The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Van Jackson
  • 4.7 (67)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Global power politics, for the people. Hosted by Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss. The views expressed are theirs alone (not those of any institution or employer).

  1. 3D AGO

    Decoding Trump’s National Security Strategy w/ American Prestige Pod | Ep. 277

    Free crossover episode with the American Prestige Podcast! Julia Gledhill and Van Jackson joined Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison to breakdown the Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy. They discuss how the document leans on civilizational framing, portrays competition as existential conflict, omits diplomacy and institutions in favor of coercion and deal-making, and deemphasizes democracy promotion. They also touch on the strategy’s treatment of Europe and Latin America, its assumptions about American power, and what the new NSS suggests about the direction of U.S. foreign policy. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch The Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Subscribe to American Prestige: https://americanprestigepod.com/episodes/8205629503 Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    1h 10m

  2. DEC 16

    Primitive Accumulation, Imperialism, and Culture-War Grand Strategy w/ Jacob Shapiro | Ep. 276

    Free crossover episode with The Jacob Shapiro Podcast! It's a strategy of primitive accumulation masquerading as a culture warrior grand strategy. It's doing white Christian nationalism as foreign policy, imperialism in Latin America, far-right revolution in Europe. And what about China? In this crossover episode between The Un-Diplomatic Podcast and The Jacob Shapiro Podcast, Dr. Van Jackson--a former national security strategist--explains the significance of the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy and what it means for the world.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Subscribe to The Jacob Shapiro Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxCZUG9iBM6De2apZUIsnPA  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    57 min

  3. DEC 8

    Netflix’s Marines (2025) w/ Sam Carliner | Bang-Bang Podcast Crossover | Ep. 275

    Free episode crossover with The Bang-Bang Podcast! Van Jackson and Lyle Rubin are joined by returning guest Sam Carliner to take on Marines, Netflix’s new 250th-anniversary docuseries, an unmistakable propaganda piece (it’s literally featured on the official Marine Corps website) that nonetheless reveals more candor than the institution intended. Directed by Chelsea Yarnell, whose style veers into Riefenstahl-lite, the series moves through the familiar mythology: Marines as the “meanest, baddest motherfuckers,” war as manhood, China as the next “bloody” proving ground. But between the clichés, something truer keeps slipping out. The Marines themselves come across not as caricatures but as young people grasping for purpose. Some raised amid violence, poverty, absent fathers, and broken homes; others from supportive families, following beloved relatives into the Corps, seeking adventure, education benefits, or what they sincerely understand as patriotic duty. Some speak with chilling bravado about killing; others struggle openly with faith, family, and the sense that combat is the only place they’ll ever feel whole. A sniper mourns the disbanding of scout-sniper platoons as if losing a piece of himself. A Huey pilot wonders how to make “non-emotional decisions” when his whole life has been shaped by emotion, and a mother tries to bless a choice she privately cannot support. And despite itself, the series also exposes the machinery surrounding them. Deployments that make no sense. A surreal shipboard announcement about Yemen, where Houthi attacks are called “unprovoked” with no mention of the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza driving them, all delivered in a breezy “Good morning, Team America” tone. Marines saddled with the weight of great-power delusions they never chose. The political culture is bankrupt, but the individuals inside it are often heartbreakingly earnest. That tension, between Yarnell’s promo frame and the unfiltered vulnerability of the people she films, turns Marines into something worthwhile. Even in its worst moments, the series forces a deeper question: What happens when a society offering so little to its young men teaches them that violence is the only stable form of meaning? Subscribe to The Bang-Bang Podcast: https://www.bangbangpod.com Further ReadingUSMC press release on the docuseries Sam’s Substack The Rivalry Peril by Van and Michael Brenes Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body by Lyle Gangsters of Capitalism by Jonathan M. Katz War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges

    1h 27m

  4. DEC 3

    Leaving Washington | NATO Hawk to NATO Dove | Teaching International Relations | Realities of PhD Life | Ep. 274

