Foreign Policy Live

We talk a lot about Iran on this show, but we don’t often hear from Iranian leaders. I wanted to change that this week—and so I asked Mohammad Javad Zarif to come on the program. Zarif played a major role in crafting Iranian foreign policy over the last 15 years, as foreign minister from 2013 to 2021 and as the lead negotiator of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. While Americans perceived him as the diplomatic face of Iran, at home he was seen as a reformer trying to hold off the hard-liners. Zarif served as Iran’s vice president of strategic affairs from 2024 to earlier this year, but he’s now out of government and a bit more free to express his opinions. He spoke with me about the June war between Israel and Iran and the prospects for diplomacy with the Trump administration. Mohammad Javad Zarif: The Time for a Paradigm Shift Is Now [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/15/javad-zarif-iran-diplomacy-war-united-states/] Trita Parsi: The Next Israel-Iran War is Coming [http://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/11/israel-iran-war-trump-nuclear-august-december/] Steven A. Cook: In the Middle East, a Cold War Redux? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/21/middle-east-cold-war-us-china-iran-israel/] Charli Carpenter: Why the Nuclear Taboo Is Stronger Than Ever [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/20/nuclear-taboo-stronger-international-law/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The United States and China are constantly looking for a leg up in their rivalry for geopolitical primacy. But what if the real advantage lies in adopting a bit of the other’s culture? A new book makes the case that while China has become an engineering state obsessed with building, the United States has become a lawyerly society focused on procedures and blocking. Can they learn from each other? Author and scholar Dan Wang sits down with Ravi Agrawal to discuss his new book, Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future. Dan Wang: Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future [https://www.amazon.com/Breakneck-Chinas-Quest-Engineer-Future/dp/1324106034] Ravi Agrawal: Why China’s Tech Dominance Is Not Inevitable [https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/03/why-chinas-tech-dominance-is-not-inevitable/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=d2h5LWNoaW5hcy10ZWNoLWRvbWluYW5jZS1pcy1ub3QtaW5ldml0YWJsZQ==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Bob Davis: America’s Flailing Industrial Policy Can Take Lessons From China [https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/11/america-industrialpolicy-china-economics-infliation-manufacturing/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=YW1lcmljYS1pbmR1c3RyaWFscG9saWN5LWNoaW5hLWVjb25vbWljcy1pbmZsaWF0aW9uLW1hbnVmYWN0dXJpbmc=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] James Palmer: A Guide to Censorship in China [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/19/china-censorship-media-ccp-journalism-film-television/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=Y2hpbmEtY2Vuc29yc2hpcC1tZWRpYS1jY3Atam91cm5hbGlzbS1maWxtLXRlbGV2aXNpb24=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Trump-Putin summit on Friday, followed by Monday’s unprecedented White House meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky and seven other European leaders, has left analysts wondering whether recent diplomacy will result in an end to hostilities—or if it’s all just pageantry. Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Sergey Radchenko sit down with Ravi Agrawal to debrief these two high-level meetings. Kendall-Taylor is a former CIA analyst and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Radchenko is a Johns Hopkins University professor and the author of To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power. Ravi Agrawal: Grading Trump’s Ukraine Diplomacy [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/18/trump-ukraine-diplomacy-zelensky-putin-russia/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtdWtyYWluZS1kaXBsb21hY3ktemVsZW5za3ktcHV0aW4tcnVzc2lh&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Ivo H. Daalder: Russia and Ukraine Are as Far Apart as Ever [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/19/russia-ukraine-far-apart-war-trump-putin-talks/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=cnVzc2lhLXVrcmFpbmUtZmFyLWFwYXJ0LXdhci10cnVtcC1wdXRpbi10YWxrcw==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Stephen M. Walt: Trump Has No Idea How to Do Diplomacy [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/19/trump-diplomacy-putin-ukraine-europe/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtZGlwbG9tYWN5LXB1dGluLXVrcmFpbmUtZXVyb3Bl&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Rishi Iyengar: Key Takeaways From Trump’s Meeting with Zelensky [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/18/trump-zelensky-meeting-takeaways-oval-office-russia-war-ukraine/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtemVsZW5za3ktbWVldGluZy10YWtlYXdheXMtb3ZhbC1vZmZpY2UtcnVzc2lhLXdhci11a3JhaW5l&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Keith Johnson: 7 Lingering Questions After the Trump Ukraine Summit [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/19/trump-ukraine-russia-summit-putin-zelensky/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtdWtyYWluZS1ydXNzaWEtc3VtbWl0LXB1dGluLXplbGVuc2t5&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Michael