American Foreign Policy: Challenges, Threats, Opportunities. Ned Temko and Scott Peterson

Let's Find Common Ground

USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future

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5 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2021

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The takeover by the Taliban in Afghanistan; a more aggressive China and Russia; a newly-elected hardline President in Iran: All are all major challenges facing President Joe Biden and his Administration. Our podcast guests are Ned Temko, who writes the weekly international affairs column “Patterns” for The Christian Science Monitor, and Scott Peterson, the Monitor's Middle East bureau chief. Both are highly experienced and well-traveled foreign correspondents, who bring depth and expertise to coverage of global affairs. Among the many topics covered in this episode: Similarities and differences to Trump's "America First" approach, the implications of the rapid withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, why China is the biggest overseas challenge for the Biden Administration, relations with America's allies, and the increased threat to human rights in Asia and Middle East. Join us to gain fresh insight on the rapidly evolving international situation.

Transcript

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0:00.0	As we record this in the days after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan,
0:05.2	there are reports of chaos, confusion, and panic in Kabul and elsewhere.
0:10.6	We spoke to our guests as the US military was preparing to withdraw
0:14.6	before the final outcome was known.
0:23.0	This is Let's Find Common Ground. I'm Richard Davies.
0:26.8	And I'm Ashley Milntite. Coming up, a broad-ranging discussion
0:30.9	about US foreign policy and the many challenges facing President Biden.
0:35.5	We look at what's changed and the similarities in his approach and that of former President Trump.
0:41.4	We speak with two veteran foreign correspondents from the Christian Science Monitor.
0:46.1	They've both traveled widely in many parts of the world.
0:50.0	Ned Temco writes the weekly international affairs column patterns
0:53.9	and Scott Peterson is the monitor's Middle East bureau chief. They're now based in London.
0:59.9	Let's start with you Ned. How would you describe the Biden vision for American foreign policy?
1:05.1	America is back and I think that's their guiding principle that after four years in which
1:12.8	the United States under Donald Trump was in deliberate retreat from a lot of old alliances
1:20.4	from large parts of the world. I think his first priority has been
1:25.6	to basically reintroduce a little bit of normalcy, a degree of stability.
1:31.9	And I suppose the other theme is something that began under President Obama when Biden was
1:38.1	Vice President. And that is the famous tilt towards Asia.
1:42.1	Scott, have there been any surprises though in the Biden approach? For instance, maybe a departure
1:48.6	from President Obama's foreign policy? I think that two of the biggest surprises,
1:53.9	which I'm sure we'll discuss in this program, are the policies that so far have been exhibited
	...

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