Fault Lines: Episode Two

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, Jamil and Lester delve into two hot spots. First, in Syria, they explored the implications of President Trump's abrupt pullout of American troops for the region and American politics. Second, they'll take a look at the dustup between the NBA and China, and what it might mean for the politics of U.S. national security—and they'll also decide who is the greatest basketball player of all-time.