Why Your Political Anger Feels Futile

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
The digital world feels more chaotic than ever. Huge data breaches, AI-threatening jobs, foreign meddling, that creeping feeling of obsolescence. It's information overload. I'm Dina Temple Rustin, host of Click Here from PRX and Recorded Future News.
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**Ravi Agrawal** (0:32)
Hi, I'm Ravi Agrawal, Foreign Policy's Editor-in-Chief. This is FP Live.
There is a paradox in our world today. Politics is everywhere. Think of the constant outrage on TV news and on your social feeds. Think of the culture wars. Think of protests in various parts of the world. And yet, despite this extreme prevalence of politics, this constant politicization of everything, nothing seems to change. The structural issues that make people unhappy still seem to be untouched. There is a term for this, hyperpolitics. And it is also the title of a new book that has been making waves, especially on the left. In a moment, I will speak with the book's author. That is coming up. But first, I was struck by how the United States canceled its joint military exercises with South Korea this week. Here's my read on things.
The Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of the world's biggest regular joint military drills. Tens of thousands of troops from South Korea and the United States check their readiness to repel an attack from North Korea. South Korea is, of course, an old, reliable, loyal ally. And North Korea is regularly belligerent, unpredictable, and openly hostile to several of its neighbors. When Trump announced the cancellation of the drills, he pointed out that they were costly and that they were aimed at a country that has been, quote, unthreatening and respectful. This is a laughable claim. The exercises cost about $7 million, less than the price of two Patriot missiles. And Pyongyang has been the very opposite of unthreatening, whether it is in the war in Ukraine or in its ballistic missile tests or when it comes to cybercrime. All of this comes as Trump has also been flirting with Kim Jong Un on social media, returning to a theatrical but ultimately pointless theme from his first term.
On the one hand, none of this should make sense. It comes right as Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon policy chief, has been doing the rounds in Southeast Asia, telling countries that the United States was, quote, more engaged than ever in the Indo-Pacific. But it strikes a discordant note when actual policy from the White House looks different.
My own sense of what's happening here is threefold. First, Trump loves distracting us from bad news. In Trump's mind, Kim is this comical Bond villain who is a terrific distraction and TV ratings gold. Second, there is in fact a consistent strand in Trump's foreign policy. He wants allies to reduce their dependency on the United States. Trump thinks military exercises cost money and there is zero sum, so why do it? And then third, it is becoming clear that Trump is angry that countries like South Korea or Germany haven't helped him out in Iran.
And this is where I think Trump fundamentally misunderstands how allies work. The more the United States asks its partners in Europe and Asia to manage their own defense, the less likely it is they will join Washington when it embarks on its own adventures, or misadventures as the case may be. After 9-11, NATO countries and other US allies helped out in the war on terror, even when it wasn't directly their own problem. That is less likely to happen again today. In pursuing a zero sum view of the world, Trump is basically making it more likely he will get zero help when he needs it.
OK, on to this week's featured interview. This one is a little different from our usual fare. We're taking a break from conflicts and the energy markets and geopolitics, and instead focusing on a big idea. This one's a big idea that could explain a lot about why politics seems so manic and yet so ineffective. My guest today is Anton Jäger, a political historian and the author of Hyperpolitics, Extreme Politicization without Political Consequences. He's a lecturer in politics at the University of Oxford. Lastly, we're going to have an Ask Me Anything episode coming up soon. Send in your questions. You can do that on the website or by emailing us at live at foreignpolicy.com. Anything on the topics we generally cover at FP is fair game. Let's dive in.
Anton, welcome to FP Live.

**Anton Jäger** (5:13)
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

**Ravi Agrawal** (5:15)