    Free episode cross-over! Van Jackson appeared as a guest on Davis Ellison’s Official Positions podcast. They talk about how Van became a scholar, why he left Washington for New Zealand, the social realities of being a foreign policy wonk, the dark side of life in rich countries, what strategic studies ought to be, and how Davis himself went from being NATO analyst to being a NATO critic.  Check out Official Positions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/official-positions/id1798238454 Watch The Un-Diplomatic Podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast Subscribe to The Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    1h 4m

  5. NOV 27

    "Seditious" NatSec Democrats | MAGA’s A.I. Rupture | Venezuela Regime Change | Ukraine Peace Plan | Ep. 273

    Why regime-change war with Venezuela is about drugs. And cartels. And immigration. And resource exploitation. And because it will be good for inflation. And because uranium to all of the world’s bad guys. What the f**k!? Things are shaping up like a choose-your-own adventure story that fails to learn from the Iraq War. What is the Ukraine peace plan and why is it destined to fail in its current form? The opportunity and threat of national-security democrats like Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly, and what it says that Trump is accusing them of sedition. Trump’s effort to bring back the action films from the ‘80s and ‘90s, including a remake of Rush Hour and Blood Sport. And what Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation says about MAGA’s infighting about artificial intelligence. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Catch Un-Diplomatic on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/undiplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    46 min

  6. NOV 20

    Bret Stephens' Case for Iraq-ing Venezuela | Palantir Democrats | G-7 Imperialist Multilateralism | Real War on Fake Antifa | Ep. 272

    Van Jackson and Julia Gledhill link back up to discuss Bret Stephens' op-ed in the New York Times making the case for overthrowing Maduro in Venezuela...and why it's the Iraq War all over again. How the Democrats are in bed with Palantir and why they need to get out. The G-7 meeting in Canada revealed what can only be called imperialist multilateralism. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio designates Antifa a foreign terrorist organization, which escalates an ongoing fight between rulers and subjects in most countries.  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    45 min

  7. NOV 14

    The Geopolitics of Jeffrey Epstein and Hegemonic Decline w/ Jeet Heer | Ep. 271

    In this crossover episode with The Time of Monsters--a podcast of The Nation Magazine--Jeet Heer and Van Jackson discuss the worldmaking of Jeffrey Epstein and the complicity of America's entire ruling class in his crimes, from Larry Summers and Leon Panetta to Trump himself. Thousands of leaked emails reported by DropSite News have revealed something about Jeffrey Epstein that few people realized: He was one of the world's preeminent geopoliticians during the unipolar moment, and that's not a good thing. We now know that Epstein actively promoted the interests of the global far right; worked with Israeli security services to export the tools of oppression to the Global South; helped strengthen Russia's oligarchy and deal intimately with Putin; lobbied to bomb Iran and kill the Iran nuclear deal; secured the US and Russian removal of chemical weapons from Syria FOR Israel; and capitalized on the global instability caused in part by US foreign policy. Epstein's work as a geopolitician reveals a dark side to American hegemony not previously known or seen. It's one giant case study of Naomi Klein's disaster-capitalism thesis.  Subscribe to The Time of Monsters Podcast: https://www.thenation.com/content/time-of-monsters/  Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Catch Un-Diplomatic on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/undiplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    45 min

  8. NOV 7

    Bombing Latin America | Who’s Afraid of Zohran? | Economic Depression Hiding in Plain Sight | Trump Embarrasses Asia | Ep. 270

    Who’s afraid of Zohran Mamdani, and why New York newest mayor will lead to Trump escalating his war against Americans. An economic great depression is already hiding in plain sight. The Nazi debate within the Republican Party. Why the Trump administration’s war on Venezuela will expand to Colombia and Mexico. Making sense of Trump’s trip across East Asia as a symptom of hegemonic decline. Subscribe to the Un-Diplomatic Newsletter: https://www.un-diplomatic.com/  Watch Un-Diplomatic Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@un-diplomaticpodcast  Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the individuals and not of any institutions.

    36 min
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4.7
out of 5
67 Ratings

About

Global power politics, for the people. Hosted by Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill, and Matt Duss. The views expressed are theirs alone (not those of any institution or employer).

Information

  • Creator
    Van Jackson
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    278
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2019 Un-Diplomatic
  • Show Website
    The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

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