Since returning to the White House for his second term in January 2025, Donald Trump has renewed his “America First” agenda by pursing a transactional approach to diplomacy and a desire to limit the US’ involvement overseas. This in turn is remoulding the global order.

To discuss Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and the US’ place in the changing world order, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Affairs in the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University, and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources
•	Charles A. Kupchan., No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn (Oxford Academic, 2012),
•	Charles A. Kupchan, Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020).
•	The promise and peril of Trump's America first – LSE Phelan US Centre event, including links to event video and podcast recording

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LSE: The Ballpark | The promise and peril of Trump’s America First with Professor Charles Kupchan

This year LSE is celebrating its 130th anniversary, and how it has shaped history and driven change across the world. Much of LSE’s history is linked to the United States, from philanthropic support from the US in LSE’s early days to famous alumni and American directors of the School.

To talk about the LSE’s long and close relationship with the United States, in October 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Michael Cox. Professor Cox is a Founding Director of LSE IDEAS, LSE's foreign policy think tank, and was its Director between 2008 and 2019. He is also Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE and has been writing a history of LSE.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	Cox, Michael, John Ikenberry, and Takashi Inoguchi (eds), American Democracy Promotion: Impulses, Strategies, and Impacts (Oxford University Press, 2000)
•	Cox, M., & Stokes, D. (Eds.), US Foreign Policy (Oxford University Press, 2026)
•	Celebrating LSE's 130th anniversary

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LSE: The Ballpark | LSE at 130 and the United States with Professor Michael Cox

The last 40 years have seen a sharp decline in America’s manufacturing industries with growing joblessness in many previously prosperous industrial regions of the US. 

But how and why did these job losses happen, and how did the US move from an economy based on manufacturing to one that’s now based on services? And what can be done to help workers affected by technological disruption in what are called “left-behind places”?

To discuss the origins of job loss, left behind places, and the place-based policies that can help them, in November 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Gordon Hanson, the Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Professor Hanson is best known for his research on the labor market consequences of globalization, including pioneering work on the China trade shock.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources
•	We Warned About the First China Shock. The Next One Will Be Worse, New York Times, 14 July 2025
•	Reimagining the Economy at Harvard Kennedy School
•	What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth

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LSE: The Ballpark | How to help left behind regions and workers with Professor Gordon Hanson

Recent years have seen growth in the capability and use of AI tools across society, including by business, academia, the media, and in the economy more widely. Many institutions have embraced AI tools and models such as ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Gemini (Google) to provide solutions to a variety of challenges, from the everyday to the global. At the same time, many commentators have expressed concerns about bias in AI, its contribution to other global challenges like climate change, and that it may even be a threat to society or democracy.

In 2025, the Phelan US Centre ran an essay competition for master’s students with the prompt, “Is AI a threat or an opportunity for the US?” 

In this episode we spoke to the author of the winning essay, Kayode Adeniyi, and the runners-up, Natasha Chávez and Francesca Nicolodi. We discussed their essays, the competition, what it’s like for students to engage with a wider audience, and the opportunity they had to present their essays in the UK parliament to MPs and the British-American Parliamentary Group.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Read the essays from the winner and runners-up on the Phelan US Centre’s USAPP blog

•	AI in the US: The Next Space Race or the Next Subprime Crisis? - Kayode Adeniyi - LSE Department of Management (winner)
•	The AI race: will the US lead or fall behind? - Natasha Chávez - LSE Department of International Relations (runner-up)
•	Trump’s hunger for AI domination is allowing Silicon Valley to seize the state but not its people - Francesca Nicolodi - LSE Department of Social Policy (runner-up)

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LSE: The Ballpark | “Is AI a threat or an opportunity for the US?” Master’s students essay competition for 2025

To talk about the current state of US-China relations, in October 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a leading authority on Chinese economic policy and US-China commercial relations.

