Shows / The Foreign Affairs Interview
The Foreign Affairs Interview
Foreign Affairs invites you to join its editor, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, as he talks to influential thinkers and policymakers about the forces shaping the world. Whether the topic is the war in Ukraine, the United States’ competition with China, or the future of globalization, Foreign Affairs’ weekly podcast offers the kind of authoritative commentary and analysis that you can find in the magazine and on the website.
Episodes
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The World That Tariffs Will Make: A Conversation With Michael Froman
Donald Trump has been railing against the global economic order from the start of his political career. But in his second term as president, he has turned that…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Can Israel Save Itself? A Conversation With Ami Ayalon
It has been almost two years since Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel and the start of the war in Gaza. Those many months of combat have left Hamas severely…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The Rise of the Economic Security State: A Conversation With Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman
For decades, the United States has used its position at the center of global financial, commercial, and technological networks to punish adversaries and…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Why Is America Going It Alone? A Conversation With Margaret MacMillan
During his second term, Donald Trump has railed against the United States’ closest allies. He has imposed tariffs, threatened to upend security commitments…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Best of: Is the World Ready for the Population Bust? A Conversation With Nicholas Eberstadt
In an episode released in January 2025, Senior Editor Kanishk Tharoor spoke with the political economist Nicholas Eberstadt about the global crash in fertility…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Best Of: What Drives Putin and Xi: A Conversation With Stephen Kotkin and Orville Schell
In 2023, Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke with the historians Stephen Kotkin and Orville Schell about what drives Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The Uncertain Future of U.S. Relations With India: A Conversation With Ashley J. Tellis, Nirupama Rao, and Dhruva Jaishankar
In a recent essay in Foreign Affairs, the scholar and former U.S. official Ashley J. Tellis makes a provocative argument about India’s foreign policy. In a…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Joseph Nye and the End of the American Century: A Conversation With Robert Keohane
For decades, Joseph Nye was one of the true giants of American foreign policy. His career, in government and in the academy, spanned epochs, and his body of…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The Coming Nuclear Hurricane: A Conversation With Vipin Narang and Pranay Vaddi
It wasn’t long ago that both heads of state and prominent policymakers could speak seriously about a world without nuclear weapons. But in the course of just a…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Preparing for the World After Trump: A Conversation With Rebecca Lissner and Mira Rapp-Hooper
For all its promise of disruption, Donald Trump’s first term as president transformed American foreign policy less than most critics feared and some supporters…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
What a Stronger Europe Means for America: A Conversation With Celeste Wallander
For years, U.S. presidents have complained that European governments spend far too little on their militaries, leaving the United States to pick up a…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
How Weak Is Iran? A Conversation With Eric Edelman, Suzanne Maloney, and Andrew P. Miller
Donald Trump pledged not to entangle the United States in wars in the Middle East. But last weekend, he joined Israel’s air campaign against Iran, bombing…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Iran, Israel, and the Middle East in Tumult: A Conversation With Philip Gordon
Less than a week ago, on June 12, Israel launched a barrage of attacks against Iran, targeting nuclear sites, missile depots, and military and political…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
What Trump Gets Wrong About the Global Economy: A Conversation With Adam Posen
U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted during his first term, “Trade wars are good, and easy to win.” But the record of the trade war that Trump started…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Another China Is Possible: A Conversation With Rana Mitter
It has become a trope to lament and lambast the wishful thinking that shaped U.S. policy toward China in the two decades after the Cold War. That policy rested…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Sudan’s Intractable War: A Conversation With Mai Hassan and Ahmed Kodouda
The war in Sudan gets only a fraction of the attention that conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and potential conflicts elsewhere get. But after two years of…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Can Trump Remake the Middle East? A Conversation With Dana Stroul
Donald Trump just finished his first tour of the Middle East since returning to the White House. The region has changed a lot since he was last there as…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Has the United States Gone Rogue? A Conversation With Michael Beckley
In a little more than 100 days, Donald Trump has set about dismantling much of the international order that has prevailed since World War II. That’s true of…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Understanding How Trump Sees the World: A Conversation With Nadia Schadlow
Donald Trump’s first National Security Strategy, released at the end of 2017, announced the start of a new era for American foreign policy—one that put…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Planning for a Post-American Future in Ukraine: A Conversation With Jack Watling
Donald Trump famously promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to the White House. But he is just over 100 days into his presidency, and…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Why Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Fix Global Trade: Conversations With Kimberly Clausing and Michael Pettis
Donald Trump’s embrace of tariffs should come as no surprise. For decades, he has claimed that other countries are ripping Americans off—and promised to use…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Why America Shouldn’t Underestimate Chinese Power: A Conversation With Kurt Campbell and Rush Doshi
For years in U.S. foreign policy circles, discussions of China focused on its growing wealth, power, and ambition, and the fear that it would supplant the…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
How Latin America Can Survive an Age of Turmoil: A Conversation With Brian Winter
For decades, it has been a trope of foreign policy commentary in the United States that Washington does not pay enough attention to its own hemisphere. But the…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Where Is the U.S.-China Relationship Headed? A Conversation With Jude Blanchette and Ryan Hass
Two months into U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S.-Chinese relationship—the most consequential one in the world by a long stretch—faces new…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
What Does Trump See in Putin? A Conversation With Fiona Hill
Not even two months into his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump is reshaping U.S.-Russian relations at a critical juncture for the war in Ukraine. As…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Where Does Ukraine Go From Here? A Conversation With Nataliya Gumenyuk
After three years of war, Ukraine is facing intense pressure from Donald Trump to reach a settlement with Russia. Trump has engaged directly with Russian…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Bonus: Is America on the Path to Authoritarianism? A Conversation With Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way
