Daniel Bessner: The last days of liberal empire?

This week, our guest is Daniel Bessner, Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. We discuss Trump, American empire, Washington’s Asian fixation, and the possibility of “mutual ruin of the contending classes” among other subjects.Time Stamps:00:01:12 Childhood interest in history00:03:45 The US foreign policy ecosystem and the effectiveness of the Quincy intervention00:06:48 Progressive foreign policy during Trump part two00:09:30 Marxism and other influences00:10:58 Origins of the American empire00:11:56 The US was never isolationist00:13:32 The US v other British settler colonies00:14:54 Trump isn’t fascist, he’s a 1980s New Yorker00:17:37 Has the state become too complex to control?00:20:00 Why the US is an  empire00:21:34 American imperial decline and the “Pivot to Asia”00:25:48 How are Russia and China seen from DC00:27:23 Climate change and mutual ruin*The Trialogue Podcast is hosted by the Stimson Center and produced by University FM.**The first twelve episodes of this podcast were published by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.