Susan Kokinda argues that Vice President JD Vance’s Nixon Library remarks about a “deep state” targeting Nixon and Trump point to a deeper fight over U.S. foreign policy: an American tradition of ending wars versus Henry Kissinger’s British “balance of power” doctrine of managing conflict.
She links
Eisenhower ending Korea and stopping the 1956 Suez seizure, and
William Rogers’ post–Six-Day War comprehensive peace proposal, to
Trump’s Abraham Accords,
contrasting them with Kissinger’s rise after Watergate,
the collapse of Rogers’ plan, and
renewed Middle East wars,
including Lebanon’s descent into civil war after Kissinger-era maneuvering.
She highlights April 14, 2026 talks involving Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors with Secretary Rubio and a June 26 trilateral framework for ending the conflict.
Kokinda also cites June 23 White Sands directed-energy tests and Trump’s January 2025 “Golden Dome” order as reversing Kissinger’s ABM/MAD legacy and pushing U.S. industrial revival toward assured defense and lasting peace.
Chapters
00:00 The Monday Brief - Intro - June 29, 2026
01:34 Two Foreign Policies: American Development vs British Perpetual War
05:05 Kissinger’s Doctrine in Action: How Lebanon Was Broken
08:54 New Mexico: The Stake Through the Heart of MAD
