François Picard welcomes former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Jim Townsend and former US Air Force officer Michael (Mikey) Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Is American military power becoming an instrument of political and religious coercion, both at home and abroad? From the reported restrictions on Ukraine's access to Starlink satellite communications to the Trump administration's overtures towards Vladimir Putin and the growing controversy over religious ideology within the Pentagon, the two guests offer a stark assessment of the direction of American foreign and defence policy.
Townsend argues that the reported disruption of satellite communications represents something far more consequential than a dispute over technology. "This is a tool that the administration uses to coerce the Ukrainians," he says, questioning the suggestion that Elon Musk acted independently of the White House.
