Nothing Says “War” Like “Forever”
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
10/09/25
•63m
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What do you get when you merge a failed War on Drugs with an archaic War on Terror? We may be about to find out as President Donald Trump unleashes a legal, political, and military campaign against drug cartels, whom he has re-labelled as terrorist organizations. The tactics include blowing up small "go-fast" boats in the Caribbean, labeling Venezuelan President Maduro a cartel leader and then placing a $50 million bounty on him, and pushing a massive air, naval, and land military force into the Caribbean.
Is U.S. national security really threatened by the Mexican and Venezuelan cartels, including the bête noire of the moment, Tren de Aragua? If this is a "war" can it be won---and, if so, how would we know (one of the many problems with both the War on Drugs and the War on Terror framing)? Is the man who campaigned against forever wars starting a new forever war?
In this episode, host Alan Stoga explores these and other questions with Chris Dalby, Director and Founder of World of Crime and author of Tren de Aragua: The Guide to America's Growing Criminal Threat, and Professor Clionadh Raleigh, President and CEO of ACLED and an expert on political violence and conflict data.
What do you think? Is it war or performance art?```
Previous Episode
Iran v. Israel: Who Won, Who Lost, What Next? - Part Two
August 21, 2025
•21m
Roughly six weeks ago, the two Middle East powers, whom everyone feared might someday go to war, actually went to war. After 12 days of fighting, mostly deadly exchanges of missiles, drones and air power, Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire on June 24th. But peace is an elusive concept in the Middle East, even more so these days. Will the ceasefire continue to hold? If it does, what are the likely consequences? If it doesn't, who would break it?
More importantly, was this the first Iranian-Israeli war or the last?
It is a hallmark of our info-bubble-infected world that we tend to listen to people with whom we agree rather than risk debating differences. Nowhere is that more true than in the Middle East. However, for this conversation, we invited three people who are not only deeply knowledgeable about the situation, but also approach issues from dramatically different perspectives. Francesca Borri is an Italian journalist who has spent much of the last decade living in Jenin and reporting from the West Bank, Israel, Syria, and other hot spots; Ambassador Hossein Mousavian is a former senior Iranian diplomat who now teaches at Princeton University; Abraham Silver is a lecturer at the Hebrew University on the Architecture of Jerusalem.
In this continuation of their dialogue with host Alan Stoga, the panel digs deeper into the lessons of the war, the risks of escalation, and the prospects—however slim—for a more peaceful future in the region.
👉 This conversation is published in two parts. You are listening to Part Two.
Next Episode
Conserving Nature and Humanity—For the Good of Both
October 23, 2025
•36m
One of the most amazing animals on the planet is the snow leopard. The smallest of the big cats is indigenous to the twelve countries sharing the High Himalayas including China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. Those countries disagree on most things: borders, values, economics, religion---but amazingly agree that the survival of the snow leopard is in their national and collective interests.
The High Himalayas are a microcosm of the problems confronting the planet. Because it is cold, high, and glaciated, even small increases in temperature cascade into large ecological and societal impacts. Border conflicts are always bubbling---and often boiling over---while internal conflicts are rife in much of the region. And economic development, in many parts of the Himalayas is aspirational at best.
How can such a complicated group of countries, peoples, and leaders ignore their differences when it comes to protecting the snow leopard? Even more, how to agree that protecting the snow leopard should be done in ways that are in concert with, not at the expense of, the needs of the people who live in the High Himalayas?
Dr. Charu Mishra is Executive Director of the Snow Leopard Trust and one of the prime movers in an ongoing, but increasingly successful conservation campaign that defies geopolitical gravity. Listen as he describes how he and his colleagues have persuaded countries that are sometimes literally at war with each other to act together for a common purpose.
LEARN MORE
- Snow Leopard Trust: https://snowleopard.org/
- International Snow Leopard Trust: http://www.snowleopard.org/
- The Ethical Conservation Alliance: http://www.ethicalconservation.org/
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