Eric Edelman on the New World Disorder

Conversations with Bill Kristol

News, Society & Culture, Government, Politics

4.7 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2023

⏱️ 71 minutes

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Summary

Since Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel on October 7, the Middle East is the site of a new war, which could escalate in ways that are unpredictable and dangerous. In Europe, the Ukraine War grinds on—with an outcome very much in doubt. China continues to threaten US allies in East Asia. Decisions, calculations, and miscalculations made in Washington, Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing could unleash still greater geopolitical and military threats at any moment. As Eric Edelman notes, we are facing “the most complex and dangerous moment in international security since the end of the Second World War.” In this Conversation, Edelman explains how the wars in the Middle East and Europe, as well as tensions in East Asia, are very much interconnected, and threaten American interests and the global order. Faced with this extremely dangerous situation, Edelman argues for a concerted national strategy of supporting American allies in Europe and the Middle East, deterring enemies, and rapidly building up America’s industrial and military strength. Kristol and Edelman also discuss how political disorder at home threatens our ability to deal with the threats we face abroad.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're going to. Hi, I'm Bill Crystal. Welcome back to Conversations. I'm very pleased to be
0:18.7	joined today by my old friend Eric Edelman, with whom we've had several excellent conversations.
0:24.2	I think the most recent was about 15-16 months ago, the summer of 2022, about the world situation,
0:30.7	which I don't think has gotten any more stable or reassuring or predictable in this last year and a half.
0:38.0	So if we need an update on how to think about it, Eric has a long and distinguished career in government. Also he's a
0:45.2	scholar and historian but more relevant perhaps for this, served as an ambassador
0:51.9	in both Europe and the Middle East, and also at very senior levels of the State Department, the Defense Department, and the White House.
0:59.0	So, very unusual capacity to help us, I think, get a bigger picture of what's going on today.
1:05.3	So Eric, thanks to joining me.
1:06.3	Bill, it's always great to be with you.
1:08.3	I'm looking forward to our conversation.
1:10.3	I know too because it's such an unusual moment I think I don't know if you agree with that
1:15.1	that maybe since the Cold War the most startling unpredictable worrisome in some ways
1:21.0	maybe some opportunities too but a moment in our foreign policy.
1:24.8	So where do we stand?
1:25.8	If the president called you in and said, look, I've got all these experts on the details of
1:29.7	you know, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza, and Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of the world, but I want to step back and think about this moment here at the end of October 2023.
1:40.0	How would you help him think about it?
1:42.0	Well, I think I would start by saying that, you know, Mr President, you got it right to some degree,
1:51.0	some considerable degree in your Oval Office speech when you said that we are at an inflection point.
1:57.0	But I'm not sure that you have made the picture as stark as you need to make it for the American people.
2:08.0	And I have in mind actually some past vignettes from, you know, from history.
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