“No Freebies For Dictators” and other Abrams Doctrines

Elliott Abrams has been in the foreign policy business for a rather long time. Years ago, he served on the staffs of Democratic Senators Henry “Scoop” Jackson and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He later served in the administrations of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. During the Trump administration he served as the State Department’s Special Representative for Venezuela and later, in addition, took on the position of Special Representative for Iran. He left the State Department in January 2021. He’s the author of five books. He’s currently senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has a blog called Pressure Points which focuses on U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East, democracy, and human rights. He joins host Cliff May to discuss a number of pressing national security and foreign policy issues.