Alexander Wendt, political scientist at Ohio State University, discusses his forthcoming book The Last Humans: UFOs &amp; National Security, on the political and national security consequences of discovering that Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) are piloted by intelligent extra-terrestrial life. He argues that the ontological shock from this discovery risks triggering a civilizational “auto-immune reaction” of widespread disorder that could undermine the international state system and suggests possible policies and pathways to responsibly prepare for this scenario. Show Notes Alexander Wendt, The Last Humans: UFOs and National Security (forthcoming from Oxford University Press) Alexander Wendt, Raymond Duvall, “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0090591708317902" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sovereignty and the UFO</a>,” Political Theory, 36(4), 607-633.

UFOs, Aliens, & National Security

The Stimson Center’s Christopher Preble and Geoff Wilson argue that nuclear weapons modernization programs are wasteful boondoggles that undermine deterrence and stability while serving as a give-away to parochial interests. They discuss a “deterrence first” posture on nuclear weapons, perverse incentives in the bureaucracy, profligate waste and inefficiency, the risks of nuclear escalation, the consequences of eroding nuclear deterrence, and threat inflation on China, among other issues.&nbsp; Show Notes<ul><li>Geoff Wilson, Christopher Preble, Lucas Ruiz, “<a href="https://www.stimson.org/2025/gambling-on-armageddon-nuclear-deterrence-threshold-for-nuclear-war/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gambling on Armageddon: How US Nuclear Policies are Undercutting Deterrence and Lowering the Threshold for Nuclear War</a>,” Stimson Center Report, February 19, 2025.</li></ul>

Why America Needs to Change Its Nuclear Weapons Posture

T.V. Paul, professor of international relations at McGill University, talks about his recent book Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi. Paul discusses India’s international status, the push for permanent membership on the UN Security Council, India’s military capabilities and “reactive grand strategy,” India’s complex relations with Russia and China, how some of India’s domestic problems hamper its international ambitions, and strategic management of the U.S.-Indian relationship, among other topics.&nbsp; Show Notes<ul><li>T.V. Paul, Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi, (Oxford University Press, 2024).&nbsp;</li></ul>

India’s Quest for Major Power Status

Barry Posen, professor of political science at MIT, argues that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 qualifies as a preventive war and was motivated in part to thwart U.S.-led efforts to expand NATO in Europe. He responds to detractors from this view and also discusses the partial political responsibility of U.S. leaders, the difference between explaining the war and justifying it, the lack of strategic empathy in U.S. foreign policy, how best to negotiate the end of the war, and whether the U.S. is making a similar mistake in incentivizing preventive war logic in Beijing with respect to Taiwan. Show Notes<ul><li>Barry R. Posen, “<a href="https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article/49/3/7/128033/Putin-s-Preventive-War-The-2022-Invasion-of" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Putin's Preventive War: The 2022 Invasion of Ukraine</a>,” International Security 2025; 49 (3): 7–49.</li></ul>

Strategic Empathy & the Roots of the Ukraine War

Jennifer Lind, Associate Professor at Dartmouth College, argues that China’s rise now means the world is back to a bipolar balance of power. She provides insight into how U.S. foreign policy should manage this new reality and discusses why polarity is important, how to measure the balance of power, how stable unipolar, bipolar, and multipolar systems are, the major points of conflict between the US and China, and what to do about Taiwan, among other topics.&nbsp; Show Notes<ul><li>Jennifer Lind, “<a href="https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article/49/2/7/125214/Back-to-Bipolarity-How-China-s-Rise-Transformed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Back to Bipolarity: How China's Rise Transformed the Balance of Power</a>,” International Security 2024; 49 (2): 7–55.</li></ul>

The Return of Bipolarity

Miranda Priebe, senior political scientist at RAND, discusses US strategy towards Europe and Asia and how to manage relations with Russia and China. She talks about changes to US posture towards Europe and Russia following the Ukraine war, NATO strategy, how to manage the Russia-China relationship, and potential changes to US posture in Asia, particularly towards Taiwan. She also touches upon the ‘isolationist’ label, the complicated politics of restraint, and how to put diplomacy at the forefront of US foreign policy, among other topics.&nbsp; Show Notes <ul><li>Miranda Priebe, Jasen Castillo, “<a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-foreign-policy-isolationist-realist-rcna183877" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Here’s why Trump’s foreign policy is hard to pin down</a>,” MSNBC.com, December 28, 2024.</li><li>Miranda Priebe, John Schuessler, Bryan Rooney, Jasen Castillo; “<a href="https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article/49/2/135/125212/Competing-Visions-of-Restraint" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Competing Visions of Restraint</a>.” International Security 2024; 49 (2): 135–169.</li><li>Miranda Priebe and Sam Charap, :”<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0163660X.2024.2398319" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Will Putin Stop at Ukraine? That’s the Wrong Question</a>.” The Washington Quarterly, 47(3), 143–159.</li><li>Miranda Priebe, et al. “<a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA739-7.html#citation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Like-Minded Allies? Indo-Pacific Partners' Views on Possible Changes in the U.S. Relationship with Taiwan</a>.” Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2023.</li><li>Miranda Priebe and Sam Charan, “<a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2510-2.html#citation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Planning for the Aftermath: Assessing Options for U.S. Strategy Toward Russia After the Ukraine War</a>.” Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024.</li></ul>

Reconsidering US Strategy in Europe & Asia

Oona Hathaway, professor of international law at Yale University, addresses President Trump’s plans to expand US territory into Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada. She discusses international law, the causes of the decline in interstate war, the difference between norms and laws, the problem of enforcement, tensions between norms against conquest and the need for a negotiated peace in the Russia-Ukraine war, among other topics.&nbsp; Show Notes<ul><li>Oona A. Hathaway, Scott J. Shapiro, The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World, Simon &amp; Schuster, 2017.</li></ul>

Trump, Conquest, & the Laws of War

Sam Bresnick, Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, discusses artificial intelligence in the context of the US-China relationship. He explains how AI will be used by states in coming years and compares different obstacles and advantages that both the US and China have in their competition to develop AI and its various applications. Among other topics, he also discusses diplomatic pathways for the US and China to avoid dangerous AI scenarios.&nbsp; Show Notes Sam Bresnick, “<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/obstacles-china-ai-military-power" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Obstacles to China’s AI Power,</a>” Foreign Affairs, December 31, 2024 Sam Bresnick, et al., “<a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/which-ties-will-bind/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Which Ties Will Bind?</a>” CSET Issue Brief, February 2024

The AI Competition with China

Julia Gledhill, Research Associate for the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center, discusses the “permanent war economy” and ongoing efforts to increase military spending. She also talks about perverse incentives for defense contractors, the myth that military spending is properly construed as a jobs program, and the lack of strategic thinking in policy debates on how to confront China, among other issues.&nbsp; Show Notes<ul><li>Julia Gledhill, “<a href="https://www.stimson.org/2024/the-ugly-truth-about-the-permanent-war-economy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Truth about the Permanent War Economy,</a>” Stimson Center Issue Brief, December 2, 2024.</li></ul>

Perverse Incentives in the Permanent War Economy

Power Problems is a bi-weekly podcast from the Cato Institute. Host John Glaser offers a skeptical take on U.S. foreign policy, and discusses today’s big questions in international security with distinguished guests from across the political spectrum. Podcast Hashtag: #FPPowerProblems.

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