The discussion conversation covered the October 2025 deal between US president Donald Trump and China’s president Xi Jinping, the state of relations between China and the US two countries during the first months of the second Trump presidency, and the insights that can be gained by speaking to scholars and experts on the ground in China.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	China Field Notes podcast – with Scott Kennedy
•	The Center for Strategic and International Studies 
•	China’s Tech Obsession Is Weighing Down Its Economy – Scott Kennedy and Scott Rozelle – Foreign Policy, 10 October 2025
•	Red Ink: Estimating Chinese Industrial Policy Spending in Comparative Perspective by Gerard DiPippo, Ilaria Mazzocco, Scott Kennedy, and Matthew P. Goodman – CSIS – 23 May 2022

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LSE: The Ballpark | US-China relations in an era of illiberalism with Dr Scott Kennedy

What does the future of work really look like?  

 

Many workers today face unstable contracts, insecure employment, and widening inequalities. Yet, at the same time, rapid technological change and advances in AI are transforming productivity, reducing repetitive tasks, and opening new possibilities for creativity and flexible working.  

In this episode of LSE iQ, Maayan Arad explores how work is changing, and what it will take to ensure these shifts benefit everyone. He speaks to leading experts on job quality, AI, and remote work models that could reshape economies and communities worldwide.  

Dr Kirsten Sehnbruch from LSE’s International Inequalities Institute explains why improving job quality - not just quantity - is essential for tackling global inequalities and creating fairer labour markets.  

Professor Raj Choudhury from LSE’s Department of Management reveals how the ability to work from anywhere could reverse the ‘brain drain’ from smaller towns and rural regions.  

Fabien Curto Millet, Chief Economist at Google, discusses how artificial intelligence is reshaping creativity, productivity, and the nature of work - and gives advice for graduates entering the workplace.  

Together, they explore big questions about the future of work, from the rise of location flexible jobs to the impact of AI on human skills, innovation, and economic opportunity. 


Contributors: Kirsten Sehnbruch, Raj Choudhury, Fabien Curto Millet.  

Research links:  

Https://prithwirajchoudhury.com/the-world-is-your-office/ 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/19/jobs-ai-skills-training/ 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504851.2022.2156460 

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities/2024/09/17/why-the-flexicurity-model-of-the-labour-market-is-not-sustainable/ 

Are jobs getting better?

America is undergoing profound change. Demographic transformation, shifting global power dynamics, and a foreign policy establishment in transition are reshaping how the United States sees itself—and how the world responds.

These shifts raise fundamental questions: What does a more diverse America mean for its global role? As new voices emerge, how do longstanding foreign policy elites adapt, or will they lose influence? Given all these factors, how has the second Trump administration differed in its foreign policymaking? And how are rapid technological changes, including AI, reframing global governance?

To explore these issues, in November 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and a leading thinker on global governance, democracy, and U.S. foreign policy. The conversation ranged from demographic upheaval to America’s evolving relationship with global partners, the legacy of East Coast foreign policy elites, and the challenges America faces in its 250th anniversary year.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources

•	For business, DEI should be an economic priority, Anne Marie Slaughter – Financial Times - 28 August 2024
•	A New World Order, Anne-Marie Slaughter, (Princeton University Press, 2004)
•	William H. Frey - Brookings Institution
•	Justice by Means of Democracy, Danielle Allen (The University of Chicago Press, 2023)
•	Substack resources mentioned – The Renovator; The All American
•	New America
•	America adrift: the end of the east coast foreign policy elite (for video and event podcast recording) – Phelan US Centre Event with Anne-Marie Slaughter, 12 November 2025 

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LSE: The Ballpark | America adrift with Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter

Understanding China’s role in the world has never been more important — or more complex. China projects itself variously as a moral global actor, a fiercely defensive power guarding its core interests, and a pragmatic, opportunistic player driven by economic incentives. At the same time, policymakers in the West interpret China through competing stories — from historical cycles and ideological clashes to narratives centred on national interests and the personalities of individual leaders. These overlapping perspectives shape how the US and its partners respond to China, and how stable — or unstable — the future might be.

