House Speaker DramaTop of Mind with Julie Rose • Season 1, Episode 159, Segment 1
Oct 14, 2015 • 39m
Guest: Michael Barber, Ph.D., Political Science Professor at BYU  Speaker John Boehner’s abrupt announcement resigning from the House and speakership two and a half weeks ago sparked a frenzy that’s included a couple of hopefuls throwing their hat into the ring. The likely replacement was to be Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California – the next in line after Boehner. Except that he abruptly pulled out of the running, too. And now, as one political scholar puts it, the US House of Representatives has been “flash frozen.”

How Armed Groups Retain Power
How Armed Groups Retain PowerOct 14, 201528mGuest: Benedetta Berti, International Policy Analyst and Fellow and Lecturer at Tel Aviv University and the Institute of National Security  The nature of war has changed in the last fifty years?and not just the weapons being used. The battle lines themselves are radically different. It used to be that one country would declare war on another – one government’s military would battle another’s. But think about the current conflicts in the Middle East. They’re driven by armed groups not affiliated with a formally-recognized “state;” think of ISIS  and Hezbollah. To win a war against insurgents, militias and terrorists requires different strategies, and a better understanding of who these groups are. In particular, international policy analyst Benedetta Berti says it’s important to understand what these groups do when they’re not fighting.
Guest: Benedetta Berti, International Policy Analyst and Fellow and Lecturer at Tel Aviv University and the Institute of National Security  The nature of war has changed in the last fifty years?and not just the weapons being used. The battle lines themselves are radically different. It used to be that one country would declare war on another – one government’s military would battle another’s. But think about the current conflicts in the Middle East. They’re driven by armed groups not affiliated with a formally-recognized “state;” think of ISIS  and Hezbollah. To win a war against insurgents, militias and terrorists requires different strategies, and a better understanding of who these groups are. In particular, international policy analyst Benedetta Berti says it’s important to understand what these groups do when they’re not fighting.