Trump, Netanyahu, and the Future of the Middle East

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman sits down with Ravi Agrawal to debrief this week’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Friedman is also the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, among other books.  Thomas L. Friedman: How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again Thomas L. Friedman: If This Mideast War Is Over, Get Ready for Some Interesting Politics Thomas L. Friedman: How the Attacks on Iran Are Part of a Much Bigger Global Struggle Adrian Karatnycky: An Emerging Trump Doctrine? Daniel C. Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller: Less Gloating and More Diplomacy Are Needed to Heal the Middle East Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Edward Luce is the author of a new biography on President Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet. He joins FP Live to share how this grand strategist’s legacy still shapes foreign policy today. Theodore Bunzel: Where Have All the Geostrategists Gone? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does India view a shifting world order? Former national security advisor Shivshankar Menon sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss New Delhi’s vision in a period defined by geopolitical flux and several global conflicts. Menon is also the author of Choices: Inside the Making of Indian Foreign Policy. Sumit Ganguly: Kashmir Attack Shatters Illusion of Calm Shivshankar Menon: A New Cold War May Call for a Return to Nonalignment C. Raja Mohan: India Sees Opportunities as Trump Jettisons the Western Order Brought to you by: quince.com/fplive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FP Live host Ravi Agrawal is on the ground at the NATO summit in The Hague this week. He shares his take on how European leaders pledged to increase their defense spending in a bid to please U.S. President Donald Trump. But where is that money going to come from? Insider: A Debrief on the NATO Summit Ravi Agrawal: NATO Is Avoiding a Difficult Conversation  NATO Public Forum LIVE Fabian Hoffmann: A Russia-NATO War Would Look Nothing Like Ukraine Edward Lucas: America Will Miss Europe’s Dependence When It’s Gone Philip H. Gordon and Rebecca Lissner: How Trump Can Reset His Failed Ukraine Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Conflict broke out between Israel and Iran on Friday, with Israel launching an attack on Iran’s nuclear and military facilities and Iran responding in turn. Vali Nasr, a Middle East expert and professor at Johns Hopkins University, sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss. Nasr is the author, most recently, of Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History.  FP Staff: Israel Strikes Iran Iselin Brady and Daniel Byman: How the Israel-Iran War Might End Steven A. Cook: Israel Is Going for the Death Blow on Iran Jeffrey Lewis: Nuclear Claims Are a Smoke Screen for Hopes of Toppling Iran John Haltiwanger: Iran’s Military Just Lost Its ‘Brain Trust’ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese exports of rare earths, a critical component in manufacturing high-end tech products, emerged as a key sticking point in this week’s trade talks between Beijing and Washington. Underpinning all of this is the race for artificial intelligence supremacy. Who is winning this competition? Who is best placed to control the supply chains of all the components that go into the top chips and AI models? Jared Cohen and George Lee, the co-heads of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, join FP Live. Note: This discussion is part of a series of episodes brought to you by the Goldman Sachs Global Institute. Jared Cohen: The AI Economy’s Massive Vulnerability Rishi Iyengar & Lili Pike: Is It Too Late to Slow China’s AI Development? Vivek Chilukuri: How the United States Can Win the Global Tech Race Brought to you by: nordvpn.com/fplive (Exclusive NordVPN Deal: Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drones are playing an increasingly decisive role in conflicts around the world. Coupled with artificial intelligence and other technological advances, the very nature of warfare is transforming in front of our eyes. Are countries and their policymakers prepared?  Mara Karlin, former assistant secretary of defense under U.S. President Joe Biden, joins FP Live to share her insights. Karlin is also the author of The Inheritance: America’s Military After Two Decades of War. John Haltiwanger: Drones are Transforming South Asian Warfare Stephen M. Walt: Ukraine’s Drone Attack Doesn’t Matter Christian Caryl: The Ukrainians’ New Way of War Mara Karlin: The Inheritance: America’s Military After Two Decades of War Stanley McChrystal and Anshu Roy: AI Has Entered the Situation Room Brought to you by: nordvpn.com/fplive (Exclusive NordVPN Deal: Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gen Z has come of age amid a pandemic, growing polarization, and deep distrust of bureaucratic institutions. How does this shape their political and economic views? Do they still believe in the American Dream? Economic analyst and author Kyla Scanlon joins FP Live to discuss. Suggested reading: Institute of Politics: Spring 2025 Harvard Youth Poll Kyla Scanlon: Gen Z and the End of Predictable Progress Kyla Scanlon: FAFOnomics: How Chaos Became America’s Economic Strategy Kyla Scanlon: Dollar Devaluation and the Antisystem Youth Kyla Scanlon: In This Economy? How Money and Markets Really Work? Kathleen J. McInnis: How to Sell NATO to Gen Z Joseph E. Stiglitz: Big Tech Is Trying to Prevent Debate About Its Social Harms Jeongmin Kim: Why Young Koreans Love to Splurge Brought to you by: nordvpn.com/fplive (Exclusive NordVPN Deal: Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, thousands of Palestinians stormed an aid distribution site in Gaza, underlining the ongoing humanitarian crisis there and prompting the question: Why isn’t the world doing more? Martin Griffiths served as the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator at the United Nations from 2021 until 2024. He is currently with the Mediation Group International and joins Ravi Agrawal to push for solutions to the multiple crises spanning our globe. Suggested reading: Neha Wadekar: The World’s Refugee Relief Is Utterly Broken David E. Rosenberg: The Old War Is Over in Gaza, and a New One Is Underway Michael Hirsh: A New Authoritarian Era in the Mideast? Robbie Gramer: How the U.S. Fumbled Sudan’s Hopes for Democracy Brought to you by: nordvpn.com/fplive (Exclusive NordVPN Deal: Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

**Hello listeners, an earlier version of this episode contained glitches due to an upload error. If you hear breaks in the audio, please download the episode again for the corrected version. Thanks for listening, and we apologize for the mishap!** Is Trump’s Middle East Policy a Break From the Past? Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump visited three countries in the Middle East—Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar—on the first scheduled foreign trip of his second term. While many of the headlines from the trip focused on the 747 jetliner Qatar donated for use as Air Force One, it’s probably more notable that Trump rejected decades of Western intervention in the region and declared that there would be “no more lectures” from America. Is the Trump administration re-aligning American priorities in the region? F. Gregory Gause, visiting scholar at the Middle East Institute, joins FP Live to discuss why the Gulf monarchies are rising in importance.  Suggested reading (FP links are paywall-free): Howard W. French: What Trump Got Right in the Middle East Agathe Demarais: The U.S. Economy Is Now Trump Enterprises Michael Hirsh: A New Authoritarian Era in the Mideast? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices