Stay ConnectedAs the United States confronts an ever-changing set of international challenges, our foreign policy leaders continue to offer the same old answers. But what are the alternatives? In None Of The Above, the Eurasia Group Institute for Global Affairs’ Jonathan Guyer asks leading global thinkers for new answers and new ideas to guide an America increasingly adrift in the world.
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Copyright: © Copyright 2019, Eurasia Group Foundation
President Biden came into office vowing to restore America's longstanding alliances across the Atlantic. However, while Europe's security relationship with the United States remains relatively strong, Europe's economic ties to China have surged. Will Europe keep growing closer to America's strategic rival? If so, what are the consequences for American security and prosperity? This week, Ian Bremmer, the political scientist and founder of the Eurasia Group Foundation, joins host Mark Hannah to discuss the battle for influence in Europe. Are America's current policies curbing China's economic and technological influence effectively, or will America's "new Cold War" approach backfire, strengthening China's ties to a part of the world in which America has long enjoyed a dominant influence?
Ian Bremmer is a political scientist and is the founder and board president of the Eurasia Group Foundation. You can follow Ian on Twitter @ianbremmer.
Mexico ought to occupy a prominent place on the list of America's foreign policy priorities, given its proximity. Yet political leaders in the United States historically devote resources and attention to further reaches of the globe, neglecting their Southern neighbor and downplaying the ways in which the two countries' histories and futures are intertwined. That might be changing with President Biden. This week, Jorge Castañeda, who was Mexico's foreign minister, joins the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah to discuss U.S.-Mexico bilateral relations, and Castañeda's new book, America Through Foreign Eyes. Their discussion spans the intensifying migration crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how foreign publics view the US to broader questions about America's role in the world.
Jorge Castañeda served as Mexico's minister of foreign affairs under President Vincente Fox from 2000-2003. He has authored fourteen books, the most recent of which is America Through Foreign Eyes. He holds a Ph.D. in Economic History from the University of Paris (Panthéon-La Sorbonne), and is a visiting professor of politics and Latin America studies at New York University. You can follow Jorge on Twitter at @JorgeGCastaneda.
Few places in the world symbolize America's "War On Terror" as poignantly as Guantanamo Bay. Opened in January 2002, the detention center has extrajudicially imprisoned terrorism suspects without due process throughout four presidencies. One such prisoner was Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a man from Mauritania, who was kidnapped, tortured, and detained without charges, for fourteen years. While imprisoned, Mohamedou wrote a memoir about his confinement. After a lengthy review process, the book was published in 2015, quickly became a best-seller, and was adapted into the film The Mauritanian, released last month. This week, Mohamedou speaks with the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah to reflect on his experience, his newfound freedom, and America's role in the world today.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi is a Mauritanian writer. In 2001, Mohemadou was detained through the United States' extraordinary rendition program under suspicion that he was a member of the terrorist group Al Qaeda, and later imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay without charge. While imprisoned, Mohamedou was subjected to what the United States refers to as enhanced integration techniques, described by many as torture. Mohamedou published Guantanamo Diary, a memoir of his imprisonment, and he successfully petitioned for his own release in 2016. He now lives in Nouakchott, Mauritania where he is still waiting to be reunited with his family in Germany. His latest book is The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga (2021).
In just two months, U.S. troops are slated to withdraw from Afghanistan per an agreement with the Taliban. It's unclear whether President Biden will adhere to the terms of the agreement, or whether he'll try to extend the withdrawal deadline and keep American troops in Afghanistan. Many are calling on the president to prolong the troop deployment until Afghanistan stabilizes -- or perhaps indefinitely. Others argue the May 1 deadline is the best chance in two decades for the U.S. to finally end America's longest war. This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah brings you into this debate. Joined by two leading experts, Laurel Miller and Adam Weinstein, Mark explores the stakes of President Biden's decision to follow through on, attempt to modify, or walk away from, the agreement made during the previous administration.
Laurel Miller is the director of the International Crisis Group's Asia Program. An experienced diplomat, Miller served as deputy and then later as the acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the State Department. Laurel has taught at Georgetown University and was an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a JD from the University of the Chicago School of Law. @LaurelMillerICG
Adam Weinstein is a research fellow at the Quincy Institute. His research focuses on security and the rule of law in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Adam served as a U.S. Marine in Afghanistan in 2012 and is a member of the American Pakistan Foundation's Leadership Council. He holds a JD from Temple University's Beasley School of Law. @AdamNoahWho
President Biden promises to restore and renew America's commitment to NATO and its European allies. Supporters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization argue Russian aggression compels continued American military engagement on the continent. But is Russia really so threatening and is Europe really so weak? Professor Barry Posen of MIT joins the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah to discuss the future of the alliance and America's security interests in Europe. They cover Posen's recent piece for the journal Survival, in which he insists - and demonstrates how - Europe can defend itself.
