Richard Fontaine, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, joins Clearer Than Truth to examine the strategic challenges facing the United States in an increasingly contested world. From the Trump administration’s approach to military force and the future of American alliances to defense spending, the competition with China, and the growing role of artificial intelligence, Fontaine explores whether the United States has a coherent strategy to match its global power. He also explains why Washington has repeatedly struggled to prioritize the Indo-Pacific, how allies are reassessing American reliability, and why he remains cautiously optimistic about America’s long-term advantages.

00:00 Richard Fontaine on America's Changing Foreign Policy
00:32 Is America's Grand Strategy Fundamentally Changing?
01:53 The Lasting Shift Toward Protectionism
03:12 Does Trump's Foreign Policy Have Historical Precedents?
05:28 What Would John McCain Think of America Today?
07:04 Has America Become an Overextended Superpower?
09:40 Can America Still Trust Its Alliances?
11:52 Trump's Way of War vs. the Powell Doctrine
13:41 Why Clear Military Objectives Matter
15:05 The Problem With Trump's Flexible War Strategy
17:32 What the Powell Doctrine Would Say About Iran
18:51 Can America Afford Another Major War?
19:19 Could America Defend Taiwan Against China?
21:17 America's Defense Industrial Base Problem
22:16 How AI Will Reshape Global Power
24:16 Should America Stay Ahead of China in AI?
25:46 Can America and China Agree on AI Safety?
28:57 What Nuclear Arms Control Can Teach Us About AI
30:06 Why Crises Sometimes Force International Cooperation
32:34 Why America Keeps Failing to Pivot to Asia
34:10 How Middle East Wars Derail America's Asia Strategy
35:21 Is China Still America's Biggest Strategic Rival?
36:36 What CNAS Is Working on Now
37:42 Can America Rebuild the International Order?
38:45 What Still Makes America Powerful?
40:38 Why Richard Fontaine Remains Optimistic
41:13 Where to Follow Richard Fontaine

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Ambassador Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia and author of Autocrats Versus Democrats, joins Clearer Than Truth to examine how Vladimir Putin transformed Russia’s relationship with the West and why the war in Ukraine remains so difficult to end. McFaul argues that Putin’s greatest fear is not NATO expansion but the spread of democracy, which threatens the legitimacy of his autocratic rule. He reflects on the achievements and failures of the Obama administration’s Russia reset, contrasts Putin’s leadership with Mikhail Gorbachev’s approach to Eastern Europe, and discusses the uncertain prospects for political change inside Russia. The conversation also explores Ukraine’s nuclear disarmament and security guarantees, the risks of leaving Ukraine outside NATO, China and India’s limited roles in seeking peace, and why McFaul believes stronger military support for Ukraine and tougher sanctions offer a better path toward a negotiated settlement than appeasing Putin.

00:00 Michael McFaul on Russia and Putin
01:13 Why Putin Fears Democratic Expansion
02:07 What the Russia Reset Was Really About
03:45 What U.S.–Russia Cooperation Achieved
05:01 Why Dual-Track Diplomacy Failed
06:37 Could Russia Have Taken a Different Path?
08:22 How Putin Became More Paranoid and Imperial
09:36 Gorbachev, Eastern Europe, and Nuclear Secrets
11:23 Why Individual Leaders Shape History
12:35 Gorbachev vs. Putin on Democratic Movements
14:02 Why Arms Control Requires Verification
15:12 Could Putin Lose the Support of His Elites?
16:06 How Putin Tightened His Grip on Russia
18:19 Why Revolutions Seem Impossible—Until They Happen
19:15 Ukraine’s Independence and the Nuclear Question
20:27 Putin’s Early Political Years
22:16 The Budapest Memorandum and Ukraine’s Security
23:24 Should Ukraine Join NATO?
24:59 Why China and India Aren’t Helping End the War
26:27 Russia’s War as an Imperial Project
27:19 Why Appeasing Putin Won’t Work
29:06 What Putin Really Wants From Ukraine
30:37 Why Putin Wants the Donbas
31:56 Is Russia Trying to Break Ukraine’s Will?
32:20 The People Who Turned to Putin
34:33 How Propaganda Becomes a Business
35:28 The Dinner That Revealed Putin’s Worldview
37:07 Why Putin Thinks Everyone Can Be Bought
37:35 Michael McFaul’s Latest Book and Writing

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Julius Krein, founder and editor of American Affairs, joins Clearer Than Truth to examine why the United States has struggled to rebuild its industrial base even as the case for reindustrialization has entered the mainstream. Krein argues that tariffs alone cannot restore American productive capacity: the country needs strategic investment, skilled workers, coordinated supply chains, permitting reform, and institutions that can help critical industries become commercially viable. He explains why the goal should not be to centrally plan the entire economy, but to open opportunities for private investment in sectors weakened by decades of underinvestment. The conversation explores the political costs and potential benefits of rebuilding manufacturing, whether a more productive economy could narrow class divides, and how the United States might redirect its financial resources to compete with China. Krein’s broader message is that America has made progress in recognizing the problem, but the real test is whether it can overcome institutional bottlenecks and deliver tangible results before political support fades.

00:00 Julius Krein on Rebuilding American Industry
01:01 Has Industrial Policy Finally Gone Mainstream?
02:08 Why Rebuilding Industry Could Take Decades
03:24 From Fringe Idea to National Priority
04:07 The Problem With Tariff-First Economics
05:04 Why Tariffs Alone Won’t Rebuild Manufacturing
06:22 The Real Costs of Trade Policy
07:35 What a Real Reindustrialization Strategy Requires
08:30 Why Critical Industries Lost Their Investment
09:31 The Missing Pieces: Workers, Buyers, and Permits
10:00 Why America Struggles to Coordinate Economic Policy
11:00 Why Supply Chains Are Harder to Map Than They Look
12:16 What Happens When Everything Becomes Strategic?
12:48 Why America Needs More Than Free Markets
13:54 The Industries America Can Rebuild First
14:57 Industrial Policy Without Central Planning
15:31 Who Pays for Reindustrialization?
16:49 The Political Trade-Offs of Rebuilding Industry
18:08 The Long-Term Cost of Deindustrialization
18:57 Will Working-Class Americans Actually Benefit?
20:21 Can Manufacturing Narrow the Class Divide?
21:48 Building an Economy That Works Across Classes
22:16 What Does American Economic Nationalism Mean?
23:03 Why Different Political Camps Support Industrial Policy
24:14 Why Practical Needs Can Matter More Than Ideology
25:10 Is Pragmatism Driving American Industrial Policy?
26:34 Can America Compete With China’s Economic Model?
27:13 Why American Finance Could Help Rebuild Industry
28:28 China’s Manufacturing Strength—and Its Limits
28:55 What the U.S. Must Prove to China
30:19 Can America Fund Long-Term Industrial Growth?
31:07 How Realistic Is American Reindustrialization?
32:08 The Bottlenecks Still Holding America Back
32:59 The Race to Deliver Results
33:46 Why American Affairs Matters

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