On this episode of American Prestige, headlines from around the globe.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio deplanes at La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, on February 4, 2025.(Johan Ordonez / AFP via Getty Images)
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On this week's news roundup from American Prestige: Donald Trump proposes the US take over the Gaza Strip (0:32), prompting mixed responses at home (9:16) as well as abroad (15:18); the US vows to return to a "maximum pressure" Iran policy (17:08); in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the M23 ceasefire fizzles out (20:04); Trump threatens to cut off funding to South Africa over certain land policies (22:10); Ukraine offers minerals in exchange for Trump's support (25:02); Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to Latin America, addressing tension over the Panama Canal (28:37), entertaining an offer from El Salvador to take in US convicts (30:44), as well as an offer from Guatemala to aid in deportations (32:14); China responds to Trump's tariffs (36:43); and the Trump Administration rigs Google searches concerning deportation cases (38:37).
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On this week’s news roundup from American Prestige: Donald Trump proposes that the US take over the Gaza Strip (0:32), prompting mixed responses at home (9:16) as well as abroad (15:18); the US vows to return to a “maximum pressure” Iran policy (17:08); in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the M23 ceasefire fizzles out (20:04); Trump threatens to cut off funding to South Africa over certain land policies (22:10); Ukraine offers minerals in exchange for Trump’s support (25:02); Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to Latin America, addressing tension over the Panama Canal (28:37), and entertaining an offer from El Salvador to take in US convicts (30:44), as well as an offer from Guatemala to aid in deportations (32:14); China responds to Trump’s tariffs (36:43); and the Trump administration rigs Google searches concerning deportation cases (38:37).
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Danny and Derek speak with historian Alfred McCoy about how the Cold War operated as a global conflict influenced by decolonization, covert action, and geopolitical strategy. They discuss the role of individual intelligence operatives as “men on the spot”; Cold War rivalry and the collapse of European empires; how conflicts across Asia, Africa, and Latin America produced much of the war’s violence; the development of U.S. containment strategy and covert action institutions; and Iran as flashpoint in Cold War and post-Cold War geopolitics, and how Alfred interprets these conflicts through a lens of imperial decline and strategic chokepoints like the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz.
Buy Alfred’s book Cold War on Five Continents!
Reading recommendation: The Cold War's Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peaceby Paul Thomas Chamberlin.
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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.
Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.