How to Build an American Foreign Policy, With Michael Mandelbaum

This episode unpacks three enduring pillars that have defined U.S. foreign policy from the nation’s founding to today: ideology, economic statecraft, and democratic accountability.

Host:

James M. Lindsay (cfr.org/experts/james-m-lindsay), Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

Guest:

Michael Mandelbaum (sais.jhu.edu/users/mmandel1), Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Author, The American Way of Foreign Policy: Ideology, Economics, Democracy

We Discuss:

• Whether the United States can be said to have a coherent foreign policy "personality".

• How geographic and geopolitical advantages have historically enabled a more ideological U.S. foreign policy than most countries can afford.

• Whether ideology in U.S. foreign policy represents genuine conviction or merely a veneer for self-interest.

• What the post-Cold War era reveals as the "golden age of foreign policy of ideas”.

• What drives the persistent American tendency toward economic statecraft, sanctions, and “mirror imaging”.

• How public opinion, interest groups, political parties, and elections influence foreign policy decisionmaking.

• Whether President Trump's foreign policy fits within—or represents a departure from—the three enduring American traditions in U.S. foreign policy.

Mentioned on the Episode:

The American Way of Foreign Policy: Ideology, Economics, Democracy (global.oup.com/academic/product/the-american-w…) by Michael Mandelbaum (Oxford University Press, 2025)

Embargo Act of 1807 (avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/embargo.asp)

George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address (npr.org/2005/01/20/4460172/president-bushs-sec…), January 20, 2005

Vice President JD Vance, Remarks at the Munich Security Conference (presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-vice…), February 14, 2025

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Remarks at the Munich Security Conference (state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/…), February 14, 2026

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/how-to-build…

Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.