Pete Wehner on What Happens When Morality Leaves U.S. Foreign Policy? Venezuela, Greenland, and "Might Makes Right" cover art

Pete Wehner on What Happens When Morality Leaves U.S. Foreign Policy? Venezuela, Greenland, and "Might Makes Right"

Pete Wehner on What Happens When Morality Leaves U.S. Foreign Policy? Venezuela, Greenland, and "Might Makes Right"

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 Can Christian Americans Resist Authoritarian Drift? Pete Wehner—The Atlantic columnist and former Reagan and Bush administration staff member—joins host Curtis Chang to ask the uncomfortable question: in Trump's America, is morality a loser that's been replaced by the "law of the jungle"—especially in U.S. foreign policy? From Venezuela to a looming Greenland/Denmark showdown that could fracture NATO, Wehner argues we're watching "might makes right" go mainstream. The antidote, he says, isn't vibes—it's resistance: stop living within the lie and start living within the truth. 00:04:23 - Explaining the U.S. Foreign Policy Shift 00:06:36 - What Is America's Moral Aspiration in Foreign Policy? 00:07:57 - Trump's "Will to Power" Ethic 00:11:34 - Do We Have Historical Amnesia? 00:16:36 - Contrasting Trump and PEPFAR 00:19:09 - The Disconnect Between Christian Identity and Policy 00:26:34 - Demagogues and Moral Erosion 00:34:19 - President Trump's Unique Amorality 00:37:10 - Primacy of Human Dignity and Christian Ethics 00:41:01 - Venezuela, Greenland, and Moral Implications 00:44:02 - The Value of Beauty and Creation 00:47:14 - What Are the Limits and Possibilities of Action More about the Religious Landscape Study pewresearch.org/rls Sign up for the Good Faith Newsletter Mentioned In This Episode: Pete Wehner's article Trump's FollyMore about PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief)Anne Applebaum's Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of AuthoritarianismWilliam Galston's Anger, Fear, Domination: Dark Passions and the Power of Political SpeechJeane Kirkpatrick's essay Dictatorships and Double Standards (Commentary)Václav Havel's The Power of the PowerlessDavid Brooks' article America Needs a Mass Movement—Now Without one, America may sink into autocracy for decades (The Atlantic)C.S. Lewis' idea of active obedience is found in Mere ChristianityAleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Prize Lecture (literature, 1970) More from Pete Wehner: Pete Wehner's articles at The AtlanticPete Wehner's opinion pieces at The New York Times Follow Us: Good Faith on Instagram Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter) Good Faith on Facebook The Good Faith Podcast is a production of a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization that does not engage in any political campaign activity to support or oppose any candidate for public office. Any views and opinions expressed by any guests on this program are solely those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Good Faith.
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