The President’s Inbox

A New Era of Great Power Competition, With Hal Brands

Hal Brands, Henry A. Kissinger distinguished professor of global affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss what lessons the United States can draw from the Cold War for understanding our new era of great power rivalry.

 

Books Mentioned on the Podcast 

 

Hal Brands, The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today (2022) 

 

Articles Mentioned on the Podcast 

 

Hal Brands, “Containment Can Work Against China, Too,” Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2021 

 

Hal Brands, “The Overstretched Superpower,” Foreign Affairs, January 18, 2022 

 

Richard Fontaine, “Washington’s Missing China Strategy,” Foreign Affairs, January 14, 2022 

 

“X” (George Kennan), “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” Foreign Affairs (July 1947) 

President Biden’s First Year, With Richard Haass

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, sits down with James M. Lindsay to assess how the Biden administration has handled foreign policy in its first year in office.

 

Books Mentioned in the Podcast

 

Richard Haass, The World: A Brief Introduction (2020)

 

Podcasts Mentioned

 

Richard Haass, Nine Questions for the World, Council on Foreign Relations

 

Anne Appelbaum and Richard Haass, “Can Democracy Survive?” Nine Questions for the World, December 16, 2021

 

Fei-Fei Li and Richard Haass, “Can Societies Keep Up with Technology?” Nine Questions for the World, December 16, 2021

 

Michelle McMurry-Heath and Richard Haass, “Can Biotech Be Harnessed?” Nine Questions for the World, December 16, 2021

 

Elizabeth Perry and Richard Haass, “Will This Century Belong to China?” Nine Questions for the World, December 16, 2021

Keeping the Nuclear Peace, With Michael Krepon

Michael Krepon, cofounder of and distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the rise, demise, and possible revival of arms control efforts across the globe.

 

Books Mentioned in the Podcast

 

Michael Krepon, Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace: The Rise, Demise, and Revival of Arms Control (2021)

 

Statements Mentioned

 

“Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races,” The White House, January 3, 2022

TPI Replay: Democratic Crises in U.S. History, With Suzanne Mettler

In this special series of The President’s Inbox on the future of democracy, James M. Lindsay speaks with experts to discuss whether and where democratic governance is faltering around the world. This week, Suzanne Mettler, John L. Senior professor of American Institutions in the Government Department at Cornell University, places the current crisis of American democracy in historical perspective. This episode is part of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy. (This is a rebroadcast.)

 

Books Mentioned in the Podcast

 

Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Lieberman, Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy (2020)

TPI Replay: Beijing’s Grand Strategy, With Matt Pottinger

Host James M. Lindsay sits down with senior advisor at the Marathon Initiative and chairman of the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Matt Pottinger, to discuss China’s ambitions and what they mean for the United States. (This is a rebroadcast.)

 

Articles Mentioned in the Podcast

 

Michael Beckley and Hal Brands, “The End of China’s Rise,” Foreign Affairs, October 1, 2021

 

Bilahari Kausikan, “In U.S.-China Standoff, Is America a Reliable Ally?,” Foreign Policy, October 18, 2021

 

Matt Pottinger, “Beijing’s American Hustle,” Foreign Affairs (September/October 2021)

 

Liza Tobin, “Xi’s Vision for Transforming Global Governance: A Strategic Challenge for Washington and Its Allies,” Texas National Security Review (November 2018)

 

Books Mentioned

 

Dan Blumenthal, The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State, (AEI Press, 2020)

 

Rush Doshi, The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order, (Brookings Institution Press, 2021)

The State of Affairs Across the Middle East, With Steven A. Cook

Steven A. Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss what's happening across the Middle East as 2021 comes to a close.

 

Books Mentioned in the Podcast 

 

Steven A. Cook, False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East (2019) 

 

Events Mentioned 

 

“A Conversation with Jake Sullivan,” Council on Foreign Relations, December 17, 2021 

The U.S.-Russia Stalemate, With Mary Elise Sarotte

Mary Elise Sarotte, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis distinguished professor of historical studies at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss what the United States got right, and wrong, in its relations with Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

 

Articles Mentioned in the Podcast

 

George Kennan, “Long Telegram” to the State Department, February 22, 1946

 

“X” (George Kennan), “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” Foreign Affairs (July 1947)

 

Vladimir Putin, “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,” The Kremlin, July 12, 2021

 

M.E. Sarotte, “Containment Beyond the Cold War: How Washington Lost the Post-Soviet Peace,” Foreign Affairs (November/December 2021)

 

Books Mentioned

 

M.E. Sarotte, Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate (2021)

 

M.E. Sarotte, The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall (2014)

The Future of Energy, With Helima Croft

Helima Croft, managing director and head of global commodity strategy and Middle East and North Africa research at RBC Capital Markets, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss trends in the energy world.

 

Relevant Articles of Interest

 

Jason Bordoff and Meghan L. O’Sullivan, “Green Upheaval: The New Geopolitics of Energy,” Foreign Affairs (January/February 2022)

 

Robinson Meyer, “The Energy Crunch, in Six Paragraphs,” The Atlantic, October 13, 2021

 

Daniel Yergin, “Why the Energy Transition Will Be So Complicated,” The Atlantic, November 27, 2021

The U.S.-South Korea Alliance, With Mark Lippert

Ambassador Mark Lippert, vice chairman of the Halifax Forum and senior advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies Korea Chair, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss U.S.-South Korean relations and the Biden administration’s broader Indo-Pacific strategy.

 

Polls Mentioned in the Podcast

 

Karl Friedhoff, “South Koreans See China as More Threat than Partner, But Not the Most Critical Threat Facing the Country,” Chicago Council, April 6, 2021

 

Hong Suk-ji, “Survey Results of South Korean Perception on the ROK-U.S. Alliance,” Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, November 2, 2021

 

Richard Wike et al., “What People Around the World Like–and Dislike–About American Society and Politics,” Pew Research Center, November 1, 2021

 

Statements Mentioned

 

“U.S.-ROK Leaders’ Joint Statement,” The White House, May 21, 2021

 

Webcasts Mentioned

 

Mark Lippert, The Capital Cable, CSIS Korea Chair

The State of Transatlantic Relations, With Sophia Besch

Sophia Besch, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the current state of transatlantic relations and whether Europeans think America is “back,” as President Joe Biden claims.

 

Articles Mentioned in the Podcast:

 

Wolfgang Münchau, “Germany's message to Europe,” EuroIntelligence, October 17, 2021