Fault Lines: Episode Three

Fault Lines is the fortnightly podcast of the National Security Institute at George Mason University, featuring a regular cast of foreign policy experts: Jodi Herman, former Democratic Staff Director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Jamil Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute and former Chief Counsel and Senior Advisor for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Dana Stroul, former senior professional staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and moderator Lester Munson, former Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University.

This motley crew will examine national security and foreign policy issues with perspectives from across the political spectrum-finding points of agreement and often disagreement along the way. Each episode explores the topics dominating headlines, as well as gives glimpses into the news stories you may have missed.

This week, Dana, Jodi, Lester and guest commentator Matthew Heiman take on the seeming wave of popular protests seen around the world in places like Lebanon, Chile, Iraq, France, Algeria and Sudan. They also discussed the dilemma for U.S. policymakers when a democratic friend of the United States, like India or Brazil, makes policy decisions that may not be in accord with U.S. interests and lastly, the group briefly talked about the recent killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.