The President’s Inbox

Listener Mailbag: 2025 in Review, With Carla Anne Robbins and Matthias Matthijs

Carla Anne Robbins, senior fellow at the Council, and Matthias Matthijs, senior fellow for Europe at the Council, sit down with James M. Lindsay to answer listener questions about the major developments, initiatives, and changes in U.S. foreign policy over the course of 2025. 

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

"2025 National Security Strategy of the United States of America," The White House

 

Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay, “The Price of Trump’s Power Politics,” Foreign Affairs

 

Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay, The Empty Throne: America's Abdication of Global Leadership

 

Rebecca Lissner, “America’s Quasi Alliances,” Foreign Affairs

 

Matthias Matthijs and Nathalie Tocci, "How Europe Lost: Can the Continent Escape Its Trump Trap?" Foreign Affairs

 

Brad Setser, "How German Industry Can Survive the Second China Shock," Center for European Reform

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/listener-mailbag-2025-review-carla-anne-robbins-and-matthias-matthijs

Are We Ready? | America’s Crumbling Defense Industrial Base, With Kathleen Hicks

Kathleen Hicks, former Deputy Secretary of Defense and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, the Johns Hopkins University’s Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the U.S. defense industrial base has struggled to keep pace with the demands of renewed great power competition.

 

This is the ninth episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Mark Bowden, "The Crumbling Foundations of America's Military," The Atlantic

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-americas-crumbling-defense-industrial-base-kathleen-hicks

Are We Ready? | Trump’s National Security Strategy, With Rebecca Lissner

Rebecca Lissner, senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy and its consequences for U.S. foreign and defense policy.

 

This is the eighth episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

"2025 National Security Strategy of the United States of America," The White House

 

Rebecca Lissner, Will Freeman, Liana Fix, Steven Cook, Michelle Gavin and Paul Stares, “Unpacking a Trump Twist of the National Security Strategy,” CFR.org

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-trumps-national-security-strategy-rebecca-lissner

Are We Ready? | The Economic Security Challenge, With Jonathan Hillman

Jonathan Hillman, senior fellow for geoeconomics at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the steps the U.S. government should take to protect and support American firms developing critical new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and biotechnology from predatory foreign challenges without stifling its own growth and innovation.

 

This is the seventh episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Council on Foreign Relations, U.S. Economic Security: Winning the Race for Tomorrow’s Technologies

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-economic-security-challenge-jonathan-hillman

Are We Ready? | China's Campaign to Reshape the Global Order, With Hal Brands and Michael Kuiken

Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and Mike Kuiken, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's latest annual report to Congress and how China is working to reshape the global balance of power. 

 

This is the sixth episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, "2025 Annual Report to Congress"

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-chinas-campaign-reshape-global-order-hal-brands-and-michael-kuiken

Are We Ready? | The U.S.-China Chip War, With Chris McGuire

Chris McGuire, senior fellow for China and emerging technologies at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss whether U.S. efforts to deny China advanced semiconductor chips will sustain the U.S. lead in artificial intelligence or unintentionally accelerate Chinese innovation.

 

This is the fifth episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Bethany Allen and Jenny Wong Leung, "Trump's Crackdown on Chinese Students Ignores a Startling New Reality," New York Times

 

Raffaele Huang, "Chinese Officials Urge Firms to Shun Nvidia AI Chip," Wall Street Journal

 

Arjun Kharpal, "China’s Key Weapons in Its AI Battle With the U.S.—Massive Huawei Chip Clusters and Cheap Energy," CNBC

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-us-china-chip-war-chris-mcguire

Are We Ready? | AI, Espionage, and Influence, With Jessica Brandt

Jessica Brandt, senior fellow for technology and national security at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping cyber operations, influence campaigns, and intelligence gathering, and what those changes mean for U.S. national security.

 

This is the fourth episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-ai-espionage-and-influence-jessica-brandt

Are We Ready? | The New Weapons of War, With Michael Horowitz

Michael Horowitz, Richard Perry professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and senior fellow for technology and innovation at the Council on Foreign Relations, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how emerging military technologies are revolutionizing the modern battlefield and how the Pentagon is adapting and incorporating these new technologies.

 

This is the third episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Michael C. Horowitz and Lauren Kahn, “The Cost of the AGI Delusion,” Foreign Affairs

 

Radha Iyengar Plumb and Michael C. Horowitz, “What America Gets Wrong About the AI Race,” Foreign Affairs

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-new-weapons-war-michael-horowitz

Are We Ready? | America's Next Battlefield, With Thomas Shugart

Thomas Shugart, founder of Archer Strategic Consulting and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the tools and tactics of warfare have changed in the past decade and whether the U.S. military is adapting fast enough to deter a great power war.

 

This is the second episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Thomas Shugart, "Blue Planet, Red Planet: A New World of Contested Maritime Power," The Shugart Update

 

Thomas Shugart, "Concrete Dome: It's Past Time for an Emergency Anti-Drone Hardening Program," The Shugart Update

 

Thomas Shugart, "Forging Ahead: The PLA Shows Us What It Wants Us to See," The Shugart Update

 

Thomas Shugart, "Has China Been Practicing Preemptive Missile Strikes Against U.S. Bases?" War on the Rocks 

 

Thomas Shugart, "Mind the Gap, Part 2: The Cross-Strait Potential of China’s Civilian Shipping Has Grown," War on the Rocks

 

Thomas Shugart, "There Are No Magic Beans: Easy Options to Deter China Militarily Do Not Exist," War on the Rocks 

 

Thomas Shugart, "The United States Can’t Afford to Not Harden Its Air Bases," War on the Rocks

 

Thomas Shugart, "Trends, Timelines, and Uncertainty: An Assessment of the Military Balance in the Indo-Pacific," Center for a New American Security

 

Timothy A. Walton and Thomas Shugart, "Concrete Sky: Air Base Hardening in the Western Pacific," Hudson Institute 

 

We Are China, "Forging Ahead - Episode 1: Orders Are Sacred 第一集《军令如山》," Youtube.com

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-americas-next-battlefield-thomas-shugart

Are We Ready? | The China Reckoning, With Rush Doshi

Rush Doshi, the C.V. Starr senior fellow for Asia Studies and director of the China Strategy Initiative at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the United States is reckoning with the rise of China and a world of renewed geopolitical competition.

 

This is the first episode in a special series from The President’s Inbox, bringing you conversations with Washington insiders to assess whether the United States is ready for a new, more dangerous world.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Rush Doshi, The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order, Oxford University Press

 

David J. Lynch, The World’s Worst Bet: How the Globalization Gamble Went Wrong (And What Would Make It Right), PublicAffairs

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/are-we-ready-china-reckoning-rush-doshi