Made as much of a splash as hes hiring in april of 2018 see him as the president s man in the beginning bolten left the white house ask you strong upon and leaving many people gassing what the National Security process in the Oval Office Comes down to these days to discuss that im now joined by matt bassler cells started professor of Public Policy at the university of maryland professor dessler its a privilege for me to talk to thank you very much for your time. Its a privilege to be with you thank you for inviting me now about the daycare that go you published a very influential book on the history of president s National Security advisers as i was reading it it occurred to me that in this capacity john bolton was truly one of a kind if you were writing that book today with you werent the separate chapter. I suppose we would have a separate chapter on all or all 3 are now 4 of the people of the time trump has chosen to be a National Security advisor but bolton would get the most emphasis of things i think he is probably the most colorful of all right absolutely and also the man who came in with very very strong opinions and not a lot of tolerance for other peoples opinions and now your book with the elder is called in the shadow of the oval office and personality wise john bolton the somebody who likes to take the center stage wasnt it hes repeated when shearing out of the shadows that ultimately paved his way out of the oval office i think that was part of it i think in other words he became identified with positions the president didnt support and then he publicly argued with them and try to mobilize coalitions against the president he had him to change his mind in the National Security adviser is supposed to be a confidential aide to the president and ideally have a little rather low profile but he was anything but that i know you blamed mr bolton for essentially the institutionalizing of the work of the National Security council you called him the antithesis of what a National Security adviser is supposed to be but as far as i understand nobody except the president can decide what a National Security adviser is supposed to be with all due respect its only his prerogative and not bought off of the senate or distinguished scholars like yourself am i right absolutely that this is the problem of writing about this there is developed over the last 50 plus years since john f. Kennedy appointed me george bundy to this position there is developed a consensus among analysts and people who work and to go. From about what the National Security advisor should and should not do and a lot of that has involves a low profile being a reliable broker between the president and other aides and in the president s office and generally making the policy process work smoothly but he and bolton has essentially been the antithesis of this plan the problem is of course the president chooses president s dont necessarily read our books or even if they do they dont follow our recommendations but on the other hand when the ball tonight was a point of it sanjay others around the world many thought that this white house would be the most hawkish average and we know that mr bolton did push for getting more mass killer so to say on iran i mean israel in north korea god knows what other country the fact that trump was able to filter and resists hes persisted advise isnt dotted the president s credit he passed the bolton task did it here you know i suppose it was i mean he recognized that both and was not was getting him in trouble and wasnt always put giving him the support that he needed but its theres i mean the president did choose him both hands appointment sent tremors around washington to at least among those who are out of government in many of those and government because he has a long track record of being very strong polemical very savvy a man who understands how to make the government work but very much polarization i mean hes been anti arms control he was at various times arguing for invading iran for invading north korea etc and this was very much not what where the president wanted to go so why he pointed it was a bit of a mystery that trump. Once described ball to as a tough cookie and i heard one russian observer of this to suggest that the reason while trump appointed here was because he liked trump in baltar and you know this reputation for no b. S. Negotiation and resolute action and it looks like to me at least i have him in john bolton trying got a taste of his own medicine dont you think that bolton ironically may have made President Trump more moderate than more cautious in his Decision Making certainly made him look more moderate and cautious and i think its becoming increasingly clear that the president doesnt want or doesnt want conflict but hes up for suing policies that are tend to be confrontational can do challenge others around most notably and but he doesnt want to follow through with use of military force thats fortunate in my view but it doesnt help the president s credibility because he seems to me as across as trying to be tough until until he has to fish or cut bait and then he doesnt do something that he doesnt deny. Indeed recent iraq apparent attack apparently from iran or Saudi Oil Facilities is a good example of a plausible result of the very tough hooey as the United States has been putting on the iranian economy but again the secretary of state of said iranian bombing in saudi arabia was an act of war which is certainly words but arguably some of what the United States is doing toward iran is either an active or very close to her but i think professor death thats the real also have to keep in mind apart from the United States nobody is sure that iran is actually behind that attack i mean no Security Agency be the russian frank or even saudi for that matter came out strongly in support of them american version of events now you mentioned secretary of state and i know that historically townshends between National Security advisors and secretaries of state. Have been quite common and there has been speculation that john bolton and mike dont get along all that well do you think this bolton pump aoe mismatch played any role at all or was it only about trump and hes disagreements with bolton or i think its important for the National Security adviser to give the wrong with secretary of state and there are many number of cases where they have been rivals and this was another one its clear that bold that im paon who was unhappy with bolton and he was presumably played a role in some sense in the dismissal bolton he can is obviously the president s call but bolton is brace of he doesnt work as a colleague so they dont so its a difficult hes a difficult person to deal with if youre a high level officials we government as well as a former official. A lot of experts Foreign Policy experts after size the role of personality in the National Security adviser position that he or she should have full confidence off of not only the president but as you said the entire cabinet that they should be more even handed down disputatious it was i think clear from the start that john bolton was anything but even handed or fair minded for that matter and yet he lasted for 519 days longer than 2 of his predecessors how do you explain that well i