Is U.S. foreign policy now "open for business"?

Is U.S. foreign policy now "open for business"?

From The World Stage by NUPI

March 11, 2026 · 41 min · Season 2026 · Episode 2

About this episode

The episode discusses the shift toward transnational kleptocracy in U.S. foreign policy and its implications.

In this episode of the World Stage podcast, host  Ole Jacob Sending  (The Norwegian Centre for Geopolitics, NUPI) sits down with  Alex Cooley (Columbia University) and  Taylor St. John  (NUPI) to discuss the shift toward transnational kleptocracy   in US foreign policy. Drawing on a recent  Foreign Affairs  article, the guests explore how the second Trump administration is dismantling long-standing anti-corruption frameworks, such as restricting the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), to facilitate a system where public power is leveraged for private gain. In the podcast, the three participants discuss several examples of transnational kleptocracy. One specific example recently reported in the  Wall Street Journal  involves US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who have been in active talks with Kirill Dmitriev head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund. The discussions center on using a portion of frozen Russian assets—which were widely expected to be designated for Ukraine's…

People in this episode

Host: Ole Jacob Sending

Guests: Alex Cooley, Taylor St. John

Topics covered

  • U.S. foreign policy
  • transnational kleptocracy
  • anti-corruption frameworks
  • private gain
  • international power
  • kleptocratic populism

Keywords

  • foreign policy
  • kleptocracy
  • corruption
  • investment projects
  • sovereign wealth funds
  • Trump administration
  • U.S. politics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Columbia University, NUPI, Foreign Affairs, Wall Street Journal

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