#122: American Global Leadership

Politics and Polls

Some say the United States is heading down a road toward isolationism. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the uncertain future of American global leadership with Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay. They are authors of a new book: “The Empty Thrown: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership.” Daalder and Lindsay describe the key aspects of the rules-based international order the United States helped to create after the unprecedented destruction wrought by World War I and World War II. The guests analyze how this order has largely endured, despite periods of American foreign policy mistakes. They feel, however, that the persistence of this order is not assured under President Trump.