Podcasts by Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters
The longest running independent international affairs podcast features in-depth interviews with policymakers, journalists and experts around the world who discuss global news, international relations, global development and key trends driving world affairs.
Named by The Guardian as "a podcast to make you smarter," Global Dispatches is a podcast for people who crave a deeper understanding of international news.
Further podcasts by Mark Leon Goldberg
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After a Sudden Turn, The Military Junta in Myanmar May be Facing Defeat in a Civil War from 2023-12-11T03:00
In February 2021, the Myanmar military toppled the civilian government of Burma, lead by Aung San Suu Kyi. Mass protests followed this coup and were brutally suppressed by the military jun...
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Climate Adaptation for Peace in a Polycrisis Era | Climate Security Series from 2023-12-07T03:00
This episode of Global Dispatches was recorded as a live taping of the podcast, produced in partnership with CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transformi...
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The Big Bets That Can Change Global Development | Raj Shah from 2023-12-04T03:00
Raj Shah served as administrator of USAID during the Obama administration and is now the President of the Rockefeller Foundation, a major philanthropy that is a key player in the global developm...
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Estonia's Top Military Commander: What a Stalemate in Ukraine Means For Europe from 2023-11-30T03:00
I caught up with Estonia's top military commander General Martin Herem at the Halifax International Security Forum in November. Estonia is a NATO member that borders Russia and I was interested ...
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Hundreds of Thousands of Afghans are Being Forced to Leave Pakistan from 2023-11-27T03:00
There is a mounting humanitarian emergency on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since October, hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan have fled back to Afghanistan. They ...
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How Climate Adaptation Can Mitigate Disaster-Related Displacement | Climate Security Series from 2023-11-23T03:00
This episode of Global Dispatches was recorded as a live taping of the podcast, produced in partnership with CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transformi...
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Congressman Jason Crow Discusses the Israel-Palestine Crisis, How Not To Repeat the Mistakes of the War on Terror from 2023-11-20T03:00
I caught up with Congressman Jason Crow at the Halifax International Security Forum, a major global security conference held each year in Nova Scotia that brings together military leaders, polit...
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How Climate Adaptation Can Benefit Peace and Human Security | Climate Security Series from 2023-11-16T03:00
This episode was recorded as a live taping of the podcast, produced in partnership with CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future dedicated to transforming food, land, and wa...
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China and the United States Hold their First Nuclear Security Talks in Years from 2023-11-13T03:00
In early November the United States and China held their first talks on nuclear security and arms control since 2019. The talks came ahead of a much anticipated meeting between President Biden a...
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The War in Ukraine Has Entered a New Phase from 2023-11-09T03:00
The much anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive began in earnest in June and certainly made some gains, but nothing approaching expectations. Ukraine's top military commander admitted the confli...
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What To Expect From The International Criminal Court's Investigation in Israel and Palestine from 2023-11-06T03:00
The International Criminal Court is opening an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Palestine following the October 7 attacks and Israeli military action in Ga...
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How the Israel-Gaza War May Ignite the Entire Middle East from 2023-11-02T02:00
The conflict in Israel and Gaza is escalating, but it has so far not spread in any major way across the region. But so long as the conflict persists, it could just be a matter of time until othe...
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How Climate Adaptation Can Reduce Poverty and Promote Gender Equality | Climate Security Series from 2023-10-30T02:00
Today's episode was recorded as a live taping of the podcast, produced in partnership with CGIAR.
It is part of a series of episodes about the nexus between climate and security.
T...
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A Major Political Turning Point for Venezuela -- Can Elections Be Credible This Time? from 2023-10-26T02:00
An opposition candidate named María Corina Machado overwhelmingly won a primary in October to challenge Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in presidential elections next year. Maduro was the h...
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What China's Economic Slowdown Means for the World | FP Live from 2023-10-23T02:00
China’s economy has been exhibiting troubling signs. Property prices are falling, making households less wealthy and curtailing consumer spending. High government debt, a declining population, a...
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President Biden's Trip to Israel and the View from Egypt from 2023-10-18T15:13
President Biden wrapped up a brief visit to Israel on Wednesday. The trip was also intended to include a meeting in Amman, Jordan with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah of Jorda...
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Tobacco Use Has Sharply Declined Everywhere Around The World Except for China. Why? from 2023-10-16T02:00
Since the early 2000s, Tobacco use has declined steadily and in some cases very sharply nearly everywhere in the world except China. According to the world health organization, Tobacco use for p...
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What Led To The Hamas Attack On Israel -- And What Now? from 2023-10-09T20:45
The crisis in Israel and Gaza--and Southern Lebanon and the West Bank -- is unfolding rapidly. Following the Hamas attacks on Saturday, Netanyahu promised to “return fire of a magnitude that th...
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Is Real Reform Coming to the World Bank? from 2023-10-09T01:42:16
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings are taking place in Morocco this month, and for the first time in a long time there is real momentum around enacting reforms to how...
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A Dreadful Piece of British Colonial History Has A Chance To Be Corrected | Philippe Sands from 2023-10-05T02:00
Diego Garcia is a small Island in the dead center of the Indian Ocean that is part of the Chagos Archipelago. In the early 1970s, the United Kingdom, which controlled the Islands, leased Diego G...
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Brutal End to a 35 Year Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh As Azerbaijan Takes Full Control From Armenia from 2023-10-02T02:00
On September 19th, Azerbaijan launched a swift military offensive against ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a long disputed region. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody war over thi...
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Canada Accuses India of an Assassination. What Now? from 2023-09-28T02:00
Justin Trudeau dropped a bombshell before Parliament last week when he accused the government of India of assassinating a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a Sikh dissi...
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Why The War in Ukraine Did Not Break Europe's Fossil Fuel Addiction from 2023-09-25T02:00
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, there was a brief moment when it seemed possible that this crisis might inspire European governments to turn away from fossil fuels. Russia was a hu...
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Live From the UN General Assembly: The Climate Ambition Summit | Why So Few Women Leaders? from 2023-09-21T20:00
Throughout this week there has been a notable lack of female leaders. By my count just seven of the 99 Presidents or Prime Ministers to address the General Assembly were women. This is a recurr...
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Live from the UN General Assembly: Global Health on the Agenda | A Big Meeting on Financing Sustainable Development from 2023-09-20T21:02
Today is Wednesday, September 20th and it was a very busy day at the United Nations. Of all the days this week, today was arguably the most packed with high level consequential meetings. Through...
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Live From the UN General Assembly: Key Moments from Biden and Zelenskyy's Speeches | Climate on the Agenda from 2023-09-19T22:00
Tuesday, September 19th marks the start of the United Nations General Assembly "General Debate." This is the parade of Presidents and Prime Ministers who address the world from the rostrum in th...
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Live From the UN General Assembly: The Key Stories to Watch During UNGA78 | A Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals from 2023-09-18T20:00
Monday, September 18 marks the kickoff to what is known around the United Nations as "High Level Week." The main event today was the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, which was intended to r...
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How Interpol Works | Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock from 2023-09-14T02:00
Interpol is the International Criminal Police Organzation. It was established 100 years ago to facilitate the cross border cooperation of national police agencies. Interpol is an international ...
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Why One of the Most Successful US Foreign Aid Programs is Suddenly Under Attack | PEPFAR's Uncertain Future, With Gayle Smith from 2023-09-11T02:00
PEPFAR is an acronym that stands for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. It is the largest foreign aid program targeted at a specific disease, and it is widely considered to be...
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Remembering Bill Richardson (From 2015) from 2023-09-07T02:00
Bill Richardson passed away on September 1st at the age of 75. He was a long servi...
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Guatemala: The Astonishing Election of Bernardo Arévalo Threatens a Corrupt Political Establishment from 2023-09-05T02:00
On August 20th a former academic, diplomat and now anti-corruption crusader Bernardo Arevalo stunned the world with a landslide victory in Guatemala's presidential election. Arevalo won with ove...
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Why The Expansion of BRICS Captures the Geopolitical Zeitgeist from 2023-08-31T02:00
BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is a significant grouping for the sheer size of the countries involved. BRICS account for 40% of the world's population and nea...
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What's Next for Al Qaeda and The Islamic State | Peter Bergen from 2023-08-28T02:00
Peter Bergen is one of the world's foremost experts on global jihadist movements like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. He is a journalist who has covered this beat for decades, including the firs...
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The Poaching and Trafficking of Pangolins is Sowing Instability in Central Africa from 2023-08-24T02:00
Pangolins are small mammals with hard scales and vital to biodiversity in forested regions. They are also the most trafficked mammal in the world. Although they are a protected species in intern...
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The Story of an NGO Rescue Ship That Saved 50 Migrants Stranded in the Mediterranean Sea from 2023-08-21T02:00
The number of migrants and refugees who are dying at sea while crossing the mediterranean is at a four year high. Nearly 2,000 people are confirmed to have died in the medditeran thus far in 20...
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Ethnic Cleansing Has Returned to Darfur. Is Genocide Next? from 2023-08-17T02:00
In 2003 a militia drawn from ethnic Arab tribes in Darfur, known as the Janjaweed, partnered with the government of Sudan in a genocidal campaign against non-Arab tribes in the region. An ...
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How the UN Prevented a Massive Oil Spill off the Coast of Yemen from 2023-08-14T02:00
For the last eight years a decrepit old oil tanker off the coast of Yemen has been like a ticking time bomb, threatening to unleash unprecedented disaster in the Red Sea. The 47 year old o...
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Why Kenya May Send Troops to Haiti from 2023-08-10T03:39
Haiti is in the midst of the worst humanitarian and security crisis in years. Gang related violence is surging - and the Haitian National Police are overwhelmed and incapable of restoring order....
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The Coup in Niger and What Comes Next? from 2023-08-07T02:00
On July 26th, the democratically elected president of Niger Mohamed Bazoum was deposed in a military coup. This coup seemingly came out of nowhere. Now, a country that had been a key US ally and...
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What Does Political Science Teach Us About Why Countries Use Private Military Groups like Wagner and Blackwater? from 2023-08-03T02:00
The Wagner group was a key fighting force in Ukraine until its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, attempted a mutiny. 20 years before Wagner was tapped to fight in Ukraine, the United States turned to ...
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Kenya's National Security Advisor Monica Juma from 2023-07-31T02:00
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk on Documenting Russian War Crimes in Ukraine from 2023-07-27T02:00
Oleksandra Matviichuk is a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. She is a human rights lawyer who leads the Center for Civil Liberties, a Ukrainian human rights organization.
Oleksandra Matv...
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Joseph Nye on Soft Power Competition Between China and the United States | Live From the Aspen Security Forum from 2023-07-24T02:00
I caught up with legendary international relations scholar Joseph Nye at the The Aspen Security Forum. This conference was a target rich environment for snagging great guests for the podcast and...
