Foreign Policy Live

As U.S. President Donald Trump considers a military strike on Iran, what are the options on his table? What will his military advisors recommend he should and shouldn’t do? David Petraeus has often been in the position of providing such advice to the White House, and he joins FP Live to explain what could happen in the coming days. Petraeus ran U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East as the head of Central Command (CENTCOM) and later ran the CIA. 

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on the fourth anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

FP Contributors: Four Years of War in Europe

Marc Lynch: Four Scenarios for a Postwar Iran

Arash Reisinezhad and Arsham Reisinezhad: What War With Iran Would Look Like

Ali Hashem: The United States Is Dangerously Misreading Iran

Ali Hashem: Iran Dangerously Misunderstands Its Situation
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s China policy often seems deliberately ambiguous. Is that a virtue or a flaw? Kurt Campbell is a longtime China watcher who rose up to run Asia policy under the Biden administration. He was the original architect of the so-called “pivot to Asia” during the Obama administration. He joins FP Live to discuss Trump, former U.S. President Joe Biden, and the world’s most important bilateral relationship.  

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on Trump’s Board of Peace.

⁠Aaron David Miller: Billions in Pledges Expected for Trump’s Board of Peace but Doubts Persist⁠

⁠Mira Rapp-Hooper and Ely Ratner: Washington’s Silence in Asia Is a Gift to Beijing⁠

⁠New York Times: On China, Trump Is Rolling the Dice on America’s Future⁠

⁠Foreign Affairs: The U.S.-China Crisis Waiting to Happen⁠

⁠A. Wess Mitchell: The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy⁠

⁠Craig Singleton: China Grapples with Trump’s Radical Use of Power⁠

⁠Lili Pike: Did Biden Get China Right?⁠
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Is the age of nuclear nonproliferation over? There are certainly worrying signs. New START, the main nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia, recently expired. China is rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal. Talks to bring Iran back to the negotiating table seem to be at an impasse. And one increasingly hears about the possibility of South Korea or Japan going nuclear. What can the world do in response?

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, sits down with Ravi Agrawal.

Rebecca Lissner and Erin D. Dumbacher: The Pillars of the Global Nuclear Order Are Cracking

Decker Eveleth: The Real Risk After New START Isn’t Arms Racing

Fareed Zakaria: The Post-Cold War Nuclear Era Might Have Just Ended

Esfandyar Batmanghelidj: An Oil Deal for Trump Can Mean a Nuclear Deal for Iran
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The Pentagon’s policy chief Elbridge Colby recently called for a “NATO 3.0”, stating that the United States would “continue to provide the U.S. extended nuclear deterrent” to Europe, but when it came to most defense matters, Europe would need to “assume primary responsibility.” Colby is the undersecretary of war for policy and joins FP Live host Ravi Agrawal at the annual Munich Security Conference.

And in part two of this podcast, Colby and Agrawal were joined by four other guests: Richard Marles, the deputy prime minister and defense minister of Australia; Judith Collins, the minister of defense of New Zealand; Toshimitsu Motegi, the foreign minister of Japan; and David van Weel, the foreign minister of the Netherlands. 

Plus, One Thing from Ravi on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference. 

Listen to Munich Moments on Apple or Spotify.

A transcript of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s 2025 speech at the Munich Security Conference.

A transcript of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s 2026 speech at the Munich Security ConferenceA transcript of Colby’s interview with Ravi

A collection of FP’s reporting and analysis from the Munich Security Conference

Matthew Kroenig: Two Cheers for the National Security Strategy

A. Wess Mitchell: The Grand Strategy Behind Trump’s Foreign Policy
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U.S. tariffs have upended decades of trade policy, but new U.N. data shows that the economies suffering most are those that can least afford a setback. At the Munich Security Conference (MSC), FP’s Ravi Agrawal hosted a panel on the trade wars, with policymakers on the front lines of these economic changes: Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the director-general of the World Trade Organization; Finnish President Alexander Stubb; German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil; and U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis. 

Follow FP’s MSC coverage here.

Wendy Cutler: How Countries Should Respond to Trump’s Tariffs

Keith Johnson: Tariffs Have Hurt, Not Helped, the U.S. Economy

Rishi Iyengar: EU Don’t Need U.S.?

Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Robyn Klingler-Vidra: Middle Powers Don’t Have to Work Together to Get Ahead
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