Counterpoint

On a special bonus episode of Counterpoint, FP editor in chief Ravi Agrawal sits down with former U.S. secretary of state Hilary Clinton on the main stage of this year’s Doha Forum to discuss the Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy, what Congress needs to do better, the ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and more. Counterpoint is a production of Foreign Policy, in...

On a special bonus episode of Counterpoint, FP editor in chief Ravi Agrawal sits down with Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, on the sidelines of the United Nations’ annual meetings to discuss relations with Washington, Russia’s war in Ukraine, recognizing Palestine, and dealing with China. Counterpoint is a production of Foreign Policy, in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more...

The Bosnian War in the early 1990s was at the time the bloodiest conflict on European soil since World War II. Some 100,000 people were killed and more than 2 million displaced amid widespread ethnic cleansing and massacres. In 1995, the warring parties struck a power-sharing deal in negotiations just outside Dayton, Ohio, in what came to be known as the Dayton Accords. But the deal didn’t really...

The United States and China took a step back this week from their trade war, announcing that tariffs imposed just a few weeks ago would be slashed significantly—at least for now. But even as the tension seems to be ebbing, some people in the United States are questioning whether it’s beneficial for the two economies to be intertwined at all. Welcome to Counterpoint. On each episode, we look at one...

The Trump administration has moved quickly to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which oversees U.S. aid around the world, with major repercussions for food supplies, child poverty, pandemic prevention, and much more. The decision has hit Africa particularly hard. African countries were getting about ⁠⁠about 30 percent⁠⁠ of U.S. foreign aid annually.  While many peopl...

South Korea has long relied on the United States for deterrence against its nuclear-armed neighbor, North Korea. But since his reelection, U.S. President Donald Trump has raised questions about Washington’s core commitments around the world. He and members of his cabinet have suggested Washington might withdraw from the Korean Peninsula altogether, or make Seoul pay billions for the defense the U....

Late last year, Syrian opposition forces captured Damascus and put an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian dictator, whose family had ruled the country for more than 50 years, fled to Moscow. Across the country, Syrians celebrated. Assad’s fall exposed the brutality of his regime, including gruesome discoveries in government prisons, tens of thousands of disappeared people, and mass di...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have roiled markets around the world and triggered a full-blown trade war with China. Even after he suspended his so-called reciprocal tariffs, the measures he kept in place are still more dramatic than anything the world has seen in decades. Most economists believe free trade­—not tariffs—is the best way to increase global prosperity. But Trump says other cou...

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared a cease-fire last month in its war with Turkey, opening the door to a possible peace agreement between the two sides. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has gone on for decades. A deal would be a major win for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—but it’s not at all clear he can pull it off. In fact, he seems to have undermined...

The Trump administration has upended the U.S. approach to the war in Ukraine, largely siding with Russia as it tries to broker an end to the fighting. With Washington no longer interested in acting as Ukraine’s chief protector, the burden is shifting to Europe. But can it bear the load? To launch Season 2 of Counterpoint, we put that question to Nathalie Tocci and Stephen M. Walt. Tocci is the dir...

The world has changed dramatically since we released the first season of Counterpoint just a few months ago. Old alliances are collapsing and core assumptions are being questioned. On this second season of the show, FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is back with eight new debates that help capture the complexities of the moment. Listen in as an international cast of diplomats, journalists, a...

Over the past few weeks, Taiwan’s military has been on high alert after China deployed warships and fighter jets around the island to conduct unannounced maritime drills. And some are now questioning whether China could be gearing up for a military attack. Foreign Policy Deputy Editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins University a...

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign. The question now is what will he actually do? Will he seek to round up and kick 10 million people out of the country on Jan. 21? Will he reconfigure U.S. policy to focus on admitting skilled workers and reducing the number of unskilled migrants? Foreign Policy deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Leah Bo...

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America didn’t join the United States and Europe in jumping to Kyiv’s defense. Their leaders wondered why they should oppose Russia’s aggression after watching Washington get away with decades of military interventions from Iraq to Libya, raising the question of whether opposing the use of force somewhere necessitates o...

Back in 2016, under a Conservative-led government, Britain shocked the world by voting narrowly to leave the European Union. Fast-forward to today, and the political sands have shifted dramatically. In July, for the first time in 14 years, British voters elected a Labour government. Two weeks later, the new British prime minister, Keir Starmer, signaled his desire for the country to once again gro...

For many years, South Africa was seen as a poster child for peaceful reconciliation and the triumph of good over evil. The “Rainbow Nation” image brought tourism, international investment, and major global events such as the 2010 World Cup. But beneath the glitz, there was a darker side: grinding poverty, widespread corruption, violent xenophobia, and close ties with authoritarian regimes. These d...

In the past few months, the war in Ukraine has taken some dramatic turns. Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory, seizing chunks of Kursk province and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin. Russia retaliated with a number of devastating attacks on Ukrainian cities and military facilities and continued to seize more territory in Donetsk. Rather than moving toward a negotiated...

On the night of Oct. 1, Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel. It was the latest in a deadly tit for tat between the two countries. The regionwide war that the Biden administration doesn’t want now seems to be happening. And for that reason, the idea of taking out Iran’s nuclear program with military strikes seems less theoretical and more like a real possibility. Foreign Policy deputy edito...

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the start of a war in Gaza that has killed upwards of 40,000 people, many of them civilians. Throughout this conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pursued his own political and military agenda at odds with Washington’s calls for negotiations and de-escalation. Yet the flow of U.S. arms has continued...

Each week, FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky and his guests will tackle one pressing question from two opposing points of view.  Listen in as an international cast of diplomats, journalists, academics and activists from around the globe debate controversial issues that get to the heart of the world’s biggest dilemmas.  This season’s debates include, “Should the United States withhold militar...

Global cooperation can often seem broken. On our final episode of Global Reboot, we look at how to reboot international relations for a multipolar era. Multilateral institutions seem increasingly ineffective, and even outdated, as emerging economies demand more of a role and countries form alliances and blocs outside of these institutions. In such a scenario, what can be done to improve cooperatio...

The “global south” encompasses countries with such varied interests and ideologies that the term may no longer be a useful tool. Yet, if the Western world hopes to counter Russia’s and China’s increasing aggression, rebuilding strong relationships with these countries is more important than ever. C. Raja Mohan is a senior fellow with the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi. He joins Ravi Ag...

The global community has set a goal of preserving thirty percent of our oceans by 2030. How will we reach that goal? And what’s at stake for ocean biodiversity if that target is missed?  Monica Medina is the president and CEO of Wildlife Conservation Society, and the former United States' Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha For...

2023 is on track to be the worst year on record for refugees. And the figures for internally displaced people—communities forced to move within their own countries to escape conflict or natural disaster—are even worse. How do we fix this? Kelly T. Clements, the deputy high commissioner at the U.N. agency tasked with responding to this crisis, joins Global Reboot to discuss solutions to this growin...

The world’s first comprehensive piece of legislation regulating artificial intelligence could be on the cusp of being approved. The European Union’s AI Act would set guardrails for the technology without curbing innovation. Eva Maydell, a member of the European Parliament, is one of the act’s key drivers and joins host Ravi Agrawal to share her insights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...