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Uncovering Russia's Systematic Abduction of Ukrainian Children from 2023-07-20T02:00
Since the start of the war, Russia has abducted tens of thousands of Ukrainian children. These kidnappings have been well documented by Ukrainian authorities and civil society groups. Last March...
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The NATO Summit in Vilnius and What Comes Next for the Alliance from 2023-07-13T19:35
NATO held a Major summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11th and 12th. Top on the agenda, of course, was Ukraine including Ukraine's potential future NATO membership. Another key issue on the age...
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Can The International Shipping Industry Be Part of the Climate Solution? from 2023-07-13T03:00
The international shipping industry is a major greenhouse gas emitter, accounting for about three percent of all greenhouse gas emitted last year. For reference, this is roughly equivalent to th...
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The Geopolitical Implications of Taiwan's Upcoming Presidential Elections from 2023-07-10T02:00
Taiwan will hold presidential elections in January 2024. Needless to say, these elections will have extremely consequential geopolitical implications. The two main candidates have differing view...
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What Happened at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact from 2023-07-03T02:00
Less developed countries rightly lament the lack of access to funding for sustainable development that donor countries routinely promise, but rarely deliver. To remedy, dozens of Presidents, Pri...
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What is Driving a Political Crisis and Protests in Senegal from 2023-06-26T02:21
Over the decades, Senegal has earned a reputation as a reliably stable democracy in West Africa. But recent events have put that reputation to test. Listen
What is Driving a Political Crisis and Protests in Senegal from 2023-06-26T02:21
Over the decades, Senegal has earned a reputation as a reliably stable democracy in West Africa. But recent events have put that reputation to test. Listen
Why The United States is Rejoining UNESCO from 2023-06-21T16:00
Back in 2017, the Trump administration announced that the United States would formally leave UNESCO, the UN's education, science and cultural organization. When the Biden administration came to ...
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What Sudan's Refugee Crisis Teaches Us About Africa's Borders from 2023-06-19T20:03
Since fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15th this year, more than million people have been displaced internally and internationally. Many of the borders across which Sudanese have fled are no...
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Why Saudi Arabia Bought the Entire Sport of Professional Golf from 2023-06-12T02:00
On June 7th, the Professional Golf Association announced a merger with a Saudi backed rival golf league known as LIV Golf. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which is controlled by Crown Pri...
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Did Russia Sabotage a Dam to Thwart a Ukrainian Counteroffensive? from 2023-06-08T02:00
In the early hours of Tuesday, June 6th a major Dam on the Dnipro river in Russian occupied Ukraine suffered catastrophic damage. Floodwaters are now rushing downstream and sending tens of thous...
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Why Tuberculosis Remains Such a Leading Global Killer from 2023-06-05T02:00
The second leading cause of death from infectious disease around the world is Tuberculosis, following COVID. 10 million people globally develop TB each year, and in 2021 1.6 million died from Tu...
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The Global Ban on Chemical Weapons Hits a Snag from 2023-06-01T02:00
In 1993, governments around the world agreed to a landmark arms control treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention. It prohibits countries from building chemical weapons, using chemical weapons and...
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What Would Happen if China Invades Taiwan? from 2023-05-18T03:00:07
The year is 2026, and China has just launched an invasion of Taiwan.
What happens next was the subject of a comprehensive non-classified War Game simulation lead by the Center for Strateg...
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How Ukraine Should Prepare for a Russian Ceasefire Proposal from 2023-05-15T02:00
Ukraine is widely expected to launch a counter-offensive to reclaim territory captured by Russia. And if Ukraine is successful on the battlefield, Russia may float a ceasefire proposal, that mor...
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Can "The Big Catch Up" Boost Childhood Vaccinations Worldwide? from 2023-05-08T02:00
Before COVID more and more children around the world were receiving their routine vaccinations on time and in full. But COVID severely interrupted that progress. Now, we are seeing lagging indic...
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Two Outbreaks of the Ebola-like Marburg Virus Have the Global Health Community on Edge from 2023-04-10T02:00
At time of recording, there are two ongoing outbreaks of Marburg Virus Disease, one in Tanzania and the other in Equatorial Guinea. Marburg is in the same family of diseases as Ebola and is extr...
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The Hidden Economics of Female Genital Mutilation | From: "The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women" podcast from 2023-03-30T02:14
We present an episode of the Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast, which is now in its third season. Each episode tells the story of how women are creating change through economic empowe...
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Nigeria: These are the Major Challenges Facing Incoming President Bola Tinubu After a Controversial Election from 2023-03-06T03:00
On March 1st Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of Nigeria's sharply contested presidential election. In a three way race, Tinubu received 37% of the votes, enough to win him the presidency. Listen
Congresswoman Sara Jacobs | How (And Why) Congress Can Support UN Peacekeeping from 2023-03-02T03:49:21
Before joining the United States House of Representatives in 2021, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs worked at the United Nations and US State Department. As she explains, this experience gave her uniqu...
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An Extremely Fragile Democratic Transition is Underway in Sudan from 2023-02-23T03:00:13
In April 2019, Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a coup after nearly 30 years in power. The coup followed months of mass civilian protests against his regime. The transition from d...
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How to Prosecute Vladimir Putin for the Crime of Aggression from 2023-01-26T03:00
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, 2022 there have been numerous examples of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian soldiers. Many of these crimes are being inve...
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Nigeria Elections: Young People are Backing an Insurgent Candidate and Shaking Up Nigerian Politics from 2023-01-19T03:00
On February 25th, Nigeria will hold federal elections. Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa and one of the largest multiparty democracies in the world. Incumbent Muhammadu Buhari is respec...
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The Growing Global Backlash Against US Sanctions from 2023-01-16T03:00
Agathe Demarais was a treasury official in the French government working in Moscow and Beirut when she saw, first hand, some of the unintended impacts of US sanctions. Agathe Demarais is the glo...
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Bangladesh: Protests, Crackdowns and a Coming Election from 2023-01-09T03:00
In December protests erupted in cities across Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka. The proximate cause was skyrocketing inflation triggered in part by Russia's war in Ukraine. But as my gues...
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How "Longtermism" is Shaping Foreign Policy| Will MacAskill from 2022-08-15T02:00
Longtermism is a moral philosophy that is increasingly gaining traction around the United Nations and in foreign policy circles. Put simply, Longtermism holds the key premise that positively inf...
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Lab Leak? Bioweapons Attack? Natural Pathogen? A New Proposal Would Give the UN the Ability to Investigate | Angela Kane from 2022-08-11T02:00
Rapidly identifying an emerging infectious pathogen is critical to prevent a disease outbreak from becoming an epidemic -- or even a deadly pandemic. But right now, there is no agreed internati...
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Is the US Inflating The Military Threat From China? from 2022-07-21T02:00
Official and unofficial pronouncements from many sectors of the American foreign policy and political establishment routinely portray China as a major military threat to the United States --even...
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Can Justice and Accountability Solve Nigeria's Security Challenges? from 2022-06-16T02:00
On June 5th, armed men attacked worshipers at a Catholic Church in the city of Owo, Nigeria. Scores of people were reportedly killed and many more injured.
My guest today, Idayat Hassan,...
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What does the Human Rights Council mean to victims of atrocities? | Inside Geneva from 2022-05-26T02:00
Today’s episode of Global Dispatches is a promotion for a podcast that I think many of my listeners will find valuable. The podcast is called “Inside Geneva,” in which host Imogen Foulkes puts b...
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What does the Human Rights Council mean to victims of atrocities? | Inside Geneva from 2022-05-26T02:00
Today’s episode of Global Dispatches is a promotion for a podcast that I think many of my listeners will find valuable. The podcast is called “Inside Geneva,” in which host Imogen Foulkes puts b...
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The View From Moldova -- Is This Putin's Next Target? from 2022-05-05T02:00
Of all the countries that border Ukraine, Moldova is arguably the most vulnerable to Russian aggression. Since 1992, Russian troops have been present in a breakaway region of Moldova called Tran...
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The Hellish Plight of African Migrants Trapped in Libya from 2022-05-02T02:00
Libya is a popular point from which Africa refugees and migrants set off for Europe. However, if caught, these migrants and refugees have been subject to indefinite detention in hellish conditio...
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Algeria's Uncertain Political Future from 2022-03-31T02:00
This February marked the third anniversary of the Algerian street protests and movement that lead to the ouster of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Bouteflika was a fixture of Algerian politics a...
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Inside "The Mediator's Studio" With Legendary Diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi from 2022-03-28T02:00
As listeners to Global Dispatches know, in many parts of the world war is a growing threat – or a harsh reality. But who are the peacemakers working to change this? Listen
Live From Kabul: A Female NGO Leader on Women's Rights in Afghanistan Under Taliban Rule from 2022-02-21T03:00:13
I last spoke with Zuhra Bahman in early September 2021. She happened to be out of Afghanistan on a business trip when the Taliban overran Kabul a few weeks prior.
Despite the apparent da...
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The Russia-Ukraine Crisis: What Now? from 2022-02-16T17:00
Over the last few days, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Germany and France -- among others.
Meanwhile, the messaging coming from...
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Why So Many Coups in Africa Recently? from 2022-02-14T03:00
Who Are These Canadian Truckers Disrupting Ottawa? And Why? from 2022-02-09T17:06:20
Bearing Witness to the Uyghur Genocide During the Beijing Olympics from 2022-02-07T03:00:52
What Happened at the UN Security Council Meeting on Ukraine? from 2022-01-31T21:20:03
On January 31, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting about Russia's military buildup on the border of Ukraine. Here to help understand what happened at this meeting and any potentiall...
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Why is North Korea Suddenly Launching So Many Missile Tests? from 2022-01-30T17:00
North Korea has already launched more than six missile tests since the start of the new year.
Why is North Korea is suddenly launching so many new missile tests -- and what can be done ab...
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What Was Behind A Coup in Burkina Faso ? from 2022-01-27T03:00:19
On Monday January 24th, mutineers in Burkina Faso overthrew the democratically elected president, Roch Kabore.
This was the fourth military coup in the region in the past 17th months, i...
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The Conflict in Yemen is Escalating Sharply from 2022-01-24T03:03:26
After nearly eight years, the conflict in Yemen is getting worse.
Scott Paul, the senior manager for humanitarian policy at Oxfam America, explains the significance of a recent attack in ...
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If Russia Invades Ukraine, How Should the United States and Europe Respond? from 2022-01-20T03:00
The Death of Press Freedom in Hong Kong from 2022-01-17T17:00
Hong Kong used to have one of the most vibrant media ecosystems in all of Asia. But not today.
There is an ongoing crackdown on independent media in Hong Kong. Outlets large and small ar...
