National Security and foreign affairs

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Alana DeJoseph has worked in video and film production for nearly 40 years as producer, director, videographer, and editor. 

With this conversation, Ms. DeJoseph highlights her own career, spotlighting her most recent film production entitled, “A Towering Task,” a documentary which chronicles the Peace Corps from inception in the 1960s to today in 2021.

Of her most recent documentary, she says: "In a time when the American public either has a very antiquated notion of the Peace Corps, informed by an almost mythological awe of the 60s, or is not even aware that the agency still exists, at a time when global problems such as climate change and pandemics are highlighting the need for international cooperation, it is high time to bring this unique organization back into the public discourse, to raise the level of the discussion from quaint to crucial." 

She discusses the original and timeless Peace Corps mission, also how the Peace Corps evolved since inception. She closes with her thoughts on the relevance of the Peace Corps today in 2021, now 60 years on from founding. 

James T. L. Dandridge II is a retired career senior Foreign Service officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, now President of the Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired Organization (DACOR). Originally from Selma, Alabama, he served as a U.S. Army Special Operations Officer. His final assignment was as Special Operations Branch Chief, Joint Chiefs of Staff, retiring in 1979. He moved on to serve with the United States Information Agency (USIA) and the United States Department of State, retiring with 65 years of federal service.

With this conversation, he highlights his time with USIA and the State Department. He also spotlights his work with the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD), the first museum in the world dedicated to diplomacy, for which he is vice chairman of the Diplomacy Center Foundation.

He reviews the DACOR Bacon House Conference 2021, entitled  “Rebuilding Diplomacy." The three focus areas of the conference were, "Strengthening the Foreign Service, The State Department Within the Foreign Affairs and Strengthening U.S. Diplomacy Abroad.” In follow on, he discusses what he considers the greatest challenges of the Department of State today in 2021. 

To the emergence of China as a world superpower, he discusses Chinese President Xi’s intentions, along with what he believes American Foreign Policy should be toward those intentions. 

In closing, Jim Dandridge reflects on the U.S. led Afghan War, considered the longest war in American History. 

LincInterviews is again joined by Dr. Henry R. Nau, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, also senior staff member and White House sherpa on President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council, 1981-1983. 

With this conversation, Dr. Nau discusses his article entitled, "Why Nation-Building Is Inevitable," posted in August of 2021 on the Providence Institute on Religion and Democracy Website.

In introduction, the article states, "The lesson many draw from the debacle in Afghanistan is no more nation-building. But you can’t ignore nation-building because military threats to the United States originate in one of two places—unstable or failed states and aggressive totalitarian societies. No democracy threatens the United States today. That fact alone suggests that the type of domestic regime matters greatly in the calculus of America’s national interests."

The article moves on to address such questions as: Should we stay indefinitely in places like Afghanistan and Iraq? What other lessons can we draw from the experience of Afghanistan? 

In this discussion, Dr. Nau also relates the article to his book, "Perspectives on International Relations,” in which he presents four models of American foreign policy: realism, liberalism, constructivism, and critical theory. To our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, which of the aforementioned models has the previous and current administration pursued with American foreign policy? 

He comments on China's intentions in Afghanistan, also providing thoughts on the potential silent majority in the Afghan population. Does the Taliban have genuine control of Afghanistan? In closing, Dr. Nau predicts the intermediate and long term survival of the Taliban.   

LincInterviews is again joined by long time China watcher, Mr. Pater Bartram, founder of Imagine.com Telecommunications, Inc.®, and Imagine Labs.

With this conversation, Mr. Bartram further elaborates on concepts he believes could deter a growing China threat: global financial system access deterrence, internet and fiber-optic blackhole deterrence and oil flow deterrence. 

In follow on, Mr. Bartram discusses lack of strategic clarity by the United States with the South China Sea. 

He also discusses Cyberspace, to include focus on cyber attack and network offensive cyberattacks. 

He spotlights the possibility of China escalating to confrontation with Taiwan, the United States, and Allies.   

