
5.6M
Downloads
355
Episodes
Each episode of The President’s Inbox explores a foreign policy challenge facing the United States.
Episodes

Aug 27, 2024
Aug 27, 2024
34 min
Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia.
Mentioned on the Episode
Liana Fix, “NATO and Ukraine: The Peril of Indecision,” Survival
Liana Fix and Michael Kimmage, “The Ukraine Scenarios,” Foreign Affairs
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/ukraines-attack-kursk-liana-fix

Aug 20, 2024
Aug 20, 2024
32 min
Stephen Heintz, president and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the United States should adapt to an era of renewed great power competition and domestic disagreement over what it should seek to achieve abroad. This episode is the fourth in a special TPI series on U.S. grand strategy.
Mentioned on the Episode
Stephen Heintz, “A Logic for the Future: International Relations in the Age of Turbulence,” Rockefeller Brothers Fund
John F. Kennedy, “Commencement Address at American University,” June 10, 1963
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/case-multipolar-pluralism-stephen-heintz

Aug 13, 2024
Aug 13, 2024
37 min
Rush Doshi, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia Studies and director of the China Strategy Initiative, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how America should navigate its geopolitical rivalry with China.
Mentioned on the Episode
Graham Allison, Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’ Trap?
Hal Brands and Michael Beckley, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict With China
Rush Doshi, The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order
Rush Doshi, et al., “Debating the United States’ China Strategy,” CFR.org
Rush Doshi, et al., “What Does America Want From China?,” Foreign Affairs
Aaron Friedberg, The Weary Titan: Britain and the Experience of Relative Decline, 1895-1905
Mike Gallagher and Matt Pottinger, “No Substitute for Victory: America’s Competition With China Must Be Won, Not Managed,” Foreign Affairs
William Langley and Gloria Li, “Chinese Robot Maker Says Protectionism Will Not Stop Its March,” Financial Times
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/americas-china-strategy-rush-doshi

Aug 5, 2024
Aug 5, 2024
32 min
Christopher Kirchhoff, former special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Raj M. Shah, managing partner of Shield Capital, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the efforts by the U.S. Department of Defense to incorporate cutting-edge technology into its operations.
Mentioned on the Episode
Ashton B. Carter, “Keeping America’s Military Edge,” Foreign Affairs
Christopher Kirchhoff and Raj M. Shah, Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/silicon-valley-and-the-future-of-warfare

Jul 30, 2024
Jul 30, 2024
37 min
Charles A. Kupchan, a senior fellow at CFR and a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the United States should adapt to an era of renewed great power competition and domestic disagreement over what it should seek to achieve abroad. This episode is the third in a special TPI series on U.S. grand strategy.
Mentioned on the Episode
"A New U.S. Grand Strategy: The Case for Liberal Internationalism, With John Ikenberry,” The President’s Inbox
Richard Haass, Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America’s House in Order
Charles A. Kupchan, Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself From the World
Jake Sullivan, "Renewing American Economic Leadership”
Jake Sullivan, “The Sources of American Power: A Foreign Policy for a Changed World,” Foreign Affairs
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/tpi/new-us-grand-strategy-case-liberal-realism-charles-kupchan

Jul 23, 2024
Jul 23, 2024
36 min
Sir Robin Niblett, distinguished fellow at Chatham House, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss a potential second Cold War between the United States and China.
Mentioned on the Episode
Graham Allison, Destined for War: Can American and China Escape Thucydides’ Trap?
Barry Buzan, “A New Cold War? The Case for a General Concept,” International Politics
Robin Niblett, “The G-7 Must Prepare Now for Trump,” Foreign Policy
Robin Niblett, The New Cold War: How the Contest Between the US and China Will Shape Our Century
Robin Niblett and Leslie Vinjamuri, “The Liberal Order Begins at Home,” Foreign Affairs
Jake Sullivan, “Remarks by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Renewing American Economic Leadership at the Brookings Institution,” April 27, 2023
Jake Sullivan, “The Sources of American Power: A Foreign Policy for a Changed World,” Foreign Affairs
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/us-china-cold-war-robin-niblett

Jul 16, 2024
Jul 16, 2024
32 min
Stephen Flynn, chair of the Committee on Assessing WMD Nuclear Terrorism at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and a political science professor at Northeastern University, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the steps the U.S. government should take to prevent and respond to nuclear terrorism.
Mentioned on the Episode
Nuclear Terrorism: Assessment of U.S. Strategies to Prevent, Counter, and Respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicines
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/threat-nuclear-terrorism-stephen-flynn

Jul 9, 2024
Jul 9, 2024
38 min
Matthias Matthijs, senior fellow for Europe at CFR and associate professor of international political economy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and Daniela Schwarzer, a member of the executive board of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the results and consequences of the snap elections in France and the United Kingdom.
Mentioned on the Episode
Matthias Matthijs, “Pivotal Elections for France—and Europe,” CFR.org
Matthias Matthijs and Mark Blyth, “Don’t Bet on a British Revival,” Foreign Affairs
Daniela Schwarzer, “It’s Time to Reset EU-UK Relations,” Financial Times
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/elections-britain-and-france-matthias-matthijs-and-daniela-schwarzer

Jul 2, 2024
Jul 2, 2024
33 min
Jack Rakove, the William Robertson Coe professor of history and American studies and professor emeritus of political science and law at Stanford University, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss why the United States declared independence in 1776 and its meaning for the country today.
This episode first aired: July 4, 2023
Mentioned on the Podcast
Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Paul Revere’s Ride”
Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution
Jack N. Rakove, Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America
Jack N. Rakove, The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress
1619 Project, New York Times
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/fourth-july-jack-rakove

Jun 25, 2024
Jun 25, 2024
37 min
Robert D. Blackwill, the Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR, and Richard Fontaine, the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the U.S. response to the rise of China.
Enter the CFR book giveaway by July 8, 2024, for the chance to win one of ten free copies of Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power by Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine. You can read the terms and conditions of the offer here.
Mentioned on the Episode
Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine, Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power
Hillary Clinton, “America’s Pacific Century,” Foreign Policy
Philip Zelikow, “Confronting Another Axis? History, Humility, and Wishful Thinking,” Texas National Security Review
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/us-pivot-asia-robert-d-blackwill-and-richard-fontaine
