This episode argues that leaked details of a Trump-Netanyahu call and John Bolton's complaints reveal Trump's rejection of the traditional National Security Council process and the permanent intelligence bureaucracy's control over presidential decision-making. It links that shift to Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence, citing establishment and bipartisan backlash and JD Vance's statement that the intel bureaucracy must answer elected leadership. The script then highlights Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, describing a move away from "globalist" rules-based rhetoric toward a scoped Pacific posture defined by a balance of power, sovereignty, free commerce, and improved U.S.-China relations. Finally, it cites a Council on Foreign Relations essay, "After Hegemony," as an admission that the old Hobbes/Locke philosophical basis of geopolitics is ending, framing the conflict as empire versus sovereign nations.