He compares and contrasts Cold War deterrence of the past with that of the present. Is traditional Cold War deterrence effective with both the Russian and Chinese threat of 2021? 

With Prime Minister of Japan Suga and President Biden meeting in April 2021 at the White House, Mr. Bartram predicts possible ensuing announcements from the meeting. 

In closing, Mr. Bartram comments on the Quad, an alliance consisting of India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Could other countries join the Quad? Could the Quad or a Quad plus become an Indo-Pacific version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)? 

A former Foreign Service Officer, Mr. John Bradshaw is the Executive Director of the DACOR Bacon House Foundation for Foreign Service Professionals. He is former Foreign Policy Advisor to two U.S. Senators.

With this conversation, Mr. Bradshaw spotlights both his time as a Foreign Service Officer and on Capitol Hill. In follow on, he discusses the need to revitalize both the United States Department of State and Foreign Service. 

His comment includes focus on the Council on Foreign Relations report “Revitalizing the State Department and America and the Harvard University Belfer Center report entitled, “A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century," which provides ten recommendations to improve the Department of State. 

In follow on, he further addresses such questions as: What indeed needs to be improved at the State Department and the Foreign Service today in 2021? 

He also highlights suggested modifications to the architecture of the State Department and the Foreign Service Exam. 

In closing, he reviews the need to depoliticize the Department of State, along with what he believes to be among the top priorities of the United States Department of State. 

Shannon Brandao is an American attorney based in Belgium, holding an LLM in European & International Business Law. She is the creator and online host of a news and analysis service known as China Boss.  Seen on Linked In, China Boss now has over 12,000 followers worldwide. 

With this conversation, she highlights selected news stories most recently posted on China Boss. Also spotlighted are current administration policies toward China, from military, political and economic perspectives.

To the Coronavirus Epidemic, Ms. Brandao provides comment on the involvement of China with the COVID 19 Epidemic.

In closing, Ms. Brandao further discusses what she believes to be the greatest challenges facing US-China relations, also presenting her long term view of the Chinese Communist Party. 

Mr. Peter Bartram is President of Imagine.com, a Telecommunications Company specializing in hosting services, website design, and the configuration and support of publishing computer systems in multi-platform work environments. He also founded Imagine Labs, LLC Delaware, a business advisory company formed for the purpose of providing Advisory Services to corporations, government agencies, and other organizations. A mainland China watcher, he offers stories and reports regarding China on social networking platforms such as Linked In. 

With this conversation, Mr. Bartram presents and highlights selected concepts and strategies addressing the China threat, to include strategic clarity, strategic ambiguity and to what he refers as the Taiwan Linchpin. Further discussed is the requirement for increased investment in roads and infrastructure in Taiwan and a sub sea power grid of clean green technology and energy resilience.

Spotlighted is the otherwise informal alliance of nations known as the Quad, now focused on the China threat. In follow on, Mr. Bartram addresses the long running collective narrative positing that China would become more democratic over time.

In closing, the nature of both the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and China’s President is discussed, along with comment on the future viability of the Chinese Regime.  

Mr. Rick Fisher is Senior Fellow, International Assessment and Strategy Center. His career includes study at Georgetown University and Eisenhower College, serving as Asian Studies Director at the Heritage Foundation, US China Security & Economic Review Commission, Editor of the Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief and as President of Pacific Strategies, Inc. During this conversation, Mr. Fisher reviews his book, China’s Military Modernization: Building for Regional and Global Reach. 

China's rise to global economic and strategic eminence has the potential for achieving pre-eminence in the greater-Asian region. With this rise, his book offers essential understanding of the military-strategic basis and trajectory of a rising China. It also provides background on current and future issues concerning China's rising strategic-military influence.

China is now exerting military and strategic pressure on Japan, the Korean Peninsula, India, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. Is conflict a foregone conclusion, as indicated by China's increasing participation in many benign international organizations? Will China's leadership pursue its interests as it sees them, not in keeping with those of the United States and the otherwise free world? 

