The President’s Inbox

This episode unpacks how the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign is accelerating Cuba's economic collapse and what a firsthand trip to the country reveals about life amidst the crisis.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Will Freeman, Fellow for Latin America Studies, CFR

 

We Discuss:

• What the Trump administration is ultimately seeking to accomplish with its Cuba policy.
• How secondary sanctions differ from the existing trade embargo.
• What life on the ground in Cuba looks like today, with a mass economic crisis including widespread malnutrition and near-total electricity blackouts.
• Whether ordinary Cubans blame the United States or their own government for the crisis.
• Whether Cuba's government is attempting to pivot toward a China-style state capitalist system.
• What Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) is, why it controls so much of Cuba's economy, and who actually benefits from it.
• Whether the Trump administration's pressure is targeting GAESA directly.
• Why a Venezuela-style external coup or regime collapse is harder to engineer in Cuba.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

"Cuba's 176 Market-Liberalization Measures," NBC News, June 20, 2026

 

"July 11, 2021 Protests in Cuba," WOLA, July 2022

 

"Miami Herald Investigation: GAESA's Secret Dollar Reserves," Miami Herald, August 6, 2025

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/maximum-pressure-on-cuba

 

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

U.S.-India relations have struggled despite U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close personal relationship. This episode unpacks why tariffs, security concerns, and a détente with China has reframed the importance of the relationship, and what it could take to put it back on track. 

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

 

Sadanand Dhume, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, CFR

 

We Discuss:

• Why U.S.-India relations have been uncertain since mid-2025 after having slowly strengthened over many years.
• How the second Trump administration’s early actions and India’s multipolar diplomacy forced substantive confrontations thatTrump and  Modi’s personal relationship could not overcome.
• Why U.S.-India trade negotiations stalled and the Trump administration imposed tariffs, despite India repeatedly offering concessions.
• How the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict and Trump’s claim of forcing a ceasefire put Modi in a domestic political bind.
• How Pakistan’s prominent role in brokering the U.S.-Iran ceasefire has amplified Indian anxieties about a U.S.-Pakistan thaw.
• Why Trump’s talk of a Group of Two with China undermines its strategic desire to strengthen India as a counterweight to Chinese power.
• What the state of the Quad—an informal security dialogue among the United States, Australia, India, and Japan—and the United States’ de-emphasis of the Indo-Pacific framework reveal about U.S. strategy in Asia.
• How Modi is normalizing ties with China and whether there is a limit to normalization given the Himalayan border dispute and China’s efforts to constrain India’s growth.
• How India’s dependence on Russian arms has fallen over time, and why India is increasingly skeptical that Russia can act independently of China.
• Why Modi has resisted domestic political pressure to challenge Trump, and what that restraint reveals about India’s calculation of its long-term national interest.
• Where the greatest opportunity lies to rebuild the U.S.-India relationship, and why tech cooperation and Silicon Valley represent the most natural and promising place to start.

 

Mentioned in the Episode:

 

“How People in 24 Countries View India,” Pew Research Center

 

Mathew George, Katarina Djokic, Zain Hussain, Pieter D. Wezeman, and Siemon T. Wezeman, “Trends In International Arms Transfers, 2024,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox

 

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

This episode unpacks U.S. and Chinese AI strategies, regulation approaches, and the future implications for society and security.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Alvin Wang Graylin, Senior Fellow for Technology, Asia Society; Digital Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; Professor of AI/Tech Policy, University of Washington

 

We Discuss:

• Whether the framing of an AI "race" with China is accurate or helpful, and why it may be producing costly policy distortions.
• The concept of AGI (artificial general intelligence) and the thesis that underpins U.S. policy.
• China's focus on broad industrial adoption over frontier model development.
• How U.S. export controls and visa restrictions spurred the innovations behind DeepSeek.
• Why China turned down the offer to purchase NVIDIA H200 chips.
• Why Beijing regulates AI more extensively than either the United States or Europe.
• The Trump-Xi discussions on AI safety guardrails and the shared interest in preventing non-state bad actors from weaponizing AI.
• The economic bubble risk posed by rapidly rising data center costs.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

China's "AI Plus" Initiative, State Council of China, August 2025

 

China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, State Council of China, 2017

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/the-myth-of-the-ai-race

 

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

This episode unpacks the history of 250 years of U.S. foreign policy and examines patterns of the United States’ engagement with the world.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Robert Kagan, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; Author, Dangerous Nation: America’s Place in the World From Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century and The Ghost at the Feast: America and Collapse of World Order, 1900-1941

 

We Discuss:

• Why Robert Kagan argues that Americans misunderstand their own history and have long been a “dangerous nation” rather than an insular one.
• How American foreign policy debates have always been entangled with domestic politics, and what the polarized fights of the founding era reveal about the true norm of American political life.
• Which forces have consistently pulled the United States outward, producing an oscillation between intervention and retrenchment.
• Why the era of American imperialism following the Spanish-American War, including the humanitarian motives behind U.S. intervention in Cuba, is among the most misunderstood chapters of U.S. history
• Why Americans tend to enter wars with enthusiasm only to sour on them afterward.
• Whether the United States is forgetting the lessons of the postwar order.
• What the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence should teach Americans about the fragility of liberal democracy.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Robert Kagan, Dangerous Nation: America’s Place in the World From Its Earliest Days to the Dawn of the Twentieth Century, Knopf