Barry Posen is the Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A leading proponent of the realist approach to international relations, Posen is the author of Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy. His work regularly appears in International Security and The American Interest.
As the Biden administration takes shape, many wonder whether it will implement a truly progressive foreign policy agenda. President Biden's early action to freeze arms sales to Saudi Arabia has given progressives hope. However, several key national security and foreign policy appointments project a more complicated picture. Katrina vanden Heuvel, long-time editor and part owner of The Nation, joins Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah to unpack early indications of whether President Biden will follow through on the realistic and humble foreign policy on which he campaigned. If, as the adage goes, "personnel is policy," what do his cabinet nominees and early appointments tell us about the president's vision and agenda? Finally, vanden Heuvel explores what might be done to curb some of the interventionist impulses starting to play out among Biden's inner circle.
Katrina vanden Heuvel is Editorial Director and Publisher for The Nation and a weekly columnist for The Washington Post. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and sits on the board of directors for the Institute of Policy Studies. @KatrinaNationThe so-called war on terror will soon be twenty years old -- and there is no end in sight. The legal basis for this endless war is grounded in two authorizations for the use of military force (AUMFs), passed in 2001 and 2002. AUMFs are designed to keep presidents accountable to Congress, stopping short of formal declarations of war. However, the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs specify no geographic bounds or sunset provisions. They have been interpreted by every president since 2001 to authorize military action anywhere. Congress fails to challenge this expansive interpretation of executive authority. In this episode, host Mark Hannah is joined by Heather Brandon Smith (from the Friends Committee on National Legislation) and Rita Siemion (from Human Rights First), both experts on AUMFs and advocates for their repeal. They discuss the history of these AUMFs, why repealing them is necessary to end America's endless wars, and the prospects for reform under the Biden administration.
Heather Brandon Smith is the legislative director for militarism and human rights at the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, DC. She teaches law at Georgetown University and was formerly the advocacy counsel for national security at Human Rights First. She holds LL.M.s from the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia. You can follow Heather on Twitter at @HBrandonSmith.
Rita Siemion is the director for national security advocacy at Human Rights First in Washington, DC. She teaches law at the Georgetown University Law Center and American University's Washington College of Law. Formerly Rita was senior counsel at the Constitution Project. She holds an LL.M. in National Security Law from the Georgetown University Law Center. You can follow Rita on Twitter at @ritasiemion.
After the violent riots on Capitol Hill last Wednesday left America's democratic institutions shaken, foreign policy leaders in Washington grappled with America's credibility on the world stage. The next day, the Atlantic Council's Emma Ashford wrote a provocative piece in Foreign Policy arguing, "It's a sign of how broken U.S. foreign-policy debates are that the primary reaction from many commentators was to worry about America's moral authority and global leadership."
Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah spoke with Emma about her frustrations with the foreign policy community's response. Emma argues that America must first shore up its ability to protect democracy at home before trying to promote it abroad.
Emma Ashford is a resident senior fellow with the New American Engagement Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council and a columnist at Foreign Policy. @EmmaMAshford
As Washington prepares to transition from a Trump to a Biden presidency, how might we expect America's global role to change in the years ahead? This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah speaks with Inkstick Media's Laicie Heeley and The Washington Post's Ishaan Tharoor to suss out the possible consequences for U.S. foreign policy. From the Middle East to China, this week's episode explores what's in store for the future of the international order (such as it is).
Laicie Heeley is the CEO and founder of Inkstick Media and is the host of Inkstick Media and Public Radio International's national security and foreign policy podcast "Thing That Go Boom!"
Ishaan Tharoor is a columnist on the foreign desk of The Washington Post and authors the Today's WorldView newsletter and column.
Multiple promising vaccines for the coronavirus are nearing FDA approval, and the United States is gearing up for widespread vaccination. While the beginning of the end of the coronavirus crisis is in sight, the effect of the virus on international politics remains less clear. This week, the Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah is joined by defense procurement and national security expert Dr. Eugene Gholz. They discuss what role the military should (and shouldn't) play in distributing the vaccine and the complicated history of the Defense Production Act. They also explore the geopolitical impact of the coronavirus on the U.S.-China relationship, and its implications for a more restrained U.S. foreign policy.
Dr. Eugene Gholz is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and Adjunct Scholar at CATO's Defense and Foreign Policy Initiative. From 2010-2012, he served in the Pentagon as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy. Gholz co-authored "Come Home, America," a seminal article making the case for a restrained American foreign policy.
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