Podcast / American Prestige / Mar 29, 2024

Rethinking US World Power

On this episode of American Prestige, Michael Brenes and Stephen Wertheim on domestic histories of US foreign relations.

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Rethinking U.S. World Power w/ Michael Brenes and Stephen Wertheim | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of American Prestige, Michael Brenes and Stephen discuss the new volume Danny and Michael edited, Rethinking U.S. World Power: Domestic Histories of U.S. Foreign Relations. They talk about the current tenor in DC around foreign policy, the degree to which domestic factors affect U.S. decisions therein, and how their careers thus far have shaped their thinking.

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President Clinton speaks on the phone while on Air Force One, November 2, 1997, in the United States.

President Clinton on Air Force One, November 2, 1997, in the United States.

(Cynthia Johnson / Liaison)

On this episode of American Prestige, we welcome back friends Michael Brenes, codirector of the Brady-Johnson program in grand strategy at Yale University and publisher of Warfare and Welfare, and Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

They’re on the show to discuss the new volume Danny and Michael edited, Rethinking U.S. World Power: Domestic Histories of U.S. Foreign Relations. We talk about the current tenor in D.C. around foreign policy, the degree to which domestic factors affect US decisions therein, and how their careers thus far have shaped their thinking.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

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.

Lebanon Ceasefire, Orbán Loses Hungarian Election, Trump Prepares Cuba Incursion | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

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Danny and Derek are considering attending the Met Gala. In this week’s news: Iran talks amble along despite U.S. forces building up in the region (1:55); the U.S. blockade restricts oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz (9:49); Lebanon and Israel declare a 10-day ceasefire (12:23); Hamas meets U.S. officials in Cairo to advance the talks over Gaza (19:37); Iraq’s parliament elects Nizar Ahmed as president (21:52); Sudan’s war enters its fourth year as Berlin pledges aid (25:21); Libya’s rival governments approve a joint national budget (27:20); Hungary’s opposition defeats Viktor Orbán in parliamentary elections (30:28); Britain suspends the Chagos handover after Trump objects (33:39); Peru’s election continues into a second day and heads to a runoff (36:39); Trump and J.D. Vance feud with Pope Leo over the Iran war (39:39), leading Italian PM Giorgia Meloni to distance herself from Trump (43:49); and the Trump administration prepares military plans for an operation in Cuba (46:17).

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Daniel Bessner

Daniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.

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