THE UNTHINKABLE OLIVE BRANCH

When a brutal dictatorship collapses, there's a big problem: everyone who knows how to run the government is someone who worked for the brutal dictator. It's a battle of pragmatism vs. justice. Should Nazi civil servants be allowed to keep their jobs? Do we need Saddam Hussein's handpicked henchmen, experts, and cronies to keep the electricity on?

When a dictatorship collapses, there's a big problem: everyone who knows how to run the government is someone who helped the dictator. Do we need Saddam Hussein's henchmen to keep the electricity on? We'll speak to Ambassador Paul Bremer, who ran Iraq from 2003-2004. And we'll talk to a torture victim who extended an unthinkable olive branch to those who ordered his torture.

Featured on this episode: Professor Mary Fulbrook, Ambassador Paul Bremer, Catherine Philp, Tunisian MP Said Ferjani, and Michael Goldfarb (Michael’s podcast is FRDH, First Rough Draft of History).