What Really Matters with Walter Russell Mead

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the breakdown of Trump's Iran MOU, the president's newfound admiration for Ukraine, whether Americans are becoming post-literate, and why we are not a "creedal" people.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the wave of socialist victories in Democratic primaries; China's new plan to overhaul its economy with AI; why Europeans hate air conditioning; and the crumbling of Vladimir Putin's empire.

This week, Walter gives a lecture and Q&A at the Hamilton School at the University of Florida on "The Global Crisis." The recording is from December 1st and is republished here with the permission of the Hamilton School.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Finland's reversal of its prohibition on nuclear weapons, what it means for AI doctors to outperform human physicians, Hezbollah's supposedly newfound resolution, and how to interpret Trump's Memorandum of Understanding with Iran.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the mounting crisis in Lebanon, Russia's setback in Armenia's elections, the sources of North Korea's strength, and why Cuba is unlikely to be an easy victory for Trump.

This week, Walter gives a lecture and Q&A at the London School of Economics on American foreign policy in the Trump era. The recording is from February 19 and is republished here with the permission of the LSE.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Pope's AI encyclical, the UAE's role in the Iran war, new concerns about the divide between labor and capital, and why America and Iran's minimum requirements for a peace agreement are unlikely to be met.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, Trump's creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund, the noose tightening around Cuba, and what Walter saw and heard on a recent trip to Ukraine.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the greater global influence of Muslim-majority societies, the state of political radicalization in America, and to what extent the US is actually in decline.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Trump's flirtation with regulating AI, Narendra Modi's big election victory in Bengal, reports of a potential coup plot in Russia, and what a quarter-century of Vladimir Putin has done to the world.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the US national debt, the Supreme Court's decision on a provision of the Voting Rights Act, the UAE's exit from OPEC, why Trump doesn't believe the Iran war is the catastrophe the establishment thinks it is, and King Charles' very successful visit to America.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Iran ceasefire and negotiations, the meaning of Japan's decision to open its military technology market, the global rise of clean energy sources and decline of coal, and how Pope Leo XIV's roots in Latin American Catholicism explain his particular distaste for Donald Trump.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Pentagon plans to use US commercial enterprises for weapons production, the rise in young American men's religiosity, Trump's fallout with the European populist right, and the successes and (mostly) failures of Viktor Orbán.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the ceasefire, the situation in Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz, how the war has impacted US defense capabilities, and how Trump's domestic and international political status is faring.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the latest headlines from Iran, Trump and Rubio's fight with NATO, whether Trump might try to obtain a Declaration of War from Congress, and the best and worst wartime presidents in American history.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the other strait Iran is threatening to close, the Trump administration's interest in Ukrainian territorial concessions, rumors of increasing US troop deployments to the Middle East, and how the doves and the hawks both got Iran wrong.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Joe Kent's resignation, Trump's frustration with NATO's refusal to help in the Gulf, JD Vance's show of support for Viktor Orban, and the state of the war in Iran.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Iran campaign's economic shocks, the upsides for Russia, US-Cuba negotiations, and the three ways the Iran war could end.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Anthropic's standoff with the Pentagon, whether munitions being used in Iran are really drawing down US stockpiles in other theaters, the CIA's attempt to arm a Kurdish rebellion, the cards the Ayatollahs still have left to play, and Trump's war with the Tuckerverse.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the drug wars in Mexico, the tides turning against Russia in Ukraine, Trump's plans to strike Iran, and the Supreme Court's ruling against his tariff regime.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Russia's oil problem, Trump's war on the climate, China's arctic ambitions, and the new Saudi-led bloc against Israel.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Xi Jinping's purge of the People's Liberation Army, the ongoing showdown between ICE and Minneapolis, the death toll in Iran, and how the tech-MAGA alliance could outlast Trump.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss why the mood at Davos this year went from denial to fear, why the United States has never been both so unpopular and so dominant there, and what Trump and Zelensky's speeches revealed about the state of the Western alliance.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Netanyahu's proposal to end U.S. aid to Israel, Trump's disavowal of rightwing antisemites, his ever-changing assessment of what's happening in Iran, and what China and Russia think of his moves in Venezuela and Greenland.

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Trump administration's appetite for Greenland, the ongoing anti-regime protests in Iran, and how America's enemies will try to turn the Maduro operation into a quagmire for Washington.