First Among Equals: Dr. Emma Ashford on US Foreign Policy in A Multipolar World

In this episode, Garrison is joined by Dr. Emma Ashford, a Senior Fellow with the Reimagining US Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center. The two discuss Dr. Ashford’s new book, “First Among Equals: U.S. Foreign Policy In A Multipolar World.” The discussion touches upon the end of the Unipolar Moment, the emerging schools of thought on the future of American power, “unbalanced multipolarity,” the argument for free trade, and what a realist internationalism approach means for American involvement in Europe and the Middle East, as well as great power relations with China, India, and Russia. You can purchase First Among Equals from Yale University Press, or wherever books are sold. -Emma Ashford is a Senior Fellow with the Reimagining US Grand Strategy program at the Stimson Center. She works on a variety of issues related to the future of U.S foreign policy, international security, and the politics of global energy markets. She has expertise in the politics of Russia, Europe, and the Middle East. Ashford is also a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, and an adjunct assistant professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Her first book, Oil, the State, and War: The Foreign Policies of Petrostates, was published by Georgetown University Press in 2022, and explored the international security ramifications of oil production and export in states such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela. Prior to joining the Stimson Center, Ashford was a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s New American Engagement Initiative, which focused on challenging the prevailing assumptions governing US foreign policy. She was also a research fellow in defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, where she worked on a variety of issues including the US-Saudi relationship, sanctions policy, and US policy towards Russia, and US foreign policy and grand strategy more broadly. Ashford writes a bi-weekly column, “It’s Debatable,” for Foreign Policy, and her long-form writing has been featured in publications such as Foreign Affairs, the Texas National Security Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the National Interest, and War on the Rocks, among others. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds a PhD in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. -Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States. He has been published in RealClearDefense, and Pacific Forum International's "Issues & Insights", among other publications. He is the author of Distant Shores on Substack. Guest opinions are their own. All music licensed via UppBeat.

You can listen to First Among Equals: Dr. Emma Ashford on US Foreign Policy in A Multipolar World online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

First Among Equals: Dr. Emma Ashford on US Foreign Policy in A Multipolar World is an episode from The New Diplomatist by Azores 9 Media.

This episode is 00:40:37 long.

This episode was published on Sep 13, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The New Diplomatist when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.