Robert Kagan: We’re Transitioning to a Post-American World episode artwork

EPISODE · Apr 3, 2026 · 56 MIN

Robert Kagan: We’re Transitioning to a Post-American World

from The Bulwark Podcast · host The Bulwark

The pro-Iran war hawks keep crowing about how U.S. military prowess is supposedly striking fear in Beijing and Moscow. But what’s really happening is that Trump is doing exactly what China and Russia hoped he’d do. Beijing has wanted the U.S. out of the Western Pacific and Putin, of course, wants NATO wrecked. Our major allies are scrambling to form new economic and military relationships, and America is likely to be very lonely in the world with only a few stooges to count as friends. This is what ending our role as a global superpower would look like. Plus, the U.S. is unable to win the war at a cost that is acceptable to Americans, Trump is taking a cue from Putin by bombing civilian infrastructure, and blaming NATO for not being willing to fight for the Strait of Hormuz is absurd when the world’s most powerful navy doesn't seem to want to do it either.Bob Kagan joins Tim Miller for the holiday weekend pod.show notes Bob's recent piece in The Atlantic Tim's bimbofied livestream "Foreign Policy" piece on South Korea that Bob referenced Follow "Bulwark Takes" for breaking news over the weekend Tim's playlist

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Apr 3, 2026

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The pro-Iran war hawks keep crowing about how U.S. military prowess is supposedly striking fear in Beijing and Moscow. But what’s really happening is that Trump is doing exactly what China and Russia hoped he’d do. Beijing has wanted the U.S. out of the Western Pacific and Putin, of course, wants NATO wrecked. Our major allies are scrambling to form new economic and military relationships, and America is likely to be very lonely in the world with only a few stooges to count as friends.

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Robert Kagan: We’re Transitioning to a Post-American World

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