Welcome to The Dig, a podcast from Jacobin Magazine.

My name is Daniel Denver, and I'm broadcasting from Providence, Rhode Island.

This is the war that never ends. The war on terror's permanence should be remarkable.

It should be an outrage. But it is precisely because the war has become permanent, that it has

long since been rendered normal, that the U.S. is engaged in a state of continuous and

cascading global conflict,

against an enemy so undefined that most any new threat can fit the bill.

And indeed, as warfare spreads, new enemies to fight constantly emerge.

Obviously, the war on terror has led to widespread global chaos and bloodshed. It has also,

however, become one of the most basic features of American social and political life. Yet,

what's weird and incredibly dangerous is that there's little public discussion over how

profoundly permanent war has warped this country over its 16 long years

of existence. And the key role that it, along with other factors, has played in making Donald

Trump a reality. Today, my guest is Andrew Basevich. Bacevich grew up in Indiana, graduated from West Point in Princeton,

served in the Army, became an academic, and is now a writer. He is the author, co-author,

or editor of a dozen books, among them American Empire, the New American Militarism, The

Limits of Power, Washington Rules, the limits of power, Washington rules, breach of trust, and,

most recently, America's War for the Greater Middle East, a military history. Over the past few

weeks, the possibility of Trump provoking a nuclear war with North Korea has understandably garnered widespread attention,

as a conflict much older than the current global terror war, has dangerously escalated.

We're going to talk about that, too, and I'll have an episode dedicated to Korea coming up soon.

Music I'll have an episode dedicated to Korea coming up soon.

...