In today’s episode, Victor Davis Hanson joins us once again. The Middle East is seething with trouble, discord, danger and the inhumane murder of civilians in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt.  So what else is new? Perhaps the inadequate and conflicted  responses of the major governments looking on. Or, is it perhaps time for them to go “neo-isolationist?” We discuss this with Victor who, in our judgement, is the wisest and most strongly spoken of the “realpolitikers.”

David Satter is one of the most prolific and analytically acute observers of contemporary Russia. His years in Moscow began while it was still the capital of the Soviet Union. And in his 3 major books he has chronicled its develolution into a dangerous “kleptocracy.” In this conversation, he provides a masterly overview of that history and ends with some important recommendations about re-setting the US-Russia “reset.”

Much was made of the concept of American Exceptionalism during the last presidential campaign. Is it something you believe to be fact? Charles Murray, the eminent social and political scientist from the American Enterprise Institute and author of the new book of the same name, says it is real – and that has nothing to do with emotional attachments to the United States or any patriotic statements. It’s something that even foreigners have conceded, going all the way back to the founding.

Are civilizations cyclical? Must all civilizations die? We explore all this with David Goldman, author of How Civilizations Die: (And Why Islam Is Dying Too). He has more than a few thoughts on the topic of civilizations and their longevity.

We talked in 2013 with Bruce Thornton, research fellow at the Hoover Institution and expert on all things in the Middle East. Up for discussion: the civil war in Syria, the always simmering tension with Iran, and what to expect from the then-current administration on foreign policy over the next few years.