This week, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reiterated the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, which states that "the United States would only consider the employment of nuclear weapons in extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States, its allies, and partners. Extreme circumstances could include significant non-nuclear strategic attacks." Natalie Armbruster of Defense Priorities joins us this week to talk about who is formally a US ally — and not — and how over the years Washington has built a web of entangling alliances of different formalities and caliber, drawing the US into fights and causing others that have no real basis in the U.S. national interest. In the second segment, Kelley & Dan talk about the U.S. 101st Airborne Division on the border with Ukraine, and the progressives going wobbly on diplomacy.
More from Natalie:
Who is an ally and why does it matter? — w/ Ben Friedman, Defense Priorities, 10/12/22
The 2023 Defense Authorization risks more of the same — Instick Media, 8/4/22
Biden shouldn't put American lives on the line to defend the United Arab Emirates — Business Insider, 6/14/22
Apply the logic of the Afghanistan withdrawal to Syria — Defense Priorities, 3/7/2022
Who needs friends when you got quasi-allies? A conversation with Natalie Armbruster