Ven and the art of hemispheric maintenance: America’s national-security posture

<p>America’s seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker fits with the stated goals in its new <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2025/12/05/donald-trumps-bleak-incoherent-foreign-policy-strategy?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">national-security strategy</a>: untrammelled hemispheric dominance. How much of the document is polemic and how much will become policy? The long-run costs of the work-from-home revolution are <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/11/27/americas-work-from-home-capitals-are-in-a-sorry-state?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">becoming apparent</a> in many American cities. And the one region where Pepsi is the <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2025/11/27/how-pepsi-trounced-coca-cola-in-the-middle-east?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cola of choice</a>.</p><br /><p><em>Get a world of insights by </em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</em></a><em>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>