Atlantic Council
John Herbst is director of the Atlantic Council's Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center. He is a former ambassador to Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
For 31 years Herbst served as a foreign service officer in the State Department, including as ambassador to Ukraine (2003-2006) and to Uzbekistan (2000-2003).
The summit within the summit After warm greetings in public, Presidents Trump and Putin were behind closed doors for more than two hours today in Hamburg, Germany. For the moment, their meeting has overshadowed the larger G-20 summit, as protesters stormed local police in the streets of the city. Mr. Trump’s aides said he had “no agenda,” but Secretary of State Tillerson says he began with Russia’s meddling in America’s election. Putin denied it. With US-Russian relations at their lowest point in decades, is there any chance of a rapprochement? Is that in America’s interests?
The US and Russia: Frenemies in the Middle East The US and Russia both claim to be fighting ISIS militants in Syria, but their ultimate goals are not the same. Russia supports the Assad regime, while the US is backing rebels in Syria's civil war. The US views Iran as a hostile power, while Russia calls it a partner. As they try to avoid major conflict, tensions grow hot and cold — heating up recently with airstrikes against controversial targets. Meantime, the Trump White House is divided over what the Pentagon should do. We update politics, diplomacy and the military options.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?