After the United States ousted Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in January and then took out Iran’s senior leadership in the following months, U.S. President Donald Trump set his sights on Cuba, claiming that he would have the “honor of taking” the island. Michael Bustamante, a leading historian of Cuban-American relations, joins FP Live to assess the White House’s strategy and Havana’s options. 

Plus, Ravi shares his read on the diverse United States seen by World Cup tourists. 

Oliver Stuenkel: Washington’s Cuba Policy Is Self-Sabotage

Howard W. French: Trump Is Playing With Fire in Cuba

William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh: Is the United States on the Verge of Military Intervention in Cuba?

Katrin Hansing: Blackouts, Food Shortages, and Water Scarcity

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SpaceX’s initial public offering broke records as the largest ever and one that (briefly) made Elon Musk the first trillionaire. But just how much power should one person or one company have in space? Quinn Slobodian, a co-author of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed, joins FP Live to argue that Musk’s network of integrated companies—from X to Starlink—amplifies not only his economic power but his worldview. 

Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff: Elon Musk’s Self-Contradictory Military Policy

C. Raja Mohan: Elon Musk and the Rise of Space Capitalism

Adam Tooze: Elon Musk’s First Principles

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States and Iran have struck a memorandum of understanding to end the war that began in February. Will the deal last? And what does it mean for the United States, the Middle East, and the world? Ali Vaez has long been involved in unofficial dialogues with Iran and the United States, and he joins FP Live to analyze the deal.

Plus, Ravi shares his read on why the cease-fire deal, despite its flaws, will hold.

FP Staff: U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding: Full Text

Duncan B. Hollis: Is the MOU a Treaty or Not? And Why Should We Care?

Matthew Kroenig: The U.S. Won the War With Iran

Paul Musgrave: Iran Is a Bigger Defeat Than Vietnam

Will Todman: Everyone Lost the War With Iran

Daniel Byman: How the Iran Deal Sets the Stage for More Conflict

Nik Kowsar and Alireza Nader: Ordinary Iranians Won’t See a Dime of Trump’s Money

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. public opinion is undergoing a dramatic shift, with more and more Americans calling for less military support to Israel. So, is the “special relationship” between the two countries over? According to an essayist in Foreign Policy’s latest print issue, the partnership has peaked—and the only way to go is down. Why is that, and how did we get here? Joshua Leifer, a columnist for Haaretz and author of that essay, joins FP Live to explore trends in the U.S.-Israeli partnership.

Plus, Ravi shares his read on the proposed U.S.-Iran cease-fire deal.

Paul Musgrave: Iran Is a Bigger Defeat Than Vietnam

Will Todman: Everyone Lost the War With Iran

Menahem Merhavy: Iran’s Victory Is More Pyrrhic Than It Looks

Joshua Leifer: The End of the U.S.-Israel Alliance

FP’s Summer Print Issue: The End of the World as We Know It

David E. Rosenberg: Netanyahu’s Reelection Could Hinge on Outcome of Iran War

Steven A. Cook: Why the U.S. Should Wind Down Military Aid to Israel

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the largest-ever World Cup will commence. Across the three host countries—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—48 teams will play 104 matches in 16 cities. But it also comes amid a particularly fraught geopolitical backdrop. Not only have the three hosts spent the last year sparring over immigration, trade, and even national sovereignty, but one of them, the United States, is at war with fellow participant Iran. Top soccer expert and Times economics editor Mehreen Khan joins FP Live to explore just how exceptional this World Cup is. 

Plus, Ravi shares his read on troubles for China’s solar industry. 

Financial Times: Adam Tooze: Wasting China’s solar panel surplus is madness

The Economist: China’s world-beating solar industry is in turmoil

FP Coverage of the World Cup

Bobby Ghosh: Sleeping in Mexico, Playing in America

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What would it take to end the Iran war? What exit strategies are still available to the United States? Robert Malley, a former lead negotiator of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the Biden administration’s special envoy for Iran, joins FP’s Ravi Agrawal to discuss the current talks to open the Strait of Hormuz. 

Plus, Ravi offers his read on why U.S. President Donald Trump is wavering between two extremes on a cease-fire deal.

New York Times: Robert Malley and Stephen Wertheim: Of Course Trump Bombed Iran

Wall Street Journal: Condoleezza Rice: What the U.S. Has Accomplished in Iran

Ali Hashem: The World Keeps Asking Iran the Wrong Question

Michael Hirsh: Why the U.S. Is Headed for a Long War With Iran

Matthew Kroenig: Iran Does Not Have a Right to Enrich Uranium

Sina Azodi: The Myth of Zero Enrichment

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the rules-based order is broken, what comes next? And who will lead it? Mark Leonard argues in his new book, Surviving Chaos: Geopolitics When the Rules Fail, that the coming system will be “un-order,” governed not by China or the United States but by no one at all. Are states responding quickly enough? Leonard, who is the director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, joins FP Live’s Ravi Agrawal to explore how policymakers should adjust.

Hal Brands: Three Scenarios for a Post-Trump World

Stephen M. Walt: Chinese Hegemony Might Be Happening

James Palmer: China Doesn’t Always Win When the U.S. Loses

Michael Hirsch: After the Nation-State

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to great fanfare but left with little to show for it. What does the Trump-Xi summit reveal about the balance of power between the world’s two biggest economies? Rana Mitter, a top historian of China, joins FP Live to discuss where the world’s most important relationship is headed.

Plus, Ravi shares his read on why the Iran war may be Trump’s greatest failure. 

Ravi Agrawal: Iran Could Be Trump’s Greatest Failure

James Palmer: The Trump-Xi Summit Was Remarkably Banal

Fareed Zakaria: Trump’s China Pragmatism Is Welcome

Stephen M. Walt: Chinese Hegemony Might Be Happening

James Palmer: China Doesn’t Always Win When the U.S. Loses

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s little doubt that the conflict in Iran has hurt much of the world economy. But not Russia. Data suggests that the Kremlin has already made billions of dollars in additional oil revenue since the United States and Israel attacked Iran. But beyond just cash, how much will this change President Vladimir Putin’s broader strategy? And what does this mean for the fate of the war in Ukraine? Alexander Gabuev, the director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, joins FP Live to explain how Russia is navigating a moment of particular global flux.

Plus, Ravi offers his read on U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.

Christian Caryl: Vladimir Putin Is Much Weaker Than You Think

Sean Wiswesser: Don’t Fall for Rumors of Putin’s Weakness

Keith Johnson: Russia Is Making Bank on Trump’s Iran War

Christian Caryl: How Ukraine Benefited From Trump’s Iran War

Alexey Kovalev: Russia’s War Boom Masks an Economic Implosion

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the conflict in Iran has dominated headlines in the last two months, accounts of ordinary life in the Islamic Republic are scarce. According to journalist Ali Hashem, who spent six weeks in Tehran and has visited several times in the last decade, life in the capital looks more normal than one might imagine. Shops and restaurants are largely open, and regular people seem to be rallying around the flag in the face of an external threat. And while the internet as we know it is shut down, an intranet of sorts—with access to local versions of Netflix, Uber, and WhatsApp—is allowing people a semblance of regular life. Hashem speaks with host Ravi Agrawal about his reporting from Iran. 

Ali Hashem: Iran Is More Unified Than Ever

Ali Hashem: The Iran Cease-Fire Has Only Divided the War

Ali Hashem: Waiting for the War to End in Tehran

Ali Hashem: Iran Is Becoming America’s Ukraine

Ali Hashem: Iran Is Built to Withstand the Ayatollah’s Assassination

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices