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 unreality of the latest Gaza peace plan, Israel’s growing estrangement from American politics, and the coming collision between AI and domestic policy. Finally, because no episode is complete without sports, Haass hedges on the maybe-not-playoff-bound New York Giants and both marvel at the resurgent Boston Red Sox.

Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass

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Produced by Dale Eisinger

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 possible U.S.-Saudi nuclear arrangement, the absence of process in American foreign policy, Mayor Mamdani’s performative politics, a brutal Fox poll for Trump, AI systems moving faster than governance, and, finally, Cam Young, the Open, and the World Cup.

Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass

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Produced by Dale Eisinger

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 and missiles, accelerating measures to gradually reduce the Strait’s strategic importance, and returning focus to the nuclear issue to ensure that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon. It may mean accepting the uncomfortable reality of a privileged role for Iran in the Strait of Hormuz for a time if it is to stay open. The two co-hosts also discuss Ukraine’s new leverage, Russia’s temptations, America’s contested midterms, and the curse of Trump in sports.

Hosted by John Ellis and Richard Haass

News Items on Substack

Home and Away on Substack

Produced by Dale Eisinger