{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/7b509020-ee9f-448f-aac1-21b3ceba0e90?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Trump vs Iran: Is it for Real?","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6195701f2eacc3a36070252a/619570bccb3c660012e3d079.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>David and Helen talk to Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor at the Economist, about the fallout from the killing of Soleimani and the future of American power.&nbsp;Is Trump a madman or is he a realist (or is he neither)?&nbsp;What sort of threat does Iran pose to American interests in the region and the wider world?&nbsp;And what has all this got to do with oil and climate change?&nbsp;Plus, in the week Trump's impeachment trial gets underway, we ask who or what can limit the power of the presidency.</p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The narrative on the killing of Soleimani has changed: was this a victory for the United States?</p><ul><li>The shooting down of the Ukranian plane has put the Iranian leadership on the back foot and constrained their ability to weaponise the outrage against the United States.</li><li>But when the dust settles, it might not play to America’s advantage.</li><li>The Quds Force will carry on.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>There is a tension between the need to reassert American power in the region and the problem of Iraq.</p><ul><li>The Americans may be more disliked in Iraq now than the Iranians.</li><li>The Americans are playing with a handicap; the Iraqi political class shields Iran, but not the U.S.</li><li>Iran will always be in the region; America won’t be there forever.&nbsp;</li><li>If the U.S. does withdraw, the Chinese and the Russians will get more involved.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Trump wants to get out, but the collapse of the Iran Deal is pulling him back in.</p><ul><li>This is not unfamiliar: Obama wanted to pivot to Asia and get out of the Middle East, but he couldn’t do it.</li><li>Americans have been obsessed with the Persian Gulf for decades.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Executive power vs. American power: which one dominates?</p><ul><li>Executive power enables this kind of American power.&nbsp;</li><li>Bush, Clinton, and Obama have all increased executive power.</li><li>A key difference is that in the Trump administration there are fewer checks on the use of this power within the executive branch.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.newstatesman.com/world/middle-east/2020/01/trump-just-another-american-president-dealing-old-geopolitical-nightmare\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Helen’s piece in <em>The New Statesman</em>.&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/20/william-barr-trumps-sword-and-shield\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The William Barr profile in <em>The New Yorker</em></a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Atlantic on Obama</em></a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-in-his-own-words-english\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Macron interview with <em>The Economist</em></a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/11/14/aircraft-carriers-are-big-expensive-vulnerable-and-popular\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Economist</em> briefing on aircraft carriers</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The 2017 National Security Strategy&nbsp;</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: </strong><a href=\"http://lrb.co.uk/talking\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>lrb.co.uk/talking</strong></a></p>","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}