Mr. Fisher also discusses how China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) remains critical to the existence of the Chinese Communist government. While China has both internal and external constraints on its rise to global eminence, the far-reaching strategic agenda of the Chinese government is clear and present. 

Joseph F. Johnston, Jr. graduated from Princeton University, subsequently receiving both a master’s degree in history and law from Harvard University. He has practiced law in New York City and Washington, D.C. He has served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Virginia law school and is a member of the American Law Institute. 

His most recent book, "The Decline of Nations," examines the contemporary United States, discussing why Americans should be deeply concerned. Immigration, morality, political correctness, religion and the ascendancy of a new elite class are among the key issues highlighted. The book cites the rise and decline of Roman and British empires.

Mr. Johnston spotlights excessive centralization and deterioration of the rule of law in the United States. He discusses the Progressive movement and expansion of the Welfare state. The book questions the decline of America's military capacity, educational system, arts and culture.

Can extensive global commitments threaten America’s strength and prosperity? Can the United States sustain current economic and political dominance around the world? By seeking to answer these questions and examining the historic patterns of otherwise great nations and empires, Mr. Johnson spotlights the essential need to learn about the future destiny of America. 

Brig. Gen. Robert S. Spalding III assumed the duties of Special Assistant to the U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff in February 2018. He earned his doctorate in economics and mathematics from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 2007. General Spalding served as the chief China strategist for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, Washington D.C. His next assignment was in China as the Senior Defense Official and Defense Attache to China in Beijing, China, then serving at the White House as the Senior Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council, Washington D.C.

During this conversation General Spaulding talks about the political, economic and military rise of China. He also discusses his recently published book, "Stealth War, How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept." In the book, he emphasizes how “most Americans don’t realize just how much influence the Chinese Communist Party has in the United States” and the primary ways China’s Communist party has sought to influence the United States. He further states, "The CCP's fundamental loathing of our Bill of Rights and other legal protections should be chilling to anyone who values freedom. It is the primary reason I am writing this book. I want to alert the world to China's stealth war and its strategy to dominate the planet by focusing on six spheres of influence: the economy, the military, global diplomacy, technology, education, and infrastructure."

He also reviews the closing chapter in the book entitled,  “Beating China at its own game” in which he sets forth an overarching strategy to deal with China. The strategy consists of four concepts: Lead with Principles, Strengthen America, Organize to Compete and Rebuild the International Order. 

Dr. Henry R. Nau is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University. He has taught at Williams College, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and Columbia Universities. 

From 1975 to 1977, Dr. Nau served as special assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. From 1981 to 1983, he was senior staff member and White House sherpa on President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council, responsible for G-7 Summits and international economic affairs. 

He is author of five University Press Books, to include, "Perspectives on International Relations: Power, Institutions, and Ideas".

With this conversation, Dr. Nau begins by spotlighting his career in academia and government service. With highlight of his book, "Perspectives on International Relations: Power, Institutions, and Ideas," Dr. Nau moves on to discuss the relationship between the United States and China. In particular, he talks about the greatest challenges facing U.S. and China relations and the future of Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Dr. Nau also reviews the culture and beliefs of the Communist Chinese Party, to include focus on their "DNA". On closing, he addresses the question, "is there a silent majority in the Chinese population that admires the freedoms of the Western world, or not?"

Congressman Rob Wittman (VA 01) has served the First Congressional District of Virginia since 2007. He is focused on  "strengthening our military and supporting veterans, promoting economic development through fiscal responsibility, fixing our crumbling infrastructure, increasing access to high-speed internet, and promoting workforce development through Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs."

In the U.S. Congress, Congressman Wittman serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Natural Resources, advocating for our men and women in uniform and as a champion of the Chesapeake Bay. On the Armed Services Committee, he serves as Ranking Member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.  

