OTB Radio – Tonight at 5:30 Eastern

Tonight's topics: Anything but that damned mosque. Possibilities include: Tuesday's primaries, the continued economic malaise, and the flooding in Pakistan.

OTB Radio The latest episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live from 5:30-6:30 Eastern.

Dave Schuler, Doug Mataconis, and I will talk about . . . anything but that damned mosque.   Possible topics include: Tuesday’s primaries, the continued economic malaise, and the flooding in Pakistan.

We’ll also be taking calls at (646) 716-7030. Owing to a high trolls to legit callers ratio, however, we’ll be using the BTR chat feature to screen for legit calls.

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(Note: The playback automatically updates to the most recent show available. Older shows can be accessed at the show archives.)

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. pylon says:

    So, how ’bout that mosque?

  2. Bryan Pick says:

    Hey guys.  I don’t often have time to listen to podcasts, but I caught this one, and though I enjoyed the discussion, I found myself disagreeing with a lot of what was said about foreign affairs.
    First, I disagree that the “War on Terror” is a misnomer — that terror is just a tactic, and it’s like calling WWI a war on tanks.  In this case, terror is more than a tactic, and we have good reason to be at war against terror, not simply against terrorists.  In addition to using terror against the West, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other hostile forces govern through terror and thrive among terrorized people.  WMD proliferation and even humanitarian crises also tend to undermine institutions of consent, and we should prepare better for what we can’t preclude.
    Because where terror predominates, there’s no room for institutions of consent, the sources of our influence and wealth — and substantial contributors to international peace.
    We can try ignoring or containing these threats, but things will just tend to get worse when we do that.  Expecting private armed forces (as someone mentioned on the podcast) to fully handle our problems with non-state actors is sadly a fantasy at this stage, though I do favor them playing an increasing role and think we should flesh out a good legal framework for them.
    For a much more thorough explanation of what I’m talking about, I strongly recommend the scholarly book Terror and Consent by Philip Bobbitt.  It doesn’t paint a pretty picture, and while I understand why most of my fellow libertarians abhor war for its propensity to expand the powers of the state, Bobbitt argues (and I agree) that the best safeguard against the worst of these consequences is to recognize the threats and our need to respond to them, adapting our strategies and laws along the way.
    He does a solid job explaining why many of the most common, strongly-held beliefs about the wars against terror are fundamentally wrong.  Again, I highly recommend reading him.