What role should the United States be playing on the global stage?

Shadi Hamid is an American author and political scientist, who is currently a columnist and member of the Editorial Board at The Washington Post. He is also a host on the Wisdom of Crowds podcast.

Daniel Bessner is the Annett H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy at the University of Washington. He also co-hosts the American Prestige podcast. 

Today we ask a wide range important questions about American power:

• To what extent should the U.S. be involved in Ukraine, Taiwan, and the Middle East?
• Are we the good guys?
• What are the alternatives to American hegemony?

This conversation is a sequel to an extended disagreement between Shadi and Danny on The Wisdom of Crowds podcast two years ago. It’s definitely worth a listen.

Show Notes

• U.S. role in promoting democracy abroad [04:12 ]
• The historical record of U.S. interventions [09:39 ]
• How many democracies are there in the world? [12:20 ]
• What metrics measure democracy? [13:24 ]
• U.S. policy toward Ukraine [15:28 ]
• Possible motivations for Russia’s invasion [17:41 ]
• Is perception of American strength a deterrent? [20:25 ]
• Comparing Russia, China and the U.S. [24:50 ]
• China-U.S. conflict [39:44 ]
• Israel and Gaza [41:36 ]
• Steelmanning [51:24 ]