Ep. 171: Trump-Xi, leverage & US foreign policy

Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute returns to the podcast to discuss the recent Trump-Xi meeting in Seoul. Who got the better deal, and is the year-long “truce” a stable one?  As both sides look to use this window to de-risk, who will have more leverage over the medium term? More broadly, Trump’s Asia trip was a very important data point in helping us all understand what US foreign policy is now, how it is made, and what direction it’s going in. The answers are not satisfying and very uncertain, but it’s the most important question in international affairs today. There is no-one better than Zack to help one build a model of US foreign policy in the Trump era.

Australia in the World is written, hosted, and produced by Darren Lim, with research and editing this episode by Hannah Nelson and theme music composed by Rory Stenning.

Relevant links

Zack Cooper, “How Trump Put China First”, Time, 7 November: https://www.aei.org/articles/how-trump-put-china-first/

Lindsey Ford and Zack Cooper, “America’s Alliances After Trump: Lessons from the Summer of ’69”, Texas National Security Review, Vol. 4, Iss. 2, Spring 2021, pp. 99-116: https://tnsr.org/2021/03/americas-alliances-after-trump-lessons-from-the-summer-of-69/

Darren Lim and Zack Cooper. (2015). “Reassessing Hedging: The Logic of Alignment in East Asia”. Security Studies, 24(4), 696–727:  https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2015.1103130

Ezra Klein, “This Is How the Democratic Party Beats Trump”, New York Times, 2 November 2025 (video): https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000010495041/this-is-how-the-democratic-party-beats-trump.html

Vanity Fair, “How EJAE & Mark Sonnenblick Created Grammy-Nominated “Golden" From KPop Demon Hunters” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxEX_GWwE7M

Joseph Torigian, “The Party’s Interests Come First: The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping” (2025): https://josephtorigian.com/bookmanuscript/