Hirsh: Trump’s Putin Gambit Failed—but Maybe It Was Still Worth Trying [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/15/trump-putin-alaska-summit-failed/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtcHV0aW4tYWxhc2thLXN1bW1pdC1mYWlsZWQ=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Sergey Radchenko: Not Unprecedented but Unprincipled [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/13/trump-putin-alaska-meeting-summit-china/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtcHV0aW4tYWxhc2thLW1lZXRpbmctc3VtbWl0LWNoaW5h&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Christina Lu: ‘There’s No Deal Until There’s a Deal’ [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/15/trump-putin-summit-press-conference-transcript-full-text-read/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtcHV0aW4tc3VtbWl0LXByZXNzLWNvbmZlcmVuY2UtdHJhbnNjcmlwdC1mdWxsLXRleHQtcmVhZA==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

European leaders, having agreed to spending 5 percent of their GDP on defense, now must decide where that money goes. What factors should they consider to make sure the money leads to the continent’s growth and a cutting-edge defense industrial base? Ravi Agrawal sits down with Jared Cohen, the president of global affairs at Goldman Sachs, to discuss. Note: This discussion is part of a series of episodes brought to you by the Goldman Sachs Global Institute [https://www.goldmansachs.com/what-we-do/goldman-sachs-global-institute]. Ravi’s Recommendations: Amitav Acharya: Pharaohs, Maharajas, and the Making of a Multipolar World [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/25/multipolar-world-pharaohs-maharajas-us-primacy/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=bXVsdGlwb2xhci13b3JsZC1waGFyYW9ocy1tYWhhcmFqYXMtdXMtcHJpbWFjeQ==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Robert Kagan: The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World [https://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Grows-Back-America-Imperiled/dp/0525521658] Additional Reading: Ravi Agrawal: NATO Is Avoiding a Difficult Conversation [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/25/nato-summit-defense-spending-public-approval/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=bmF0by1zdW1taXQtZGVmZW5zZS1zcGVuZGluZy1wdWJsaWMtYXBwcm92YWw=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Jared Cohen: Don’t Bet Against the Dollar [https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/06/10/brics-currency-dollar-yuan-united-states-economy/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=YnJpY3MtY3VycmVuY3ktZG9sbGFyLXl1YW4tdW5pdGVkLXN0YXRlcy1lY29ub215&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Justin Logan: Trump Shouldn’t Settle for European Spending Pledges [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/25/trump-nato-europe-ukraine-budget-troops/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtbmF0by1ldXJvcGUtdWtyYWluZS1idWRnZXQtdHJvb3Bz&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Kori Schake: Is NATO Dead? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/23/nato-countries-future-defense-spending-us-ukraine-europe/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=bmF0by1jb3VudHJpZXMtZnV0dXJlLWRlZmVuc2Utc3BlbmRpbmctdXMtdWtyYWluZS1ldXJvcGU=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Matthew Kroenig: A Division of Labor Between Europe and Asia Won’t Work [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/15/nato-china-europe-asia-pentagon/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=bmF0by1jaGluYS1ldXJvcGUtYXNpYS1wZW50YWdvbg==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Harvard University professor and economist Dani Rodrik first questioned in the late 1990s whether globalization had gone too far. He joins FP Live to share his take on the Trump administration’s tariffs and how to navigate a historically turbulent moment in global trade. Jamieson Greer: Trump’s Trade Representative: Why We Remade the Global Order [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/opinion/trump-trade-tariffs.html] Dani Rodrik: Where Is the Global Resistance to Trump? [https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-tariffs-where-is-the-global-resistance-by-dani-rodrik-2025-08] Ravi Agrawal: How to Navigate Trump’s Tariffs [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/12/dani-rodrik-navigating-trump-tariffs/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=ZGFuaS1yb2RyaWstbmF2aWdhdGluZy10cnVtcC10YXJpZmZz&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Cameron Abadi: Are Tariffs the American Brexit? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/08/trump-united-states-trade-tariff-brexit-britain/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtdW5pdGVkLXN0YXRlcy10cmFkZS10YXJpZmYtYnJleGl0LWJyaXRhaW4=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Keith Johnson: Trump’s Long-Promised Tariffs Upend Global Trade [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/01/trump-liberation-day-tariffs-global-trade-us/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtbGliZXJhdGlvbi1kYXktdGFyaWZmcy1nbG9iYWwtdHJhZGUtdXM=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Peter Coy: No Need for Hoarding [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/08/trump-tariffs-shortages-consumers/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtdGFyaWZmcy1zaG9ydGFnZXMtY29uc3VtZXJz&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]