 

Robert Kagan, The Ghost at the Feast: America and the Collapse of World Order, 1900–1941, Knopf

 

Robert Kagan, The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World, Knopf

 

Walter Lippmann, U.S. Foreign Policy: Shield of the Republic, Little, Brown

 

Norman Angell, The Great Illusion, G.P. Putnam’s Sons

 

Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man, Free Press

 

James A. Field Jr., “American Imperialism: The Worst Chapter in Almost Any Book,” American Historical Review

 

“Declaration of Independence,” National Archives

 

George Washington, “Farewell Address,” 1796

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/lessons-from-250-years-of-us-foreign-policy

 

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

This episode unpacks the unique challenges faced by women leaders, their contributions to democracy, and the critical lessons they offer in the fight against authoritarianism.

 

Enter the CFR book giveaway by July 8, 2026, for the chance to win one of ten free copies of Women in Power by Linda Robinson. You can read the terms and conditions of the offer here.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Linda Robinson, Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy, CFR; Author, Women in Power: Fighting for Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism

 

We Discuss:

• Why women's political representation has stalled at roughly 27 percent in the world's legislatures.
• How right-wing authoritarianism and the normalization of violent misogyny have combined to create ferocious headwinds for women in politics.
• Whether women govern differently from men, and what the research reveals about their attentiveness to health, education, welfare, and climate issues.
• Why rolling back women's rights is central to authoritarian and right-wing movements, and why playing the "misogyny card" proves so effective, even among women voters.
• Why some of the most prominent nationalist movements—in Italy, France, and Germany—are led by women, and how right-leaning figures like Giorgia Meloni complicate the picture.
• How authoritarian governments use hybrid warfare and gendered disinformation against women leaders, including Chinese campaigns against Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen and Russian campaigns against Moldova's Maia Sandu.
• Which common themes emerge among successful women leaders.
• Which policy reforms could strengthen both democracy and women's political participation.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Linda Robinson, Women in Power: Fighting for Democracy in an Age of Authoritarianism, Columbia University Press

 

Sanna Marin, Hope in Action: A Memoir About the Courage to Lead, Scribner

 

“Freedom in the World 2026: The Growing Shadow of Autocracy,” Freedom House

 

“Expanding Representation: Reinventing Congress for the 21st Century,” American Academy of Arts and Sciences

 

“TAKE IT DOWN Act (S.146),” U.S. Congress

 

“The Digital Services Act,” European Commission

 

“First Five,” HBO Max

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/women-in-power

 

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

This episode unpacks whether Ukraine has turned the tide against Russia on the battlefield and assesses the new security relationship between Ukraine and Europe.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Liana Fix, Senior Fellow for Europe, CFR

 

We Discuss:

• The state of the battlefield in Ukraine after four and a half years of war.
• How Ukraine’s drone strategy has evolved from frontline attacks to strikes deep inside Russia.
• Why Russia has failed to achieve its goals on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.
• Growing frustration among the Russian elite and what it signals about Putin's position.
• What U.S. intelligence sharing still provides Ukraine and why direct military aid has effectively ended.
• How European countries have filled the military support gap left by the United States.
• Whether European support for Ukraine is politically sustainable.
• What escalation options Putin has left.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Jack Watling, "Ukraine Turns the Tide," Foreign Affairs

 

Sauli Niinistö, "Safer Together: Strengthening Europe's Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness," European Commission

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/ukraine-turns-the-tide

 

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

This episode unpacks how a major Ebola outbreak in Central Africa exposed critical gaps in global health surveillance and assesses U.S. preparedness for future biological threats.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Thomas J. Bollyky, Bloomberg Chair in Global Health; Senior Fellow for International Economics, Law, and Development; and Director of the Global Health Program

 

We Discuss:

 

• The current state of the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, and why the case count was already high by the time authorities reported it.
• Why governments are often slow to report cases during outbreaks, and what delayed reporting may have cost in this instance.
• Why the WHO has discouraged trade and travel restrictions.
• How the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO is shaping a more limited response.
• Whether China is stepping in to fill the global health leadership gap left by U.S. institutional withdrawal.
• What the politicization of mRNA vaccine technology means for the U.S. ability to respond to future outbreaks that require rapid vaccine deployment.
• How artificial intelligence creates opportunities to accelerate global health responses, but also introduces new risks like engineered pathogens.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

CDC Health Alert: Ebola Disease Outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, May 19, 2026

 

WHO Disease Outbreak News: Ebola caused by Bundibugyo Virus, DRC and Uganda, May 21, 2026

 

WHO Declaration of Public Health Emergency of International Concern, May 17, 2026

 

Bollyky et al., "Assessing COVID-19 pandemic policies and behaviours and their economic and educational trade-offs across US states from Jan 1, 2020, to July 31, 2022: an observational analysis," The Lancet

 

CDC Mobilizes International Response Following Ebola Disease Outbreak, May 18, 2026

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/americas-ebola-preparedness

 

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

This episode unpacks how the Marshall Plan transformed postwar Western Europe and why security, allied cooperation, and forward thinking were the real keys to its enduring success.

