Shows
Cosmopolitics by Elise LabottWhat we just bought in VenezuelaFolks: If you missed my conversation with former US envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams, I encourage you to watch the recording. Elliot’s knowledge and insights bring essential context and nuance to this complex story. I write more about how the administration’s strategy, or lack thereof, will impact the region well beyond Trump’s term in the post below. Tomorrow I will discuss the administration’s designs on Greenland and the potential consequences of the US moving to acquire it. Cosmopolitics depends on reader support. If you value serious foreign policy journalism and intervie...
2026-01-0640 min
Cosmopolitics by Elise LabottBolton is indicted, the US eyes regime change in in Venezuela and Putin woos TrumpFormer National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted yesterday. Unlike the politicized cases against James Comey and others, this one has teeth. The Washington Post notes the indictment was signed by Kelly O. Hayes, a respected veteran prosecutor, and Tom Sullivan, who heads Maryland’s national security division—both career prosecutors, not Trump appointees overruling their staff. The timing may be political. The case itself? Less so.Venezuela: My conversation with Elliott Abrams, Trump’s former envoy to Venezuela, is essential viewing (link in show notes). If you think US action there is just about drug cartels, think...
2025-10-1741 min
Cosmopolitics by Elise LabottIs the US seeking regime change in Venezuela?If you weren’t able to catch my conversation with Elliott Abrams here is the recording. As the former US envoy to Venezuela during President Trump’s first administration, his perspective is essential viewing for anyone trying to understand the administration’s current approach to Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro.Lest you think recent US actions against Venezuela are simply about drug cartels, Elliott offered a wide-ranging assessment of the situation in the country, the administration’s broader regional strategy, and the US interests at stake—putting the recent military strikes and President Trump’s CIA directive...
2025-10-1734 min
The World Next WeekIsrael-Hamas Cease-Fire, Trump’s First Immigration Moves, Russia’s and Iran’s New Partnership, and MoreIsrael and Hamas reach a cease-fire deal aimed at exchanging hostages and prisoners while seeking a longer-term pause in fighting; the incoming Donald Trump administration weighs ambitious moves on immigration; Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin sign off on a twenty-year partnership agreement; and students in Serbia protest violations of civil rights.
Mentioned on the Podcast
Antony Blinken, “U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the Biden Record in the Middle East—and What Comes Next,” Atlantic Council
Steven A. Cook, Elliott Abrams, and Elise...
2025-01-1636 min