World on the Brink?

Open to Debate

News, Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the Iran war reshapes the Middle East and raises new questions about America’s role in the world, Danielle Pletka and Julia Ioffe join moderator-in-chief John Donvan at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival for a debate-esque conversation on U.S. foreign policy in President Trump’s second term. From Iran and Russia to global stability and American leadership, they offer competing visions for navigating an increasingly volatile world. Our Guests: Julia Ioffe, Founding Partner and Washington Correspondent at Puck; Author of "Motherland" Danielle Pletka, Distinguished Senior Fellow in Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Join the conversation on Substack—share your perspective on this episode and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated insights from our debaters, moderators, and staff. Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and TikTok to stay connected with our mission and ongoing debates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:33.5	Hi, everybody. This is open to debate. I'm your moderator and chief John Donvan and today's program. It's a little bit different instead of our usual Oxford-style debate. We're doing a more informal debate-esque discussion of foreign policy. We've brought together two experts who have contrasting ideologies and whose work has showcased their competing approaches to U.S. foreign relations.
0:58.4	We are excited for you to hear these two women, one who sees U.S. intervention abroad as imperative and one who is more critical as they share their analysis of the Iran War and how it's impacting perceptions of the U.S. and our credibility around the world.
1:11.9	The news on the war, of course, is changing quickly, and so we wanted to note this program was
1:15.8	recorded on June 6th, just a few days before the United States announced a tentative deal
1:20.3	had been reached.
1:22.2	Hello and welcome to the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival. I'm John Donvan, moderator in chief of Open to Debate,
1:28.5	and I'm delighted to introduce my guest, Julia Yafi and Danielle Pletka.
1:34.4	First, I want to welcome again, Danielle Pletka.
1:37.0	Daniel, you're a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
1:40.2	You teach U.S. Middle East Policy at Georgetown.
1:43.1	You also have a podcast titled, What the Hell is Going On?
1:48.5	That you co-host with Mark Tiesin, who has also debated with us in the past at Open to Debate.
1:53.6	Julia, you're a founding partner at Puck.
1:56.0	Your Puck's Washington correspondent.
1:58.1	You've done some amazing, amazing writing, insightful writing about Russia over
2:01.9	the years. And your book is titled Motherland, A Feminist History of Modern Russia. Welcome both of you
	...

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