Daniel Bessner – Managing American Decline in the Trump Era

<p>Support The Glenn Show at https://glennloury.substack.com</p><p>Pre-order Glenn's forthcoming book, SELF-CENSORSHIP. Available here or wherever you get your books: <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=self-censorship--9781509567409" target="_blank">https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=self-censorship--9781509567409</a></p><p><strong>Video Links</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8" target="_blank">0:00</a> Intro </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=70s" target="_blank">1:10</a> Glenn meets the young Marx </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=152s" target="_blank">2:32</a> The new wokeness of the political right </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=510s" target="_blank">8:30</a> What is the democratic counterpart of foreign policy and national security run by experts? </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=1024s" target="_blank">17:04</a> Russia’s motivations: Fear of NATO or imperial ambitions </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=1301s" target="_blank">21:41</a> Danny: Zelenskyy made a huge misstep in the Oval Office </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=1572s" target="_blank">26:12</a> Does China have global security ambitions? </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=2109s" target="_blank">35:09</a> Ending the Middle East’s post-Ottoman redefinition </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=2382s" target="_blank">39:42</a> Danny: It’s gotta be rough to be Peter Beinart </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=2626s" target="_blank">43:46</a> Why we don’t need Hitler to explain Trump’s authoritarianism </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=3389s" target="_blank">56:29</a> Danny: We’ve been in the midst of a constitutional crisis since the 1940s </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rabz9_YgwH8&#38;t=3478s" target="_blank">57:58</a> Can the nuclear taboo hold?</p><p>Recorded April 19, 2025</p><p><strong>Links and Readings</strong></p><p><a href="https://americanprestige.substack.com/" target="_blank">Danny’s podcast, </a><a href="https://americanprestige.substack.com/" target="_blank"><em>American Prestige</em></a></p><p><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm" target="_blank">Karl Marx’s </a><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm" target="_blank"><em>Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844</em></a></p><p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B" target="_blank">Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page’s paper, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens”</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Public-Opinion-Warbler-Classics-Annotated/dp/1962572560" target="_blank">Walter Lippmann’s book, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Public-Opinion-Warbler-Classics-Annotated/dp/1962572560" target="_blank"><em>Public Opinion</em></a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Exile-Speier-Defense-Intellectual/dp/1501785079" target="_blank">Danny’s book, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Exile-Speier-Defense-Intellectual/dp/1501785079" target="_blank"><em>Democracy in Exile: Hans Speier and the Rise of the Defense Intellectual</em></a></p><p><a href="https://1997-2001.state.gov/statements/1998/980219a.html" target="_blank">Transcript of Matt Lauer’s 1998 interview with Madeline Albright</a></p><p><a href="https://1997-2001.state.gov/statements/1998/980219a.html" target="_blank">Paul Thomas Chamberlain’s book, </a><a href="https://1997-2001.state.gov/statements/1998/980219a.html" target="_blank"><em>The Cold War Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace</em></a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Covert-Regime-Change-Americas-Security/dp/1501761730" target="_blank">Lindsey O’Rourke’s book, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Covert-Regime-Change-Americas-Security/dp/1501761730" target="_blank"><em>Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold War</em></a></p><p><a href="http://v" target="_blank">Peter Beinart’s book, </a><a href="http://v" target="_blank"><em>Being Jewish after the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning</em></a></p><p><a href="https://glennloury.substack.com/p/peter-beinart-being-jewish-after" target="_blank">Glenn’s conversation with Peter Beinart</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Late-Admissions-Confessions-Black-Conservative/dp/0393881342" target="_blank">Glenn’s memoir, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Late-Admissions-Confessions-Black-Conservative/dp/0393881342" target="_blank"><em>Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative</em></a></p><p><a href="https://jacobin.com/2025/03/trump-fascism-antidemocratic-american-history" target="_blank">Danny’s </a><a href="https://jacobin.com/2025/03/trump-fascism-antidemocratic-american-history" target="_blank"><em>Jacobin</em></a><a href="https://jacobin.com/2025/03/trump-fascism-antidemocratic-american-history" target="_blank"> piece, “This Is America”</a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-American-Model-United-States/dp/0691183066/ref=sr_1_1?crid=167MDP9GZJDIT&#38;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1Ez5zbOW3KICmOzC1Y65tE5DNO8Bg-Q6btIdOovPNHP8TOcYwbMXW8gs0ZzLmOA8KVLsAcFPXm5urjURWJNAxQTxXTgSoZ4CYUmIZmmlOBt0hqfEScawHYHPYmQyezrhAu_5nODsct-xYJQdZf6pfMr954SylspfiLrOM8fD96EXkbFFX29HXG6R4T6NXyo162hxZOXxvneMYNi9NIH0PBtaGf0j79R8oYWXhePsAMk.xGr0O0NCf6JrK5YZi-GLCrz1dENFEf019-mrQjuiLD4&#38;dib_tag=se&#38;keywords=Hitler%E2%80%99s+American+Model&#38;qid=1745092182&#38;s=books&#38;sprefix=hitler+s+american+model+%2Cstripbooks%2C109&#38;sr=1-1" target="_blank">James Whitman’s book, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-American-Model-United-States/dp/0691183066/ref=sr_1_1?crid=167MDP9GZJDIT&#38;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1Ez5zbOW3KICmOzC1Y65tE5DNO8Bg-Q6btIdOovPNHP8TOcYwbMXW8gs0ZzLmOA8KVLsAcFPXm5urjURWJNAxQTxXTgSoZ4CYUmIZmmlOBt0hqfEScawHYHPYmQyezrhAu_5nODsct-xYJQdZf6pfMr954SylspfiLrOM8fD96EXkbFFX29HXG6R4T6NXyo162hxZOXxvneMYNi9NIH0PBtaGf0j79R8oYWXhePsAMk.xGr0O0NCf6JrK5YZi-GLCrz1dENFEf019-mrQjuiLD4&#38;dib_tag=se&#38;keywords=Hitler%E2%80%99s+American+Model&#38;qid=1745092182&#38;s=books&#38;sprefix=hitler+s+american+model+%2Cstripbooks%2C109&#38;sr=1-1" target="_blank"><em>Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law</em></a></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Concept-Political-Expanded-Carl-Schmitt/dp/0226738922/ref=sr_1_1?crid=V10GA45QHPFI&#38;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YIhescsg0Kew8omLt3Y56GPMYO8BtZRE34oppDwK6UaEhgBKpbPgml98IIiIPSRERFdnFciA_4Pfr2irldpYuZQ2Sfs-cpmD-I-xJkZBo4q175rXJFVUGvcPoA4b8HZlubKHMd-nK9EfwdfOAFOlLFiLLw2SEU61O5eXbKKrDtNjhUtWaDKRQJX9arC7_qlnT4RInalFjLdnc83pxrEsXlSbSm4l76ux63naIkEG5JQ.lWqZfJg2sXPK50FSPLW3-n9jEZ-Q9G7VPX7GA3lZo_o&#38;dib_tag=se&#38;keywords=the+concept+of+the+political&#38;qid=1745092943&#38;s=books&#38;sprefix=the+concept+of+the+p%2Cstripbooks%2C101&#38;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Carl Schmitt’s book, </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Concept-Political-Expanded-Carl-Schmitt/dp/0226738922/ref=sr_1_1?crid=V10GA45QHPFI&#38;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YIhescsg0Kew8omLt3Y56GPMYO8BtZRE34oppDwK6UaEhgBKpbPgml98IIiIPSRERFdnFciA_4Pfr2irldpYuZQ2Sfs-cpmD-I-xJkZBo4q175rXJFVUGvcPoA4b8HZlubKHMd-nK9EfwdfOAFOlLFiLLw2SEU61O5eXbKKrDtNjhUtWaDKRQJX9arC7_qlnT4RInalFjLdnc83pxrEsXlSbSm4l76ux63naIkEG5JQ.lWqZfJg2sXPK50FSPLW3-n9jEZ-Q9G7VPX7GA3lZo_o&#38;dib_tag=se&#38;keywords=the+concept+of+the+political&#38;qid=1745092943&#38;s=books&#38;sprefix=the+concept+of+the+p%2Cstripbooks%2C101&#38;sr=1-1" target="_blank"><em>The Concept of the Political</em></a></p> <br /><br />This is a public episode. 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