Rethinking American Grand Strategy (w/ Ionut Popescu)

Rethinking American Grand Strategy (w/ Ionut Popescu)

From In the National Interest by Center for the National Interest

April 2, 2025 · 17 min · Season 2 · Episode 6

About this episode

The episode discusses America's grand strategy in the context of rising global powers and the challenges faced by the Trump administration.

What should America's grand strategy look like in a world shaped by resurgent great powers, regional conflict, and rising multipolarity? As China pushes to dominate the Asia-Pacific and Russia asserts itself in its near abroad, the stakes for global order—and for U.S. leadership—have never been higher. Meanwhile, the Trump administration faces the challenge of distinguishing first-order priorities from second-order distractions. Should Washington continue pursuing global primacy, or shift toward a leaner, more focused strategy rooted in realism? In this episode, Jacob Heilbrunn speaks with Ionut Popescu, Associate Professor of Political Science at Texas State University. Dr. Popescu is the recent author of No Peer Rivals: American Grand Strategy in the Era of Great Power Competition . Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay

People in this episode

Host: Jacob Heilbrunn

Guest: Ionut Popescu

Topics covered

  • American grand strategy
  • great power competition
  • U.S. leadership
  • China
  • Russia
  • multipolarity
  • realism

Keywords

  • grand strategy
  • U.S. foreign policy
  • China dominance
  • Russia assertiveness
  • multipolar world
  • political science
  • realism
  • global order

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Texas State University

Books & works: No Peer Rivals: American Grand Strategy in the Era of Great Power Competition

Places: China, Russia, Asia-Pacific

More episodes of In the National Interest

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the In the National Interest podcast page.