France’s Unrest, Middle East Wars, Trump and Greenland, Resisting DOGE

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Fareed Zakaria (1:40)

This is GPS, the global public square. Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world. I'm Fareed Zakaria coming to you from New York. Today on the program, understanding the massive student protests in France. I'll ask the economist Paris Bureau chief, what is behind the unrest? Then what happens next?

Then Kim Ghattas brings us the latest on Iran. Then I'll talk about the ongoing battle for control of the Arctic with the FT's Rana Foroohar.

Those are some of the public servants who were targeted for removal by Elon Musk's Doge because they were unwanted by the Trump administration. Who are they and what were they doing that made them targets?

Michael Lewis (2:37)

Their stories don't get told.

Fareed Zakaria (2:38)

Michael Lewis tells me some fascinating stories.

But first, here's my take. If you listen to some people these days, Washington should start planning victory parades. Quote, we won, Iran lost, period, says CNN's Scott Jennings. Hugh Hewitt concurs and the Wall Street Journal editorial page agrees the tide is turning. And they all have a point. The American military is getting oil from America's Gulf allies flowing through the Strait of Hormuz while choking off Iran's exports. This is a remarkable display of military ingenuity. But it does not make the war a success.

Remember how we got here. In June 2025, the US and Israel massively bombed Iran's nuclear facilities. And Donald Trump declared its nuclear program obliterated. Eight months later, in February, they went to war again with far bigger ambitions. They attacked Iran's leadership, killing its supreme leader and many senior officials. Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government. The objective was clear, regime change. But the Islamic Republic survived, closed ranks around hardline generals, installed a new supreme leader, and unleashed the weapon it had long threatened to use, closing the Strait of Hormuz through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes.

After more than seven months of war, the United States is now engaged in a vast campaign to force Iran to stop blocking a waterway that was open before the war began. Washington has mounted this vast operation to restore the status quo and is calling its progress victory.

Consider the costs just to get back to where we were. According to the Pentagon, the TAB has reached $45 billion, and the CBO estimates that even a low intensity conflict will cost another $2 billion monthly. At least 19 American soldiers have died. The US has likely used between half and two-thirds of its inventory of certain sophisticated missile defense interceptors. Replacing them could take more than five years, and these are weapons America would need against China. By the end of June, at least six American warships had been diverted from the Pacific to the Middle East.

Since the war began, Brent crude oil prices have averaged around $100 a barrel, roughly 40% higher than before the war. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimated that the war's cost to the average American household as of July was about $1,000 in higher prices and interest payments. Americans have paid about $130 billion extra for gasoline and diesel alone. Higher diesel prices have jacked up the cost of trucking, farming and food. Families heating their homes with oil could face bills 50 percent higher this winter. The damage abroad is staggering. Gulf states have seen their trust in Washington shattered. In addition, they face soaring shipping costs and collapsing tourism. Dubai's hotel occupancy plunged from nearly 85 percent in February to 23 percent in March. Governments there must spend billions repairing infrastructure and building alternative routes around Hormuz. Energy importing countries, which means most of the world, have struggled paying the bills.