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Bosnia is on the Brink of Political Disintegration from 2022-01-13T03:00
David Miliband on the "Systems Failure" in the World's Crisis Zones from 2022-01-10T01:00
David Miliband is the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, one of the larger global humanitarian organizations with relief operations around the world.
At the end of 2021 Dav...
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Kazakhstan Protests: Why They Started And What Comes Next from 2022-01-06T18:16:38
For the last week, massive protests have swept across the large Central Asian country of Kazakhstan. The spark was a decision by the government to increase fuel prices in the country, which is ...
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Somalia is in the Midst of a Deepening Political Crisis from 2022-01-04T19:13:53
Just before the start of the new year, Somalia's President Mohammad Abdulahi Farmaajo sought to arrest and remove from power Somalia's Prime Minister Mohammad Hussein Roble. This move added a la...
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The United Nations Year in Review from 2021-12-30T03:00
As 2021 comes to a close, I thought it may be worthwhile to gather some veteran United Nations watchers to reflect on the key events that shaped the work of the United Nations this year.
The International and Domestic Implications of Turkey's Tanking Lira from 2021-12-27T03:00
Is the Energy Transition an Opportunity or Risk for Climate Security? | Climate Security Series from 2021-12-23T03:00
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network. It is part of a series of episodes examining the ...
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Libya Faces Uncertain Elections and a Major Political Crisis from 2021-12-20T03:00
Afghanistan is in the Midst of a Humanitarian and Human Rights Catastrophe from 2021-12-16T03:00
Afghanistan is in a humanitarian and human rights tailspin. Since the fall of the Afghan government to the Taliban in August, the Afghan economy has been in a tailspin. A major liquidity crisis ...
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Is Myanmar Sliding Towards a Civil War? from 2021-12-13T03:00
On December 6, Aung San Suu Kyi was handed down a prison sentence by a court loyal to Myanmar's military junta.
Until February of this year, Suu Kyi was the de-facto civilian leader of My...
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Robert Jervis, From 2015 from 2021-12-12T15:51:45
Robert Jervis passed away on December 9th at the age of 81. He was one of the major figures of International Relations scholarship -- in the entire history of International Relations as a field...
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Putting Gender at the Heart of Climate Security | Climate Security Series from 2021-12-09T03:00
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network. It is part of a series of episodes examining the ...
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Could a New Pandemic Treaty Stop the Next Terrible COVID Variant? from 2021-12-06T03:00
For only the second time in its, the governing body of the World Health Organization met in a special session. WHO, the World Health Assembly, gathered for a special session. The question at ha...
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Is Russia About to Invade Ukraine? (Again) from 2021-12-02T03:12
Russian military forces are massing on the border of Ukraine. This has prompted widespread concern that Russia may once again seek to invade Ukraine.
On the line with me to discuss this u...
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Can Cryptocurrency Accelerate Global Development? from 2021-11-29T03:15
The most innovative cryptocurrency projects today are being built in the developing world (Sub-Saharan Africa in particular) to address real-world obstacles to economic development and achieving...
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Senator Chris Coons Discusses The Ethiopia Crisis and U.S. Policy Towards the Region | Live from the Halifax International Security Forum from 2021-11-24T06:00
U.S. Senator Chris Coons is one of Congress's leading voices shaping U.S. policy on Africa. For many years he was the top Democrat in the Senate Sub-committee on Africa and earlier this year, Pr...
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Can the Iran Nuclear Deal Be Saved? from 2021-11-22T06:00
When Joe Biden came to office the Iran Nuclear Dead was on life support.
Known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, the Obama-era deal lifted US and UN sanctions...
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The Halifax International Security Forum: What You Need To Know from 2021-11-18T03:00
The Halifax International Security Forum is a major annual meeting dedicated to fostering closer ties among the world's democracies.
The Forum is organized by HFX, an independent public p...
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Was COP 26 a Success? Key Outcomes From the UN Climate Conference, Explained from 2021-11-15T17:59:41
The major United Nations climate conference, known as COP26, went into overtime in Glasgow, Scotland. But on Saturday, November 13th agreement was reached on the text of an outcome document. Listen
How Can Climate Science Support Peace in the Middle East and North Africa? | Climate Security Series from 2021-11-11T03:00
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience and produced in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network.
It is part of a series of epi...
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Why Is There Still a UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus, 50 Years Later? from 2021-11-08T03:00
The UN Peacekeeping Mission in Cyprus is one of the world's oldest peacekeeping missions. Yet to this day, it is still serving a valuable role in preventing conflict between Greece and Turkey -...
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Madagascar is Experiencing The World's First Climate Change Induced Famine from 2021-11-04T02:00
In Madagascar thousands of people in the southern part of the country are experiencing famine-like conditions. Over a million more are considered to be on the brink of famine.
The crisis ...
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What to Expect at COP26: The Biggest UN Climate Conference Since The Paris Agreement from 2021-11-01T01:30
COP 26 is the most important international climate conference since the Paris Agreement of 2015.
On the line with me to offer a preview of what to expect from this major UN climate meet...
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How Agriculture, Land Use and Food Systems Can Help the Paris Agreement's Climate Goals | Taped Live from 2021-10-28T02:30
A Sudden Coup in Sudan -- What Comes Next? from 2021-10-25T22:13:41
Since the overthrow of the genocidal dictator Omar al Bashir in 2019, Sudan has been lead by a transitional governing council made up of civilians and the military. On Monday October 25th 2021 t...
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Why Did Saudi Arabia Purchase Newcastle United -- Is "Sportswashing" the Next Frontier of Public Diplomacy? from 2021-10-21T02:00
In early October, a group lead by the investment arm of the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia purchased Newcastle United, the English Premier League soccer team.
The purchase caused a great...
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How Can We Achieve Policy Coherence for Climate Security | Climate Security Series from 2021-10-19T20:25:14
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience and produced in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network.
It is part of a series of epi...
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Humanity Gets A Malaria Vaccine! from 2021-10-18T02:00
On October 6, the World Health Organization endorsed a malaria vaccine for the first time ever. After years of testing, the vaccine was shown to be safe and effective at preventing the deaths of...
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The Civil War in Ethiopia is Getting Worse from 2021-10-14T02:00
The government of Ethiopia has expelled seven top UN officials from the country. This move comes as the federal government launches a new military offensive against the TPLF -- the Tigray People...
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How China Makes Foreign Policy from 2021-10-11T02:00
The process by which China makes its foreign policy is often considered to be something of a black box, or at least very difficult for outsiders to discern.
Suiseng Zhao is a professor o...
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Migration, Climate and Security in Latin America | Climate Security Series from 2021-10-07T13:12:56
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience and produced in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network. It is part of a series of episodes e...
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Will China's Evergrande Crisis Spark a Global Economic Contagion? from 2021-10-04T02:00
The massive Chinese real estate company Evergrande is unable to pay its debts. This has sparked some rare protests in China and is spooking international financial markets. A key question now is...
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A Coup in Guinea is the Latest of a Trend in West Africa from 2021-09-30T02:00
On September 5th, a special forces unit of the Guinean military attacked the presidential palace in the capital Conakry, and deposed President Alpha Conde.
This was the third coup in West...
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How to Respond to Climate Security Crises in Africa? | Climate Security Series from 2021-09-27T02:00
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience and produced in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network.
The podcast has partnered wi...
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Live From UNGA -- Day 5 | ICRC Head Peter Maurer | UN Foundation President Elizabeth Cousens | Big Meeting on Energy Transitions from 2021-09-24T18:10:02
The United Nations General Assembly is always one of the most important weeks of the diplomatic calendar. Each day this week we are bringing you live coverage featuring the latest news and analy...
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Live From UNGA -- Day 4 | Food Systems Summit | Security Council Meets on Climate-Security from 2021-09-23T21:36:25
The United Nations General Assembly is always one of the most important weeks of the diplomatic calendar. Each day this week we are bringing you live coverage featuring the latest news and analy...
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Live From UNGA -- Day 3 | Biden's Big COVID Summit | Plus, Panama's Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes from 2021-09-22T22:08:18
The United Nations General Assembly is always one of the most important weeks of the diplomatic calendar. Each day this week we are bringing you live coverage featuring the latest news and analy...
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Live From UNGA -- Day 2 | Joe Biden's UN Speech | Antonio Guterres' Big Warning to the World | And More! from 2021-09-21T21:10:47
The United Nations General Assembly is always one of the most important weeks of the diplomatic calendar. Each day this week we are bringing you live coverage featuring the latest news and analy...
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Live From UNGA -- Day 1 | Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed | Climate Diplomacy Expert Yamide Dagnet from 2021-09-20T21:08:30
The annual opening of the UN General Assembly is always one the most impo...
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How Transforming Food Systems Can Inspire Action on Climate Change | Taped Live in Partnership with CGIAR from 2021-09-16T02:00
This episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience in advance of a key meeting at the United Nations known as the Food Systems Summit.
This episode is produced in partnership ...
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Angela Merkel's Legacy in International Affairs and Foreign Policy from 2021-09-13T02:30
Angela Merkel steps down this month after having served as chancellor of Germany since 2005. Her time in office coincided with a number of major world events, including the global financial cris...
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What Happened at the United Nations on September 11, 2001 from 2021-09-09T17:48:56
Stephane Dujarric is a long serving United Nations spokesperson who on September 11th, 2001 was at his office at the United Nations when planes struck the World Trade Center. I've known Stephane...
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What's Next For the United Nations in Afghanistan? | Mark Malloch Brown from 2021-09-06T12:30
As Afghanistan enters a perilous and uncertain future, the United Nations has promised to "stay and deliver." The country's humanitarian emergency is getting more acute by the day, taxing UN age...
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What Comes Next for Humanitarian and Development NGOs in Afghanistan? from 2021-09-02T02:00
Zuhra Bahman was out of the country on a business meeting when the Taliban took control of Kabul.
She is the Afghanistan country director for Search for Common Ground, an NGO that engages...
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How We Use Our Lands and Forests Can Fight Climate Change and Support Security (Or Not) | Climate Security Series from 2021-08-30T02:00
Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience in partnership with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network, as part of a series of episodes examining the lin...
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"They Are Missing Our Side Of The Story" -- An Afghan Human Rights Activist Speaks Out from 2021-08-25T13:30
Zubaida Akbar is an Afghan human rights activist living in Washington, D.C. She is desperately trying to get vulnerable people out of the country, including a group of female journalists who are...
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Better Know The Climate Investment Funds from 2021-08-23T02:00
Back in 2008, in the midst of both a global economic catastrophe and stalled progress on climate diplomacy, a unique multilateral platform called the Listen
What Are the Latest Trends in Peace and Conflict Around the World? | Global Peace Index Founder Steve Killilea from 2021-08-19T02:00
The Global Peace Index is an ambitious effort to measure peacefulness around the world using quantitative data. Now in its 15th year, the Index has offered policymakers and analysts a useful way...
