USA at 250: Soft power, hard power and the future of the American dream

The United States marks its 250th birthday at a moment of intense division and international uncertainty. At home, President Donald Trump is aggressively remodelling America's governance around expanded White House power and burning through firewalls intended to prevent presidential overreach and self-enrichment. Internationally, his capricious mix of transactional diplomacy, coercive tariffs and naked hard power has left American allies shell-shocked – and opened the door for China to spread its influence. Former US ambassador to Qatar Tim Davis joins host Bronwen Maddox and Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America programme, to discuss the future of the United States in the world – and whether, for ordinary citizens, the American dream still exists.  Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.   Explore Chatham House's latest: Comment | On its 250th birthday, the US is still defined by its fault lines Comment | Europe watches the next American revolution take shape Comment | The US government's latest U-turn on Anthropic's Mythos sends mixed signals on AI governance Magazine issue | The World Today summer issue Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧 Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧 Follow Independent Thinking on your favourite podcast apps.