Will the new US president, Barack Obama, launch more connected, ‘big picture’ diplomacy for a rapidly changing global landscape? will there be more continuity than change in the US stance on the Middle East and China? will the economic crisis limit Obama on the world stage? and will Europe be disappointed with his performance as expectations balloon?

In a special audio roundtable to mark the new president’s inauguration, FT columnists Gideon Rachman and Philip Stephens discuss the future of US foreign policy with Mark Fitzpatrick, former State Department official and now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.