Catch up on Council on Foreign Relations videos in minutes

Clifford Chanin explains that while each memorial museum responds to a distinct attack, they share a common origin in confronting ideological violence against society. Building these institutions demonstrates societal resilience and a commitment to remember and educate while supporting bereaved families. Ultimately, these centers represent a forward-looking statement that society will endure despite the assault.

Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett argues that the United Nations faces its highest conflict count since World War II, $33 billion in annual humanitarian needs, failing 2030 SDG targets, and a severe liquidity crisis. However, she cites the creation of ICAO in 1944 and the IAEA during the Cold War as proof that multilateralism can deliver under distress. She concludes that the choices made now, 19 years before the UN centenary, will determine whether the organization survives another 50 to 60 years.

Ed Morse explains that the 1980 Carter Doctrine emerged from the Iranian Revolution, the 1979 oil price spike, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan near the heart of the global oil market. Because tight markets between 1974 and 1980 prevented IEA nations from building strategic stockpiles, and domestic conservation pleas failed, Washington turned to naval power in the Indian Ocean and Middle East military partnerships to protect Strait of Hormuz flows.

Jessica Brandt delineates foreign influence operations from direct election interference, noting that influence seeks to shape attitudes and exploit societal divisions while interference attacks voting mechanics. She explains that most adversary efforts focus on influence rather than physical infrastructure disruptions. The distinction establishes the boundary between narrative competition and national security red lines.

The United States has shifted from producing the majority of global shipping tonnage in the 1970s to generating just 0.2 percent today, leaving only 189 ocean-going vessels against China's fleet of roughly 5,500. Splitting military and commercial shipbuilding led to severe inefficiencies and reduced logistical resilience. Rebuilding domestic capability requires deliberate long-term demand signals.

Rebecca Patterson argues that the recent spike in U.S. bond yields is primarily driven by a repricing of Federal Reserve rate expectations and economic growth outlooks, rather than inflation expectations. She notes that only about 5% of the yield increase is tied to inflation, with the rest attributed to factors like AI infrastructure buildout, supply concerns, and increased bond supply. This distinction is crucial because higher yields act as a drag on economic growth by increasing borrowing costs.

Strategy is possible but profoundly difficult, as war is an inherently uncertain endeavor. While leaders aim for specific outcomes, the reality often deviates significantly from expectations, making consistent success rare. The key lies in understanding and navigating this uncertainty, rather than expecting perfect control.

President Trump's decision to personally greet Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews, a gesture of high respect typically reserved for figures like the Pope, signals an extraordinary level of deference and an unusual strategic dynamic in US-China relations.

James M. Lindsay highlights that the current U.S.-Canada trade tensions feel fundamentally different from past disputes, suggesting a 'rupture' rather than a mere rough patch in the relationship. This sentiment is echoed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, indicating a deep concern over the weaponization of economic integration by the U.S. administration. The use of national security rationales for tariffs on steel and aluminum is seen by many Canadians as a significant break from the established norms of the bilateral relationship. The underlying precepts of closer integration are being fundamentally questioned, moving beyond simple trade deal revisions to a more profound challenge to the relationship's foundation. This shift signals a potential redefinition of the economic and political ties between the two nations, moving away from decades of deepening interdependence.

Nvidia's $13 billion offer for Hugging Face, a platform for open-weight AI models, is far more than a standard acquisition. It represents a strategic battleground for the future of artificial intelligence, pitting Nvidia's vision of open-source AI against the proprietary models favored by companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. This deal is about controlling the ecosystem and ensuring Nvidia's hardware remains central to AI development.

The September 11 attacks were a pivotal moment that shattered the post-Cold War sense of inevitable progress and ushered in an era of perceived danger and struggle, fundamentally altering U.S. foreign policy. The immediate aftermath was marked by overwhelming fear, uncertainty about the scale of attacks, and significant economic disruption, compounded by subsequent events like the anthrax scare.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's assertion that the nation can grow its way out of debt, particularly through AI-driven growth, is presented as an optimistic aspiration rather than a guaranteed outcome. Mathematical analysis suggests that achieving the necessary GDP growth (doubling current rates annually for a decade) is highly improbable based on current economic forecasts and demographic trends.

The current U.S.-Iran conflict is characterized by a deep stalemate, where both the United States and Iran believe that time is on their side. The U.S. hopes its economic pressure and blockade will force Iran's collapse or capitulation, while Iran believes its resilience against U.S. force and economic hardship, coupled with U.S. domestic pressures and strained alliances, will eventually lead to U.S. concessions. However, both sides may be miscalculating the other's endurance and options, potentially prolonging the conflict indefinitely.

The United States has experienced a substantial drawdown of its advanced weapons inventory, both offensive and defensive. This depletion is attributed to a decades-long strategy prioritizing exquisite, expensive, and hard-to-produce weapons over quantity, leading to current stocks of systems like Patriot and THAAD interceptors, and Tomahawk cruise missiles being significantly reduced. This reliance on high-cost systems, often used against cheaper adversary munitions, creates an unfavorable cost exchange ratio and strains U.S. capabilities.

Pope Leo XIV's encyclical 'Magnifica Humanitas' asserts that human worth is intrinsic and not contingent on achievements or productivity, directly challenging the pervasive 'optimization culture' amplified by AI. This perspective is crucial for safeguarding human dignity, especially when AI systems are used to screen embryos for desirable traits or evaluate individuals for end-of-life decisions, risking the sacrifice of concrete humans for idealized future visions. The encyclical calls for embracing human vulnerability and weakness as occasions for growth in virtues like service and love, rather than engineering them away.