Fault Lines: The Empire Strikes Back or a New Hope?

Lester Munson
Thursday, December 3, 2020, 8:32 AM

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
Brookings

President-Elect Joe Biden has begun to name his senior foreign policy staff to various cabinet and White House positions. Les, Jamil, Jodi and first time guest Michael Gottlieb, former associate counsel and special assistant to President Obama, discuss Biden’s picks and how they might take on the rapidly evolving situation in Iran. What do these selections say about Biden’s Foreign Policy? What are potential blind spots for this team of insiders? How can a President Biden limit Iran’s nuclear ambitions? All these questions and more answered in this week’s Fault Lines.

In our under the radar segment, Les discusses the state of the civil war in Ethiopia, Mike highlights the continued issues in Venezuela, Jamil focuses on Jared Kushner’s trip to the Middle East during a fragile time and Jodi and Grant both discuss corporations’ lobbying efforts with regards to the Uyghur Forced Labor Act currently making its way through Congress.

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Lester Munson is Vice President, International at BGR Group, a leading government relations firm in Washington, D.C., where he consults with foreign governments, corporations, and advocacy groups. Lester joined BGR Group after a 26-year career on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch. He was most recently Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and as a principal on the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.

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