Discern This delves into America’s changing role in the world with veteran journalist and political commentator David Andelman, whose career includes stints as New York Times bureau chief in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. How does the United States self-perception mesh with the views of it around the world and is it still “the shining city on the hill”? David Andelman brings into focus the shifting status of the US, as viewed from abroad, a topic he covers as a CNN columnist and in his own substack Andelman Unleashed.. He highlights a fascinating finding from a recent international survey which placed Canada and its constitution as the leading example to emulate, according to respondents in countries considering their own constitutional revisions.

Drawing on his perspective gained from reporting from 86 countries over his career, David Andelman sketches the major fault lines in world affairs. He identifies the possibility of fighting a two front war- in Ukraine and over Taiwan- as the greatest threat facing the United States. Andelman explains why the Baltic states and Poland have had a more realistic and accurate appraisal of Russian intentions and how the France and Germany fell victim to wishful thinking in their policy with Moscow. He highlights the attritional nature of the war in Ukraine and posits the negative feedback loop of Russian casualties could have on the Kremlin. He adds that some of the overlooked disruptions caused by the Russian invasion, include overtures between former Soviet republics in central Asia and the United States.

Andelman endorses Henry Kissinger’s dictum that strong domestic support is required of the conduct of a successful foreign policy- that international events are too often refracted through the prism of national politics. He chides the US media for inconsistently explaining the relevance and impact of international events to its domestic audience. For him one of the weaknesses of the American political system is that Americans are not being educated about the linkage between America’s global position and America’s prosperity.

David Andelman is a journalist, author and political commentator. His career includes stints as New York Times bureau chief in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. David was also a Paris based correspondent for CBS News. He is currently an opinion columnist for CNN on international affairs and writes regularly for his own substack: Andelman Unleashed.