The President’s Inbox

Germany's Rearmament, With Sophia Besch

Sophia Besch, a senior fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Germany’s ambitious rearmament plans amidst deepening concerns about the U.S. commitment to European security.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Sophia Besch, "A Zeitenwende for Germany's Defense Industry," U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute

 

Sophia Besch and Erik Brown, "Who's Going to United Europe on Defense?" Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

 

Sophia Besch and Tara Varma, “A New Transatlantic Alliance Threatens the EU,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/germanys-rearmament-sophia-besch

The New Era of Economic Warfare, With Edward Fishman

Edward Fishman, senior research scholar and adjunct professor at Columbia University and author of Chokepoints: American Power in an Age of Economic Warfare, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the United States’ expanded use of financial and trade sanctions in recent years and whether they have enabled Washington to accomplish its foreign policy objectives.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Edward Fishman, Chokepoints: American Power in an Age of Economic Warfare

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/new-era-economic-warfare-edward-fishman

Conflict in Eastern Congo, With Mvemba Dizolele

Mvemba Dizolele, senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the renewed fighting in the Eastern Congo that pits the M23 rebel group backed by Rwanda against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Mvemba Dizolele, Into Africa, Center for Strategic and International Studies

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/conflict-eastern-congo-mvemba-dizolele

U.S. Space Policy, With Nina Armagno and Jane Harman

Nina Armagno, retired United States Space Force lieutenant general, and Jane Harman, former congresswoman and president emerita of the Wilson Center, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the increasing importance of space as a commercial opportunity and strategic vulnerability for the United States.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Council on Foreign Relations, Securing Space: A Plan for U.S. Action 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/us-space-policy-nina-armagno-jane-harman

Reporting from China, With Jane Perlez

Jane Perlez, a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center and a longtime foreign correspondent for the New York Times, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the decline of foreign reporting from Beijing and its consequences for U.S.-China relations.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Jane Perlez and Rana Mitter, with Lingling Wei, “Journalists in China,” Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/reporting-china-jane-perlez

Trump’s Peace Plan for Ukraine, With Liana Fix and Charles A. Kupchan

Liana Fix, CFR fellow for Europe, and Charles A. Kupchan, CFR senior fellow and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, sit down with James M. Lindsay on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to discuss Trump's evolving policy toward Ukraine.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Scott Bessent, “Economic Partnership Will Protect the Ukrainian People and the US Taxpayer,” Financial Times

 

Heidi Crebo-Rediker, “The Art of a Good Deal: Ukraine’s Strategic Economic Opportunity for the United States,” CFR.org

 

Rush Doshi, “The Trump Administration’s China Challenge,” Foreign Affairs

 

Liana Fix, “Partners in Peacemaking: How the United States and Europe Can End the War in Ukraine," CFR.org 

 

Michael Froman and Charles A. Kupchan, “Supporting Ukraine Is in Trump’s Interest,” Project Syndicate 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/trumps-peace-plan-ukraine-liana-fix-charles-kupchan

Modi Meets Trump, With Tanvi Madan

Tanvi Madan, senior fellow in the Center for Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the White House meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump and what it says about current and future state of U.S.-India relations.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Tanvi Madan, Fateful Triangle: How China Shaped US-India Relations During the Cold War

 

Tanvi Madan, “India Is Hoping for a Trump Bump,” Foreign Affairs

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/modi-meets-trump-tanvi-madan

New Podcast Spotlight: The Interconnect

Emerging technologies are transforming international relations and our country’s economy. So how do we connect science and engineering labs with Washington and the world of business? 

 

The Interconnect, a new podcast series from the Council on Foreign Relations and the Stanford Emerging Technology Review, brings together leading minds in cutting-edge technology and foreign policy to explore recent ground-breaking developments, what's coming over the horizon, and the implications for U.S. innovation leadership.

 

In this featured episode, Stanford Emerging Technology Review Faculty Council Member Mark Horowitz and CFR’s technologist-in-residence Sebastian Elbaum discuss where chip manufacturing is heading, how hardware advances are powering the new artificial intelligence (AI) era, and what the United States should prioritize in order to sustain its leadership in this crucial domain.

 

Host

 

Martin Giles, Managing Editor of the Stanford Emerging Technology Review

 

Guests

 

Mark Horowitz, chair of the Electrical Engineering Department at Stanford University

 

Sebastian Elbaum, the Technologist in Residence at the Council on Foreign Relations

A New U.S. Grand Strategy: A World in Permanent Crisis, With Robert Kaplan

Robert Kaplan, acclaimed journalist and author of Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the world’s growing interconnectedness is likely to produce greater conflict and chaos. This episode is the sixth in a continuing TPI series on U.S. grand strategy.

 

Mentioned on the Episode: 

 

Robert Kaplan, Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis

 

Robert F. Worth, “Narendra Modi’s Populist Facade Is Cracking,” The Atlantic

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: 

https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/world-permanent-crisis-robert-kaplan

DeepSeek Upends AI Competition, With Adam Segal

Adam Segal, the Ira A. Lipman chair in emerging technologies and national security at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the Chinese company DeepSeek's new artificial intelligence (AI) program has challenged the conventional wisdom that the United States leads the AI race and raised critical questions about U.S. policy on AI.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Adam Segal, The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age

 

Adam Segal and Sebastian Elbaum, "Artificial Intelligence Priorities for the Next Administration," CFR.org

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/deepseek-upends-ai-competition-adam-segal