The Unreliable Superpowers

In this episode we react to the Pentagon halting weapons shipments to Ukraine, undermining a string of US foreign policy accomplishments leading into the successful NATO summit, and we critique Defense Undersecretary Bridge Colby’s arguments for a pivot away from Europe, noting how his project has antagonized East Asian allies like Japan and has the potential to undermine US diplomatic initiatives like the push to strengthen The Quad in the Indo-Pacific. Is the US become as unreliable an ally as Russia or China? With Xi Jinping’s absence at the BRICS summit fueling speculation that he may be out of power soon, I argue that a crisis in East Asia in the immediate future seems unlikely and the ongoing war in Europe is a clear priority. Noting the rebranding at the State Department and Marco Rubio’s increasingly central role in US foreign policy, Grant dissents from my more pessimistic take and argues that there’s a good chance that Trump will adjust policy on Ukraine after his phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky scheduled for tomorrow.