This week Radha, Loren, and Erin drink hot toddies and reluctantly dig into the newest Marine Corps scandal. They also explore growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and Europe with a brief "missiles: big, medium, and small" explainer; debate the wisdom of loosening counter-terrorism policies while gutting American soft power (aka, Is it always a good time to kill bad guys?); and exorcise the bogeyman of the deep state. Stick around for pop culture digestif.
Readings:
Marine Scandal as reported byTask and Purpose in 2014
Paul Szoldra on the Marine scandal in Business Insider
NYT on Chinese response to South Korea
Hayes Brown on Turkey and the Netherlands in Buzzfeed (see also Michael Crowley)
Loren Schulman on the Deep State in Politico (see also David Remnick)
Erin Simpson and Max Fisher on Trump’s use of force