As the presiding superpower, the United States has frequently been labeled an empire whose actions, constructive, destructive, and benign have deep consequences on the world stage. In her latest book, Hoover Research Fellow Elizabeth Cobbs argues that since the nation's formation, the United States has performed the role of umpire, compelling the nations of the world to adhere to rules that have gradually formed the norms of modern statecraft.

The presentation included a large sample of posters from the 1919–21 war between Poland and Soviet Russia, colorful letters from Polish schoolchildren to Herbert Hoover, and a photo album documenting the second trip of Joachim von Ribbentrop to Moscow that sealed the partition of Poland between Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia.

As the debates rage along the Potomac regarding the Iran nuclear framework, ISIS, the Ukraine crisis, the rise of Chinese power and a half dozen other important U.S. foreign policy challenges, how better to think about these problems than to seek council from the two most impressive strategists of the post World War II era – the late Lee Kuan Yew and Henry Kissinger.

In this episode of Uncommon Knowledge, Peter sits down with Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, to examine the many issues facing the nation today.