USA at 250: Soft power, hard power and the future of the American dream

USA at 250: Soft power, hard power and the future of the American dream

Author: Chatham House July 3, 2026 Duration: 42:01

The United States marks its 250th birthday at a moment of intense division and international uncertainty. At home, President Donald Trump is aggressively remodelling America's governance around expanded White House power and burning through firewalls intended to prevent presidential overreach and self-enrichment. Internationally, his capricious mix of transactional diplomacy, coercive tariffs and naked hard power has left American allies shell-shocked – and opened the door for China to spread its influence.

Former US ambassador to Qatar Tim Davis joins host Bronwen Maddox and Laurel Rapp, director of our US and North America programme, to discuss the future of the United States in the world – and whether, for ordinary citizens, the American dream still exists. 

Produced by Podmasters for Chatham House, with thanks to Stephen Farrell and Sara Seth.

 

Explore Chatham House's latest:

Comment | On its 250th birthday, the US is still defined by its fault lines

Comment | Europe watches the next American revolution take shape

Comment | The US government's latest U-turn on Anthropic's Mythos sends mixed signals on AI governance

Magazine issue | The World Today summer issue

Audio | The Climate Briefing podcast 🎧

Audio | Africa Aware podcast 🎧

Follow Independent Thinking on your favourite podcast apps.


Hosted by Chatham House director Bronwen Maddox, Independent Thinking brings the institute’s private deliberations into the public ear. This isn’t a rehearsed lecture series, but a direct channel into candid, high-level discussions typically held behind closed doors. Maddox guides conversations with a carefully selected mix of leading policymakers, frontline journalists, and Chatham House’s own deep bench of experts, focusing on the international political issues that are shaping headlines and rewriting global strategies. The tone is analytical yet accessible, privileging substance and nuance over soundbites. Each episode feels like a privileged seat at a crucial roundtable, where complex topics-from shifting alliances and economic sanctions to climate diplomacy and conflict-are unpacked with clarity and intellectual rigor. Listeners gain a clearer understanding of the forces driving world events, hearing diverse perspectives clash and converge in real time. For anyone looking to move beyond the superficial news cycle and engage with the substantive arguments defining our geopolitics, this podcast offers an essential and thoughtful resource. It’s where informed opinion meets the pressing questions of our moment, fostering a deeper kind of political literacy.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Independent Thinking
Podcast Episodes
Has Trump made the presidency too powerful? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:08
The 2026 World Cup final in New Jersey may represent the pinnacle of soft power for the USA and a moment of global prestige for President Donald Trump. But at home, concerns are growing over his ever-expanding vision of…
NATO in Ankara: Is Europe ready for a Russian attack? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:37
This year's NATO summit brought together the leaders of all 32 member states in Ankara. President Donald Trump's return to the summit brought renewed controversy, with remarks on Greenland and Iran underscoring the geopo…
Can Andy Burnham save Labour? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:58
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves No.10 a decade since the Brexit referendum that began the UK's cycle of chaos, and Andy Burnham seems set to take over unopposed. Our experts discuss what the new regime will mean fo…
It isn't easy being green: The UK's net zero trilemma [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:18
Can Labour's prized plans to decarbonize power generation by 2050 withstand growing demands for extra defence spending – an acrimonious argument that has already claimed two senior defence ministers? Or pressure to prese…
Ebola in DR Congo: A 'catastrophic collision of disease and conflict' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:35
The major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo's northeast is not just a public health emergency in an already impoverished and violence-beset region. Armed rebellion, fragile government and a collapse in p…
Could Britain really rejoin the EU? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:49
Almost exactly ten years since Britain's seismic vote to leave the EU, the debate reopens thanks to early skirmishes in the fight for leadership of the Labour Party and thus the prime ministership. Could a credible bid t…
Is Putin losing control of his war in Ukraine? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:24
Is the initiative on the Ukraine war slipping out of Russian president Vladimir Putin's hands? And how has the US-Israel war on Iran affected Moscow? The economic crisis is tightening, and Moscow and St Petersburg are in…