"In the last decade, Democrats and Republicans have started to drift apart on the things that they consider most important," says Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Craig Kafura, drawing on Council survey results.
"America has had military bases in Greenland for decades,” says Council Director of Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Craig Kafura. "The idea of needing to conquer Greenland, needing Greenland to be part of the United States for U.S. national security just isn't true."
The US capture of Venezuela’s Maduro echoed intents outlined by Trump in the 2025 National Security Strategy. While the action might have appealed to his Republican base, the strategy’s principles are mostly out of step with US public opinion on America’s engagement in the world.
"Beijing’s efforts to strike a nationalist chord among Chinese citizens regarding Taiwanese unification might not be easily transmitted," the Council's Dina Smeltz and Craig Kafura write.
As it enters its 250th year, the United States faces an international political system it can neither dominate nor disregard. American leaders will have to do something they have long resisted: learn how to actually play the game.
Experts share how changes in American leadership, alliances, and global engagement shaped the nation’s first 250 years—and what the current moment reveals about the next.
"We'll see how the working levels are able to negotiate on some of these really sticky points like finalizing energy purchases, like finalizing that TikTok transfer," Craig Kafura says.
