Guest: Michael O'Hanlon, chair in defense and strategy at the Brookings Institution.Understanding the relationship between diplomacy and military force is essential in designing and implementing national security policy. At a time of domestic deployments of armed service members and a breakdown of the traditional interagency policy process created after World War II, what are the dynamics in that relationship?On this episode of “The Diplomacy Podcast,” we discuss the state of the U.S. defense posture more than seven months into the second Trump administration. My guest is Michael O’Hanlon, director of foreign policy research and chair in defense and strategy at the Brookings Institution. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nicholaskralev.substack.com
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The Shock in Transatlantic Relations
Guest: Gabrielius Landsbergis, former foreign minister of Lithuania.The relationship between the United States and Europe has been quite shaken in the last seven month — from diverging worldviews to disagreements about Russia to punishing tariffs. How do things look from Europe?On this episode of “The Diplomacy Podcast,” we discuss the impact of the Trump administration’s policies and actions on transatlantic relations. My guest is Gabrielius Landsbergis, who served as Lithuania’s foreign minister from 2020 to 2024. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nicholaskralev.substack.com
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The Foreign Policy of an Imperial Presidency
Guest: Elizabeth Saunders, professor of political science at Columbia University.The U.S. Supreme Court surprised many constitutional lawyers last summer, when it granted presidents “absolute immunity” for their official acts. How has that ruling affected foreign-policy decisions in the first six months of the second Trump administration?On this episode of “The Diplomacy Podcast,” we discuss the impact of the high court’s decision on the checks and constraints on executive power that have long existed in the U.S. democratic system.My guest is Elizabeth Saunders, professor of political science at Columbia University. Having studied the gradual weakening of those checks over decades, she concludes that the 2024 ruling “essentially unbounds the presidency from the constraints of the law.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nicholaskralev.substack.com
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The Future of U.S. Global Power
Guest: Chas Freeman, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and assistant secretary of defense.No other country in history has achieved the level of soft power the United States enjoyed for decades, with a peak in the early 1990s. Even more significant was the potent combination of military, economic and soft power, as I noted last month. That combination enabled Washington to organize and manage the world to its own liking.On this episode of “The Diplomacy Podcast,” we discuss the factors that helped the United States become the world’s undisputed hegemon and consider the future of its role on the global stage. My guest is Ambassador Chas Freeman, a former career diplomat for three decades.Freeman, who also served as deputy chief of mission in China and Thailand, says that U.S. diplomacy has been replaced by “outright bullying.”He also argues that the Trump administration’s policies are quickly killing U.S. economic power, and military power will soon be the only one of three left. Soft power predisposes others to follow your lead and “inculcates trust,” he says. “We had that for much of the Cold War, and even our adversaries admired our diplomacy.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nicholaskralev.substack.com
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The Loss of National Security Expertise
What do the collapse of U.S. policymaking and gutting the NSC mean for Americans' safety?The Trump White House has slashed the staff of the National Security Council, whose role is to coordinate policymaking, by more than half. Deliberation of policy options barely exists, and it’s not clear who — if anyone — advises the president.On this episode of "The Diplomacy Podcast," we discuss the recent NSC purge and its implications for Americans’ safety and security, with Ambassador Cindy Courville, a former NSC senior director for African affairs. She was also the first U.S. ambassador to the African Union.She offers insight into how the "interagency process," which is essential in a democracy but has been largely abandoned, helped presidents make difficult and highly consequential decisions for decades.Courville, who worked in the George W. Bush White House as a civil servant detailed from the Defense Intelligence Agency, also talks about what the loss of significant national security expertise means in practice. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nicholaskralev.substack.com
Österreich