Brookings Institution
Suzanne Maloney is Deputy Director of Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and the author of Iran's Long Reach: Iran as a Pivotal State in the Muslim World. She has formerly served on the Secretary of State's policy planning staff, and as Middle East advisor for ExxonMobil Corporation.
Has Donald Trump nominated a team of dissenters? Donald Trump's picks to lead two major national-security agencies are contradicting positions taken by the President-Elect. In testimony before a Senate committee today, CIA chief-designate Mike Pompeo said he would not use "enhanced interrogation," even if Trump told him to. At another hearing, Trump's choice for Defense Secretary, General James Mattis , said Russia's Vladimir Putin is trying to break up the NATO alliance. When his nominees differ with him in such important ways, what are we learning about Trump's national security policy — and who will shape it?
Arab Upheaval: Can Iran Take Advantage? Now that major rivals are deposed or worried about their own futures, has Iran gained new influence in the region, without doing a thing?
Iranian President Ahmadinejad Begins Second Term Mahmoud Ahmadinejad starts his second four-year term as President of Iran. In today's inaugural address, Ahmadinejad called for "a national will" and "national resolve." He told his audience, "We need to join forces." As if to dramatize the moment, major reformers, including a faction of parliament, boycotted the ceremony. Outside on the streets of Tehran, opposition protesters were vastly outnumbered by riot police.
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
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.