Power Problems

The Trump administration has emphasized the reemergence of great power competition as the organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. How will international relations change in an era when new actors are challenging the status quo? In Part II of our great power special, Professor Stacie E. Goddard of Wellesley College joins Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford to talk about her recent book, When Might Makes Right, about the relationship between rising powers and existing great powers.Show Notes:Guest Bio: Stacie GoddardStacie Goddard, “When Right Makes Might: Rising Powers and World Order”Stacie Goddard, “Uncommon Ground: Indivisible Territory and the Politics of Legitimacy,” International Organizations, vol. 60, no. 1, January 2006Cato Policy Forum, “The Return of Great Power Competition.” January 15, 2019 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great Power competition is back. How will international relations change in an era when new actors are challenging the status quo. In Part I of our great power special, Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford are joined by Joshua Shifrinson, author of Rising Titans, Falling Giants, a book on great power rise and decline.Joshua Shifrinson's bioJoshua Shifrinson, Rising Titans, Falling Giants"The Return of Great Power Competition"David Edelstein, Over the HorizonStacie Goddard, When Might Makes RightPaul MacDonald and Joseph Parent, Twilight of the Titans Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From trade to immigration, the Trump administration takes a much broader view of national security than prior administrations. Cato Senior Policy Analyst Alex Nowrasteh joins Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford to talk about the links between immigration and national security.Show Notes:Alex Nowrasteh’s bioAlex Nowrasteh, “Incarcerated Immigrants in 2016: Their Numbers, Demographics, and Countries of Origin,” Immigration Research and Policy Brief, June 4, 2018Alex Nowrasteh, “How Trump Is Really Changing Immigration: Making It Harder for People to Come Here Legally,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 2018 Alex Nowrasteh, “Terrorism and Immigration: A Risk Analysis,” Policy Analysis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford are joined by Cato colleague Eric Gomez for a discussion of the year in review, and a preview of 2019. From nuclear weapons and North Korea to the U.S.-Saudi relationship, it’s been a wild year. Show Notes:Eric Gomez’s bio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Attorney and Cato Institute adjunct scholar Scott Lincicome joins Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford to discuss the Trump administration’s trade strategy and the role of international trade in U.S. foreign policy.Scott Lincicome’s bioScott Lincicome, The “Protectionist Moment” That Wasn’t: American Views on Trade and Globalization, Free Trade BulletinScott Lincicome, “Doomed to Repeat It: The Long History of America’s Protectionist Failures, Policy Analysis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special crossover episode, Trevor and Emma sit down with the hosts of the Free Thoughts podcast for a wide‐​ranging discussion of how libertarians view foreign policy.Free Thoughts PodcastEmma Ashford, “Libertarianism, Restraint and the Bipartisan Future,” Texas National Security Review, November 30, 2018 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second half of our election special, Trevor Thrall and Emma Ashford are joined by Jake Sullivan, a former senior advisor to Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, to discuss the future of foreign policy in the Democratic party.Jake Sullivan bioDan Nexon, “Toward A Neo‐​Progressive Foreign Policy,” Foreign AffairsBernie Sanders, “Building a Global Democratic Movement to Counter Authoritarianism,” Speech at SAISPeter Beinart, “Shield of the Republic: A Democratic Foreign Policy for the Trump Age,” The AtlanticPlease take our listener survey Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bryan McGrath, Deputy Director of the Center for American Seapower at the Hudson Institute, joins Trevor and Emma to discuss the evolution of conservative foreign policy during the Trump era.Please take a listener surveyBryan McGrath bioHenry Nau, Conservative Internationalism (Princeton University Press 2015)Eliot Cohen, The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force (Basic Books 2018) Robert Kagan, The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World (Knopf 2018) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Rosenberg, a sanctions expert at the Center for a New American Security joins Trevor and Emma to discuss the Trump administration’s eclectic approach to sanctions policy, and the impact of looming Iran sanctions.Elizabeth Rosenberg bioElizabeth Rosenberg, The EU Can’t Avoid U.S. Sanctions on Iran, Foreign Affairs, October 10, 2018Jacob J. Lew and Richard Nephew, The Use and Misuse of Economic Statecraft, Foreign Affairs, October 15, 2018Emma Ashford, Not‐​So‐​Smart Sanctions, Foreign Affairs, January/​February 2016Cato Unbound, Do Economic Sanctions Work?, November 2014 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonus Episode! Harvard’s Steven Walt joins Emma Ashford and guest host Caroline Dorminey to discuss his new book, The Hell of Good Intentions, and why America’s foreign policy failures helped to elect Donald Trump.Stephen Walt bioStephen Walt, The Hell of Good IntentionsCato Book Event, The Hell of Good IntentionsStephen Walt, The Donald vs. The Blob, Foreign Policy, May 16, 2018Thrall and Friedman, U.S. Grand Strategy in the 21st Century — The Case for Restraint Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.