 

To mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. declaration of independence, CFR is dedicating a yearlong series of articles, videos, podcasts, events, and special projects that will reflect on two and a half centuries of U.S. foreign policy. Featuring bipartisan voices and expert contributors, the series explores the evolution of America’s role in the world and the strategic challenges that lie ahead.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Benn Steil, Senior Fellow and Director of International Economics, CFR

 

We Discuss:

• How the British Empire’s rapid collapse in early 1947 forced the United States to assume responsibility for Western European security.
• What George Marshall’s six weeks of negotiations in Moscow revealed about Soviet intentions in Germany and Western Europe.
• How Marshall deliberately crafted the plan’s offer to include the Soviet Union while ensuring Soviet leader Joseph Stalin would reject it.
• How Congress, controlled by Republicans, was persuaded to support a massive foreign aid program from a Democratic administration.
• Whether the Marshall Plan's $13 billion actually explains Western Europe’s economic recovery in the late 1940s.
• What role NATO played in making the Marshall Plan work, and why the French and British insisted on security guarantees before cooperating.
• Why security has to precede economic reconstruction—and what Afghanistan and Iraq  reveal about ignoring that lesson.
• What Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr.’s 1947 prediction about sustained alliances tells us about the stakes of U.S. foreign policy today.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

The 10 Best and Worst Decisions in U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations

 

Benn Steil, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War

 

George Kennan’s Long Telegram, February 22, 1946

 

“Sinews of Peace (‘Iron Curtain’ Speech).” at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, March 5, 1946.

 

Harry Truman, “The Truman Doctrine,” Address to Congress, March 12, 1947

 

George C. Marshall, Commencement Address at Harvard University June 5, 1947

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/america-at-250-the-marshall-plan

 

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

This episode unpacks how Africa's demographic surge, critical mineral wealth, and expanding security threats are reshaping its relevance to U.S. foreign policy in the twenty-first century.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Michelle Gavin, Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, CFR

 

We Discuss:

• Why U.S. policy has historically treated engagement with Africa as an option rather than a strategic priority.
• How Africa's demographic growth is reshaping its position in the global order.
• Why maritime chokepoints around Africa are increasingly critical to global commerce.
• How other powers, including China, Turkey, and the Gulf states, are outpacing the United States in building African partnerships.
• What Africa's critical mineral resources mean for the green transition and for African domestic politics.
• How the United States can balance working with political elites while remaining relevant to broader African publics.
• What the diminished U.S. response to the current Ebola outbreak reveals about American policy choices.
• Why job creation should be the organizing principle for any coherent U.S. strategy toward the continent.

 

Mentioned on the Episode:

 

Michelle Gavin, "The New African Power Map," cfr.org

 

Michelle Gavin, The Age of Change: How Urban Youth Are Transforming African Politics

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/why-the-us-needs-an-africa-strategy

 

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

This episode unpacks the key discussion points from the U.S.-China summit, including Taiwan, the Iran war, AI regulation, and the future of U.S.-China relations.

 

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

 

Guest:

Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; Former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (2021–2025)

We Discuss:

• Whether the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing represented a genuine diplomatic breakthrough or merely a cooling of tensions without resolving underlying conflicts.
• What the dueling U.S. and Chinese post-summit statements reveal about each country's divergent priorities and negotiating strategies.
• How significant the summit's economic deliverables—agricultural sales commitments, Boeing aircraft sales, and a potential tariff truce—actually are.
• How Xi Jinping's early and deliberate warning about Taiwan set the tone for the summit, and what his decision to leak that statement mid-meeting signals about Chinese tactics.
• Whether President Trump's equivocation about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and the One China policy constitutes a major strategic mistake and what it means for American credibility with allies in the Indo-Pacific.
• What the presence of Putin in Beijing immediately after Trump's visit reveals about Chinese strategic alignments.
• Why an emerging U.S.-China dialogue on artificial intelligence regulation could prove to be the most consequential and underappreciated outcome of the Beijing summit.
• What concrete benchmarks—from tariff agreements to arms sales to Chinese follow-through on commitments—will determine whether this summit actually put U.S.-China relations on a more stable footing.

Mentioned on the Episode:

"Joint Statement Following Discussions with Leaders of the People's Republic of China (Shanghai Communiqué)" U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

 

"President Reagan's Six Assurances to Taiwan" Congressional Research Service

 

"Readout of President Joe Biden's Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China" The White House

 

"Taiwan Relations Act" Pub. L. 96–8, enacted April 10, 1979

 

"United States-China Joint Communiqué on United States Arms Sales to Taiwan" Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

 

"U.S.-PRC Joint Communiqué (1979)" U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

 

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/what-trump-and-xi-didnt-settle-in-beijing

 

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