Daniel Runde, Senior Adviser at CSIS and Contributor to The National Interest, discusses with Jacob Heilbrunn the major geopolitical challenges shaping U.S. foreign policy — from Iran and the Gulf to Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia and Moldova. Across this conversation, Runde analyzes political transitions, strategic risks, migration pressures, Russia’s influence, EU enlargement and America’s global role. A sharp and wide-ranging exchange on power, instability and possible turning points.
Daniel Runde: America’s Global Test from Iran to Moldova
by
June 2026
Recent Articles
Iran Failed Trump’s Test
President Donald Trump’s intransigence on Iran should not be underestimated. From the beginning, his approach followed a clear sequence: strike, weaken, test, and enforce. American power changed the balance of force. Diplomacy then tested whether what remained of the Iranian regime could recognize reality and choose restraint. Tehran answered with escalation. Enforcement became unavoidable. Trump […]
The Architecture of a Secular Iran
How the separation of religion and state could reshape citizenship, governance, and national life in a democratic Iran For more than four decades, Iran has lived under a political system in which religion and state power have been deeply intertwined. The Islamic Republic did not merely draw inspiration from religion; it transformed religious authority into […]
THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION
“WISH FULFILLMENT” IN WORLD POLITICS
“WISH FULFILLMENT” IN WORLD POLITICS
In his major work on religion, The Future of an Illusion (1927), Sigmund Freud offers a broad definition of “illusion.” According to Freud, “We call a belief an illusion when wish-fulfilment is a prominent factor in its motivation and in doing so we disregard its relation to reality.” Examined in terms of Israel and world […]
