Clearer Than Truth

Nataliya Gumenyuk is a Ukrainian journalist, documentary filmmaker, and CEO & founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab, as well as co-founder of The Reckoning Project. She is one of the leading voices documenting war crimes and pursuing international justice in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine. In this episode, Gumenyuk explains why the war in Ukraine must be understood not just as...

Branko Milanović is one of the world’s leading economists and a former lead economist at the World Bank. Known for his groundbreaking work on global inequality, Milanović has spent decades analyzing how wealth and power shift across countries and individuals. In this episode, Milanović argues that the era of neoliberal globalization is over—and is being replaced by what he calls “national liberali...

Charles Kupchan is a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served on the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, helping shape U.S. policy toward Europe. In this episode, Kupchan explains his concept of “liberal realism” and why he believes the world is entering a new geop...

Ram Charan is a world-renowned business advisor, speaker, and author who has spent decades coaching top CEOs and boards across the globe. He is the author of more than 30 books, including the bestseller Execution , and his latest, China’s 90% Model , argues that Beijing is pursuing a strategy of total industrial dominance. In this episode, Charan outlines his controversial thesis that China’s goal...

Mohammed Soliman is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, director at McLarty Associates, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is also the author of West Asia: A New Grand Strategy for the Middle East . In this episode, Soliman argues that policymakers should stop thinking about the region as the “Middle East” and instead understand it as West Asia —...

Ravi Agrawal is the Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Policy and the host of FP Live. In this conversation, he discusses the implications of a new Middle East conflict and what it reveals about America’s evolving role in the global order. Agrawal explains the concept of a “world minus one”—a moment of transition where the United States appears to be stepping back from the international system it helped b...

Benjamin Nathans is a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement , an acclaimed work that explores the individuals and ideas behind resistance to Soviet authoritarianism. Nathans’s research focuses on Russian and Soviet history, political dissent, and the...

Yukon Huang is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a leading authority on China’s economy and global financial relations. He previously served as the World Bank’s Country Director for China and Russia, giving him firsthand insight into the economic transformations of two major global powers. Huang’s work focuses on China’s growth model, U.S.–China tensions, and th...

Edward Luce is the chief U.S. commentator and columnist for the Financial Times , where he covers American politics, foreign policy, and global power shifts. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet , a definitive biography of one of the most influential strategic thinkers of the Cold War era. Luce is widely respect...

Brad Thor is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of the most prominent voices in the modern thriller genre. Best known for his long-running Scot Harvath series, Thor’s novels explore terrorism, intelligence, and global security with meticulous research and real-world insight. His latest work, Cold Zero , co-authored with Ward Larsen, continues his tradition of high-stakes storytelling g...

Jeffrey Sachs is an economist , university professor , and influential author known for his work in sustainable development. He is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and the President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network . His notable roles at the United Nations include serving as a Special Advisor to three different UN Secretaries-General:...

Dmitri Alperovitch is a cybersecurity expert, entrepreneur, and author of The World on the Brink: How the Hybrid World War Threatens Our Future . He is the co-founder and former CTO of CrowdStrike, a global leader in cyber threat intelligence and defense, and currently serves in senior advisory roles shaping how governments and organizations respond to digital conflict and nation-state cyber opera...

Peter Pomerantsev is a best-selling author, journalist, and leading expert on propaganda, disinformation, and modern information warfare. He is the author of Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible and This Is Not Propaganda , widely regarded as essential books for understanding how authoritarian regimes manipulate media and reality itself. Pomerantsev has advised governments and institutions o...

Nicolas Niarchos is a staff writer at The New Yorker covering foreign affairs, geopolitics, and global power dynamics. He’s the author of The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns, and the Struggle for a New Global Order , a deeply researched book that explores how control over critical elements like rare minerals, weapons, and technology shapes international politics. Niarchos’s work brings sharp insi...

Stephen M. Walt is a renowned columnist for Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. A leading scholar in foreign policy theory and U.S. grand strategy, Walt is best known for his work on realism, alliance politics, and international security. His influential books include The Origins of Alliances , Taming American Power , T...

Tim Bouverie is a British historian, journalist, and bestselling author specializing in World War II and modern European history. His acclaimed debut, Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War , explores the diplomatic failures that paved the way for conflict, and his latest book, Allies at War , examines the fractious wartime relationship between Britain and the United States....

Yaakov Katz is an Israeli-American author, journalist, and senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem. He served as editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post from 2016 to 2023 and continues to write a popular weekly column while appearing regularly as an analyst on CNN and the BBC. Katz is the author of Shadow Strike: Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Pow...

Max Boot is a senior columnist for The Washington Post and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. A leading voice on U.S. foreign policy, national security, and military history, he has advised senior policymakers and served as a defense analyst for multiple administrations. Boot is also the author of several acclaimed books, including The Road Not Taken , Invisible Armies , and War...

Ilan Berman is Senior Vice President of American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC) in Washington, D.C., and a leading expert on security issues in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Russia. He has consulted for the CIA and U.S. Defense and State Departments, and advised congressional offices on foreign policy and national security. Berman is also an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics...

Edward Fishman is a leading scholar of economic statecraft and a former U.S. diplomat who helped design sanctions policies at the State Department and Treasury. He is currently a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and also teaches at its Center on Global Energy Policy. His book Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare (2025...

Barry R. Posen is the Ford International Professor of Political Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director Emeritus of its MIT Security Studies Program. A leading scholar in grand strategy and defense policy, his influential works include Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy and The Sources of Military Doctrine . Posen continues to shape debates on global power sh...

Scott Kennedy is Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). A leading authority on Chinese economic policy and U.S.–China commercial relations, he has traveled to China for nearly four decades and focuses on China’s industrial policy, tech innovation, and global economic governance. His publications include The B...

Don Bentley is a bestselling American thriller author and former FBI Special Agent, SWAT team member, and U.S. Army Apache helicopter pilot. He currently continues the legacy of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, with his newest novel Denied Access , which takes fans back to Rapp’s early days as he battles threats to the CIA and a lover in peril. Bentley’s diverse writing portfolio also includes the...

Jake Tapper is a prominent CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent, and the author of Race Against Terror: Chasing an Al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War . His book uncovers the high-stakes global hunt to prosecute an al Qaeda operative who surrendered during the Arab Spring and sheds light on the challenges of delivering justice in the War on Terror. Tapper is also known for his...

Jack Carr is a former U.S. Navy SEAL turned bestselling author known for his high-octane military thrillers. He burst onto the scene with The Terminal List , which was adapted into a Prime Video series, and has since written several more in the Reece series including Red Sky Mourning and Cry Havoc . In addition to fiction, he’s the author of Targeted: Beirut , a nonfiction work exploring the 1983...