A month into U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term in office, many are alarmed by what they see as emerging signs of democratic erosion. In a new essay…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Why Biden’s Economic Ambitions Fell Short: A Conversation With Jason Furman
From record-low unemployment to strong GDP growth, the Biden administration presided over what appeared to be a strong economic recovery in the aftermath of…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Putin’s Fight Won’t End With Ukraine: A Conversation With Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Michael Kofman
After nearly three years of war, the mood among many of Ukraine’s allies has turned grim. Russian forces are making steady gains; Kyiv is running low on…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
How Will the World Navigate Trump’s Return? Conversations With Malcolm Turnbull and Bilahari Kausikan
With Donald Trump about to return to the White House, leaders around the world are bracing for what could be a significant realignment in U.S. foreign…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Bonus: In the Room With Xi Jinping: A Conversation With Nicholas Burns
The United States’ relationship with China has scarcely been so contentious. Over the last several years, the two powers have butted heads over issues…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Is the World Ready for the Population Bust? A Conversation With Nicholas Eberstadt
Over the past century, the world’s population has exploded—surging from around one and a half billion people in 1900 to roughly eight billion today. But…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
American Foreign Policy in a Turbulent Age: A Conversation With Antony Blinken
In the four years since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, the geopolitical landscape has radically changed. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought war back…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Total War Is Back—and America Must Adapt: A Conversation With Mara Karlin
Over the last few years, the world has seen the outbreak of a kind of war that had long seemed like a thing of the past. There was Russia’s invasion of…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Trump and the Crisis of Liberalism: A Conversation With Francis Fukuyama
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election comes at a moment of turbulence for global democracy. It’s been a year marked by almost universal…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Bonus: The World of Trump 2.0: A Conversation With Daniel Drezner and Kori Schake
Earlier this week, Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the U.S. presidential election, ushering in a new era of uncertainty at home and abroad. In a special…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The Return of Political Violence: A Conversation With Robert Pape
If there’s a thread that connects unsettling trends across domestic and international affairs today, it’s the return of forms of violence that we once thought…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
What Trump and the American Right See in Foreign Autocrats: A Conversation With Beverly Gage
When Donald Trump praises foreign dictators—from Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un to Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin—the typical reaction is shock and dismay. But in…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The View From Israel One Year After October 7: A Conversation With Ari Shavit
A year has passed since Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel sparked a brutal war in Gaza—one that is now spreading north into Lebanon and threatening to reel…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
The Middle East, China, and the Case Against American Isolationism: A Conversation With Condoleezza Rice
The world Americans face today is more complicated—and dangerous—than it has been for decades. Yet there is a growing, and in many ways understandable, desire…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Can America Still Lead the Global Energy Transition? A Conversation With Brian Deese
The United States is grappling with two of the biggest challenges it has ever faced: the rise of China and the threat of catastrophic climate change. At home…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Can India Change Course? A Conversation With Pratap Bhanu Mehta
In June, Narendra Modi was sworn in for a third consecutive term as India’s prime minister. But—in a surprise outcome—his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
What Republican Foreign Policy Gets Wrong: A Conversation With Kori Schake
As the U.S. presidential election swings into high gear, speculation about a second-term Trump foreign policy is also becoming more intense. Would he push…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Bonus: The Middle East’s Dangerous Escalation: A Conversation With Audrey Kurth Cronin, Marc Lynch, Dennis Ross, and Dana Stroul
As the war in Gaza grinds on, Israel’s endgame remains unclear. What does it mean to destroy Hamas? Who will provide security and govern Gaza when the fighting…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
China’s Vision for a New World Order: A Conversation With Elizabeth Economy
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has a very clear vision for a new world order. And although observers in the United States may disagree with that vision, Washington…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Searching for an Endgame With China: A Conversation With Matt Pottinger
In just a few short years, the United States’ China policy has undergone nothing short of a revolution. Few people have been more central to that shift than…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Biden, Trump, and Washington’s Wishful Thinking: A Conversation With Ben Rhodes
The stakes of a second Trump term are very clear to Ben Rhodes, who served for eight years as one of Barack Obama’s closest advisers on national security…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Populism’s Grip on Mexico: A Conversation With Denise Dresser
Earlier this month, Claudia Sheinbaum won a sweeping victory in Mexico’s presidential election. Although a lot of the coverage framed the results as a win for…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Iran, Israel, and America’s Future in the Middle East: A Conversation With Vali Nasr
For months, Iran and Israel have seemed to be on the brink of outright war. Although tensions are lower than in April—when the countries exchanged direct…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Gaza and the Breakdown of International Law: A Conversation With Oona Hathaway
There’s no question that Hamas violated international law when it attacked Israel on October 7, and as it continues to hold hostages in Gaza. But more than…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Russia’s Murky Future: A Conversation With Stephen Kotkin
When Russia botched its invasion of Ukraine and the West quickly came together in support of Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power appeared…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Can Israel and Iran Step Back From the Brink? A Conversation With Ali Vaez and Suzanne Maloney
On April 13, Iran did something it had never done before: it launched a direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory. As historic and spectacular as the…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Who Still Believes in a Two-State Solution? A Conversation With Martin Indyk
Martin Indyk has probably spent more time and energy than anyone else—certainly more than any other American—trying to find a path to peace among Israel, its…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Why Is Violent Conflict Reaching Record Levels? A Conversation With Comfort Ero
More than any time in the last 75 years, we’re living in a world at war. Conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine dominate headlines. But that’s just part of it. Last…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Bonus: India as It Is
India has enormous momentum. Its population has surpassed China’s, making it the most populous country in the world. Its economy is expected to become the…
- The Foreign Affairs Interview
Netanyahu’s Israel
A year ago, protests began to rock Israel. For months, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest Prime Minister Benjamin…