Shield of the Republic

Eric and Eliot kick off Shield of the Republic’s new era with a supersized episode!
3:39: Jackassery of the Week
12:36: Trump’s Canada Trade War
18:29: Eliot’s Trip Report from Japan
35:56: Venezuelan Oil
44:32: Iran War Update
55:57: The View From Eastern Europe
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59:31: Professor Paul Miller Joins the Show
1:02:42: Myths About the War in Afghanistan
1:09:02: Key Decisions in the War
1:13:45: Counterinsurgency & Counterterrorism
1:18:24: Bureaucratic Missteps
1:23:55: The Pakistan Dilemma
1:33:07: U.S. Policy Reviews During the War
1:39:48: The Afghanistan Papers
Choosing Defeat: The Twenty-Year Saga of How America Lost Afghanistan
Bureaucracy Does Its Thing
Afghanistan Study Group Final Report: A Pathway for Peace in Afghanistan
Why The Afghan Security Forces Collapsed
Question for the show? Email mailbag@shieldoftherepublic.com!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shieldoftherepublic.com/subscribe

Eric and Eliot open their final show on the Bulwark with a plethora of jackassery including Trump's threat to bomb Oman, his curtailing of joint exercises with South Korea, and the Pentagon shuttering access to the Defense Technical Information Center. They also discuss updates in Iran, Russia, and Venezuela before turning to a retrospective of the major international developments during Shield's five year run on the Bulwark. Finally, they close with reflections about what they got wrong along the way.
Reminder: going forward Shield of the Republic will be available at shieldoftherepublic.com! If you are currently subscribed via Apple, Spotify, or a major podcast provider, you will continue to receive the free weekly show. We'll also be available on YouTube and can be followed on Twitter and Instagram. Question for the show? Email mailbag@shieldoftherepublic.com or leave a comment on the site!
Eric on Trump turning on South Korea:
https://thedispatch.com/article/south-korea-military-exercises-trump-asia/
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

Eric and Eliot discuss the week's jackassery, including the administration's stripping former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall of his security clearance for innocuous comments about Trump's new Qatari-donated Air Force One. They then discuss the irresponsibility of Trump's using that aircraft to travel to a NATO summit being held adjacent to a war zone. They also cover the new diplomatic alignment among Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, the changes in leadership in Iran, and the rival missile campaigns of Russia and Ukraine in their ongoing war. Frank Kendall then joins the show to discuss his new book, Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare Whether We Like It or Not, and his determination not to be silenced or intimidated by the Trump administration.
Reminder: Shield of the Republic will be going independent soon! Subscribe at shieldoftherepublic.com and follow @ShieldPod on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare Whether We Like It or Not:
https://a.co/d/0g3rRF6s
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

Eric and Eliot begin with reflections on recent domestic political developments and the "horseshoe theory" uniting political extremes around isolationism and anti-Israeli sentiment. They then discuss the ongoing negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz and the difficulties the Iranian government and Trump administration have created for themselves. From there they move to the recent cyberattacks on American water systems and the seemingly blasé response by both the Trump administration and the larger public. The two also highlight Russia's ongoing hybrid war with Europe and the tightening links among Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. They revisit the continuing degradation of Turkish democracy before wrapping up with thoughts on the recent migrant surge into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.
Reminder: Shield of the Republic will be going independent soon! Subscribe at shieldoftherepublic.com and follow @ShieldPod on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
Congressional Budget Office Analysis of the Trump-Class Battleship:
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2026-08/62550-battleships.pdf
CSIS Report on Low Munition Stocks:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/six-reasons-why-united-states-low-munitions
IISS Report on Russia's Hybrid War Operations:
https://www.iiss.org/research-paper/2025/08/the-scale-of-russian--sabotage-operations--against-europes-critical--infrastructure/
Garry Kasparov on the DSA:
https://open.substack.com/pub/persuasion1/p/the-dsa-is-a-menace?r=24onkh&utm_
Kathy Gilsinan on the GOP's Groyper Problem:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/08/01/heritage-foundation-young-republicans-groypers-hiring-01006937
Tucker Carlson's Manifesto:
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/06/tucker-carlson-third-party-israel-trump
Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

Welcome to the new home of Shield of the Republic! You can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Help us spread the word by sharing this and stay tuned for our official launch soon!


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shieldoftherepublic.com/subscribe