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How The Enduring Legacy of 9-11 and the War on Terror Forever Changed American Life | Spencer Ackerman from 2021-08-12T02:00
You can draw a line from September 11 2001 to January 6 2021.
In the new book Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump journalist Spencer Ac...
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How Yemen's Rival Banks Are Fueling a Civil War from 2021-08-09T02:00
Yemen has two rival central banks. These banks have their own priorities and fiscal policies -- and were set up, in part, to help defeat the other and control the Yemeni Rial.
The result...
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A Coup Puts Tunisia in Political Crisis from 2021-08-05T02:00
On July 25th, Tunisian President Kais Saied fired the prime minister, dismissed parliament, and assumed dictatorial powers . This was a self-coup in which the president invoked an emergency clau...
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How the Fight for Women's Rights Became so Polarized at the United Nations from 2021-08-02T02:00
At the United Nations, debates over gender equality, reproductive health and women's rights were not always as polarized as they are today. When I started covering the United Nations as a journa...
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Can Congress Rein in the Forever Wars With the New "National Security Powers Act?" | Senator Chris Murphy from 2021-07-29T13:53
United States Senator Chris Murphy wants to radically reign in the President's ability to use military force abroad. Chris Murphy is a Democrat from Connecticut and along with Independent Senato...
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Kashmir is on the Brink | Red Flags or Resilience? Series from 2021-07-26T14:43:35
In March 2020, when countries around the world started imposing COVID-19 lockdowns Kashmir was just emerging from a lockdown of its own. Several months prior, in August 2019 the government of In...
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Femicide in Mexico is on the Rise | Red Flags or Resistance? from 2021-07-22T16:07:17
Unique among countries in the world, Mexico considers Femicide as a crime distinct from homicide. Sometimes known as "Feminicide," this is the crime of murdering a woman or girl on account of he...
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A Crisis Mounts in Africa's Only Absolute Monarchy, Eswatini (Formerly Known As Swaziland) from 2021-07-15T01:22:55
Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) is a small country in Southern Africa nestled on the border between South Africa and Mozambique. It is notably Africa's only absolute monarchy -- the king...
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Colombia is Rocked By The Biggest Protests In Recent Memory from 2021-07-11T16:00
Colombia has been rocked by the most significant protests in recent memory. In late April and May Colombians took to the streets across the country initially to protest a proposed new tax law. B...
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The Assassination of The President of Haiti Jovenal Moise from 2021-07-07T21:48:18
In the early morning hours of July 7th, unknown assailants assassinated the President of Haiti Jovenal Moise.
Haiti was already facing an uncertain political future. And now, the line of...
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Introducing: "Guardians of the River" from 2021-07-05T02:00
The Okavango River is a major river system in Southwest Africa. It begins in Angola, passes through Namibia and ends in a vast delta in Botswana.
This river system, its ecological and soc...
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The Crisis in Syria is at a Major Turning Point from 2021-06-30T17:30:42
The crisis in Syria is at a crossroads. Millions of displaced people trapped in northern Syria may soon face a near complete cutoff of the humanitarian aid upon which they rely. This is because ...
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What Will Antonio Guterres Do In His Second Term As United Nations Secretary General? from 2021-06-28T02:00
On June 18th, Antonio Guterres was re-appointed United Nations Secretary General for a second and final five year term.
Richard Gowan, the UN Director of the International Crisis Group, ...
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Is Climate Migration a Security Threat? | Climate Security Series from 2021-06-24T02:54:57
Climate variability can cause the mass movement of people -- but does the mass movement of people fleeing climate shocks undermine political and human security? A diverse panel of experts who e...
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Is Climate Migration a Security Threat? | Climate Security Series from 2021-06-24T02:54:57
Climate variability can cause the mass movement of people -- but does the mass movement of people fleeing climate shocks undermine political and human security? A diverse panel of experts who e...
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Is Sri Lanka at Risk For a Return to Mass Atrocity? | "Red Flags or Resilience?" Series from 2021-06-21T02:00
The government of Sri Lanka is using COVID-19 as a pre-text to assert control over ethnic minority populations. This is particularly troubling because the government has a history of atrocity cr...
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Famine in Ethiopia as the Tigray Conflict Worsens from 2021-06-17T02:00
By all accounts, the situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia is extremely grim and about to get much worse. The United Nations now says that famine has struct parts of the region. The civil w...
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The Ban Ki-moon Interview from 2021-06-14T02:00
Ban Ki-moon served as the eighth Secretary General of the United Nations from 2007 to 2016. He is out with a new memoir titled Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World.
We cover quite a bit...
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The Dictator's "Digital Dilemma" from 2021-06-07T02:22:06
Digital repression is on the rise. Governments around the world have used tools like mass surveillance, internet blocking and disinformation to stay in power. This includes both autocratic gover...
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A Grounds-Eye View Of the Scarily Rapid Demise of Democracy and Free Speech in Hong Kong from 2021-06-01T01:00
Hana Meihan Davis comes from a long line of democracy activists in Hong Kong. Today, they are all either in exile, facing arrest, or somewhere in between.
Hana Meihan Davis is the author ...
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Why Would Belarus Force Down A Civilian Airliner to Capture a Dissident Journalist? from 2021-05-27T17:21:59
On Sunday May 23rd a Belarusian fighter jet intercepted a civilian Ryan Air flight and forced it land in Minsk, Belarus. Authorities promptly arrested a dissident journalist onboard and his girl...
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Why The Transition to Green Economies May Fuel Demand for Conflict Minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2021-05-24T02:25:02
As the world turns towards greener economies there will be a surge in demand for natural resources that enable a less carbon intensive future. This includes the mineral cobalt, which is key comp...
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Better Know Nayib Bukele, the Hipster Authoritarian President of El Salvador from 2021-05-20T03:00
Elected in 2019 as a 37 year old third party candidate, the president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele is a political phenom. He has a hipster's disposition, but an authoritarian's proclivities. a Listen
Why The Crisis in Israel and Palestine is Different This Time from 2021-05-17T02:00
Conflict in Israel and Palestine is escalating in ways we have seen before: an Israeli military assault on Gaza as rockets fly from Gaza to Israel. But what distinguishes this latest iteration o...
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The Chief Economist of the World Food Program Explains Why Hunger is On the Rise from 2021-05-13T02:00
The last time World Food Program Chief Economist Arif Husain came on the show to discuss global trends in food security was 15 months ago. Needless to say, since January 2020 and the onset of th...
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What We Mean By "Decolonizing" Global Health from 2021-05-10T02:00
It was a combination of imperial ambition and white supremacy that inspired the advent of the field of global health in the 19th century and that colonialist legacy can still be seen in the prac...
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Why the Battlefield Death of Chad President Idriss Deby Has Big Global Implications from 2021-05-06T02:38:19
The longtime ruler of Chad, Idriss Deby, died from wounds sustained while visiting troops on the battlefield. Deby had been the president of Chad for over 30 years and was considered a stalwart ...
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Is Poland At Risk For Atrocity Crimes? | "Red Flags or Resilience?" Series from 2021-05-03T03:44:29
When COVID-19 forced countries to impose widespread lockdowns last year, there was a concurrent surge in gender based violence and domestic abuse. The United Nations has called this a " Listen
India: How the COVID Crisis Got So Bad, So Quickly from 2021-04-29T02:00
India is currently in the midst the single worst spike in COVID cases experienced anywhere in the world since the start of the pandemic.
On the line with me to explain how and why the CO...
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Climate Diplomacy Gets a Boost from the White House from 2021-04-26T02:00
On April 22 and 23rd, the White House hosted the Climate Leaders Summit which featured more than 40 world leaders. Joe Biden kicked off the summit with a major announcement that the United State...
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Is "Progressive Realism" the Future of US Foreign Policy? from 2021-04-22T02:30
The American foreign policy tradition has been recently dominated by just a few ideologies: neoconservatism of the Regan and George W. Bush eras and the liberal internationalism of the Clinton a...
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With American Troops Departing, What Comes Next For Afghanistan? from 2021-04-19T02:07:44
On April 14th President Biden announced that American Troops will be leaving Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, formally ending US military engagement after twenty years of war. What contributed...
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How the Course of Human History Has Been Shaped by Infectious Disease | Charles Kenny from 2021-04-15T02:00
The COVID-19 pandemic is just the latest iteration of what Charles Kenny calls an unending war between humanity and infectious disease. His new book "The Plague Cycle" documents and describes ho...
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What is Driving a Surge of Violence in Niger? from 2021-04-12T02:00
For the last several months Niger has experienced a surge in attacks against civilians by violent extremists. This region of West Africa, the Sahel, has experienced profound and growing security...
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How Have the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Responded to the Pandemic? from 2021-04-08T13:50:02
When economies started tanking last year as COVID-19 spread rapidly around the globe, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund mounted their crisis response. Now, one year later we can ass...
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How A New International Pandemic Treaty Can Prevent the Next Big One from 2021-04-05T02:13:32
On March 30th, leaders from 23 countries plus the heads of the World Health Organization and the European Union called for a new international treaty to confront the next pandemic. Global health...
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Elections and Democratic Backsliding in Benin from 2021-04-01T16:03:24
Benin is a geographically small country in West Africa, located between Nigeria and Togo. Since the 1990s Benin has earned a reputation as a strong and stable multiparty democracy.
Howeve...
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The Epic Odyssey of a Stateless Refugee Family's Quest to Find a Home from 2021-03-29T02:17:54
Asad Hussein was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after his parents fled conflict in neighboring Somalia. He was born into extreme poverty and stateless, yet despite the odds he became the first ...
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Turkey Withdraws from a Key Gender-Based Violence Treaty and an Update from the Commission on the Status of Women from 2021-03-25T02:00
In mid-March, the government of Turkey announced that is was withdrawing from a key human rights treaty known as the Istanbul Convention. Turkey took this move right ...
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"Weaponized Interdependence" and the Future of International Relations from 2021-03-22T02:00
Globalization was always presumed to have a flattening effect; power in a globalized world would be more diffuse and less centralized. A groundbreaking idea, called "Weaponized Interdependence,"...
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An Update from Brazil, Where the Health System is Collapsing and Former President Lula is Poised for a Comeback from 2021-03-18T02:00
Health systems in Brazil are collapsing. Hospitals are running out of beds and oxygen as COVID cases in that country are soaring. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has long downplayed the sever...
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Can the United States Embrace a Feminist Foreign Policy? from 2021-03-15T02:45:16
Several American allies have pledged to pursue an explicitely feminist foreign policy. But what does this mean in practice?
In today's episode, we explore what a feminist foreign policy...
