincy Adams Society, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing a new generation of foreign policy leaders.
Episodes
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Gay conducts a full reading of George Washington's Farewell Address, which raised concerns that listeners may find resonate today about foreign influence of U.S. foreign policy, alliance entrapment, and more. The reading is followed by a discussion with co-host A.J. Manuzzi about whether Washington's insights remain valuable in the 21st century. You can follow along and r...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay spoke with Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at the federally funded nonprofit research and analysis organization CNA. Decker specializes in open-source analysis of foreign nuclear postures, as well as ballistic and cruise missile forces in the Middle East and Asia. In this episode we discussed the state of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs in t...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi spoke with John Byrnes, the Strategic Director of Concerned Veterans for America to discuss how his experiences being at Ground Zero on 9/11 and serving in America's post-9/11 wars shifted his perspective on U.S. foreign policy to a belief in realism and restraint. Mr. Byrnes joined the Marine Corps in 1991 out of high school and served four years, deployed to Somalia...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi and John Gay spoke with Jonathan Guyer of the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group. Jonathan is the Program Director of IGA's flagship Independent America program, which is focused on interrogating the conventional wisdom of US foreign policy and informing the public about America’s changing role in the world. He was previously a senior foreign policy writer at Vox a...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Ted Jones, the Senior Director for National Security and International Programs at the Nuclear Energy Institute. An expert on international energy markets and nuclear trade policy, he leads initiatives related to nuclear energy exports. In addition to his work on nuclear trade policy and promotion, Mr. Jones serves as liaison to stakeholders ...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Madison Schramm about why liberal democracies often initiate wars against dictatorships.Dr. Schramm is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto and a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Stimson Center’s Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program. Her research focuses on international security, the...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Gay conducts a full reading of John Quincy Adams' July 4, 1821 "Monsters to Destroy" speech (which warned the United States against overreach abroad in the name of liberty), followed by a discussion with co-host A.J. Manuzzi about the enduring relevance of Adams' words for U.S. statecraft. You can read the full speech for yourself here.
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Dan Caldwell and Jennifer Kavanagh about their recent Defense Priorities explainer on U.S. defense posture under a grand strategy of restraint.
Dan Caldwell is a former senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense and worked on the Trump 2024 transition team. He is a veteran of the Marines and a former Capitol Hill staffer. Jennifer is a senior...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi and Michelle Newby spoke with Dr. Lindsey O'Rourke, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Boston College and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. She’s the author of Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold War, which catalogues and analyses Cold War-era U.S. regime change efforts.
We discussed why American regime change...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, A.J. Manuzzi and new guest co-host Michelle Newby, Programs Director at Defense Priorities and a 2024 JQAS Strategic Leaders Fellow, spoke with Kyuri Park. Dr. Park is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Security and Foreign Policy Initiative at the Global Research Institute and a faculty affiliate of the Public Policy Program at the College of William & Mary. She studies international...
On this off-cycle episode of Security Dilemma, John Gay sat down with A.J. Manuzzi to discuss Iran's 6/20 missile attacks on Israel, why deeper U.S. involvement could lead to mission creep and shifting goals, and congressional efforts to block unauthorized U.S. entry into the war.
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Sarah Streyder, the Executive Director of the Secure Families Initiative, a national organization that mobilizes military families to advocate for a less militarized foreign policy. Sarah is the spouse of an active-duty service member in the Space Force and was nationally recognized for her leadership. Before founding SFI, Streyder worked at ...
On this impromptu episode of Security Dilemma, the Society's Executive Director John Gay sat down with SD cohost A.J. Manuzzi to discuss Israel's June 12 strikes on Iranian nuclear and regime targets, and several potential decisions the Iranians could make to retaliate, as well as what it all means for U.S. policy.
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Khurram Dastgir Khan. Mr. Khan is a former member of Pakistan's cabinet, having led the ministries of Energy, Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Commerce since 2014. He served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between 2008 and 2023.
Our conversation covered the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, as well as Pakistan&...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Michael Brenes. Dr. Brenes is Co-Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and Lecturer in History at Yale University. His research interests include United States foreign policy, political history, and political economy.
He is the author of For Might and Right: Cold War Defense Spending and the Remaking of American Democracy, p...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Candace Rondeaux, the author of Putin’s Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia’s Collapse into Mercenary Chaos. She serves as the Senior Director for the Future Frontlines and Planetary Politics programs at New America, and is a professor of practice at Arizona State University. Previously, she advised the Special Inspector General for Afghani...
This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Daniel McCarthy, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Age. Mr. McCarthy is a leading light in the conservative movement for a more restrained U.S. foreign policy. He is a regular contributor to The Spectator, and the former editor of The American Conservative, the magazine founded by conservatives opposed to the war in Iraq. He also worked on the Ron Paul 2008 president...
This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi spoke with Curt Mills, the Executive Director of The American Conservative, where he previously served as senior reporter and contributing editor. He specializes in foreign policy and campaign coverage. Our conversation touched on some of the Trump Administration's seminal initiatives, including diplomacy with Russia and Iran, the potential annexation of Greenland, ...
This week on Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and Michael Culp spoke with John Vick, the Executive Director of Concerned Veterans for America. John Vick enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003, and deployed to al-Anbar, Iraq in 2005. He has also served in the Navy, mobilizing twice in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, and he continues to serve in the Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer supporting U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM...
On this week's episode of Security Dilemma, John Allen Gay and A.J. Manuzzi interviewed Sabreena Croteau. Sabreena is a Research Fellow at Defense Priorities and recently defended her dissertation to earn her doctorate in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Her dissertation, titled “Security the Seas: The Political Economy of Naval Force Structure,” uses an economic approach to examine the variance in the developm...
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