Alternate Shots.
Around the world in less than 30 minutes.
(‘Alternate Shots” Episode #27. Hosts: Richard Haass and John Ellis. Produced by Dale Eisinger.)
In this episode of America’s “fastest-growing” podcast, Richard Haass and I begin with a discussion of President Trump’s three options at this stage of the war in Iran: (1) cut a deal, (2) escalate or (3) carry on as before (with sanctions and the blockade), hoping the Iranians will buckle under the pressure.
Each option carries its own risks. Each option makes some Trump supporters or aligned “interest group” unhappy. Each option reverberates across the Middle East, across continents and across the United States.
The president clearly wants out. That’s easier said than done (obviously). The risks for the president are enormous. He dare not be perceived as weak. The mission cannot be perceived as a failure. Post-war analysis cannot say that Iran “won”. How to emerge from the conflict as a “winner” gets more difficult by the day.
So we talked about that.
Moving along, we discuss the upcoming China “summit” meeting, Xi’s leverage on “the Taiwan issue”, the slimmed-down “World War II Victory Day” parade in Moscow, the astonishing resilience of the Ukrainian people and the escalating U.S. redistricting wars.
That and a (very) brief discussion of the New York Knicks, all in 27 minutes.
If you prefer, you can listen to this episode and all the previous episodes on Apple, Amazon, Spotify and most of the other major podcast platforms.