Foreign Policy Live

The U.S.-China trade war has rattled the global economy, and there’s little sign of de-escalation. What does this mean for their respective economies? Where does this end? The Council on Foreign Relations’ Zongyuan Zoe Liu and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Scott Kennedy join FP Live to discuss.

We want to hear from you! Help us shape the future of FP Live by sharing your thoughts on the show by clicking here.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Scott Kennedy: Why Beijing Thinks It Can Beat Trump

Deng Yuwen: Why Beijing Is Standing Up to Trump

Howard W. French: Trump’s Tariffs Are a Gift to Xi

Lili Pike and Christina Lu: Can Washington and Beijing Walk Back Their Trade War?

Lizzi C. Lee: How China Should Handle Trump’s Tariffs

James Palmer: China May Have a Revenge List for Tariff Wars

Cameron Abadi and Adam Tooze: How Tariffs on China Brought Back Decoupling With a Vengeance

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

The race is on to dominate the artificial intelligence economy, making the need for safeguards ever more pressing. Jared Cohen, the president of global affairs at Goldman Sachs, joins FP Live to discuss the potential risks and benefits of this growing market—and how so-called geopolitical swing states play an increasingly important role. This conversation was taped earlier this week, before the Trump administration's announcement of the 90-day suspension of reciprocal tariffs.

We want to hear from you! Help us shape the future of FP Live by sharing your thoughts on the show by clicking here.

Note: This discussion is part of a series of episodes brought to you by the Goldman Sachs Global Institute.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Jared Cohen: The AI Economy’s Massive Vulnerability

Jared Cohen: The Next AI Debate Is About Geopolitics 

Becca Wasser and Josh Wallin: Build Allied AI, or Risk Fighting Alone

Peter Dombrowski and Bruce Jones: A New Era of Undersea Conflict Is Here

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

Two leading economists debate the potential trade-offs of the Trump administration’s tariffs that are now roiling markets. Oren Cass, the founder of American Compass, joins Kimberly Clausing, a professor at UCLA, to discuss what this all means for the United States and the global economy. 

We want to hear from you! Help us shape the future of FP Live by sharing your thoughts on the show by clicking here.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Wendy Cutler: How Countries Should Respond to Trump’s Tariffs

Bob Davis: Trump Has the Whole Global Trade System in His Sights

Michael Hirsh: Tariffs Can Actually Work—if Only Trump Understood How

Lili Pike: Trump Threatens China With New 50 Percent Tariffs

Joseph Rachman: Trump’s Tariffs Crush the ASEAN Economic Model

Transcript: The Case for Trump’s Tariffs

Edward Alden: Trump’s Wanton Tariffs Will Shatter the World Economy

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

Legal scholars argue that the Trump administration’s push to curtail the power of the U.S. judiciary mirrors moves by several authoritarian governments around the world. What does this mean for the United States’ court system and the rule of law? And what can be learned from global advocacy and civil society defying these trends?

Political scientist Andrew O’Donohue joins FP Live to share his findings.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Andrew O’Donohue: The U.S. Judicial Crisis Is Uniquely Dangerous

Julian E. Zelizer: Why Republicans Love Strong Presidents

David E. Rosenberg: Can Israel’s Highest Court Stop Netanyahu?

Halil Karaveli: Erdogan Is Trying to Divide and Conquer Turkey’s Opposition

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

Several of the world’s wealthiest men stood behind Donald Trump as he was inaugurated for a second term, contradicting his image as a populist president. This prompts the question, how much influence do the wealthy have on U.S. politics?

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy joins FP Live to share his take on the state of U.S. democracy, and whether the United States is becoming more corrupt, to mark the launch of Foreign Policy’s latest print issue: “Billionaire Rule.”

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Spring 2025 Print Issue: Billionaire Rule

Jodi Vittori: Is America a Kleptocracy?

Adam Tooze: Elon Musk’s First Principles

James Crabtree: How Modi and Trump Treat Billionaires Differently

Priya Satia: The Deep Roots of Oligarchy

James Palmer: Did China Get Billionaires Right?

Andrew O’Donohue: The U.S. Judicial Crisis Is Uniquely Dangerous

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

The Trump administration has dramatically shifted the United States’ long-standing relationship with Europe, pushing it to shore up its own defense. How is the continent grappling with these changes? And what does it mean for its policies, both foreign and domestic?

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): 

Kishore Mahbubani: It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable

Transcript: The Speech That Stunned Europe

Edward Lucas: Comrade Trump

Ivo H. Daalder: It’s Time for a New Trans-Atlantic Bargain

Michael Hirsh: On Ukraine, Split the Difference Between Trump and Biden

Anchal Vohra: Europe’s Economic Decoupling From America Is Underway

Brought to you by: https://incogni.com/foreignpolicy. Use promo code "foreignpolicy" to get an exclusive 60% off an annual plan.

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

Geopolitical risk analyst Ian Bremmer joins FP Live to assess U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 50 days in office and how it is impacting the world.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Ravi Agrawal: Trump Is Ushering In a More Transactional World

Daniel C. Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller: Lessons from the Trump-Zelensky Confrontation

Howard W. French: Trump’s Plan for a Greatly Diminished America

Daniel W. Drezner: Does the Madman Theory Actually Work?

Stephen M. Walt: What I Got Wrong About Trump’s Second Term

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

With so much of the focus in recent weeks on the Trump administration’s policies toward Europe, where does that leave the broader trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship? Expert and former Biden administration official Rush Doshi sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss.

Doshi is currently the C.V. Starr senior fellow for Asia studies and director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Rush Doshi: Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order

Lili Pike: Trump’s Europe Shock Creates an Opening for China

Lili Pike: Did Biden Get China Right?

James Crabtree: Trump Could Make China Great Again

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

“I don’t give up on Trump. I do think that, for the wrong reasons, we can get him to do the right things” says former Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth. Roth sits down with Ravi Agrawal to share his take on human rights today amid democratic backsliding, ongoing conflict, and a new U.S. administration on the world stage.

Roth led Human Rights Watch for nearly 30 years and is the author of Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Transcript: Can the World Do Anything About Conflict in 2025?

Pankaj Mishra: How Gaza Shattered the West’s Mythology

Matthew M. Kavanagh and Luis Gil Abinader: Abolishing USAID Is Both Unconstitutional and Disastrous

Brought to you by: https://incogni.com/foreignpolicy. Use promo code "foreignpolicy" to get an exclusive 60% off an annual plan.

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

Finnish President Alexander Stubb sits down with Ravi Agrawal on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference to discuss European security in Trump 2.0.

Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free):

Transcript: Finland’s President: Trump’s Strategy ‘Is a Bit of a Seesaw’

Transcript: The Speech That Stunned Europe

C. Raja Mohan: India Sees Opportunities as Trump Jettisons the Western Order

James Crabtree: Trump Could Make China Great Again

Kishore Mahbubani: It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable

Kristi Raik: Europe’s 4 Different Ways of Handling Trump

Bojan Pancevski and Alexander Ward: Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal

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