What’s Behind Trump’s Expansionist Instincts?

How can history help make sense of U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Greg Grandin shares how Trump’s imperialist impulses may be inspired by the country’s Founding Fathers, and that he “rummages around the trash bag of history to find what’s useful at any given moment.” Plus, Ravi’s One Thing on the recent U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies. Keith Johnson: Will Trump’s Russia Oil Sanctions Finally Sway Putin? Greg Grandin: America, América: A New History of the New World Ravi Agrawal: Why Trump Is a ‘Scarcity President’ Syrus Solo Jin: With Territory Comes Torment Stephen M. Walt: Donald Trump Will Never Be a Restrainer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the cease-fire more than a week old, Palestinians now turn to what comes next: rebuilding and governing. Former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization Diana Buttu sits down with Ravi Agrawal to share her perspective. Plus, Ravi’s One Thing on the Trump administration’s moves on Venezuela.  Diana Buttu: A ‘magic pill’ made Israeli violence invisible. We need to stop swallowing it. Omar H. Rahman: Can Palestinians Trust Donald Trump? Daniel Byman: One Question Looming Over the Gaza Deal: Why Now? Michael J. Koplow: Three Reckonings the Gaza Deal Will Force Christopher Sabatini: Will Venezuela’s Nobel Peace Prize Winner Stick With Trump? Geoff Ramsey: What’s the U.S. Endgame in Venezuela? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

43 percent of voters under 30 supported U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, a 7 percent jump in support from both the 2016 and 2020 elections. What’s underpinning this rightward shift among young voters? Conservative commentator and journalist Emily Jashinsky shares her take. Plus, Ravi’s One Thing on the Israel-Hamas deal over hostages and an end to hostilities. Megan DuBois: The Shape-Shifting MAGA Hat Adrian Karatnycky: An Emerging Trump Doctrine? Emma Ashford: Four Explanatory Models for Trump’s Chaos Emma Ashford: If Trump Is Neither Hawk nor Dove, What Is He? Howard W. French: Trump Is Ushering in the Era of the Strongman Stephen M. Walt: How Assassinations Became Normal Again Julian E. Zelizer: Why Don’t Younger Americans Vote? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tuesday marks two years since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, Israel has decimated Gaza in what many independent organizations are calling a genocide and attacked several countries in the region. How have all of these events impacted the world? FP columnist Stephen M. Walt sits down with Ravi Agrawal to share his take. John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy Stephen M. Walt: Meet the New Middle East, Same as the Old Middle East Steven A. Cook: The Delusions Driving U.S. Policy in the Middle East Pankaj Mishra: How Gaza Shattered the West’s Mythology Emma Ashford: What Was the Tipping Point on Gaza? John Haltiwanger: Why Israel’s War in Gaza Has Been So Deadly for Journalists Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With increased polarization and ongoing budgetary disputes, the U.S. government does not seem to be acting in the way that the American forefathers intended. Host Ravi Agrawal brings on historian Jill Lepore to share more. Lepore is a professor at Harvard University and the author of We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution. Plus, One Thing from Ravi on the U.S. government shutdown. Rishi Iyengar: How a U.S. Government Shutdown Could Impact Washington’s Foreign Policy John Haltiwanger: Why America’s ‘Unusual’ Democracy Leads to Shutdown Andrew O’Donohue: The U.S. Judicial Crisis Is Uniquely Dangerous Stan Veuger: Americans Need to Acknowledge Their Unwritten Constitution Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Qatar often presents itself as a neutral mediator in the world’s trickiest problems, but on Sept. 9, its sovereignty was violated as Israel launched a strike to assassinate top Hamas leaders in Doha. Will Qatar change its strategy? No, explains Majed al-Ansari, the spokesperson of the country’s Foreign Ministry, at a live event with host Ravi Agrawal along the sidelines of the 80th U.N. General Assembly.  Plus, One Thing from Ravi on a feeling that seems in rare supply but was surprisingly abundant in New York this week: hope. Mina Al-Oraibi: Qatar Strike Creates Rift but Not Rupture in Gulf-Israel Ties  Matthew Duss: Recognize Palestine, Then Put Real Pressure on Israel Ravi’s interview with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Ravi’s interview with Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How is Europe navigating the Trump administration and a troubling moment in the trans-Atlantic relationship? FP Live host Ravi Agrawal sits down with Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, on the sidelines of the United Nations’ annual meetings to discuss relations with Washington, Russia’s war in Ukraine, recognizing Palestine, and dealing with China.  Plus, One Thing from Ravi on a spate of countries recognizing Palestine. South China Morning Post: China Tells EU it does not want to see Russia lose its war in Ukraine: Sources Sam Skove: Trump Makes U-Turn on Ukraine Rhetoric  Christian Caryl: Europe Is on Its Own With Russia Now Ravi Agrawal: How Europe Is Navigating Trump Agathe Demarais: Europe’s Hippopotamus Strategy for Handling Trump Caroline de Gruyter: Europe Has Found Its True Language Anchal Vohra: Trump’s Trade Deal With Europe Is Already Unraveling Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development this year left countries scrambling, with many analysts going as far as calling the shutdown inhumane. But values were never the real driver of the global development agenda, says FP columnist Adam Tooze—it was actually about power. Now that the United States has stepped back, can China fill the void? Does it want to? Tooze sits down with host Ravi Agrawal to discuss his piece “The End of Development” in FP’s latest print issue. Plus, One Thing from Ravi on the global connections to the Charlie Kirk killing. Alejandro Reyes: Why Charlie Kirk’s White Nationalism Resonated With Some Nonwhites Abroad Adam Tooze: The End of Development Adam’s economics podcast: Ones and Tooze Daniela Gabor: How Big Finance Ate Foreign Aid Henry Tugendhat and James Palmer: Can China Replace USAID? David C. Engerman: The Problem With the Global South’s Self-Help Push Suparna Chaudhry: Why the World Turned on NGOs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin has a plan for the U.S. Democratic Party. She’s promoting what she calls a “war plan” to revive the middle class as a way for her party to not only challenge President Donald Trump—and win the future for America. She joins host Ravi Agrawal to game out how to put her vision into action.  Plus, One Thing from Ravi on the Russian drones fired into Polish airspace earlier this week. Council on Foreign Relations: A New Vision for America’s National Security Julian E. Zelizer: Why Democrats Should Proceed to the Center With Caution Matthew Duss: Democrats Should Reclaim the Anti-War Mantle From Trump Christian Caryl: Russia Just Attacked NATO. Again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FP columnist Emma Ashford makes the case that we’re entering a post-unipolar world—that countries can sense that the United States is no longer an unchallenged superpower. If that’s the case, how should Washington adapt its foreign policy?  Ashford sits down with host Ravi Agrawal to discuss her new book, First Among Equals: U.S. Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World.  Plus, One Thing from Ravi on South Korea’s latest soft power hit, KPop Demon Hunters. Ravi Agrawal: Is America Now Merely the First Among Equals? Emma Ashford: Passing the Baton in Europe Stephen M. Walt: The Realist Case for Global Rules Michael Hirsh: Why Everyone in Washington Is a ‘Realist’ Now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices