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Assassination and US Foreign Policy Since 1945

On this episode of American Prestige, Luca Trenta on US policy on assassinations as a foreign policy tool.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

June 18, 2024

The President’s Kill List: Assassination and US Foreign Policy since 1945.(Luca Trenta)

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Assassination And US Foreign Policy Since 1945 with Luca Trenta | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek are pleased to welcome back to the podcast Luca Trenta, associate professor in International Relations at Swansea University and author of The President’s Kill List. The group discusses assassinations and international law, when and how assassination became a tool for US foreign policy, the difficulties in accessing declassified documents about this topic, the unsuccessful attempts on the life of Fidel Castro and successful operations against the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Patrice Lumumba, the intelligence community using assassination as a “low level” (i.e. not nuclear) form of retaliation in the Cold War, the contemporary justifications for assassinations as “self defense”, the notion of “imminence”, and more.

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On this episode of American Prestige, we are pleased to welcome back to the podcast Luca Trenta, associate professor in International Relations at Swansea University and author of The President’s Kill List. The group discusses assassinations and international law, when and how assassination became a tool for US foreign policy, the difficulties in accessing declassified documents about this topic, the unsuccessful attempts on the life of Fidel Castro and successful operations against the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Patrice Lumumba, the intelligence community using assassination as a “low level” (i.e., not nuclear) form of retaliation in the Cold War, the contemporary justifications for assassinations as “self-defense,” the notion of “imminence,” and more.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Elon Musk and the Future of Capitalism w/ Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff / American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

It’s Tech Day here at AP, so Danny and Derek speak with Quinn Slobodian, professor of international history at Boston University, and writer Ben Tarnoff, co-authors of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, about Elon Musk's role in contemporary capitalism. They discuss Fordism and Muskism; the influence of apartheid South Africa on Musk's approach to production; his vision of AI and human-machine integration; the political significance of his acquisition of Twitter; DOGE's expansion of government data collection and immigration enforcement; and the potential for regulating or replacing Big Tech.

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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is a historian of US foreign relations and is the author of, among other books, Imperialist Realism.


Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.


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