Ian Bremmer on the Risks America Poses to the World | The Ezra Klein Show

Over the past month, there have been two dominant stories in American foreign policy. One, of course, is the war with Iran. The other is the much-anticipated summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping of China. And I think if you look closely at both of these stories, you see that our foreign policy has entered into a period of absolute incoherence. I’m not even sure what the status of the Iran war is at this point. What is Trump trying to achieve? What is he willing to accept? Taking a more hawkish approach to China has been a core and consistent principle of Trump’s since his first term. He’s been insistent that China has taken advantage of the United States and that America needed to change that dynamic and flex more power. But is that happening? Is that even Trump’s position anymore? So I wanted to do an episode looking at China and Iran and trying to assess Trump’s foreign policy in general and the ways he’s remaking what America means on the world stage. Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consultancy firm, and the global affairs publication GZero. He’s also the author of, among other books, “Every Nation for Itself: What Happens When No One Leads the World.” 00:00:00 Intro 00:10:02 Trump's agenda vs. reality 00:23:45 Inflation and the economic vibe 00:26:15 Algorithmic media and negative feedback 00:30:00 Technology's impact on society [00:34:00] Broken relationships: technology and places 00:38:00 Stratification of experiences and A.I. 00:41:00 China's A.I. strategy vs. U.S. 00:51:05 U.S. as petrostate, China as electrostate 00:56:27 Trump's energy policy and OPEC's end 00:59:27 China's control over energy infrastructure 01:05:05 America's war with Iran: a miscalculation 01:27:34 Book recommendations Read the full transcript here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/02/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-ian-bremmer.html Watch more on @EzraKleinShow Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html