The Foreign Affairs Interview

Suzanne Maloney, Brookings vice president and former White House and State Department adviser, explains Iran’s resilience and who really runs its security apparatus. She breaks down how control of the Strait of Hormuz shifted leverage. She assesses whether the brief cease-fire favors Iran, the limits of a two-week negotiation, and the roles of China and regional actors.

William Burns, career diplomat and former CIA director who negotiated with Iran and served as ambassador to Russia. He discusses a new geopolitical era shaped by great-power rivalry and tech. He weighs approaches to American power, risks from eroding institutions and trust, the Iran war's dynamics, Russia–Ukraine negotiations, China’s ambitions on Taiwan, and AI’s role in intelligence.

Matthias Matthijs, a political scientist who studies European defense and transatlantic ties, and Nathalie Tocci, a foreign-policy expert on European geopolitics, debate Europe’s choices toward U.S. pressure. They discuss Europe’s refusal to join a Strait of Hormuz mission, the impact of Trump-era coercion, Greenland as a rallying point, Europe’s economic leverage, and whether the transatlantic bond is drifting toward separation.

Stephen Kotkin, historian and Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, offers a concise take on authoritarianism and regime durability. He breaks down repression, cash flows, elite loyalties, narratives, and international factors. He applies these lenses to Iran, compares cases like Venezuela and the Soviet Union, and discusses military, economic, and political levers to unbalance authoritarian rulers.

Sanam Vakil, Chatham House Gulf politics director, and Afshon Ostovar, Naval Postgraduate School Iran analyst, unpack Iran’s resilience and regional fallout. They discuss Iran’s succession dynamics and IRGC influence. They explore Gulf states’ vulnerabilities, shifting Gulf–U.S. ties, and risks of wider instability.

Richard Haass, veteran foreign‑policy thinker and former State Department planner, and Nate Swanson, Iran strategy director and former NSC adviser, unpack the U.S.-Israeli strikes and Khamenei's death. They discuss Iran's retaliation choices, prospects for prolonged conflict, how U.S. Iran policy is made, failed negotiations, and the risks and aims of regime‑change strategies.

Stephen Walt, Harvard professor of international relations and realist scholar, discusses his concept of “predatory hegemony.” He traces Trump-era grand strategy to post–Cold War overreach and explores how coercive tactics erode U.S. power. Conversations cover allied reactions, China’s diplomatic advantage, India’s hedging, and the limits of American leverage.

Michael Kofman, senior fellow at Carnegie and leading Russia-Ukraine analyst, breaks down four years of grinding war. He discusses attrition and positional fighting. He examines manpower limits, drone and strike campaigns, and why time may favor Ukraine. He weighs diplomacy, U.S. roles, and what realistic security guarantees might look like.

Chrystia Freeland, Canadian politician and former deputy prime minister and foreign and finance minister, reflects on the deepening transatlantic rupture. She discusses negotiating with an unpredictable U.S., Europe’s insistence on reciprocity, strategies for middle powers, and Ukraine’s role as a shield and innovator in European defense. Practical diplomatic tactics and visions for a just settlement close the conversation.

Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization for Migration and former U.S. migration official, discusses the global surge in migration and why current systems are failing. She covers drivers like climate, conflict, and economics. Conversations include smugglers and disinformation, asylum backlogs, labor needs, temporary-worker schemes, and risks if the system keeps breaking down.