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Inside the Drive to Create a 'Global Fund' for Public Interest Journalism from 2021-03-11T14:30:42
The pandemic has been described as a mass extinction event for journalism. This is true in the United States, Europe and the developed world but even more so in poorer countries.
A free ...
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The Civil War in Ethiopia is Taking a Turn for the Worse from 2021-03-08T03:00
In early November, a civil war broke out in the Tigray region in Ethiopia. The conflict pitted the federal government and its allies against the regional government of Tigray, known as the TPLF....
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A Coup and then Protests as Myanmar Slider Deeper into Crisis from 2021-03-04T03:30
On February 1st, the Burmese military mounted a coup, deposing and detaining the civilian leadership of the country. The military arrested the de-facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other...
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An Historic Moment in the Fight Against COVID Shows Why Cold Chains Are Key to Global Health and Development from 2021-03-01T03:10:55
On February 24 the very first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX arrived in Ghana. COVAX is the international cooperative effort around the development and distribution safe and effectiv...
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Why Countries Just Can't Quit Coal? New Research Offers Some Clues from 2021-02-22T03:17:34
We know that countries around the world sometimes favor coal because it is cheaper. But new research from my guest today Jan Steckel aims to pinpoint some of the political forces that drive inve...
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An Opportunity for Climate Diplomacy Opens for the Biden-Harris Administration from 2021-02-16T02:55:10
2021 will be a consequential year for multilateral diplomacy on climate change. A number of key meetings are on the diplomatic calendar and they come just as the new Biden-Harris administration ...
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Why Farmers in India Are Staging Mass Protests from 2021-02-11T03:00
Over the last several weeks farmers in India have staged mass demonstrations to protest new government agricultural policies. The farmers say these new laws would be financially ruinous and allo...
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What Comes Next for USAID? from 2021-02-08T03:10
The United States Agency for international development, USAID, is the premier global development agency of the United States government and one of the largest global development organizations in...
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A Fresh Approach to Middle East Peace from 2021-02-04T03:04:22
With the peace process between Israel and Palestine seemingly intractably stalled, a new peace building plan that is modeled on Northern Ireland seeks to build grassroots support for peace.
... Listen
Coup in Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi's Fall from Grace (Re-release) from 2021-02-01T18:10:32
A military coup in Myanmar (also called Burma) has toppled the civilian government lead by Aung San Suu Kyi.
In this 2019 episode, former deputy National Security Advisor to Barack Obama ...
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Crisis in the Central African Republic from 2021-02-01T03:00
The security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic has rapidly deteriorated over the last several weeks. Rebel group control a key road from which goods, food and humanitari...
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Alexey Navalny and Protests in Russia, with Amb. Michael McFaul from 2021-01-28T03:00
On January 23, protests erupted in several cities and town across Russia in support of Alexey Navalny, the anti-corruption activist who was poisoned in an assassination attempt last August. Nav...
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Nigeria, the Most Populous Country in Africa, is Desperate for COVID-19 Vaccines from 2021-01-25T03:00
Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people. It is the largest country in Africa.
The country is now in the midst of a second wave of COVID infections which is straining an alread...
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Bobi Wine and the Fraught Elections in Uganda from 2021-01-21T03:06:01
On January 14th, Uganda held national elections for president and parliament. The incumbent was the 76 year old Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since 1986. His main challenger was a 38 yea...
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The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Becomes International Law from 2021-01-18T03:00
A treaty to ban the use of nuclear weapons becomes international law on January 22, 2021. The treaty seeks to do to nuclear weapons what previous international treaties have done to chemical an...
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The Siege of the US Capitol and the Future of US Foreign Policy from 2021-01-13T17:12:50
Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, who served as German Ambassador the United States from 2006 to 2011, discusses the implications of the Pro-Trump insurrection on US foreign policy and international r...
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What the Criminal Conviction of Saudi Women's Rights Activist Loujan al-Hathloul Says About the Future of Saudi Arabia from 2021-01-11T03:00
Loujan al-Hathloul is a 31 year old Saudi women's rights activist in prison for challenging laws that inhibit women in Saudi Arabia. In early January 2021, she was handed down a nearly six year...
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Mozambique is Experiencing a Surge of Violence as Crisis Worsens in Cabo Delgado Region from 2021-01-07T03:00
There is a worsening Jihadist insurgency in a province in Northern Mozambique called Cabo Delgado. The insurgency began in 2017, but in recent weeks the fighting has intensified substantially. ...
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How the United States Can Strengthen UN Peacekeeping and Support International Peace and Security from 2021-01-04T03:00
One of the most visible tools of international cooperation on peace and security are UN Peacekeepers -- Blue Helmets. Today there are about 95,000 uniformed personnel deployed to to 13 missions...
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How the Biden-Harris Administration Can Advance a Global Human Rights Agenda from 2020-12-28T03:59:48
The last four years have altered the global human rights landscape in some pretty significant ways. The Trump administration by and large abandoned multilateral forums for advancing a human righ...
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How the Biden Administration Can Reset America's Approach to Refugees, Asylum Seekers and International Migration from 2020-12-21T03:00
With Trump leaving office, the incoming administration has an opportunity to reset America's approach to refugees, asylum seekers and international migration more broadly. On the line with me to...
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The Western Sahara Conflict is Upended By a Trump Tweet from 2020-12-17T03:00
On December 10th, Donald Trump upended over 30 years of US diplomacy with a tweet in which he declared American support for Morocco's claims of sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Since the ...
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A Global Health Agenda for the Biden Administration from 2020-12-14T03:00
The COVID-19 pandemic has made global health a top tier issue in Washington. In today's episode we explore what opportunities might exist for the incoming Biden administration and Congress to ad...
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Five Years on from the Paris Agreement, How Can Countries Give A Boost To Their Climate Action Plans? from 2020-12-10T03:15
December 12 2020 is the five year anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement. And on that day a number of governments, non state actors and other world leaders will c...
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Legendary US Diplomat Thomas Pickering Explains How the US Can Get Its Multilateral Groove Back from 2020-12-03T03:00
Ambassador Thomas Pickering is a legendary retired US foreign service officer. He had a four decade career in diplomacy, including serving as ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, Nigeria, El Sal...
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Joe Biden Picks Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN Ambassador from 2020-11-23T16:52:55
Linda Thomas-Greenfield will be nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a veteran diplomat who most recently served as Assis...
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Inside Yemen's "Hunger Wards" from 2020-11-23T03:00
Yemen is the world's worst humanitarian crisis and is in imminent danger of descending into the worst famine the world has ever seen. Earlier this year, a filmmaker documented heroic efforts by ...
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What's Next for US- Iran Diplomacy and the Iran Nuclear Deal from 2020-11-19T03:00
When President Trump came to office in 2017, he inherited from President Obama the Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump rejected the deal and embarked on a fruitless "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran...
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Ethiopia is on the Brink of Civil War from 2020-11-12T03:40:21
On November 4th, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military operations against the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the TPLF, which is the group that controls the Tigray region i...
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Veteran European Diplomat Gerard Araud on Joe Biden's Election and the Future of Trans-Atlantic Relations from 2020-11-09T03:00
Gerard Araud is the former French Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. We recorded this conversation on the Friday following the Tuesday of election day, when the result was a...
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The United States Election -- What We Know So Far and What It Means for Foreign Policy from 2020-11-04T20:31:57
At time of recording, votes in the United States election were still being counted. It appears that the vote totals so far are highly favorable to Joe Biden. Boston Globe columnist Mich...
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Protests in Thailand, Explained from 2020-10-30T15:13:05
Protests in Thailand took an unexpected turn in October when young Thais began demanding reforms to the Monarchy, a traditionally revered institution. This added to demands that the prime minist...
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Introducing: "Rethinking Humanitarianism" from 2020-10-29T03:40:05
Rethinking Humanitarianism is a new podcast for anyone with an interest in the future of humanitarianism, from donors to NGO executives, frontline responders to policy wonks — basically if you...
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Biological Weapons: Still a Huge Global Threat! from 2020-10-26T02:00
It's the late summer, and an unexplained influenza virus is killing international travelers. Researchers quickly identify the virus as a genetically engineered flu-strain. Intelligence agencies ...
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Police Brutality in Nigeria Spark Protests and Ignites a Movement from 2020-10-19T01:00
In early October a video began to circulate on social media in Nigeria depicting a gruesome act of police brutality. The perpetrators of the police violence were from a notorious police unit cal...
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The Link Between Climate Change and Inequality in Vietnam -- Taped Live from 2020-10-15T02:00
Today's episode was taped live in front a virtual audience as part of a series of a series of episodes examining the relationship between climat...
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COVID-19 is Forcing a Reckoning for the Humanitarian Aid Industry from 2020-10-12T02:00
In the short history of modern humanitarianism, great crises have often inspired reform in how the international community approaches emergency situations.
Jessica Alexander wrote a swe...
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COVID-19 is Forcing a Reckoning for the Humanitarian Aid Industry from 2020-10-12T02:00
In the short history of modern humanitarianism, great crises have often inspired reform in how the international community approaches emergency situations.
Jessica Alexander wrote a swe...
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COVID-19 is Forcing a Reckoning for the Humanitarian Aid Industry from 2020-10-12T02:00
In the short history of modern humanitarianism, great crises have often inspired reform in how the international community approaches emergency situations.
Jessica Alexander wrote a swe...
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How Unconventional Partnerships Can Advance Climate Security -- Taped Live from 2020-10-08T02:00
Today's episode was taped live in front a virtual audience as part of a series of a series of episodes examining the relationship between climat...
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Political Crisis in Cote d'Ivoire from 2020-10-05T02:15
Cote d'Ivoire president Alassane Ouattara is seeking a constitutionally dubious third term in office in elections scheduled for October 31. Opposition supporters have taken to the streets, and ...
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The Nagorno-Karabakh Crisis Erupts into Major Conflict from 2020-10-01T00:35:27
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region in the south caucuses that is claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Since 1994, the sides have been locked in stalemate, with periodic fighting. Now, t...
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How to Increase the Use of Clean Cookstoves and Solar Lighting in Rural Ethiopia and Beyond from 2020-09-25T15:09:26
In rural Ethiopia women are more likely than men to collect firewood and cook over stoves that emit harmful smoke. Meanwhile, men are more likely than women to contr...
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Climate and Security in Colombia -- Taped Live from 2020-09-24T02:00
This episode was taped live in front of a virtual audience and featured four panelists discussing the intersection of climate and security in Colombia.
The experts and policymakers featu...
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Climate and Security in Colombia -- Taped Live from 2020-09-24T02:00
This episode was taped live in front of a virtual audience and featured four panelists discussing the intersection of climate and security in Colombia.
The experts and policymakers featu...
