Is America’s China Policy Too Hawkish?

An exclusive episode for our podcast listeners: Host and FP editor in chief Ravi Agrawal gives a preview of the latest print issue: “Letters to the Next President.” Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Martin Kimani: How to Restore the American Center Arancha González: Isolationism Doesn’t Protect Danny Quah: Why America Should Drop Its Obsession With Being No. 1 Joseph E. Stiglitz: Play by the Rules Catherine Ashton: The Trans-Atlantic Partnership Still Matters Jason Bordoff: Clean Energy Is Security Mark Malloch-Brown: Muster Global Majorities Joseph S. Nye Jr.: Invest in Soft Power Nirupama Rao: Strategic Autonomy Is Nothing to Fear Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Trump administration National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster joins FP Live to debrief after the Harris-Trump debate. Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Christina Lu and Amy Mackinnon: Top Foreign-Policy Moments From the Harris-Trump Debate FP Contributors: Letters to the Next President H.R. McMaster and Gabriel Scheinmann: U.S. Restraint Has Created an Unstable and Dangerous World  H.R. McMaster: At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House H.R. McMaster: Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicholas Burns has served as the U.S. ambassador to China since 2022, a period that encompasses not only the country’s COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns but also a series of high and low points in the U.S.-China relationship. How should Washington compete with Beijing without spiraling into conflict? Burns joins FP Live for a rare longform interview. Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Robbie Gramer and Christina Lu: Washington’s China Hawks Take Flight Bob Davis: Who Got China Wrong? Michael Hirsh: No, This Is Not a Cold War—Yet Bonny Lin: The China-Russia Axis Takes Shape Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The violence on Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza seem to have derailed any hope for a two-state solution. With tensions in the Middle East continuing to escalate, and a cease-fire agreement proving elusive, what does a path forward for both the Israelis and Palestinians look like? Former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad shares his insights with FP Live. Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Foreign Affairs: Salam Fayyad: A Plan for Peace in Gaza John Aziz: Violence Has Failed the Palestinians FP Contributors: How Will This War End? How Can the Next One Be Prevented?  Stephen M. Walt: The Dangerous Decline in Israeli Strategy Tickets to see FP's Ones and Tooze podcast live at Sixth & I in Washington, DC: https://www.sixthandi.org/event/foreign-policys-ones-and-tooze-podcast/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Democratic National Convention concluded Thursday night with Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the party’s nomination. What did we learn about a potential Harris foreign policy? Matt Duss, former foreign-policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Anne-Marie Slaughter, former director of policy planning at the State Department, join FP Live to unpack this week’s DNC. Suggested reading (FP links are paywall free): Michael Hirsh: Preparing for a Less Arrogant America Michael Hirsh: Kamala Harris’s 21st-Century Foreign Policy  Matthew Duss: Harris Candidacy Gives Democrats a Change to Pivot on Gaza Matthew Duss: The Democrats’ Pro-Worker Agenda Can Go Global Financial Times: What Might a Harris Foreign Policy Look Like? Bhaskar Chakravorti: If Kamala Harris Was the Czar of Anything, It Would Be AI Abdelhalim Abdelrahman: Democrats’ Gaza Policy Is Repelling Arab American Voters FP Staff: The Kamala Harris Doctrine Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do the proposed economic policies of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump differ—and where is there overlap? Adam Posen, the president of the nonpartisan Peterson Institute for International Economics, joins FP Live to discuss the two campaigns’ agendas. Suggested reading: Adam Posen on Industrial Policy: America’s Zero-Sum Economics Doesn’t Add Up Ravi Agrawal’s Interview With U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai (FP Live March 2023) Edward Alden on Robert Lighthizer: The Man Who Would Help Trump Upend the Global Economy Jared Cohen: Don’t Bet Against the Dollar Keith Johnson: Trump’s Plan to Weaken the Dollar Makes No Sense FP Staff: The Kamala Harris Doctrine Peterson Institute for International Economics: Election 2024: Assessing Presidential Economic Platforms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The assassination of a key Hamas leader in Tehran, following the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut, could escalate an already tense conflict between Israel, Iran, and its proxies. Middle East expert Trita Parsi sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss what might happen next. Suggested reading: Steven A. Cook: Why Americans and Israelis Don’t See Eye to Eye on Iran Chicago Council on Global Affairs: Majority of Americans Oppose Sending US Forces to Defend Israel if Attacked by Iran Trita Parsi: The U.S. Should Negotiate With Iran on One Issue Right Now Trita Parsi: Netanyahu Wants War With Iran. Biden Can Prevent It. FP Live: Iran’s Attack on Israel—What Happens Next? Sina Toossi: Iranians Voted for Change. Will They Get It? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A leading figure in the Trump administration’s national security team, Elbridge Colby, joins FP Live to discuss the Republican nominee’s potential agenda. He argues for a more business-like approach with allies and alliances as well as prioritizing Asia over Europe.  Suggested reading: Transcript: Decoding Trump’s Foreign Policy Stephen M. Walt: The Trump-Vance Unilaterialist Delusion Elbridge Colby and David Ochmanek: How the United States Could Lose a Great-Power War  Elbridge Colby: How to Win America’s Next War Transcript: How Singapore Manages U.S.-China Tensions Transcript: Is Canada Free-Riding on Defense? Elbridge Colby: The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Pussy Riot all have one thing in common—they’ve all sat in front of British portraitist Platon’s wide-angle lens. Platon joins FP Live to share what it’s like to be in the room with the top people in power and discuss how he captures these moments with his camera. Suggested reading: FP Live: How Platon Photographs Power Platon: The Defenders: Heroes of the Global Fight for Human Rights Clips: When Platon Met Putin & Clinton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Few countries are better equipped to interpret the U.S.-China relationship than Singapore. The small but wealthy city-state has extensive contacts with Washington and Beijing and understands both sides. Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen sits down with FP’s Ravi Agrawal on stage at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado to discuss China’s assertiveness, U.S. soft power, and a shifting global order. Suggested reading: Ravi Agrawal: How Singapore Manages U.S.-China Tensions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices