September 12 – How the War on Terror Has Become a War on American Democracy; Is Trump Driving Putin and Merkel Together?; Ramped-Up Sanctions on North Korea

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with an historical perspective on how wars in the past like the Civil War which ended slavery and World War 11 which brought about a social safety net have enhanced American democracy whereas since 9/11 and the war on terror our freedom at home has been restricted and we no longer defend democracy abroad but threaten it. Jeremi Suri, Professor of History and Public Affairs at the University of Texas joins us to discuss his new book “The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office” and his article at The Washington Post “How 9/11 triggered democracy’s decline”. We look into why the U.S. no longer wins wars and why we are fighting wars against our own democracy.

Part 2

Then we speak with Mona Krewel, a Professor of Government at Cornell University who is a Fellow of the Mannheim Center for European Research at the University of Mannheim in Germany. She joins us to discuss German Chancellor Merkel’s offer to participate in future nuclear talks with North Korea and her talks with Russia’s President Putin with whom she shares a growing alarm that Donald Trump is escalating the nuclear crisis with the equally unpredictable Kim Jong-un.

Part 3

Then finally we examine the new round of sanctions on North Korea following a unanimous vote by the U.N. Security Council and speak with Sung Yoon Lee, a Professor of International Affairs at the Fletcher School at Tufts University who has an article at The New York Times “The Way to Make North Korea Back Down” and another at The Los Angeles Times “Why won’t the U.S. use its full sanction power against North Korea”. We discuss China’s dilemma of not wanting to create a failed state on its border at the same time as not wanting Kim’s provocations to cause more U.S., South Korean and Japanese military power being introduced into the neighborhood.