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UNGA Goes Virtual! Previewing the 2020 United Nations General Assembly from 2020-09-17T02:00
It will be a United Nations General Assembly like no other. Typically this is the time of year where world leaders gather in New York to deliver speeches at the UN and participate in all manner ...
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The 'Hotel Rwanda' Hero is the Latest Victim of The Rwandan Government's Crackdown on Dissidents from 2020-09-14T02:00
On August 27th Paul Rusesabagina flew from his home in Texas to Dubai. Three days later, he mysteriously appeared in Kigali, Rwanda, where authorities proudly proclaimed his arrest.
He wo...
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Climate and Security in the Sahel -- Taped Live from 2020-09-04T16:20:56
Better Know John Maynard Keynes from 2020-09-03T02:00
John Maynard Keynes died 74 years ago, but his ideas are surprisingly relevant to understanding the world today. Though primarily known for his pioneering economic ideas, a new biography shows K...
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How the World Will Get a COVID-19 Vaccine (Part 2) from 2020-08-30T22:00
When a COVID-19 Vaccine is available, most of the world will have access to it thanks to a unique platform for international cooperation called The COVAX Facility.
The COVAX Facility is ...
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How the World Will Get a COVID-19 Vaccine (Part 1) from 2020-08-24T02:00
When a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, chances are that the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will have played a big r...
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Why COVID-19 is Not Raging in the Central African Republic (One of the World's Most Fragile Countries) from 2020-08-18T19:36:57
The Central African Republic is near the bottom of every major economic or development indicator. Out of 189 countries ranked in the UN Development Program's Human Development Index, the Central...
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Understanding Joe Biden's Foreign Policy Views -- Is There a "Biden Doctrine?" from 2020-08-17T03:00
Joe Biden formally accepts the Democratic party's nomination for US President this week at the Democratic National Convention. The convention is always a key moment in the presidential election ...
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Protests in Belarus Threaten to Take Down Europe's Last Dictator from 2020-08-13T02:00
Belarus is sometimes referred to as Europe's last dictatorship. Since 1994 it has been ruled by just one man -- Alexander Lukashenko, and he has ruled the country with an iron fist.
In e...
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China is Reducing Household Air Pollution. But Who Benefits? from 2020-08-07T15:52:06
China is the world's largest consumer of coal, though in recent years the government has sought to reduce the country's reliance on coal for energy. This includes transitioning away from coal fo...
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Stranded by Civil War, A Leaky Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Yemen Threatens to Unleash the World's Worst-Ever Oil Spill from 2020-08-04T16:40:59
The story of a leaky oil tanker stranded off the coast of Yemen is, in part, the story of the country's civil war. There are about a million gallons of oil stored in this tanker, which has not b...
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Crisis in Mali from 2020-07-30T02:00
Mali is in the midst of its worst political crisis in years. Since June, protesters have gathered in the streets of the capital city of Bamako demanding the resignation of President Ibrahim Boub...
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Why Transparency is So Important in Foreign Aid and Development from 2020-07-27T03:00
Billions of dollars are spent each year on foreign aid and global development. In the past, the exact amount of aid that is being spent, where is it is being spent, by whom it is being spent--an...
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Why Transparency is So Important in Foreign Aid and Development from 2020-07-27T03:00
Billions of dollars are spent each year on foreign aid and global development. In the past, the exact amount of aid that is being spent, where is it is being spent, by whom it is being spent--an...
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The Rais Bhuiyan Interview from 2020-07-23T02:00
Rais Bhuiyan has an absolutely incredible and very moving story. In the days after the September 11th attacks in the United States, Bhuiyan -- an immigrant to the US from Bangladesh -- was worki...
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Kosovo, Serbia and Rising Authoritarianism in The Balkans from 2020-07-16T02:30
Since the Kosovo War of 1999, the status of Kosovo as a country independent of Serbia has not been resolved. Many countries, including the United States and most of Europe, recognize Kosovo as a...
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Why Does Chile Have Such Bad Air Pollution? from 2020-07-13T02:00
Hong Kong Braces for Troubled Times After China Imposes a Draconian New Law from 2020-07-08T21:16:35
In recent years, as China has become more powerful on the world stage, the Chinese Communist Party has sought to erode Hong Kong's political independence. In fact, on June 30th, the Chinese gove...
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The Sudden COVID Death of Burundi's Strongman Ruler, Pierre Nkurunziza -- and What Comes Next from 2020-07-02T02:00
Burundi's longtime ruler Pierre Nkurunziza died suddenly on June 8th, quite possibly from COVID-19. Nkurunziza has been president of Burundi since 2005, and in re...
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Global Health and the Future We Want -- A UN 75 Consultation from 2020-06-29T02:00
Today's episode is part three of a three-part series that gives you an inside look at how the United Nations is commemorating its 75th anniversary this year. This episode includes a 15-minute in...
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A Brief History of the UN Charter from 2020-06-25T22:28:25
On June 26, 1945, after months of negotiations in the city of San Francisco, representatives from 50 countries signed the Charter of the United Nations. In Octobe...
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How the Black Lives Matter Movement Went Global from 2020-06-18T02:00
The Black Lives Matter movement has spread quickly around the world. Over the last several weeks, there have been BLM demonstrations in nearly every m...
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Climate Change and the Future We Want -- A UN 75 Consultation from 2020-06-15T02:27:31
Today's episode is part two of a three part series that gives you an inside look at how the United Nations is commemorating its 75th anniversary this year.
Rather than holding a big party...
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The India and China Border Crisis from 2020-06-11T02:00
In late May a confrontation between Indian and Chinese soldiers in a remote border region of the Himalayas d...
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The Link Between Food Security, Climate and Conflict | Climate Security Series - Taped Live from 2020-06-08T00:10:43
The podcast has partnered with CGIAR, the world's largest global agricultural innovation network, around a Listen
Why the Conventional Wisdom About the Arab Spring is Wrong | Noah Feldman from 2020-06-04T15:07:24
In his new book The Arab Winter: A Tragedy, my guest Noah Feldman maps so...
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A View from the Caribbean About COVID-19 from 2020-06-01T02:09:06
In the Caribbean, where many country's depend on tourism to sustain their economy, COVID-19 is exacting a particularly Listen
Are the US and China Destined for War? | Graham Allison from 2020-05-28T02:00
My guest today, Graham Allison, is a legendary scholar of international relations. The last time we spoke was just after the release of his 2017 book Listen
COVID-19 is Interrupting Routine Childhood Vaccinations on a Global Scale from 2020-05-25T02:00
Barbara Saitta is a nurse with Doctors without Borders who specializes in vaccination campaigns, primarily in poorer countries. She tells me that because of supply chain interruptions, a number ...
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How Female Entrepreneurs Can Light Up Rural Rwanda from 2020-05-21T02:00
Just over 52% of households in Rwanda have access to some form of electricity. This access is not evenly distributed across Rwanda. In rural communities, where most Rwandans live, energy access ...
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Liberia Confronts the Coronavirus from 2020-05-18T02:00
My guest today, Dr. Mosoka P Fallah is helping to lead Liberia's fight against COVID-19. He is an inf...
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How the Coronavirus Pandemic is Stifling Free Speech from 2020-05-14T02:00
My guest, David Kaye, is the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. He has held this posi...
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An Inside Look at How the United Nations is Marking Its 75th Anniversary from 2020-05-11T02:00
The United Nations turns 75 this year. But rather than have a diamond jubi...
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Lebanon is in the Midst of a Jaw-Dropping Economic Free Fall from 2020-05-07T02:00
Lebanon is in the midst of an economic free fall, the degree to which is jaw dropping.
Inflation is out of control, commodities are hard to come by, and its currency is devaluing at a ra...
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Lebanon is in the Midst of a Jaw-Dropping Economic Free Fall from 2020-05-07T02:00
Lebanon is in the midst of an economic free fall, the degree to which is jaw dropping.
Inflation is out of control, commodities are hard to come by, and its currency is devaluing at a ra...
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Climate Change and the COVID-19 Economic Recovery from 2020-05-04T02:00
New Research Finds a Link Between Fires, Children's Health, and a Country's GDP from 2020-04-30T02:00
My guest, Prachi Singh, is an associate fellow at the Brookings Institution, India Center and is a PhD candidate at Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. Listen
What Kim Jong Un's Health Rumors Teach Us About North Korea from 2020-04-27T02:00
If you have been following news recently out of the Korean Peninsula, you may have seen a ...
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How COVID-19 is Accelerating Geopolitical Shifts| Interview With Ian Bremmer from 2020-04-23T02:00
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the global order was poised for disruption. Global institutions were seemingly getting weaker, the United States under the Trump administration was abdicating ...
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Why the WHO Needs U.S. Support to Fight Coronavirus Spread | Congressman Ami Bera's View from 2020-04-20T02:29:02
Congressman Ami Bera is a Democrat from California who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and is chair of the subcommittee on Asia and Pacific. Listen
Why Don't More People Use Clean Cookstoves? from 2020-04-16T02:00
For years, the global development community has struggled over the problem of dirty burning cookstoves. These are typically rudimentary stoves that burn wood or other biomass -- and in the proce...
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Venezuela Plunges Deeper into Crisis from 2020-04-09T02:00
On March 26th, the United States Department of Justice did something very unusual. In a press conference, Attorney General William Barr Listen
The Coronavirus Human Rights Crackdown from 2020-04-06T02:00
During this state of emergency, some governments -- many in fact -- are using this time as a pretext to Listen
How Are Different Countries Handling COVID-19? | A Comparison of Political Systems from 2020-04-02T02:00
As I record this, we are nearing the one million mark of reported cas...
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COVID-19 and Humanitarian Crises -- How Will NGOs Respond? from 2020-03-30T02:00
Before the coronavirus became a global pandemic, the world was confronting a series of humanitarian crises; ranging from wars to natural disasters. Much of the responsibility for providing emerg...
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Massive Swarms of Desert Locusts Are Causing Crisis in East Africa from 2020-03-26T02:00
Desert locusts are eating their way through East Africa on...
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Do International Criminal Courts Actually Deter War Crimes? |Interview with Jacqueline McAllister from 2020-03-23T02:00
I encountered a study in the journal, International Security by Dr. Jacqueline McAllister that examines whether or not international ...
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The Coronavirus Pandemic and Its Effect on Low Income Countries and Global Development with Amanda Glassman from 2020-03-19T02:00
The coronavirus pandemic could have major implications for international development.
As of now, most of the countr...
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How the Coronavirus is Impacting the Inner Workings of the United Nations with Margaret Besheer from 2020-03-16T02:00
The coronavirus pandemic is impacting institutions around the world, including the United Nations. In fact, about an hour after I recorded this e...
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The U.S. and Taliban Sign an Agreement to Withdraw American Troops from Afghanistan from 2020-03-12T02:00
On February 29th, the United States and the Taliban entered into an agreement that would see the ...
