Most Americans think their country is in decline. So do their leaders. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have embraced foreign policies premised on the notion that the global order no longer serves American interests. But these pessimistic assumptions are wrong, Fareed Zakaria argues in a new essay for Foreign Affairs. Moreover, they are leading the country to embrace strategies that will harm much of the world—and the United States most of all. Zakaria is the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS, on CNN, a columnist for The Washington Post, and the author of The Post-American World.

This episode with Fareed Zakaria was originally published on December 14, 2023.

Sources: “The Self-Doubting Superpower” by Fareed Zakaria https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united… “The New China Scare” by Fareed Zakaria https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articl… “Taiwan and the True Sources of Deterrence” by Bonnie S. Glaser, Jessica Chen Weiss, and Thomas J. Christensen https://www.foreignaffairs.com/taiwan… “Washington’s New Trade Consensus” by Gordon H. Hanson https://www.foreignaffairs.com/review… “The Lonely Superpower” by Samuel P. Huntington https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articl… “The U.S.—Decline or Renewal?” by Samuel P. Huntington https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united…