Background Briefing: June 18, 2026
Vance Unloads on Israel in an Obvious Warning Not to Spoil the White House Deal With Iran
We begin with Vice President Vance leveling a broadside against criticism of the White House deal with Iran coming from Netanyahu’s cabinet reminding Israeli leaders that Trump “is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel” then continuing, “The other thing that I would say is that over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars.” Joining us is Joshua Landis, the Sandra Mackey Chair and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma. The past president of the Syria Studies Association, he is a fellow at the Quincy Institute and writes “Syria Comment,” a daily newsletter and blog on Syrian politics.
How to Stop an Autocrat From Rigging Another Election
Then we examine how we could learn from the Hungarian opposition how to stop an autocrat trying to rig another election by mobilizing a tidal wave of opposition and go to Ireland to speak with Daniel Kelemen, a Professor of Law aat Georgetown University. The author of Eurolegalism: The Transformation of Law and Regulation in the European Union and The Rules of Federalism: Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and Beyond, he is a Senior Associate in the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a member of the Executive Committee of the European Union Studies Association. We discuss his article at Foreign Affairs with Daniel Ziblatt, “How to Beat an Autocrat: The Real Lessons of Orban’s Defeat.”