https://tankie.tube/videos/watch/a9fc305e-e115-4e93-86e5-700c77a7bdc9 In his recent Harper's cover piece, “Empire Burlesque,” Daniel Bessner traced the evolution of the foreign policy vision that defined the so-called American century and how it has been reshaped by failures and a changing world order, including a new multipolarity and the rise of China. He draws a distinction between the liberal internationalists and the “restrainers,” the two dominant foreign policy camps in Washington, and he calls for planning a future beyond the American century. But can America act like a normal country? Bessner, an Associate Professor of International Studies at the University of Washington and co-host of the podcast American Prestige, joined Dispatches with Rania Khalek to discuss this and more. Daniel’s article: https://harpers.org/archive/2022/07/what-comes-after-the-american-century/ You can listen to all episodes of Rania Khalek Dispatches anywhere you get podcasts. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3za9DRK Apple: https://apple.co/3zeYpeW TIME CODES 0:00 INTRO 2:26 End of the American century 6:00 Election of Trump, rise of China 8:48 Liberal internationalists vs the restrainers 13:29 Liberal internationalists are winning 15:59 Isn't capitalism the real problem? 19:29 Is restraint enough? 24:30 Expansionism 28:39 Great power rivalry trumps international cooperation 30:04 “Authoritarianism” 33:02 The left and foreign policy 37:33 Predicting the future 41:02 Is it possible to dismantle the American empire? 43:03 Evolution of the pro-war think tank industry 48:50 Is America causing its own demise? Thu, 09 Apr 2026 02:09:57 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://tankie.tube https://tankie.tube/lazy-static/avatars/3ba3ff73-a8b6-49c9-add8-9653ef090c7f.webp https://tankie.tube/videos/watch/a9fc305e-e115-4e93-86e5-700c77a7bdc9 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://tankie.tube/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.