Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news. We'll begin with how Trump has undermined reactionary centristism in the Democratic opposition,

which has moderates claiming to oppose extremists on both the left and the right,

but more often attacking than left.

Now the left and the center of the Democratic Party appeal aligned,

as does much of the country

who want politicians who will stand up to bullies like Trump, and government thugs who shoot

down Americans in the streets. Joining us is Jake Grumbach, Associate Professor at the Goldman School

of Public Policy at the University of California Berkeley and a contributing editor

at Boston Review.

He's the author of Laboratories Against Democracy, How National Parties transformed state politics,

and he has an essay and forum at Boston Review.

We will discuss how not to defeat authoritarianism.

Moderation used to help Democrats win, but its advantages now have been greatly exaggerated.

Then, with Trump's armada off Iran used as leverage for on and off again and on again talks

with Iran on Friday in Oman, we will speak with John Hoffman, a policy analyst in defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, and a professor at George Mason University specializing in Middle East geopolitics and political Islam.

His work has been featured in Middle East Policy, Open Democracy, The Cipher Brief and Foreign Policy magazine, and he has an article at the American

Conservative. We will discuss Iran without a plan. The administration risks repeating the Iraq

debacle as farce. Then finally we'll speak with Mitchell Plitnik, the president of

rethinking foreign policy and former vice president at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.

A political analyst and frequent writer on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy and former vice president at the Foundation for Middle East Peace.

A political analyst and frequent writer on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy,

...