Episode 5: The Worst Case Scenario (Almost)

The invasion of Iraq led Jeffrey Lewis to make the spread of nuclear weapons the focus of his professional life. The ensuing carnage made clear that solving these problems with force only makes things worse. We can do better than this, right?

Show Notes

The Deal tells the story of the Iran nuclear deal: how it came together, how it fell apart, and what that means for the rest of us. Hosted by Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He tweets @armscontrolwonk.

In Season 2 The Deal brings the story of the Iran nuclear deal into the present. Arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis examines the options available to Joe Biden by looking at the past. Will we make the same mistakes?  Or have we learned our lessons?

You don't have to listen to season one to follow season two, but it helps! 

Learn more at IranDealPodcast.com. 

What is The Reason We’re All Still Here?

Far too often, governments behave like toddlers. They’re fickle. They don’t like to share. And good luck getting them to pay attention to any problem that isn’t directly in front of them. They like to push each other to the brink, and often do. But when they don’t, it’s usually because other people enter the proverbial room. Private citizens who step up and play peacemaker when their governments won’t or can’t. People who strive for collaboration and understanding, and sometimes end up finding it in unlikely places. Those people and the work they do, they’re the reason we’re all still here.

This season, we’ll hear from scientists, analysts, and idealists who have gone to crazy lengths just for a shot at making peace and building understanding From smoke-filled rooms in North Korea to secret labs in the Soviet Union… to the lawless seas, and even to the depths of outer space (or, at least, the conference rooms where they talk about the depths of outer space). This podcast tells the stories about the people holding us back from the brink.

Hosted by ​​Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor and scholar at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies on the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies faculty. Previously, he served as Director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation and Executive Director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He is the founder of ArmsControlWonk.com, a leading resource on disarmament, arms control and nonproliferation issues.

Produced by Gilded Audio and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.