Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Foreign Affairs invites you to listen to its podcast, the Foreign Affairs Interview. This episode with Richard Fontaine was originally published on August 10, 2023.
There’s a near consensus today that U.S. foreign policy has entered a new era. But how to define and navigate this new era is much less clear.
Richard Fontaine, the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, has held senior positions across the U.S. government—in the Senate, at the State Department and National Security Council, and as an adviser to John McCain, the Republican senator and presidential candidate. There are few people who can offer as informed and comprehensive a view of U.S. foreign policy, especially at a moment when the United States is rethinking its own strategic objectives and sometimes struggling to find new ways of pursuing them.
We discuss the objectives behind the United States’ China policy, democratic backsliding in India, and a potential Republican foreign policy platform.
Sources for the episode:
“Election Interference Demands a Collective Defense” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/united-states/election-interference-demands-collective-defense
“The Myth of Neutrality” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/china/myth-of-neutrality-choose-between-america-china
“Washington’s Missing China Strategy” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2022-01-14/washingtons-missing-china-strategy
“The Case Against Foreign Policy Solutionism” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-02-08/case-against-foreign-policy-solutionism
Foreign Affairs invites you to listen to its podcast, the Foreign Affairs Interview. This episode with Richard Fontaine was originally published on August 10, 2023.
There’s a near consensus today that U.S. foreign policy has entered a new era. But how to define and navigate this new era is much less clear.
Richard Fontaine, the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, has held senior positions across the U.S. government—in the Senate, at the State Department and National Security Council, and as an adviser to John McCain, the Republican senator and presidential candidate. There are few people who can offer as informed and comprehensive a view of U.S. foreign policy, especially at a moment when the United States is rethinking its own strategic objectives and sometimes struggling to find new ways of pursuing them.
We discuss the objectives behind the United States’ China policy, democratic backsliding in India, and a potential Republican foreign policy platform.
Sources for the episode:
“Election Interference Demands a Collective Defense” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/united-states/election-interference-demands-collective-defense
“The Myth of Neutrality” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/china/myth-of-neutrality-choose-between-america-china
“Washington’s Missing China Strategy” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2022-01-14/washingtons-missing-china-strategy
“The Case Against Foreign Policy Solutionism” by Richard Fontaine
foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-02-08/case-against-foreign-policy-solutionism
