Episode #93 - September 2026

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Many people have written about the dismantling of the U.S. global order and that countries are turning to China for new leadership. While this may be overblown, as many countries don't seem to be abandoning the US totally, it does seem clear that fewer countries view the world in the same way. Whether it is India continuing to buy Russian oil, or fewer countries reliably voting with the U.S. at the United Nations, or the idea that the U.S. promotes stability and peace, it seems America has lost its ability to rally the world.

In this month's episode, we explore with Sarwar Kashmeri, host of the Polaris Live web series, how the world has left the United States behind and forged new strucutures and alliances to secure their own national interests. He also outlines the ways in which the U.S. could regain its lost status and begin to retake global ground it has ceded to China. By rebuilding relationships, recommitting ourselves to the international order, and leading with values, the United States can live up to its lofty goals for itself and the world. This is not easy work and is strengthened by friendships, which requires an engaged and informed voter base to demand it from their government.

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Sarwar Kashmeri is an international relations specialist, author, and commentator, noted for his expertise on U.S. global strategy and national security.

He speaks frequently before business, foreign policy and military audiences. He is the founder and host of Polaris-Live. com, “United States and China in the world,” a live internet video program featuring 30 minute conversations on the business and geopolitical impact of China’s rapid rise to superpower status.

Kashmeri is author of the Foreign Policy Association’s report “The Telegram: A China Agenda For President Biden“ (2021); “The Telegram II: The Business of America and China is Business“(2022); “China’s Grand Strategy: Weaving a New Silk Road to Global Primacy,” (Bloomsbury), his third book, was published in July 2019. It is a centennial book of the Foreign Policy Association where Sarwar is a Senior Fellow. The book was released at a Washington D.C. launch featuring Kashmeri and former U.S. Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel.

He is also an Applied Research Fellow of the Peace and War Center of Norwich University, Vermont, USA  and served a four year term as a non-residential Senior Fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center for International Security of the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C.

Kashmeri has hosted “China Focus,” a podcast series for the Carnegie Corporation of New York and discussed China’s Belt and Road Initiative on television with Deutsche Welle, the German news network, and in a series of interviews with Xinhua, China’s global news agency.

He is the author of the U.S. Army War College’s monograph, “NATO and the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy; Intersecting Trajectories” and is a frequent guest speaker at the United States Military Academy/West Point. Kashmeri has appeared in well-known publications including New York Times International, The Guardian, U.S. News and World Report, Xinhua, and Global Times. His TV appearances include CNN, Sky News, Euronews, CSPAN, and Fox. Formerly the CEO of a New York based international technology company, Kashmeri has also served as a communications advisor to several Fortune 100 companies.

He earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (AE) and a M.S. in Engineering both from Saint Louis University where he was on the faculty and the founding Director of the AE school’s computation center. He was also a founding director of the Regional Justice Information Service (REJIS) that provides computer services to the Saint Louis Metropolitan area’s criminal justice agencies through one of the then largest IBM computer networks in the country.

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