Foreign Policy Live

As U.S. President Donald Trump considers a military strike on Iran, what are the options on his table? What will his military advisors recommend he should and shouldn’t do? David Petraeus has often been in the position of providing such advice to the White House, and he joins FP Live to explain what could happen in the coming days. Petraeus ran U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East as the head of Central Command (CENTCOM) and later ran the CIA. 

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on the fourth anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

FP Contributors: Four Years of War in Europe

Marc Lynch: Four Scenarios for a Postwar Iran

Arash Reisinezhad and Arsham Reisinezhad: What War With Iran Would Look Like

Ali Hashem: The United States Is Dangerously Misreading Iran

Ali Hashem: Iran Dangerously Misunderstands Its Situation

Brought to you by: quince.com/fplive

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s China policy often seems deliberately ambiguous. Is that a virtue or a flaw? Kurt Campbell is a longtime China watcher who rose up to run Asia policy under the Biden administration. He was the original architect of the so-called “pivot to Asia” during the Obama administration. He joins FP Live to discuss Trump, former U.S. President Joe Biden, and the world’s most important bilateral relationship.  

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on Trump’s Board of Peace.

⁠Aaron David Miller: Billions in Pledges Expected for Trump’s Board of Peace but Doubts Persist⁠

⁠Mira Rapp-Hooper and Ely Ratner: Washington’s Silence in Asia Is a Gift to Beijing⁠

⁠New York Times: On China, Trump Is Rolling the Dice on America’s Future⁠

⁠Foreign Affairs: The U.S.-China Crisis Waiting to Happen⁠

⁠A. Wess Mitchell: The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy⁠

⁠Craig Singleton: China Grapples with Trump’s Radical Use of Power⁠

⁠Lili Pike: Did Biden Get China Right?⁠

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 Is the age of nuclear nonproliferation over? There are certainly worrying signs. New START, the main nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia, recently expired. China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal. Talks to bring Iran back to the negotiating table seem to be at an impasse. And one increasingly hears about the possibility of South Korea or Japan going nuclear. What can the world do in response?

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, sits down with Ravi Agrawal.

Rebecca Lissner and Erin D. Dumbacher: The Pillars of the Global Nuclear Order Are Cracking

Decker Eveleth: The Real Risk After New START Isn’t Arms Racing

Fareed Zakaria: The Post-Cold War Nuclear Era Might Have Just Ended

Esfandyar Batmanghelidj: An Oil Deal for Trump Can Mean a Nuclear Deal for Iran

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The Pentagon’s policy chief Elbridge Colby recently called for a “NATO 3.0”, stating that the United States would “continue to provide the U.S. extended nuclear deterrent” to Europe, but when it came to most defense matters, Europe would need to “assume primary responsibility.” Colby is the undersecretary of war for policy and joins FP Live host Ravi Agrawal at the annual Munich Security Conference.

And in part two of this podcast, Colby and Agrawal were joined by four other guests: Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister and defense minister of Australia; Judith Collins, the minister of defense of New Zealand; Toshimitsu Motegi, the foreign minister of Japan; and David van Weel, the foreign minister of the Netherlands. 

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. 

Listen to Munich Moments on Apple or Spotify.

A transcript of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s 2025 speech at the Munich Security Conference.

A transcript of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s 2026 speech at the Munich Security ConferenceA transcript of Colby’s interview with Ravi

A collection of FP’s reporting and analysis from the Munich Security Conference

Matthew Kroenig: Two Cheers for the National Security Strategy

A. Wess Mitchell: The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy

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U.S. tariffs have upended decades of trade policy, but new U.N. data shows that the economies suffering most are those that can least afford a setback. At the Munich Security Conference (MSC), FP’s Ravi Agrawal hosted a panel on the trade wars, with policymakers on the front lines of these economic changes: Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organization; Finnish President Alexander Stubb; German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil; and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. 

Follow FP’s MSC coverage here.

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

Keith Johnson: Tariffs Have Hurt, Not Helped, the U.S. Economy

Rishi Iyengar: EU Don’t Need U.S.?

Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Robyn Klingler-Vidra: Middle Powers Don’t Have to Work Together to Get Ahead

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With the White House continuing to threaten military action against Tehran even as diplomatic talks continue, Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour joins FP Live host Ravi Agrawal to discuss what might come next. Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on a sobering new report about a world “Under Destruction.”

A transcript of J.D. Vance’s 2025 Munich Security Conference speech

Under Destruction: Munich Security Report 2026

Amitav Acharya: The World-Minus-One Moment

Follow FP’s MSC coverage here

The Atlantic: Karim Sadjadpour and Jack A. Goldstone: Is the Iranian Regime About to Collapse?

Trita Parsi: Iran’s Despair Is U.S. Policy

Saeid Golkar: Why Iran’s Regime Didn’t Collapse

Abbas Milani: Iran’s Crown Prince Has Become Indispensable

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FP’s Ravi Agrawal sits down with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discuss NATO, a shifting European defense strategy, and more.

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on the rising nuclear threat.

Ravi Agrawal: Greek PM: ‘I haven’t given up on the trans-Atlantic relationship.’

Stavros Papastavrou: The Trans-Atlantic Energy Relationship Is Stronger Than Ever

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

Luke McGee: Europe Is Prepared to Create Its Own Army

Stephen M. Walt: NATO’s Leader is Totally Lost

Rebecca Lissner and Erin D. Dumbacher: The Pillars of the Global Nuclear Order Are Cracking

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U.S. President Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland has brought a geopolitical hot spot—the Arctic—back into the fore. Host Ravi Agrawal is joined by Heather A. Conley, one of the leading experts on the region, to hear more.

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on China’s latest military purge.

Casey Michel: Annexing Greenland Would Be a Strategic Catastrophe

Imran Bayoumi: Trump’s Greenland Threats Paper Over a Lack of Arctic Strategy

Christina Lu: Greenland’s Rare Earths Aren’t All That

Stephen M. Walt: What Spheres of Influence Are—and Aren’t

Michele Barbero: To Protect Greenland, Europe Kicks Into High Gear

Deng Yuwen: As Generals Fall, Xi Jinping’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Is Eating Itself

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Host Ravi Agrawal is joined by world leaders and industry executives on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The panelists include Bandar Alkhorayef, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources; Jonathan Price, the president and CEO of Teck Resources; Boitumelo Mosako of the Development Bank of Southern Africa; and SandboxAQ’s Jack Hidary.

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on dueling speeches by U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Ravi Agrawal: In Davos, a Tale of Two Speeches

Transcript: Trump Says He ‘Won’t Use Force’ to Acquire Greenland

Transcript: ‘A Rupture in the World Order’

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What is driving U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy in his second term? Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer says it is the “law of the jungle ... it’s always been about power.” Bremmer sits down with Ravi Agrawal to share his assessment of Trump 2.0 and what the coming months could look like.

Plus, Ravi’s One Thing on U.S universities and immigration.

New York Times: Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip

Steven A. Cook: Faulty Assumptions About Iran Have Driven a Failed U.S. Policy

Marc Lynch: Why a U.S. Attack on Iran Would Backfire

A. Wess Mitchell: The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy

Oliver Stuenkel: The EU-Mercosur Deal Is a Hedge Against the Donroe Doctrine

The Atlantic: Is the Iranian Regime About to Collapse?

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