think initially on a couple of issues that his way around he was supporting tough policies that the president wanted to pursue and i think also he cant keep a president whom we have already fired 2 National Security advisers you not going to be quick to fire a 3rd and so i think for a while he thought well i know john is a rougher race of guy but i can handle it im the president i made the decisions and he said recently in a very curious interview that you know it does terribly matter who the next your advisor is because i make all the decisions so its a very easy job he says i dont remember who is sad that but i heard john bolton being described as a and this is a quote a key stop kickdown type of guy dont you think that perhaps hes propound city for being disputatious up least 50 superiors is it be they exaggerate it i dont know that its easy as rated i think. Im sure there were times in situations where bolton was more cooperative than his general reputation but i think the you know that hes has a long track record and Different Levels of government and when he was nominated ambassador to united nations. President george w. Bush he. He was sufficiently controversial that the senate would not. Confirm him even though it had a majority republican majority at the time and the president had to give him an interim appointment so hes been a controversial figure one thing that used to unite bolton and triumph was their dislike for the formal policy process and you wrote recently about as a very skilled bureaucrat bolton was dangerous because he knew the inner workings of the system and therefore he knew how to are in their mind the best do you think he succeeded in that you know i think so i think i mean i dont know all the details of the decision for the United States to withdraw from. Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement but its the sort of thing bolton would do like he doesnt believe in arms control agreements generally and he apparently just came up and he had an opportunity to push says. The military who didnt want to leave the agreement dont get russia or voice a new situation and others dont he just he can on certain issues he could because he was close to the president when he was the president agreed and they could run in this run a decision through the minimum consideration tonsils mention that after boltons firing he and President Trump already exchanged some unflattering comments about one another and i gather it from your writing that you dont hold President Trump in the very high regard you called him a decidedly America President i wonder if you feel sympathy for both of the now that he joined the camp of President Trumps critics are yes i mean i think. One of the persons who is an expert in Foreign Policy making a comment after reading our book about National Security advisors in manuscript said this is the advice for future initial Security Advisors choose your president wisely. Which is of course a joke because you dont get if youre asked of it you dont get to choose your president however Brant Scowcroft when he said the model for how to be a careful a strong but behind the scenes negotiator policy manager worked for h. W. Bush who was an easy a good president to work for serious pros are gone policy who would who wanted. Scowcroft to make connections to build a harmonious team when you have if but when you have a different kind of president whos very willful very idiosyncratic its much harder obviously others have had problems as aides to try to not just the National Security adviser well professor dessler we have to take a short break now but well be back in just a few moments stay tuned. On the back to all the part that back down there it tells a story professor of Public Policy at the university of. Professor dessler present trumps new up point for National Security advisers definitely much less colorful and much last known from what you have heard about robert there brian do you think he is a good pick. Who is probably better suited to working for it with trump and bolton he seems to be a basically cooperative conciliatory character he has moderate credentials in Foreign Policy he wrote a book published during the 2016 president ial campaign whose was mainly on. Just sent a very short essays attacking various forms of elements of obama Foreign Policy so we have some knowledge he also seems to have a reputation for working smoothly with others he worked in president s who come up with president ial campaigns so i think he is not mean its hard to know how well he will function in the job and he may or may probably will the odds are against him becoming a really strong and effective force for Foreign Policy simply because its not clear that his relationship with trump will develop in that direction and also the secretary of state has very much since established himself as the primary president ial adviser and while pompei or apparently you supported recommended the appointment of brian nevertheless. Its not likely to want him to play a major role now you mentioned mr obrien Foreign Policy credentials and. For Many Russians in particular. Thats interesting because he served as a Foreign Policy adviser to mitt romney during his president ial run again barack obama and that campaign is memorable to this country you because of romney characterizing russia as americas number one geopolitical foe which a many people now take as a sort of a geopolitical prophecy do you think mr bryant a real bitch trying to influence trumps policy on the russia in in this same kind of brave russia being americas numb. One geopolitical foe. I have no idea i think that he will. Tend to support Firm Policies these are really russia but whether he will initiate these policies is hard to say obviously the president has tried it at times to be more conciliatory with mr putin and the president will probably continue to try to be that so how but how is hard to know what. What are brian can do is clearly hes not. Not a great. Positive supporter of russia mr brime is the 4th National Security adviser on to tromp after general aflame who i think didnt really get a chance to get the ball rolling general mcmaster who is remembered as a bit of a for a want to try to put it mildly both i think intellectually and temperamentally and mr bolton who we already discussed do you see any math to you how troubling hires and fires people for what is arguably one of the most influential positions within any administration and yes the only method i find is very situational when flynn was appointed he was probably one of the few people that trump knew in the nicer security field and he had been a loyal supporter during the campaign and his problem and he was obviously one of sympathetic relations with russia and this all seemed to be where trump wanted it now flynn unfortunately messed up very early and so he became the most rapidly fired National Security adviser in the history of the position mcmaster was widely praised in Foreign Policy in defense communities as someone who is careful rip professional and cetera but as sometimes has been the case Money Advisors he is master established an elaborate policy process. Tried it for a thorough review of issues and trump didnt want that in want to participate in it and he didnt he want didnt want his