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A Peace Agreement Ends South Sudan's Brutal Civil War. Will it Hold? from 2020-03-09T02:00
On February 22nd, two long time foes, President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar signed a power-sharing agreement to formally end South Su...
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China's Demand for Soybeans is Fueling the Destruction of the Amazon Rainforest with Melissa Chan from 2020-03-05T03:00
In recent years, as the trade war between the United States and China threatened to disrupt Chinese soy supplies, Beijing began making b...
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China's Demand for Soybeans is Fueling the Destruction of the Amazon Rainforest with Melissa Chan from 2020-03-05T03:00
In recent years, as the trade war between the United States and China threatened to disrupt Chinese soy supplies, Beijing began making b...
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The Coronavirus Poses a Big Threat to Refugees and Displaced People | Dr. Paul B. Spiegel from 2020-03-02T03:00
So far, COVID-19 has mostly impacted countries with decently functioning health care systems. However, experts and the WHO hav...
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How to Build Peace and Fight Terrorism at the Same Time with Judy Kimamo from 2020-02-27T03:00
The Boni Forest is a lush coastal ecosystem on the border between Kenya and Somalia. Its location and geography have made it an ideal hideout for Listen
The Only Nuclear Arms Treaty Between Russia and the U.S. "New START" is Expiring from 2020-02-24T03:00
A 2011 agreement known as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the Uni...
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Maurice Kamto Ran for President of Cameroon. Then He Was Arrested from 2020-02-20T03:00
The President of Cameroon is named Paul Biya. He's been the president of Cameroon since 1982. Before that, from 1975, he was prime minist...
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The Top Hunger Crises to Watch in 2020 According to The World Food Program from 2020-02-17T03:00
At the start of the year, the World Food Program issued a forecast of where it expects to find the worst hunger crises this year. The report, called the Global Hotspots 2020, identifies 15 major...
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The Link Between Healthcare and Peace in Africa | with Dr. Roseanne Njiru from 2020-02-13T03:00
Dr. Roseanne Njiru is a sociologist at the University of Nairobi who has conducted cutting edge field research ...
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The Link Between Healthcare and Peace in Africa | with Dr. Roseanne Njiru from 2020-02-13T03:00
Dr. Roseanne Njiru is a sociologist at the University of Nairobi who has conducted cutting edge field research ...
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The Link Between Healthcare and Peace in Africa | with Dr. Roseanne Njiru from 2020-02-13T03:00
Dr. Roseanne Njiru is a sociologist at the University of Nairobi who has conducted cutting edge field research ...
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The Crisis in Yemen is Getting Worse | with Scott Paul from 2020-02-10T05:14:34
For a brief period this fall, it appeared that the crisis in Yemen was de-escalating. Fighting had reached some of its lowest levels since 2015, when Saudi Arabia led an international coalition ...
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The Fight Against 'Neglected Tropical Diseases' Gets a Boost from 2020-02-06T03:00
There is a category of diseases that sickens, injures and kills the poorest people on the planet. These are called Neglected Tropic...
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Why More Aid Workers Are Being Killed in the Line of Duty with Abby Stoddard from 2020-02-03T05:30
Aid work can be a dangerous business. According to the latest verified data, 131 aid workers were killed in the line of duty in 2018. Many more were injured in serious attacks.
Accordin...
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How the World Health Organization is Responding to the Coronavirus Outbreak from 2020-01-28T19:55:25
At the time of recording, the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Chin...
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Can the Global Fragility Act Help Prevent Conflicts Before They Start? | Dr. Dafna Rand from 2020-01-27T03:00
In the midst of the impeachment drama unfolding in Washington, DC a rare thing happened: Republicans and Democrats came together and in an overwhelmingly bi-partisan move, supported a bill known...
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Burkina Faso is Experiencing a Surge in Violence from 2020-01-23T05:30
Burkina Faso, the landlocked country in West Africa, is in the midst of an escalating humanitarian emergency. Over half a million people have been displaced in the last year -- a 500% increase f...
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What Happened With Haiti Earthquake Reconstruction? from 2020-01-20T02:27:41
On January 12 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. Millions more were made homeless. Around the world, there was a huge outpouring of...
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Why The Crisis in Syria is About To Get Worse from 2020-01-16T05:30
The conflict in Syria is entering a new phase. Over the last several years Syrian government forces, backed by outside powers like Russia and Iran, have steadily regained control of territory he...
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A Looming Crisis With North Korea, Again from 2020-01-13T02:26:43
We may be in for a very turbulent year of nuclear diplomacy with North Korea
Since 2018, North Korea has h...
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Iran Crisis -- What Comes Next? from 2020-01-08T20:40:58
I spoke to my guest today, Ilan Goldenberg, just a couple hours after Donald Trump addressed the nation following an Iranian missile attack on bases in Iraq. The Iranian attack, of course, was i...
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How to Promote Tolerance in Myanmar, a country that recently experienced a genocide from 2020-01-06T02:31:29
In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya muslims were driven from their homes in Myanmar. At the time, a UN official called this a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing." And today, the govern...
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Why Do We Lie About Foreign Aid? from 2020-01-02T03:14:53
Pablo Yanguas is a research fellow at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. He is the author of the new book "Listen
Longtime Leader of MSF/Doctors Without Borders Joanne Liu from 2019-12-29T17:00
Dr. Joanne Liu lead Medecins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders from 2013 to this past September. Listen back to her 2017 conversation in which she discusses why she joined MSF, and how MSF ...
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How the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Saves Lives from 2019-12-23T02:23:35
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created in 2002 as a partnership between governments, philanthropies and civil society. At the time, these three diseases were comple...
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How Narendra Modi's Hardline Hindu Nationalism is Transforming India from 2019-12-19T02:34:43
India's prime minister Narendra Modi was re-elected to office in May in what was a landslide victory for his BJP party. Modi is a Hindu nationalist in a diverse country that includes one of the...
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Libya is Poised to Become THE Major International Crisis of 2020 from 2019-12-16T05:30
The crisis in Libya is about to get much worse. Nine months ago a renegade general named Khalifa Hiftar launched an attack on the internationally recognized and UN-backed government in Tripoli. ...
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UN Correspondent Chat: What's Buzzing at United Nations Headquarters from 2019-12-12T05:30
It's December at the United Nations. Just weeks before many delegates and staff take time off for the holidays. But as the year winds down, some issues are heating up. North Korea is once...
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Why the Protests in Hong Kong Have Taken a New Turn from 2019-12-08T18:37:11
Over the summer, millions of people in Hong Kong took to the streets in an unprecedented protest against a proposed law that could allow for the extradition of people in Hong Kong to mainland ch...
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Inside Europe's Largest Refugee Camp from 2019-12-05T02:58:18
The Moria Refugee Camp on the island of Lesvos, Greece is the largest refugee camp in Europe. The camp has an official capacity of just over 2,000 people. But the population is now more than 17,...
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What You Need to Know About Fossil Fuels and the Paris Climate Agreement Goals from 2019-12-02T02:31:06
Delegates, civil society and government officials from around the world are gathering in Madrid, Spain this week for the next big international climate change conference, known as COP 25. On the...
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Crisis in Bolivia from 2019-11-25T05:30
On November 12th, longtime Bolivian president Evo Morales fled to Mexico, prompting a political and security crisis in the Bolivia. Evo Morales fled his cou...
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A Brief History of Ukraine from 2019-11-21T04:37:30
The politics and recent history of Ukraine are suddenly quite central to the politics and history of the United States.
In this episode of the Global Dispatches podcast we examine what t...
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How to Win the Nobel Peace Prize from 2019-11-18T02:29:29
There are just five people in the world who decide each year who wins the Nobel Peace Prize -- and Asle Toje is one of them.
Asle Toje is a foreign policy scholar and author. As of last y...
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Why The Gambia is Suing Myanmar for Genocide from 2019-11-14T03:06:18
The small west African country of the Gambia has lodged a suit at the International Court of Justice against Myanmar for committing a genocide against the Rohingya people.
The Rohingya a...
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Iraq Protests: A Reporter in Baghdad Explains Why Thousands of Iraqis are Protesting the Government from 2019-11-11T02:11:04
For the past several weeks, Washington Post reporter Mustafa Salim has had a front row view to massive protests that have erupted in Baghdad and other cities in Iraq. As he explains in ...
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How The Health and Welfare of Women and Girls Became an International Development Priority from 2019-11-07T03:05:48
Twenty five years ago, the city of Cairo, Egypt hosted a UN-backed gathering of international development professionals from nearly every country on the earth. That 1994 meeting was called the I...
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How Prepared are We for the Next Big Global Epidemic? from 2019-11-04T02:25:05
In 1976 Peter Piot was a 27-year-old microbiologist working in Belgium when he travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, then called Zaire, to investigate a particularly deadly disease outb...
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Arab Countries Are Exporting their Fight to Far Away Battlefields from 2019-10-31T01:28:07
One of the driving forces of international relations over the last several years has been a rivalry between Arab states. This is sometimes called the "Gulf Crisis" and put simply, it refers to t...
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How The Top LGBTI Rights Watchdog at the United Nations Defends Human Rights Around the World from 2019-10-28T01:18:37
Victor Madrigal-Borloz is a Costa Rican jurist who serves as the United Nations Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identi...
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Massive Protests and a Major Crisis in Chile from 2019-10-24T01:48:39
What began last week as a protest against a fare hike in for the Santiago, Chile metro system has morphed into a broad social movement against increasing economic inequality in the country...
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What the Trouble Between the NBA and China Tells Us About the Future of International Relations from 2019-10-21T04:30
On October 4th, the General Manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team shared a message on Twitter. It was which was an image with the words: "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong."
<... Listen
The "Girl Effect" in International Development from 2019-10-17T12:30:29
The "Girl Effect" is a concept that has been around international development for the better part of a decade. It refers to the community and societal benefits that can accrue when investments a...
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Why is Russia Suddenly So Interested in the Central African Republic? from 2019-10-14T04:30
Dionne Searcey travelled to the Central African Republic to report on a story that has previously lead to the murder of other foreign journalists.
In July 2018 three Russian journalists w...
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Turkey Invades Syria as the United States Abandons the Kurds from 2019-10-10T00:26:06
Kurdish forces have a long history of siding with the United States. And the United States has a long history of eventually selling them out.
The latest iteration of this dynamic unfolde...
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The Battle of Mosul Was the Beginning of the End of the Islamic State Caliphate from 2019-10-04T17:24:28
The battle of Mosul began exactly three years ago this month. Iraqi government forces and allied Kurdish militias with backing from the United States and other key international partners s...
