Foreign Policy Live

Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, joins FP Live to assess the Trump administration’s shifting policies on Ukraine and how that could impact the ongoing war. McFaul is currently a professor at Stanford University and writes the McFaul’s World newsletter. Michael Hirsch: The Enduring Mystery of Trump’s Relationship with Russia [https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/10/30/enduring-mystery-trump-relationship-russia/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=ZW5kdXJpbmctbXlzdGVyeS10cnVtcC1yZWxhdGlvbnNoaXAtcnVzc2lh&pid=CW3657086] Luke Coffey: Trump’s Ukraine Shift Sends the Right Signal to Putin [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/16/trump-ukraine-russia-weapons-putin-war-peace-europe-nato/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtdWtyYWluZS1ydXNzaWEtd2VhcG9ucy1wdXRpbi13YXItcGVhY2UtZXVyb3BlLW5hdG8=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Christian Caryl: Democracy is Ukraine’s Most Powerful Weapon [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/24/ukraine-zelensky-corruption-law-protests-democracy/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dWtyYWluZS16ZWxlbnNreS1jb3JydXB0aW9uLWxhdy1wcm90ZXN0cy1kZW1vY3JhY3k=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Franz-Stefan Gady: The Air Battle That Could Decide the Russia-Ukraine War [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/23/ukraine-war-drone-air-battle-russia-technology-tactics/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dWtyYWluZS13YXItZHJvbmUtYWlyLWJhdHRsZS1ydXNzaWEtdGVjaG5vbG9neS10YWN0aWNz&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The U.S. dollar has declined by more than 10 percent this year. Is the fall just a normal fluctuation, or is it a sign of something much more worrying? How seriously should we take threats to the dollar’s dominance as the world’s reserve currency? Economist Kenneth Rogoff shares more. Rogoff is a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund and the author of Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead [https://www.amazon.com/Our-Dollar-Your-Problem-Turbulent/dp/0300275315]. Kenneth Rogoff: How Low Can the Dollar Go? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/30/dollar-inflation-growth-renminbi-euro-crypto/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=ZG9sbGFyLWluZmxhdGlvbi1ncm93dGgtcmVubWluYmktZXVyby1jcnlwdG8=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Ravi Agrawal: What the Dollar’s Decline Reveals About America [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/08/what-the-dollars-decline-reveals-about-america/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=d2hhdC10aGUtZG9sbGFycy1kZWNsaW5lLXJldmVhbHMtYWJvdXQtYW1lcmljYQ==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Foreign Policy magazine’s Summer 2025 Print Issue [https://foreignpolicy.com/the-magazine/?issue_id=411132364] Peter Coy: Trump’s Trade Contradictions Come Home to Roost [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/04/08/trump-trade-tariff-dollar-markets-confidence/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtdHJhZGUtdGFyaWZmLWRvbGxhci1tYXJrZXRzLWNvbmZpZGVuY2U=&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Keith Johnson: America’s Economic Warfare is Sowing Its Own Demise [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/07/chokepoints-edward-fishman-review-us-sanctions-dollar-economic-warfare/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=Y2hva2Vwb2ludHMtZWR3YXJkLWZpc2htYW4tcmV2aWV3LXVzLXNhbmN0aW9ucy1kb2xsYXItZWNvbm9taWMtd2FyZmFyZQ==&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=CW3657086] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

U.S. foreign-policy coverage often focuses on the Middle East, China, or Europe. So, what is the view from what is sometimes called the world’s biggest invisible country? Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populated country and third-biggest democracy, gets surprisingly little attention. How is Jakarta navigating a changing world? Former Indonesian Vice Foreign Minister Dino Patti Djalal joins FP Live.  Derek Grossman: Why Rubio’s Asia Visit Was a Total Bust [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/15/rubio-asia-asean-malaysia-indo-pacific-us-china-geopolitics/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=cnViaW8tYXNpYS1hc2Vhbi1tYWxheXNpYS1pbmRvLXBhY2lmaWMtdXMtY2hpbmEtZ2VvcG9saXRpY3M=&pid=PNIhHwPfesawrtd] Oliver Stuenkel and Margot Treadwell: Will Trump’s Unpredictable Foreign Policy Boost BRICS? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/03/24/brics-indonesia-turkey-saudi-arabia-expansion-brazil-summit-trump/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=YnJpY3MtaW5kb25lc2lhLXR1cmtleS1zYXVkaS1hcmFiaWEtZXhwYW5zaW9uLWJyYXppbC1zdW1taXQtdHJ1bXA=&pid=PNIhHwPfesawrtd] Salil Tripathi: How Will Prabowo Lead Indonesia? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/28/indonesia-elections-prabowo-leader-human-rights-jokowi/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=aW5kb25lc2lhLWVsZWN0aW9ucy1wcmFib3dvLWxlYWRlci1odW1hbi1yaWdodHMtam9rb3dp&pid=PNIhHwPfesawrtd] Christopher S. Chivvis and Beatrix Geaghan-Breiner: How Washington Should Manage Rising Middle Powers [https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/30/middle-powers-geopolitics-united-states-diplomacy/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=bWlkZGxlLXBvd2Vycy1nZW9wb2xpdGljcy11bml0ZWQtc3RhdGVzLWRpcGxvbWFjeQ==&pid=PNIhHwPfesawrtd] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman sits down with Ravi Agrawal to debrief this week’s meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Friedman is also the author of From Beirut to Jerusalem, among other books.  Thomas L. Friedman: How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/opinion/trump-bill-clean-energy-china.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VE8.WjO7.hQQhGDWj0zSs&smid=url-share] Thomas L. Friedman: If This Mideast War Is Over, Get Ready for Some Interesting Politics [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/opinion/iran-israel-regime-change.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VE8.lc0L.xCs1FudqdSxu&smid=url-share] Thomas L. Friedman: How the Attacks on Iran Are Part of a Much Bigger Global Struggle [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/opinion/iran-israel-attack-global-struggle.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VE8.C8MH.bFKGzXY5TD4L&smid=url-share] Adrian Karatnycky: An Emerging Trump Doctrine? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/03/trump-doctrine-iran-israel-russia-ukraine-war/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtZG9jdHJpbmUtaXJhbi1pc3JhZWwtcnVzc2lhLXVrcmFpbmUtd2Fy&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Daniel C. Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller: Less Gloating and More Diplomacy Are Needed to Heal the Middle East [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/03/trump-netanyahu-visit-washington-israel-ceasefire-syria-iran/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=dHJ1bXAtbmV0YW55YWh1LXZpc2l0LXdhc2hpbmd0b24taXNyYWVsLWNlYXNlZmlyZS1zeXJpYS1pcmFu&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Journalist Edward Luce is the author of a new biography on President Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet. He joins FP Live to share how this grand strategist’s legacy still shapes foreign policy today. Theodore Bunzel: Where Have All the Geostrategists Gone? [https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/16/zbigniew-brzezinski-zbig-review-edward-luce/?utm_content=gifting&tpcc=gifting_article&gifting_article=emJpZ25pZXctYnJ6ZXppbnNraS16YmlnLXJldmlldy1lZHdhcmQtbHVjZQ==&pid=PNIESs9hMqnvgec] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]