Overreach: Episode 33

Overreach: Episode 33

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass assess a world in which overreach has become policy. They begin with Iran, where the United States and Tehran appear to be acting against their own interests: bombing, retaliation, threats to the Strait of Hormuz, and a memorandum of understanding that solved too little and conceded too much. Haass argues the next step should be a ceasefire, renewed nuclear diplomacy, and a more serious effort to reopen the strait. They then turn to a possible U.S.-Saudi nuclear arrangement, the absence of process in American foreign policy, Mayor Mamdani’s performative politics, a brutal Fox poll for Trump, AI systems moving faster than governance, and, finally, Cam Young, the Open, and the World Cup. Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass News Items on Substack [https://www.news-items.com/] Home and Away on Substack [https://richardhaass.substack.com/] Produced by Dale Eisinger [https://www.daleweisinger.com/about]

Plan C for Iran: Episode 32

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass ask whether Washington has anything resembling a Plan C for Iran. Haass offers one: First, accept that previous U.S. plans (first bombing our way to regime change or Iranian capitulation followed by an effort to negotiate an end to the war on reasonable terms) have all failed. Then he suggests adopting a new strategy, one that includes maintaining sanctions rather than rewarding Tehran, building Gulf defenses against Iranian drones and missiles, accelerating measures to gradually reduce the Strait’s strategic importance, and returning focus to the nuclear issue to ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon. It may mean accepting the uncomfortable reality of a privileged role for Iran in the Strait of Hormuz for a time if it is to stay open. The two co-hosts also discuss Ukraine’s new leverage, Russia’s temptations, America’s contested midterms, and the curse of Trump in sports. Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass News Items on Substack [https://www.news-items.com/] Home and Away on Substack [https://richardhaass.substack.com/] Produced by Dale Eisinger [https://www.daleweisinger.com/about]

Tehran, Taiwan, & The Knicks: Episode 31

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass take stock of a world long on ceasefires and short on strategy. They begin with the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, the subject of Haass’s recent Home and Away essay, bluntly titled “Defeat,” and ask whether the deal is less diplomacy than capitulation: vague on the nuclear question, silent on missiles, generous to Tehran, and dangerous for Israel and America’s partners. From there, they turn to Netanyahu’s narrowing room for maneuver, JD Vance’s warning to Israel, and the erosion of U.S. reliability. They then discuss Haass’s forthcoming Foreign Affairs essay with Council on Foreign Relations Taiwan expert David Sacks on Taiwan, arms sales, and the risk of treating commitments as bargaining chips. Finally, they touch on Keir Starmer’s troubles, Wyndham Clark at Shinnecock, the Knicks’ improbable championship. Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass News Items on Substack [https://www.news-items.com/] Home and Away on Substack [https://richardhaass.substack.com/] Produced by Dale Eisinger [https://www.daleweisinger.com/about]

Tehran, Pyongyang, Los Angeles...and MSG: Episode 30

John Ellis and Richard Haass take up a world in which problems are less solved than managed. Iran remains unfinished business, with the future of the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear limits on Iran, and sanctions relief all in play. What is certain is that the Gulf states face a future of greater uncertainty, with some likely to try to come to terms with Iran and others more inclined to confront it. China’s outreach to North Korea reveals an effort on Xi Jinping's part to reestablish influence there as well as the unease beneath his partnership with Putin as Russia's war with Ukraine grows more costly, less winnable, and harder to exit. At home, California’s elections and urban progressive politics point to intra-Democratic tensions heading toward 2028. And, inevitably, the Knicks, with one of our two hosts going with his head and the other his heart. Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass News Items on Substack [https://www.news-items.com/] Home and Away on Substack [https://richardhaass.substack.com/] Produced by Dale Eisinger [https://www.daleweisinger.com/about]

Pope Leo, AI, and the Knicks: Episode 29

For years, artificial intelligence occupied the familiar territory of technological optimism: faster growth, greater efficiency, and the promise that innovation would solve more problems than it created. That era may be ending. This week on Alternate Shots, Richard Haass and John Ellis examine the rapid emergence of AI not simply as a business story, but as a political, strategic, and even theological one. Prompted by a sweeping papal encyclical warning against surrendering human judgment to machines, the conversation explores the widening backlash against Silicon Valley’s concentration of power and the growing fear that societies are drifting into dependence on systems they neither understand nor control. From the possibility of AI regulation and U.S.-China competition to the surprising coalition forming between populists, evangelicals, and labor skeptics, Haass argues that the debate over artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a debate about governance itself. Also: early 2028 political maneuvering, Texas intrigue, and the improbable emotional stability of New York Knicks fans. Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass News Items on Substack [https://www.news-items.com/] Home and Away on Substack [https://richardhaass.substack.com/] Produced by Dale Eisinger [https://www.daleweisinger.com/about]