Rational Security 2.0: The 'Shameless Self Promotion' Edition

Jen Patja, Alan Z. Rozenshtein, Quinta Jurecic, Scott R. Anderson, Bryce Klehm

Wednesday, May 18, 2022, 12:00 PM

Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With

This week, Alan, Quinta and Scott were joined by Allies host and Lawfare associate editor Bryce Klehm! Together they talked through the week's big national security news stories, including:

"Remember the ‘90s?” Nine months have passed since the Taliban seized power in Kabul, and its promises of a more moderate rule than the harsh theocracy it oversaw in the 1990s are increasingly ringing hollow. Just this past week, the Taliban issued a new edict directing women and girls to cover everything but their eyes while in public and discouraging them from leaving their homes. Is there any chance of the Taliban changing tack? And how should the United States and others engage with them?
“A Shooting in Buffalo.” An 18-year-old shooter who targeted and killed black shoppers at a supermarket this past week appears to have been radicalized online by a version of “replacement theory,” which has been echoed in rhetoric by mainstream right-wing political figures ranging from Tucker Carlson to Elise Stefanik. How should platforms and policymakers combat such radicalization to prevent more violence?
“It’s Coming from Inside the House.” The Jan. 6th committee took a dramatic step earlier this week when it issued subpoenas to five House Republicans who had refused to voluntarily participate with its investigation, including minority leader Kevin McCarthy. Why did the committee take this step now? And what are the odds it will lead these members to cooperate?

For object lessons, Alan endorsed Emily St. John Mandel's newest piece of sci-fi literature, "Sea of Tranquility." Quinta celebrated the miraculous recovery of her house plant. Scott encouraged listeners to check out an overlooked and underappreciated chapter in the Muppets' oeuvre, the 2015 adult sitcom "The Muppets." And Bryce recommended an old television show folks might not have heard of called "The Sopranos" for some insight into mafia-style management.

And everyone encouraged listeners to check out the newest podcast series from Lawfare and Goat Rodeo, Allies, which does a deep dive into how the decade-long failure of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program led the United States to leave so many allies behind following its withdrawal from Afghanistan. The first two episodes are out: subscribe today and leave us a positive review!

Jen Patja

Jen Patja is the editor and producer of the Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics, a nonprofit organization that empowers the next generation of leaders in Virginia by promoting constitutional literacy, critical thinking, and civic engagement. She is the former Deputy Director of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier and has been a freelance editor for over 20 years.

Alan Z. Rozenshtein

@ARozenshtein

Alan Z. Rozenshtein is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School, Research Director and Senior Editor at Lawfare, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he served as an Attorney Advisor with the Office of Law and Policy in the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland.

Quinta Jurecic

@qjurecic

Quinta Jurecic is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a senior editor at Lawfare. She previously served as Lawfare's managing editor and as an editorial writer for the Washington Post.

Scott R. Anderson

S_R_Anders

Scott R. Anderson is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a Senior Fellow in the National Security Law Program at Columbia Law School. He previously served as an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State and as the legal advisor for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq.