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The Ezra Klein Show · June 9, 2026 · 1h 33m

What's the Left's Vision for Foreign Policy After Trump?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Brian Schatz, Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Matt Duss
Show Notes

Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and foreign policy adviser to AOC, discusses the Democratic Party's rupture over foreign policy following Trump's departure. The conversation centers on Gaza as a dividing issue within the party, the collapse of the rules-based international order, and what a progressive foreign policy vision might actually look like in practice.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Curious

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What Does Progressive Foreign Policy Actually Mean?
The left lacks a coherent, articulated vision for what progressive foreign policy would actually do in the world — it's defined more by opposition to current policy than by affirmative strategy.
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Highlights

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Gaza as Generational Democratic Realignment
Gaza has become the defining foreign policy rupture for Democrats, functioning as the Iraq War equivalent — a generational dividing line that's reshaping party coalitions.
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American Skepticism About Interventionism Is Real
The American public has become durably cynical about U.S. military interventions abroad, signaling a structural shift in what foreign policies are politically sustainable.
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Editorial

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The Rules-Based Order Is Collapsing
Trump's foreign policy effectively destroyed the post-WWII rules-based international order, and Democrats must decide whether restoration is possible or desirable.
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Progressive Foreign Policy Requires New Staffing & Vision
Democrats at the highest levels are calling not just for policy shifts but for wholesale replacement of foreign policy personnel, indicating a belief that institutional thinking is fundamentally misaligned.
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References

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The Hard Truth My Party Needs to Face — Chris Van Hollen — Senators recalibrating Democratic foreign policy stance
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Democrats Can't Avoid a Reckoning With Gaza — Matthew Duss — Duss's own framing of the core foreign policy fracture
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Why We Need a Progressive Foreign Policy — Chris Murphy — Senator articulating left foreign policy vision
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Congressman Jason Crow's New Vision for American Foreign Policy — Jason Crow — Democratic perspective on post-Trump foreign policy
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Crisis of the Common Good — Chris Murphy — Referenced book on collective challenges
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From Life Itself — Suzy Hansen — Exploration of American foreign policy and identity
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Book of Mercy — Leonard Cohen — Poetry and reflection

Misc

✧Gaza has become the Iraq War equivalent rupture issue for Democrats — a generational realignment marker
✧Even senior Democratic senators (Schatz, Van Hollen) now openly calling for break from Biden foreign policy
✧Duss advises both Bernie Sanders (previously) and AOC (currently) — sits at ideological center-left of foreign policy debate
✧The question: restore pre-Trump rules-based order, or imagine something fundamentally new?
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