Richard Fontaine: The Fault Lines in U.S. Foreign Policy | Foreign Affairs Interview Podcast

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
www.foreignaffairs.com/united...
“The Myth of Neutrality” by Richard Fontaine
www.foreignaffairs.com/china/...
“Washington’s Missing China Strategy” by Richard Fontaine
www.foreignaffairs.com/articl...
“The Case Against Foreign Policy Solutionism” by Richard Fontaine
www.foreignaffairs.com/articl...

[@BlueBaron3339]

Thank you. Especially for a more reasoned interpretation of the October 7th 2020 chip embargo. The NYT seemed a bit alarmist, but that's how they sell subscriptions.

[@nathanngumi8467]

Great analysis!

[@peterabild1123]

Very interesting. Thank you

[@999reader]

Great interview though I wish the interviewer had followed up on the question about the controls on semiconductor exports to China with a question on how this compares to China’s use of economic measures on its trading partners, including Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

[@seanburton5298]

Disengagement from international trade without a method of bolstering the workforce including education is an issue and detrimental. Now, we have a chance to recalibrate ourselves and re-engage. We just need time.

[@yp77738yp77739]

Better be careful, if they stop buying your bonds the dollar is screwed.

[@awatsycamorefarmnearsiouxf7526]

Most of the comments president Trump has made was not that he would totally stop supporting Ukraine but rather to encourage the EU to Support the Ukrainians more

[@seanburton5298]

Any technology can be used nefarious purposes.

[@seanburton5298]

Technology can be hacked, always.

[@bubblebobble9654]

You can't really talk too much of intent. If the US policies hold China down, those aspects have been considered and are part and parcel of the greater strategy. It's inseparable. But the closest I've come to an honest account is to admit that these policies will have detrimental effects on the Chinese economy but there's nothing we can do when there's so many issues where we object to specifically the intellectual property issues around technology transfer and the belief that we are competing in an arena with agreed upon rules, but also hacking and cyber warfare, issues which are inextricably connected to novel and therefore poorly understood areas at the forefront of technology.