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PODCAST

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis

Richard Haass and John Ellis

The idea of the podcast is this: We talk about “three things” that are interesting, important or both. The third thing will be about something from the world of sports.Richard is a veteran diplomat (he served in the Carter, Reagan, G.H.W. Bush and G.W. Bush administrations). He was president of the Council on Foreign Relations for two decades (he’s now president emeritus). He’s a Senior Counselor at Center|View Partners, a prominent New York City-based investment banking firm. He also distributes a

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All Episodes

29:49

Succession: Episode 41

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/10/10

This episode of Alternate Shots begins with a status report on the Iran War (who will cry "uncle" first, is the question), President Xi's mysterious "naps" at the White House, the upcoming Israeli election, the U.S. abandonment of Ukraine, the "plague" outbreak in Siberia, Pete Hegseth's presidential campaign and OpenAI's astonishing breakthrough(s) in mathematics. We end with the speedy departure of the New York Yankees from the MLB playoffs and the surprisingly competitive Nearby New York G...

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28:55

Trump Fatigue: Episode 40

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/09/25

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass take stock of a world where institutions, summits, and alliances are showing their age. They begin with UN week in New York, where Haass argues the United Nations has become less an institution than a venue: useful for speeches and side meetings, but largely irrelevant when the major powers disagree. From there, they turn to the Trump-Xi summit, a quiet affair that may be preferable to the wrong kind of grand bargain. They also discus...

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31:13

A Successful Failed Summit: Episode 39

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/09/19

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass look ahead to the Trump-Xi summit and ask whether, in this instance, an uneventful meeting would be preferable to a consequential one. Haass worries not about failure, but about the wrong kind of success: a commercial deal purchased at the expense of Taiwan, American allies, or U.S. leverage on Russia and Iran. From there, they turn to AI, where the United States and China dominate the field but lack the trust, process, and perhaps ur...

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32:32

Diplomacy Backwards: Episode 38

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/09/12

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass consider a world in which old assumptions no longer hold. They begin with 9/11, what it did and did not change, and the danger that AI, drones, and biotechnology could make terrorism newly consequential. From there, they turn to diplomacy done backward: envoys courting Moscow before Kyiv, money offered where nationalism is the real currency, and the spreading crisis at sea as the Houthis threaten the Bab el-Mandeb. Also on the table: ...

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29:11

Untitled Episode

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/09/04

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass ask whether declaring the Iran war over makes it so. Haass is skeptical: a blockade remains an act of war, retaliation remains likely, and the United States is still stuck in the gray zone between ceasefire and conflict. They also examine Russian support for Iran, the anti-American axis on display at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Turkey’s hedging, Venezuela’s oil gamble, inflation, the possibility of a blue wave, and the risk...

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27:09

What Went Wrong? Episode 36

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/08/29

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass mark six months of the Iran war and ask: what went wrong? Many things is their answer. They're equally downbeat about Treasury Secretary's "D-Day" and President Trump's rekindled interest in North Korea, although not as downbeat as Stanley Druckenmiller and the South Koreans. The conversation then turns to the devastating research report from The British Medical Journal (BMJ) on professional (American) football players and CTE (brain ...

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34:11

Who Blinks? Episode 35

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/08/15

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass examine a world discovering that technology, politics, and war are moving faster than institutions built to manage them. They begin with Iran, where Haass argues Washington should have led with economic pressure, not military escalation, and where coercion now tests which side can endure more pain. From there, they turn to Ukraine’s drone advantage, America’s dated defense posture, and the need for something like a second Pentagon bui...

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31:12

The Hormuz Dilemma: Episode 34

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/08/07

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass assess a world in which imperfect outcomes may be the best available ones. They begin with Iran, where Haass sees a likely reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but not peace, not a ceasefire, and not a strategic victory. Tehran has gained leverage; Washington has limited options; and America’s defense-industrial base is proving ill-suited to the wars it may be asked to fight. From there, they turn to Ukraine’s air-defense crisis, the un...

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30:30

Overreach: Episode 33

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/07/24

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass assess a world in which overreach has become policy. They begin with Iran, where the United States and Tehran appear to be acting against their own interests: bombing, retaliation, threats to the Strait of Hormuz, and a memorandum of understanding that solved too little and conceded too much. Haass argues the next step should be a ceasefire, renewed nuclear diplomacy, and a more serious effort to reopen the strait. They then turn to a...

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31:59

Plan C for Iran: Episode 32

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/07/13

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass ask whether Washington has anything resembling a Plan C for Iran. Haass offers one: First, accept that previous U.S. plans (first bombing our way to regime change or Iranian capitulation followed by an effort to negotiate an end to the war on reasonable terms) have all failed. Then he suggests adopting a new strategy, one that includes maintaining sanctions rather than rewarding Tehran, building Gulf defenses against Iranian drones an...

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25:56

Tehran, Taiwan, & The Knicks: Episode 31

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/06/20

This week on Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass take stock of a world long on ceasefires and short on strategy. They begin with the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, the subject of Haass’s recent Home and Away essay, bluntly titled “Defeat,” and ask whether the deal is less diplomacy than capitulation: vague on the nuclear question, silent on missiles, generous to Tehran, and dangerous for Israel and America’s partners. From there, they turn to Netanyahu’s narrowing room for m...

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28:56

Tehran, Pyongyang, Los Angeles...and MSG: Episode 30

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/06/09

John Ellis and Richard Haass take up a world in which problems are less solved than managed. Iran remains unfinished business, with the future of the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear limits on Iran, and sanctions relief all in play. What is certain is that the Gulf states face a future of greater uncertainty, with some likely to try to come to terms with Iran and others more inclined to confront it. China’s outreach to North Korea reveals an effort on Xi Jinping's part to reestablish influence there...

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30:02

Pope Leo, AI, and the Knicks: Episode 29

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/05/29

For years, artificial intelligence occupied the familiar territory of technological optimism: faster growth, greater efficiency, and the promise that innovation would solve more problems than it created. That era may be ending. This week on Alternate Shots, Richard Haass and John Ellis examine the rapid emergence of AI not simply as a business story, but as a political, strategic, and even theological one. Prompted by a sweeping papal encyclical warning against surrendering human judgment to ...

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30:03

The Strait, the Summit, and the Slush Fund: Episode 28

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/05/22

In this week’s Alternate Shots, Richard Haass and John Ellis begin with Iran, which remains suspended in the uneasy territory between war and peace. Washington appears to be inching toward a revised nuclear arrangement that resembles, in substance if not in branding, the very deal Donald Trump tore up in his first term. Also emerging are growing tensions between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who may come to regret advocating for a war that has created growing prob...

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27:04

Bored of War: Episode 27

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/05/10

John Ellis and Richard Haass discuss the latest on multiple wars, actual and political. They review the absence of good options for ending the war with Iran, noting that wars dont necessarily end when one side (in this case Donald Trump) has had enough. The big question as the President heads to China is what he might be prepared to give up on Taiwan or chips to get Xi’s help with Iran or on trade. The surprising good news is how the tide of war is slowly but steadily turning against Vl...

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27:05

More Stress than Strategy: Episode 26

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/05/05

Alternate Shots returns with John Ellis and Richard Haass examining a geopolitical and domestic political landscape defined by drift. The crisis surrounding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz underscores a broader reality: deterrence is fraying, diplomacy is episodic, and the risk of miscalculation is rising. The United States faces narrowing options, caught between rising economic pressure, a lack of promising military options, and the absence of a coherent endgame. Beyond the Middle East, transa...

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25:08

Two Wars & A King: Episode 25

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/04/28

In this episode of Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass tackle two wars, a Royal visit, and the world of sports. The conversation starts with the Iranian proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and leave the nuclear issue for later, which the Trump administration appears to be resisting but Haass argues the US should run with. From there, they pivot to the war in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s battlefield resilience and drone innovation are quietly reshaping modern warfare and building opposi...

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27:37

Cautious Optimism: Episode 24

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/04/19

In this episode of Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass navigate a tumultuous week where cautious optimism collided with geopolitical reality. The conversation ranges from Iran and the fragile ceasefire in and around the Strait of Hormuz to electoral upheaval in Hungary. The hosts also speak their minds on the attacks aged by both the president and vice president on Pope Leo. They end with the apparent demise of the Saudi-supported LIV golf tour and this coming week’s NFL...

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21:26

Strait Talk Everywhere But the SitRoom: Episode 23

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/04/09

In this episode of Alternate Shots, John Ellis and Richard Haass dissect a ceasefire that exists mostly on paper and a war that has created more problems than it has solved. The Strait of Hormuz has gone from highway to choke point, while what to do about Iran’s nuclear efforts and its support of proxies remains as much of a question as ever. Along the way, they critique a decision-making process dominated by a president that contains little in the way of process, expertise, or analysis. Fort...

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27:49

Losing the Battle, Winning the War: Episode 22

Alternate Shots with Richard Haass and John Ellis ·

2026/04/03

In this episode of Alternate Shots, hosts John Ellis and Richard Haass dissect a familiar American illusion: that battlefield dominance equals strategic victory. Yes, Iran has taken a beating; but, as Haass notes, capability plus will still makes for a dangerous adversary. The conversation skewers the president’s speech which failed to articulate a strategy for what comes next. Meanwhile, Gulf allies fret, NATO frays into a polite fiction, and China quietly enjoys the distraction. The verdict...

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41 results

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