The Virtue of Prudence in U.S. Foreign Policy: Lessons for Today w/ Dr. Robert G. Kaufman, Ph.D., J.D., LL.M.

When I first met our guest today, it was during the administration of George W. Bush in 2007 at the Starbucks near Ralphs in Malibu, California between Pepperdine classes. Dr. Kaufman was discussing anything and everything with anyone who would stop by to chat, from students to homeless-looking billionaires to homeless looking homeless people. He reminded me of a real-life Socrates in the Agora, except with a nice tie. Professor Robert G. Kaufman has taught at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy in Malibu, California since 2004. Before that, Dr. Kaufman was tenured in Bernie Sanders' country at the University of Vermont as the only Republican faculty member. He has 4 degrees from Columbia University in New York City, including a Great Books background as undergraduate and a Ph.D. Kaufman's law degrees are from Georgetown (JD) and his advance law studies in dispute resolution were from Pepperdine Law's famous Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution program in Malibu, California. The discussion today includes his controversial book "In Defense of the Bush Doctrine" (University of Kentucky Press, 2007) as well as its sister book that came nearly a decade later with the same themes, "Dangerous Doctrine: how Obama's Grand Strategy Weakened America (University of Kentucky Press, 2016). Those books defend what he urges that a prudent, historically learned president would decide, given the right lessons from the Civil War, WW 1, WW 2, the Cold War, and the first Gulf War. He stands by his arguments and conclusions in those books despite the well-spring of isolationist rhetoric creeping back into Republican Party politics, allegedly inspired by Trump. Kaufman voted for Trump and would again, so he's not a Never Trumper. But he's not an Always Trumper, as well. And the dangers of either side are worth paying close attention to. Professor Kaufman also offers critical reflection on presidents Trump and Biden, and suggestions for a way forward with our most critical, pressing challenges. We also incidently mention an earlier book that I read two decades ago, his biography of the Democrat US senator from Washington, Henry "Scoop" Jackson, who had the correct view of Nixon's detente and who helped establish the Reagan Doctrine that won the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Republican Professor is a pro-getting-a-better-grip-on-the-right-foreign-policy podcast. Therefore, welcome the one and only Professor Robert G. Kaufman of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy in Malibu, California. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. Warmly, Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D. The Republican Professor Podcast The Republican Professor Newsletter on Substack