During this conversation, Congressman Wittman talks about his public service. He highlights his work in strengthening the military, supporting veterans, promoting economic development through fiscal responsibility, fixing infrastructure, increasing access to high-speed internet, and promoting workforce development through Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs, and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and Infrastructure. In closing, he discusses the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade, recent violence in America and what he believes the U.S. strategy should be toward China, both today and in the future.  

Dr. YANG Jianli is a scholar and human rights activist, a world-renowned leader for China’s democracy. The son of a Communist Party Leader, he was detained in China in 2002, remaining imprisoned until 2007. He was present at the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, and has studied at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.

During this conversation Dr. Jianli talks about the state of human rights and press freedom in China. He also discusses the the DNA of the Chinese Communist Party. 

He also reviews what he believes the greatest challenges facing US-China relations, both now and in the future, and the overall political, economic and social future of Hong Kong. 

Dr. Jianli provides his perspective on the silent majority in the Chinese population, along with his beliefs on the future of the Chinese Communist Party and regime. 

In closing, he explains the meaning behind the centerpiece quote on his website, “In every heart, there is goodness, and there is knowledge of right and wrong. That is where our hope comes from.” 

Adam Roosevelt is a Father, Combat Veteran, Army Reservist, and Small Business Owner. He was the Nominee for Virginia's House of Delegates in Legislative District 49 (Arlington and Parts of Fairfax). Born in Portsmouth Virginia, he enlisted in the Army at 17 years of age. His first unit assignment was at Ft. Drum, then deploying to Bagram Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the International Security Assistance Force. 

In this conversation, Adam talks about his time in Afghanistan, recent run for office and defense contracting work. He also reflects on the greatest challenges facing the United States today, to include comment on the current nationwide violence. Finally, he discusses his views on the American mainstream media, along with his perspective regarding U.S. policy toward China.   

Simon Gao is a producer and host for New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television's, "Zooming In with Simone Gao."  During this conversation, Simone talks about her career, her recent reporting on China, overall freedom of press in Asia, the American Media and the COVID 19 Pandemic.  

In particular, Simone highlights her latest Zooming In one hour documentary entitled, " The Coverup of the Century." As posted on You Tube 28 June 2020: "Zooming In’s one-hour documentary movie follows investigative reporter Simone Gao’s inquiry into critical questions about the pandemic: What did the Chinese Communist leadership do at the early stages of the outbreak? What significant truth have they concealed from the world, and why did they do that?" 

"The Indo American Center ia an independent, non-partisan, free market think tank, dedicated to strengthening the strategic partrnership emerging between India and the U.S."

During this conversation, Indo American Center President Mr. Vinson Palathingal further details the mission of the Indo American Center, with focus on the goals, target audiences and recent initiatives of the Center.  

Vinson also spotlights the recent history of India, along with a review of the current relationship between the United States and India. 

Mr. Ben Loyola is a Cuban native who escaped the communist country to America when he was two years of age. He moved on to serve for 30 years in the United States Navy, retiring as a Captain. In 1991, he founded Loyola Enterprises Inc., an engineering service contracting firm. He is now a candidate for the Second Congressional District in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

In this conversation, Ben discusses family escape from Cuba, service in the United States Navy, business career and his current campaign for Congress. He also highlights what he believes to be the greatest challenges and opportunities facing both the Second Congressional District in Virginia and our nation.  

From the JCU Website: "The Japanese Conservative Union (JCU) was founded in 2015. Our mission is to foster dialogue to expand understandings of conservative ideas, not only between the US and Japan but also within Japan and across Asia. JCU believes the proper role of government is to protect its citizens' lives, safety, and wealth through a commitment to the rule of law and strong national security; to unleash economic growth by minimizing tax and regulatory burdens, thus empowering all generations to prosper; and to operate efficiently and transparently." 

This interview is with Mr. Matt Noyes, Japanese Conservative Union International Liaision. Along with discussing his duties at JCU, Matt discusses the JCU mission and growing presence in other nations. Additionally, Matt talks about the growing cooperation between Japanese and American conservatives, press freedom in China, the Japanese and American media and the Freedom Fighters in Hong Kong.