How to Build an American Foreign Policy, With Michael Mandelbaum | The President’s Inbox

This episode unpacks three enduring pillars that have defined U.S. foreign policy from the nation’s founding to today: ideology, economic statecraft, and democratic accountability. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR Guest: Michael Mandelbaum, Professor Emeritus of American Foreign Policy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies; Author, The American Way of Foreign Policy: Ideology, Economics, Democracy We Discuss: 1. Whether the United States can be said to have a coherent foreign policy "personality". 2. How geographic and geopolitical advantages have historically enabled a more ideological U.S. foreign policy than most countries can afford. 3. Whether ideology in U.S. foreign policy represents genuine conviction or merely a veneer for self-interest. 4. What the post-Cold War era reveals as the "golden age of foreign policy of ideas”. 5. What drives the persistent American tendency toward economic statecraft, sanctions, and “mirror imaging”. 6. How public opinion, interest groups, political parties, and elections influence foreign policy decisionmaking. 7. Whether President Trump's foreign policy fits within—or represents a departure from—the three enduring American traditions in U.S. foreign policy. 00:00 - Introduction to The President’s Inbox 01:10 - Michael Mandelbaum on U.S. Policy 01:54 - Three Pillars of American Foreign Policy 02:10 - Ideology vs. Realism in Global Affairs 02:55 - Economic Instruments for Political Ends 03:34 - The Role of Democratic Public Opinion 06:06 - Geopolitical Security and Isolation 08:37 - Liberalism and Spreading Democracy 12:12 - Historical Wars: Ideas and Power 13:19 - Post-Cold War State Building Efforts 15:33 - The Embargo Act of 1807 Failure 18:17 - Economic Levers and Mirror Imaging 21:07 - Why U.S. Policy is Uniquely Democratic 24:40 - The China Challenge and Global Power Find us How to Build an American Foreign Policy, With Michael Mandelbaum - https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/how-to-build-an-american-foreign-policy The President’s Inbox - https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-presidents-inbox/id1172546141 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/65u6jcFyV5BnlVhhzSi7UJ Related Content The American Way of Foreign Policy: Ideology, Economics, Democracy - https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-american-way-of-foreign-policy-9780197840931 Embargo Act of 1807 - https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/embargo.asp George W. Bush, Second Inaugural Address - https://www.npr.org/2005/01/20/4460172/president-bushs-second-inaugural-address Vice President JD Vance, Remarks at the Munich Security Conference - https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-vice-president-the-munich-security-conference-0 Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Remarks at the Munich Security Conference - https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/02/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-at-the-munich-security-conference Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or our guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy. Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cfr The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher. Visit the CFR website: http://www.cfr.org Follow CFR on X: https://x.com/cfr_org Follow CFR on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/councilonforeignrelations Follow CFR on Instagram: @CFR_org