I'm John Batchel with my colleague and friend Gregory Copley. Defense and Foreign Affairs is his publication,

but now and again Gregory publishes. And some years ago, he published a book Sovereignty in the 21st Century

and the crisis for identity, cultures, nation, states, and civilizations. When Gregory and I first talked

about this, Russia wasn't on the march towards the Donbass. People's Republic of China wasn't

boasting about how it's leaped ahead of the U.S. in terms of AI, quantum, the moon rays.

And the European Union looked to be well-to-do and in charge of itself. None of those things

now apply.

London has left the EU,

and France might as well have,

given the Macron's statements these last days.

And the United States is in turmoil,

is the polite term, political turmoil,

industrial turmoil, certainly in terms of its borders until recently.

So what have we learned? What lessons have we learned so far in the 21st century about the search for sovereignty and identity?

Is there self-awareness? I take it, Gregory, your answer of the four possible empires,

Russia, China, the U.S., and the EU,

that they're all aware they're in crisis and defensive according,

except perhaps, the American.

Do I say that correctly?

I believe so. I think President Trump now feels that he is taking America on the march again

to recovery. And you could argue that he has had enough successes over his first year in office,

which is still not quite there, his first year in office, that he has

...