To discuss these issues, in November 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Todd Hall, Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford and Director of the University of Oxford’s China Centre. In the interview, they explored China’s “three personalities,” the politics of emotion in international relations, and the narratives that shape US–China competition. They talk about economic interdependence, climate cooperation, and how shifting perceptions influence policymaking on both sides.

Further reading and resources
•	University of Oxford China Centre - https://www.chinacentre.ox.ac.uk/ 
•	Hall, T.H. and Ross, A.A.G. (2019), Rethinking Affective Experience and Popular Emotion: World War I and the Construction of Group Emotion in International Relations. Political Psychology, 40: 1357-1372. 
•	Karl Gustafsson, Todd H Hall, The Politics of Emotions in International Relations: Who Gets to Feel What, Whose Emotions Matter, and the “History Problem” in Sino-Japanese Relations, International Studies Quarterly, Volume 65, Issue 4, December 2021, Pages 973–984

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The Ballpark will be ten years old in 2026, and we want to hear from you to make the podcast even better, so we’re running a listener survey. 
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LSE: The Ballpark | China’s Three Personality Problem with Professor Todd Hall

Fertility rates are at record lows around the world, reshaping communities and even forcing some schools to close.  In 1950, the global average was around five live births per woman. Today, that number has more than halved to 2.2, and in England and Wales, it’s closer to 1.4. The UK’s falling birth rate reflects what the United Nations has described as ‘a global fertility slump’. 

In this episode of LSE iQ, Anna Bevan asks: Why are we having fewer children? 

From a closed down primary school in South London to demographic shifts unfolding across the globe, this episode explores the profound social, economic and personal forces behind declining fertility.  

Professor Berkay Ozcan explains how countries from Turkey to Chile have experienced some of the steepest drops in modern history, and why the timing of relationships, women’s careers, the economy and uncertainty about the future all play a role. 

Professor Emily Jackson, an expert in law and reproductive rights, examines the limits of governmental policies - from baby bonuses to China’s new tax on condoms - and explains why restrictive reproductive laws often have unintended consequences. 

Zoe Noble, the founder of We Are Childfree, discusses the growing global community of people choosing not to have children. She shares how one intrusive taxi ride helped spark a movement, and why blaming childfree women for falling birth rates misses the real issues. 

Is a shrinking population a problem or simply part of the natural ebb and flow of society? And what would it take to create a world people want to bring children into? 

Join us as we dig into the data, the politics and the personal choices behind one of the most important demographic stories of our time. 

Contributors:  

Berkay Ozcan, Emily Jackson and Zoe Noble 

Associated research 

The effects of unemployment on fertility (2021) 

Why are we having fewer children?

From China’s growing influence in Europe to deepening Russia–China cooperation and the ripple effects of Trump’s America First policies, Eurasia has emerged as a single, highly contested geopolitical space. These shifts are forcing countries — including India — to rethink old assumptions about alliances, security, and the global balance of power.

To discuss these issues, in November 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr C Raja Mohan, distinguished fellow at the Council on Strategic and Defence Research in Delhi and a visiting professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore

Their conversation covers how Eurasia has become strategically integrated, what Trump’s return means for US allies and partners, and how India is navigating a more volatile environment as a rising middle power. They also discussed the future of regional orders in Asia and the pressures reshaping maritime and continental geopolitics.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Avan Fata.  

Further reading and resources
•	Ball, D, Béraud-Sudreau L, Huxley, T, Mohan, R & Taylor, B 2021, Asia's New Geopolitics: Military Power and Regional Order. Adelphi books, vol. 1, 1st edn, Routledge, London. 
•	C Raja Mohan: The West vs the Rest, a fiction, The Indian Express, 30 July 2025
•	Mohan, R 2025, India and the Rebalancing of Asia, Adelphi books, vol. 1, 1st edn, Routledge, London. 

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LSE: The Ballpark | America first and the future of Eurasian geopolitics with Dr C Raja Mohan

Fabio Santucci, President and CEO of ocean carrier MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. USA on why the current environment is not a new normal for container shipping and his belief that we can look forward with optimism.

Carrier perspective with MSC's Santucci

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Carrier perspective with MSC's Santucci

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