Is Horseshoe Populism the End of Pax Americana?

2026-06-30

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For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus In this episode, Ron talks to Jay Solomon (executive director of investigations at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University and cohost of The Threat podcast) and Hagar Chemali (former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN and cohost of The Threat podcast) about what the latest war with Iran reveals about the limits of American power. They explore why allies failed to rally around the United States, how the Strait of Hormuz became a political weapon, and...

For the ad-free version of this episode, subscribe to Politicology+ at https://politicology.com/plus

In this episode, Ron talks to Jay Solomon (executive director of investigations at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University and cohost of The Threat podcast) and Hagar Chemali (former spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the UN and cohost of The Threat podcast) about what the latest war with Iran reveals about the limits of American power.

They explore why allies failed to rally around the United States, how the Strait of Hormuz became a political weapon, and why both ends of the political spectrum increasingly argue that America itself is the problem. Then they trace the radicalization of one young American activist as a window into the forces pulling at the country from the outside.

Later, Ron, Jay, and Hagar turn to corruption, transactional foreign policy, and where American leadership goes once the old institutions can no longer be rebuilt.

They discuss:

(5:01) What this war revealed about the limits of American power

(6:41) Why allies didn't rally, and the Strait of Hormuz as a toll booth

(8:34) The case that confrontation with Iran was inevitable

(15:21) The left's turn: DSA, the Mamdani primaries, and a hollowing party

(20:26) Populism meets foreign policy

(25:52) The radicalization of Calla Walsh

(35:02) Utopian movements and the dream of a perfectible world

(39:09) The anti-war tradition versus foreign influence

(46:30) The right's turn: JD Vance, Qatar, Pakistan, and the Quincy Institute

(54:40) Transactionalism, corruption, and values that left the room

(1:02:41) Anti-Semitism, legitimate debate, and the new litmus tests