Day: March 17, 2026

Today’s Blowback and the Historical Record of US Meddling in Iran 

We begin with the killing today of Iran’s top national security official and the head of the Basij militia who were hiding in a safe house struck by Israel, opening the way for even more hardline officials to take over since both Ali Larijani and Brig. General Soleimani were pragmatists in an otherwise radical regime of religious zealots. Joining us to discuss the historical record on US meddling in Iran leading up to the current war is Tom Mockaitis, a professor of history at DePaul University, where he teaches courses in British, Modern European, and Military History. His research and writing cover international security, terrorism, unconventional conflict, and military history. A regular contributor to The Hill, he has taught counter-terrorism courses at venues around the world as part of the U.S. Department of Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program and is the author of many books including ‘New’ Terrorism: Myths and Reality, Violent Extremists: Understanding the Domestic and International Terrorist Threat and Iraq and the Challenge of Counterinsurgency. We discuss his article at The Hill, “A history of US meddling in Iran brought us here.”

The Intensifying War Between Afghanistan’s Taliba And Their Former Sponsor Pakistan

Then we look into the intensifying war between Afghanistan’s Taliban and their former sponsor Pakistan with a strike on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul that killed over 400. Joining us is Christine Fair, a Professor in the Security Studies Program within Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She previously served as a political officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan in Kabul, and she is the author of Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army’s Way of War and In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and reads Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi.

Trump’s Claim He will Have “The Honor of Taking Cuba” Which is Likely to Fall in a Matter of Weeks

Then finally with Trump claiming he will have “the honor of taking Cuba” and handpicking its new leader, we speak with Luis Martinez-Fernandez, a professor of history at the University of Central Florida. He is a historian of Latin America and the Caribbean who focuses on the histories of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Born in Cuba, he is the author of a number of books including Revolutionary Cuba: A History and we discuss his expectation that the country will fall in a matter of weeks.