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Three Questions

Three Questions

By: The National Interest
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Welcome to Three Questions—a podcast for a new era of global complexity and uncertainty. Three Questions breaks down key security, trade, energy, and technology challenges in an era of escalating competition among the world’s leading powers and rapid change in America’s approach to the world. Every two weeks, host Paul Saunders, President of the Center for the National Interest and Publisher of The National Interest, sits down with leading American and international experts to ask three focused questions that yield short and accessible perspectives on these critical issues. Three Questions cuts through the chaos to bring clarity on timely topics.

The National Interest 2025
Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • How Will the Russia-Ukraine War End? (w/ Andrew Kuchins)
    Dec 15 2025

    The ongoing peace negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine War have entered a delicate phase, with both Kyiv and Moscow signaling interest in talks even as fighting continues on the ground. Can Ukraine secure meaningful security guarantees without conceding territory? Is Russia seeking a genuine deal or merely buying time? And what would a workable endgame actually look like for a conflict that has reshaped global politics?

    In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Andrew Kuchins, a senior fellow at the Center for the National Interest in Washington, DC. Kuchins most recently served as president of the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Before that, he served as Director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (2007-2015) and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2000-2003, 2006), where he also directed their Carnegie Moscow Center (2003-2005).

    Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

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    29 mins
  • Is MAGA Losing Steam? (w/ Jacob Heilbrunn)
    Nov 17 2025

    It’s been a big two weeks in U.S. politics, and some political observers are asking whether the MAGA movement is finally losing steam. A year after President Donald Trump’s stunning comeback, Republicans face fresh blowback from the record-breaking government shutdown, renewed public scrutiny of the "Epstein Files," and major electoral defeats on November 4. Is the MAGA movement fraying at the edges? And could these developments hint at further weakening ahead of the 2026 midterm elections?

    In this episode, Paul Saunders speaks with Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest. Heilbrunn previously served as a senior editor at the New Republic and an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Times and has written on both foreign and domestic issues for numerous publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Reuters, Washington Monthly, and the Weekly Standard.

    Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

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    8 mins
  • What Is Foreign Policy Realism?
    Nov 3 2025

    What does “realism” in foreign policy really mean, and why are some experts calling for a return to it? In this episode, Paul Saunders breaks down the core tenets of realism that separate it from more idealistic and moralistic approaches.

    Saunders is the president of the Center for the National Interest and an expert with more than three decades of experience in U.S.-Russia policy. He previously served in the George W. Bush Administration from 2003 to 2005 as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs.

    Music by Sonican from Pixabay.

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    24 mins
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