Background Briefing (5am)

Background Briefing (5am) – May 23, 2024

Norway, Spain, and Ireland Recognize a Palestinian State, as the ICC is Poised to Issue Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Three Hamas Leaders

We begin with the implications of Norway, Spain, and Ireland formally recognizing a Palestinian state as of May 28 and also discuss the U.S. condemnation of the ICC arrest warrants for PM Netanyahu and three Hamas leaders, in contrast to praising the ICC for issuing an earlier arrest warrant for Putin. Joining us is Samuel Moyn, the Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and Professor of History at Yale University. He has written several books in his fields of European intellectual history, human rights history, and law, including, The Last Utopia: Human Rights in HistoryNot Enough: Human Rights in an Unequal World; and Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War. His latest book is Liberalism against Itself: Cold War Intellectuals and the Making of Our Times.

The Leading Candidates for Top Positions in a Possible Trump Second Term

Then we examine the leading candidates for the top positions in a possible second Trump term and speak with Jacob Heilbrunn, the editor of the National Interest and a non-resident senior fellow at The Atlantic Council. His books include They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons and America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators. We discuss his op-ed at The New York Times, “The Real Danger if Trump Is Re-elected.”

How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Elections as the GOP Cheats Rather Than Competes

Then finally we look into the Trump GOP’s determination to cheat rather than compete in elections and speak with Joshua Douglas, a professor of law at the University of Kentucky College of Law and legal expert invested and engaged in helping everyday people understand our elections. He is the author of Vote For US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting. We discuss his latest book, just out, The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights.