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The Dialectic is the flagship podcast of Fair Observer, an independent nonprofit that publishes nearly 3,000 authors from over 90 countries, including former prime ministers, retired diplomats, professors, noted authors and bright young minds from different fields.
Hosts Atul Singh, the editor-in-chief of Fair Observer, and Glenn Carle, a senior partner at the geopolitical risk advisory firm FOI, dive into some of the most important issues of our times. Atul is a Rajput who grew up in India and debated for Oxford while Glenn is a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) who grew up in Boston and played ice hockey for Harvard. Atul comes from the Gaharwar (or Gahadavala) clan while Glenn’s ancestors arrived in Plymouth in 1620 on the Mayflower.
Atul served as an officer doing counter-insurgency in India’s volatile border regions (Nagaland and Kashmir) and as a lawyer in the City of London. As editor-in-chief, he predicted Brexit, Donald Trump’s two election victories and the global rise of the far right. Glenn served the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in both strategic and operational roles. He also negotiated trade deals for the US, served in the White House and authored The Interrogator, a book about how he opposed torture as a CIA officer during the global war on terror.
The Rajput and the WASP are caricatures of stereotypes, and both are preparing to be mummies in the British Museum. These quirky characters examine issues through historical, economic and cultural lenses. Both of them have a passion for geopolitics and for making sense of the world.
Atul and Glenn seek to both inform and entertain. Let us know what you want them to cover. Join our community, and share this podcast with friends and family!
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Episodes
Friday Feb 07, 2025
Friday Feb 07, 2025
President Donald Trump’s return to power has alarmed many countries around the world. It is important to remember that Trump the individual represents two deep and persistent trends in American politics: isolationism and nativism.
Remember that after World War I, the US jettisoned the League of Nations, which was President Woodrow Wilson’s idea. Even after World War II, influential figures championed Fortress America. Senator Joseph McCarthy was one of them. Trump’s America First policies draw upon this tradition.
Over the last decade, the Republican Party has increasingly moved toward isolationism, breaking from its post-World War II tradition. Under Trump, the party has abandoned its interventionist stance, embracing skepticism toward international alliances and multilateral agreements.
Trump’s approach in implementing this isolationist foreign policy complicates matters further. He often appears reactive and impulsive, driven by personal grievances rather than strategic interests. Trump often allows personal relationships with leaders to overshadow the presence or absence of shared strategic goals. This unpredictability undermines trust and weakens alliances.
Isolationist policies also limit the US’s ability to address global challenges like climate change, terrorism and economic instability. An abdication from global leadership invites other nations like China to step up to the plate, threatening US security and interests.
To craft a more effective foreign policy in the future, the US must find a balance between its desire for national autonomy and the realities of an interconnected world. This necessitates a shift from adversarial and binary thinking to the difficult but ultimately more beneficial approach of multilateralism.
[Peter Choi edited this podcast and wrote the first draft of this piece.]
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