Tensions between the US and Iran have continued to mount over the past several weeks, with President Trump now threatening strikes that could take place any day. Both Iran’s nuclear program and the authoritarian regime’s brutal human rights abuses have raised international concern, and many in the US are asking what our country’s involvement should look like, and whether Trump’s threats are justifiable. At the same time, US foreign policy elsewhere — in Venezuela, in Ukraine, and in Gaza — seems to be in a constant state of flux.
To unpack the current state of international affairs, I spoke with Ambassador Susan Rice, former US Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Adviser under President Obama. In a wide-ranging conversation, Rice addressed whether a military buildup in Iran would actually advance US national security objectives, the value — and limits — of diplomacy with authoritarian regimes, and why regime change is rarely as simple as its advocates suggest. We also dug into immigration enforcement at home, Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, and the US’s own potential slide into authoritarianism.
Press play to watch the full conversation.
