The President’s Inbox

America at 250: The Best and Worst U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions, With Mary Dudziak and Christopher Nichols

Mary Dudziak, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University, and Christopher Nichols, Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies and Professor of History at the Ohio State University, sit down with James M. Lindsay to unpack a new CFR survey of historians on the best and worst foreign policy decisions in U.S. history.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Christopher McKnight Nichols, Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age

 

Joshua Kurlantzick, A Great Place to Have a War

 

CFR.org, The Ten Best and Ten Worst U.S. Foreign Policy Decisions

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Trump Foreign Policy at One Year, With Matthew Kroenig

Matthew Kroenig, Vice President and Senior Director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how President Trump has approached foreign policy since returning to the Oval Office last January.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Matthew Kroenig, “To Get to Peace in Ukraine, Trump Should Play the Nuclear Card,” Foreign Policy

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Trump Has a Strategy for Venezuela,” Foreign Policy

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Trump Should Oust Maduro,” Foreign Policy

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Trump Was Right to Oust Maduro,” New York Times

 

Matthew Kroenig, “Two Cheers for the National Security Strategy,” Foreign Policy

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/trump-foreign-policy-at-one-year-with-matthew-kroenig

 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

Washington’s Venezuela Strategy After Maduro, With Will Freeman

Will Freeman, fellow for Latin America studies at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the consequences of the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Antonio Maria Delgado, ”The U.S. Gamble on Chavismo: How a Once-Unthinkable Pact Could Stabilize Venezuela,” Miami Herald

 

Will Freeman, “The Shock Waves of Venezuela: How Maduro’s Capture Could Transform Latin America,” Foreign Affairs

 

Jason Lange, ”A Third of Americans Support U.S. Strike on Venezuela, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds,” Reuters

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/washingtons-venezuela-strategy-after-maduro-with-will-freeman 

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.

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