What are the primary foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States as President Donald J. Trump enters his third year in office in an era of divided government? On this annual edition of the program (recorded on-site at Georgetown University), Anthony (Tony) Arend, Professor of Government and Foreign Service, and Ambassador Mark Lagon, Chief Policy Officer at the Friends of the Global Fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, discuss how the increasingly unpredictable, nationalistic and isolationist tendencies of the Trump administration are affecting the conduct of US foreign policy and America’s image in the world.

In this encore presentation, Encounter host Carol Castiel discusses promoting democracy around the world with Daniel Twining, President of the International Republican Institute, and Ambassador Derek Mitchell, President of the National Democratic Institute.

On this year-end edition of Encounter, host Carol Castiel presents excerpts from our most memorable programs in 2018. From the significance of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictments of Russian military entities and individuals who disrupted the US 2016 presidential election, to US President Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, to the humanitarian and political crisis in Yemen, we present key highlights from 2018..

Encounter host Carol Castiel talks with veteran Washington reporters Michael Williams of CBS Radio and Tracy Wilkinson of the Los Angeles Times about the top stories of year.

Mark Simakovsky, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and Will Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, discuss with host Carol Castiel the reasons behind and implications of Moscow's brazen attack on Ukrainian naval ships in the Black Sea in late November.

Mark Simakovsky, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and Will Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, discuss with host Carol Castiel the reasons behind and implications of Moscow’s brazen attack on Ukrainian naval ships in the Black Sea in late November.

John Fortier, Director of the Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center and Jim Kessler, Senior Vice President for Policy at Third Way, talk with host Carol Castiel about the latest issues dominating the U.S. political landscape including analysis of the final midterm election results and implications for a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives as well as new revelations in the Russia probe.

John Fortier, Director of the Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center and Jim Kessler, Senior Vice President for Policy at Third Way, talk with host Carol Castiel about the latest issues dominating the U.S. political landscape including analysis of the final midterm election results and implications for a Democratically-controlled House of Representatives as well as new revelations in the Russia probe.

Six months after the Singapore Summit, is North Korea honoring its commitment to move toward denuclearization? Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation and Jean Lee, Director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Woodrow Wilson Center, discuss the impasse with host Carol Castiel.

Six months after the Singapore Summit, is North Korea honoring its commitment to move toward denuclearization? Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow for Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation and Jean Lee, Director of the Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy at the Woodrow Wilson Center, discuss the impasse with host Carol Castiel.