FP Live

The next president will be tasked with containing an escalating regional crisis in the Middle East. FP convenes Chatham House’s Sanam Vakil and FP columnist Steven A. Cook to explore how Trump and Harris compare on their policies toward the region.

The killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, raises several questions about the future of the Israel-Hamas war and the broader regional conflict. Join FP Live for an in-depth discussion with retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, who oversaw U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan at the height of the counterterrorism effort in those countries.

Are we witnessing the rise of a new global autocratic bloc? There are growing revelations about North Korea's assistance to Russia in its war in Ukraine, just as there is evidence of cooperation between Iran and Russia. What does it mean for the wars in Europe and the Middle East? How does China fit in? FP’s Ravi Agrawal got to the heart of this budding alliance with Barbara Slavin and Chung Min Lee.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel and set in motion a cycle of violence that has rocked the Middle East. Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East advisor, joined FP Live to look back—and ahead.

The African National Congress party lost its outright majority to govern South Africa. What might that do to the country’s long-standing policy of “nonalignment”? FP’s Ravi Agrawal sat down with Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s foreign minister. They discuss South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, how the country manages its relationship with its BRICS partner Russia, and its leadership role in Africa.

As world leaders congregate at the United Nations for annual meetings this week, they will find a global body increasingly paralyzed by disagreements between big powers. Is the U.N. too divided to be effective? Veteran U.N. watcher Richard Gowan joined FP Live to explore the future of decision-making on the Palestinians, Ukraine, and other key issues.

H.R. McMaster served as former President Donald Trump’s national security advisor for all of 13 months. In a new book, At War With Ourselves, he candidly describes his old boss’s foreign-policy foibles. But McMaster is also critical of the Biden administration, particularly how it has handled Afghanistan and Iran. McMaster joined FP Live to describe how he assesses global crises and what the White House needs to do to combat them.

After a decade as the secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg will step down from his job on Oct. 1. How has Russia’s aggression transformed the world’s largest military alliance? How is that alliance assessing challenges in the future, from China or artificial intelligence? Stoltenberg sat down with host Ravi Agrawal for an exit interview.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Israel and Hamas are reaching the “last opportunity” to come to a cease-fire. But even a plan that includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops and considerable humanitarian aid may merely be a return to the status quo. Have long-term peace goals been abandoned? FP’s Ravi Agrawal was joined in conversation by Salam Fayyad, the former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

On Aug. 22 at the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris will take the stage to officially accept her party’s nomination. After a week of speeches, will a new Democratic foreign policy take shape? FP’s Ravi Agrawal was joined by Anne-Marie Slaughter, the CEO of New America and a former head of the U.S. State Department’s policy planning team, and Matt Duss, a former foreign-policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders.

From Northern Ireland to Syria, Barbara F. Walter has studied the genesis of civil wars around the world. The conditions that foment conflict are predictable, she says—and there are signs that those conditions are growing increasingly visible in the United States. Can citizens and institutions stave off violence? Walter joined FP Live to lay out lessons for the United States in a crucial election year.

The United States has undergone a dramatic change in its China policy in the last decade. How does that play out in day-to-day diplomacy? Nicholas Burns has served as the U.S. ambassador to China since 2022. He will sit down with FP’s Ravi Agrawal in a rare long-form interview to discuss the state of the U.S.-China relationship, encompassing trade, technology, Taiwan, and more.