hands to be tied by a process so rick aster wheres theres sort of 2 jobs the National Security advisers typically has to do one is to manage the process 2nd is to advise the president now mcmaster tried to manage the process in a very elaborate way and many president s dont want that. But he also presumably gave advice to the president its not clear how much his advice was welcome or not. Well professor duster trump is often ridiculed for saying that he trusts his over advise process given that these policy process lab hes predecessors tsu many m i would say disastrous very expensive and repeated mistakes at least in the middle east isnt he justified in distrusting that policy process the process hasnt been able to operate too well under trump maybe you should just trust but its also a process very much in the process depends very much on what the president s operating style is how he wants to work and in this case who is president who has assured Attention Span he wants to follow his gut instincts rather than a broad announces and he wants to have it done with people who are congenial pump aoe is the only senior Foreign Policy official so far who seems to have mastered the art of working affectively with strong friends and he is therefore emerged secretary of state as the primary adviser whether hes whether trump is right or wrong to distrust the policy process he is the creator of it whether he knows that or not but its no secret that. Trump pretty much the National Security council and organizationally hes white house is often criticized for being too disorganized absent conscious for example to his predecessor barack obama who tried to put at least try to put the basque practices into the policy works and yet if we look at his decisions lets say his decision on libya you know we just heard not only that country but have major consequences for europe with the ensuing migration crisis that doesnt strike me as too well thought through this say with syria his secret order. Authorizing the cia to work with saudi arabia in trying to overthrow Bashar Al Assad and in that country i mean to use president obamas phrase and to modify that a little bit dont you think that trump with all his curial temperament with all his disorganization that he has still done much less stupid stuff the president obama himself who like to polish the process so much. I mean its harder to give a quick comparison i think obama was much more thoughtful much more careful the libya intervention turned out badly at the time there was a time urgency about it because. Gadhafi is forces were heading toward benghazi and they were likely that he could offer you promise to have a very bitter swilley shoot up all the demonstrators that were going to be there and so it was it was a time when the allies were supporting it so it certainly could do it with a coalition not alone and it was amply you it could be done obviously it was affective to throw out to overthrow gadhafi not effective in terms of any sort of stable regime that followed syria obviously obama did not succeed there but then is a terribly difficult problem obamas very his or his or ran agreement irans deal was i think the polar opposite of trumps dealing with that he would work very hard and lead a cli he put together a team of analysts he were patient and then when there was an opportunity to get the iranians to make c. Different commitments to constrain their Nuclear Development obama went for doubt it was controversial because people who criticize him for saying he didnt solve the problem of river pretty did solve it for 10 years and then well i think temper troubles big problems with iran started when he had boltons urging wanted to blow that up and did but professor and thus there i think the the policy should be judged not by its intentions by bye bye its output the imagine the iran deal as good as it was it didnt last long as we all know but the leap in deal you know i believe be an affair each laughed huge. I mean we still dont know how its going to a fag the entire continent 2 continents and both africa and europe i would blame him mr obama for not considering joe graphic strategic factor is around their their role of the migration flows and how it could affect americas closest allies i mean we weve been talking about the policy process but isnt the policy a process is its whole purpose do you think about things like that when you deal with the emerging before your have an emergency situation on your hands all that is true i dont. So i think libya history at the time in libya looks like their success for about a year afterwards now it looks like a mistake or you may exaggerate how important libya is and is a relatively low population country at its height above us National Security council how the round 400 personnel people on it and i know that it produced a lot of discussion in washington about the correlation between the size of the body and its a factor in this is it clear how these body operates on the trump its not at all clear on operation under trump i was in on record criticizing the size of the National Security staff under obama i would do so if a conference at west point and i argued that at the problem is you get lots of people who are very competent policy people put dont have the ear of the president who are maybe in the ear of the National Security advisor if you have maybe maybe maybe you as in 400 policy people with maybe there were 250 policy people there thats just too many in the in let there be almost bound to take over functions that are better performed in the state department the pentagon and cetera so i think it is it was a problem. So far as one can tell trump and his 2 systems have more slowly dismantled the process or peoples it with people with like minded ideologues at least thats the way flynn started out and thats the way bolton started now bringing in people who have his his views and in front you need nicer Security Council staff to be looking at alternative views and to present these to the president and to the cabinet too so that they can get. A sense of what the issues are and what their choices really are i mean somebody like libya as you say needed needed to be think people need to think ahead its not at all clear what the what the good options were as good as he wished me a mess professor just that i just want to add that i was on the ground in libya in fact at that time and i think their reporting in western media hugely hugely exaggerated the threat posed for gaddafi he in fact never threatened that bloodbath but it was very expedient for the american Foreign Policy to exaggerate the threat unfortunately we have to leave it there we ran out of time but i gratefully greatly appreciate your being here with us thank you very much and thank you very much for the opportunity our viewers can keep this conversation going in our social media pages and i hope to see same place same time on all of the part. Of. 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That the president the United States has betrayed his oath of office. To defend our National Security and betrayed his oath to defend our constitution. Is the key is to investigate activities of former u. S. Vice President Joe Biden and his son claims it goes well beyond ukraine we look into those allegations