Eric and Eliot begin with reflections on recent domestic political developments and the "horseshoe theory" uniting political extremes around isolationism and anti-Israeli sentiment. They then discuss the ongoing negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz and the difficulties the Iranian government and Trump administration have created for themselves. From there they move to the recent cyberattacks on American water systems and the seemingly blasé response by both the Trump administration and the larger public. The two also highlight Russia's ongoing hybrid war with Europe and the tightening links among Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. They revisit the continuing degradation of Turkish democracy before wrapping up with thoughts on the recent migrant surge into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta.

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Congressional Budget Office Analysis of the Trump-Class Battleship:
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2026-08/62550-battleships.pdf

CSIS Report on Low Munition Stocks:
https://www.csis.org/analysis/six-reasons-why-united-states-low-munitions

IISS Report on Russia's Hybrid War Operations:
https://www.iiss.org/research-paper/2025/08/the-scale-of-russian--sabotage-operations--against-europes-critical--infrastructure/

Garry Kasparov on the DSA:
https://open.substack.com/pub/persuasion1/p/the-dsa-is-a-menace?r=24onkh&utm_

Kathy Gilsinan on the GOP's Groyper Problem:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/08/01/heritage-foundation-young-republicans-groypers-hiring-01006937

Tucker Carlson's Manifesto:
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/06/tucker-carlson-third-party-israel-trump

Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.