A Long Game.
'Alternate Shots' podcast. Episode #32.
‘Alternate Shots’ Episode #32. Co-hosts: John Ellis and Richard Haass. Produced by Dale Eisigner. Recorded 10 July 2026.
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At this point, it doesn’t really matter how President Trump decided to go to war with Israel against Iran. And it doesn’t really matter how we got to this point of the war. We’re here. The question is: what next?
In this episode of ‘Alternate Shots’ Richard and I address this question. More accurate: Richard offers some ideas on a realistic path forward. Oversimplified, Richard asserts that a “long game” is probably the only viable option.
We move on to discuss the Ukraine war, which Ukraine has remarkably and admirably fought to something that looks a lot like stalemate. In so doing, it’s not inaccurate to say that Ukraine has acquired significant leverage in determining the war’s outcome. There aren’t seven people who imagined that was possible when the war began.
We then move on to discuss the extraordinary efforts by the Trump administration to “federalize” the mid-term elections, through various means. The administration’s efforts seem unlikely to survive legal challenge given that elections are run by individual states, not the federal government. But legal challenges are often seen by President Trump as political opportunities.
We end with Richard blasting FIFA (and its referees), our mutual appreciation of the athletic ability of the World Cup’s star players, and our stunningly insightful views on the upcoming Open Championship (professional golf’s “fourth major”). Long story short, we’re rooting for Cameron Young.