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Why Human Rights Defender Gulalai Ismail Fled Pakistan from 2019-10-03T01:41:05
Gulalai Ismail won't tell me how she came to New York. Doing so, she says, will put too many lives at risk.
Kumi Naidoo, Head of Amnesty International from 2019-09-26T11:53:31
My guest today, Kumi Naidoo, is Secretary General of Amnesty International. He's a longtime activist and civil society leader who joined the anti-apartheid movement as a teenager and for many ye...
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Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg on How 5G Can Drive Sustainable Development from 2019-09-24T16:10:09
Around the United Nations you will often see CEOs of major companies participating in meetings and events around sustainability. Meaningful corporate participation is fairly commonplace at the U...
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These Stories Will Drive the Agenda During UN Week from 2019-09-19T04:30
The United Nations General Assembly, better known as UNGA, kicks in New York this week. Hundreds of heads of state, business and civil society leaders and dignitaries of all stripes wi...
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres from 2019-09-17T22:07:36
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres discusses climate change in this special episode of the Global Dispatches podcast.
On Tuesday, September 17th Antonio Guterres sat...
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The UN Climate Action Summit, Explained from 2019-09-16T02:08:32
The UN General Assembly convenes at United Nations headquarters in New York next week. As in every year, UNGA is an annual opportunity for heads of state to come to the United...
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What's Next for the Peace Process in Afghanistan? from 2019-09-12T12:33:24
In late August it appeared that the United States was very close to an agreement with the Taliban that would see US troops withdraw from the Afghanistan.
Leading the negotiations on the U...
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Why Are Journalists Going Missing in Tanzania? from 2019-09-09T04:30
Tanzania has long been recognized as stable country, generally more advanced in its democracy than many other countries in East Africa. To be sure, democracy in Tanzania was certainly imperfect ...
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Japan and South Korea Are Locked in A Bitter Dispute With Global Implications from 2019-09-05T01:58:01
Japan and South Korea are in the throws of a dispute - and its getting worse. What was a trade war escalated to the security realm last month when the South Korean government anno...
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Greg Stanton Fights Genocide -- and Genocide Haunts Him from 2019-09-02T02:43:43
Greg Stanton has spent a career researching and fighting genocide. He speaks candidly about the psychological toll of this line of work and managing the PTSD which he confronts to this day.
... Listen
Jair Bolsonaro and the Destruction of the Amazon from 2019-08-29T02:02:07
Fires raging in the Amazon have captured the world's attention and put focus on the policies of the Brazilian government.
The true extent of the fires is not yet known--but most sources ...
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Research Uncovers a Link Between the Cost of Getting Married and the Outbreak of Conflict from 2019-08-26T12:35:54
About 75% of the world's population live in societies that practice of form of dowry payment. This is also known as brideprice and it is essentially wealth that a potential husband m...
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An Inside Look at Slavery on Fishing Boats in the South China Sea from 2019-08-22T04:30
The fish you eat may have been caught by slaves.
Most Thai fishing boats operating in the South China Sea are dependent on migrant labor. But many of those vessels are essentially floatin...
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How We Can Feed the World Without Destroying the Planet from 2019-08-19T05:30
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, released a report in August demonstrating the harmful relationship between climate change and how we humans are using land...
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The Rohingya of Myanmar Suffered Crimes Against Humanity. Can There Be Justice? from 2019-08-15T02:41:16
In August 2017, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya muslims from Myanmar fled across the border to Bangladesh. The Rohingya are a minority population that have long faced discrimination by ...
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The Yazidi Genocide, Five Years On from 2019-08-12T04:30
In the summer of 2014, ISIS forces swept through parts of Iraq that were home to the Yazidi people. This is an ethnic minority that has lived in Northwestern Iraq for centuries -- and suddenly t...
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What Happened to Aung San Suu Kyi? from 2019-08-08T04:30
When Ben Rhodes first met Aung San Suu Kyi she exuded the all traits that made her such an international icon for human rights and democracy. It was 2012, and Ben Rhodes, who was the deputy nati...
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Drought in the Horn of Africa is Threatening 15 Million People from 2019-08-04T23:21:45
The Horn of Africa region, which includes parts of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, is experiencing a severe drought. This region has been particularly vulnerable to droughts in recent years-...
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Ethiopia is in the Midst of a Democratic Renewal. Can It Succeed? from 2019-08-01T13:07:44
Ethiopia is in the midst of a fairly remarkable democratic renewal. Since taking office in April 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accelerated a process of political opening, including a great...
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Chennai, India is Facing an Unprecedented Water Shortage from 2019-07-29T01:58:27
One of the largest cities in India is running out of water. Is this our climate future?
Monsoons typically provide the bulk of water for Chennai, which is one of the largest cities in Ind...
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Trump's Assault on Refugees and Asylum Seekers Enter's a New Phase from 2019-07-24T18:47:31
Since taking office the Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to sharply reduce both the number of refugees who are resettled in the United States and also the number of people who ...
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How Kim Jong Un Smuggles His Luxury Cars into North Korea from 2019-07-22T02:30:18
North Korea is under the world's most stringent set of international sanctions. This includes, since 2006, a ban on exporting of luxury goods to North Korea.
This has not stopped Kim Jong...
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A Progress Report on the Sustainable Development Goals from 2019-07-18T02:16:41
In 2015, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. These are 17 goals around improving health, welfare and the environment that members of the United Nations agreed to achieve by 2030...
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Former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter from 2019-07-15T02:20:50
Ash Carter served as President Obama's Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2017. What made Ash Carter so unique among his predecessors was that by the time he became the Secretary of Defense, he'd...
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A Secretly Filmed Documentary Exposes A Dystopian Nightmare for Uighur Muslims in China from 2019-07-11T02:19:03
Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province of Northwestern China are living in a police state like no other on earth. Using counter-terrorism as a pre-text, Chinese authorities have rounded up over...
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Why Turkey's Municipal Elections are of Global Significance from 2019-07-08T02:36:55
When Reccep Tayyep Erdogan party, the AKP, won a landslide victory in Turkey's 2002 general elections he became a very different kind of Turkish leader from his predecessors. The AKP is a religi...
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What Political Science Teaches Us About the World Cup and World Peace from 2019-07-03T13:24:47
I've been following with glee the US Women's National Soccer Team's run in this year's World Cup. At time of recording, the United States was set to face either Netherlands or Sweden in the fina...
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What Comes Next in the Escalating Crisis With Iran? from 2019-06-28T15:05:47
Events are unfolding rapidly between the United States and Iran. At time of recording, it was reported that Trump ordered and then called off a military strike against Iran in retaliation for th...
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Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher is a Rising GOP Foreign Policy Star from 2019-06-27T13:41:28
Congressman Mike Gallagher is a Republican representing the eighth district of Wisconsin, which includes the city of Green Bay.
Congressman Gallagher has an interesting profile, which inc...
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Better Know Kelly Craft, Trump's Pick for UN Ambassador from 2019-06-23T19:46:18
Donald Trump's pick to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations is unlike any other previous nominee for the US-UN role. Kelly Knight Craft currently serves as the US Ambassad...
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Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2019-06-19T21:26:35
According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organization, an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed over 1400 people. This makes it the second worst ebola o...
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The Hong Kong Protests from 2019-06-16T18:19:14
The protests in Hong Kong represent a key turning point for China, Hong Kong, and the world.
Hong Kong is in the midst of the most significant protest movement since China assumed soverei...
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Protests in Sudan Enter a Dangerous New Phase from 2019-06-13T02:33:09
Sudan is at a crossroads. In April, popular protests lead to the ouster of the country's longtime ruler, Omar al Bashir. He was toppled in a coup -- but the peaceful protests did not stop. Rathe...
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The Persecution of Christians in Iraq from 2019-06-09T20:30
Life Stories, Anecdotes, and Advice from Renowned Foreign Affairs Professionals from 2019-06-07T16:43:15
Over the course of six years of running this podcast, I have interviewed hundreds of astounding people who have lived fascinating lives and led storied careers in international affairs. This inc...
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What You Need to Know About Internally Displaced People Around the World from 2019-06-05T18:22:19
How A Census Can Drive Sustainable Development in Africa from 2019-05-31T14:06:07
In 2020 the West African Country of Ghana will conduct a census. This is a massive undertaking. Some 60,000 people will be deployed across the country in an effort to count every single...
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UN Correspondent Chat: Sherwin Bryce-Pease, South African Broadcast Corporation from 2019-05-29T16:47:19
Journalist Beth Gardiner Traveled the World to Report on Air Pollution from 2019-05-23T04:30
Air pollution results in the premature death of 7 million people around the world each year. It is a major global killer harming people in nearly every corner of the globe.
Can Canada Change How the World Deals With Corrupt Foreign Officials? from 2019-05-19T19:51:44
Several countries have laws on the books that enables governments to freeze the assets of corrupt foreign officials. Canada is one of those countries, and now one Canadian Senator is trying to t...
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Intensifying Fighting in Syria Suggests a New Phase of the War from 2019-05-15T17:34:56
Over the last several weeks an estimated 140,000 people have been displaced by escalating fighting in Idlib, Syria.
How to Eliminate the Global Problem of Online Child Abuse from 2019-05-10T21:08:01
The spread of child sexual abuse material on the internet has grown at an exponential pace in the last fifteen years, since the advent of social media. This is truly a global proble...
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A Crisis in Cameroon is Getting Worse from 2019-05-08T19:14:47
There is an escalating humanitarian crisis in Cameroon where more than half a million people have been displaced by conflict.
Supriya Vani Interviewed Every Female Nobel Peace Prize Winner from 2019-05-03T15:33:20
My guest today Supriya Vani interviewed every living female Nobel Peace Prize winner for her 2018 book Battling Injustice: 16 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.
"How to Fix Democracy," with Michael Ignatieff from 2019-05-01T17:29:56
Today's episode is a cross over promotion with the new podcast: How to Fix Democracy.
How to Fix Democracy is an interview series in which prominent thinkers, writers, politicians, techno...
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How Big Data and Text Messaging Can Prevent Suicide Around the World from 2019-04-27T14:54:07
According to the World Health Organization 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. My guest today, Bob Filbin is helping to pioneer a way to sharply reduce that number.
Libya is Lurching Toward a Full Scale Civil War from 2019-04-24T20:50:19
Cyclone Idai Devastates Mozambique, One Month On from 2019-04-19T15:57
In mid march, Cyclone Idai struck southern Africa, ravaging parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Of these countries, Mozambique was hardest hit. The storm struck the port city Beira and sur...
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A Revolution in Sudan from 2019-04-17T20:26:03
Some truly remarkable events are unfolding in Sudan, where protesters have secured the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al Bashir. After nearly thirty years as an authoritarian president and dictat...
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How a Social Entrepreneur is Revolutionizing Access to Medicines in Five African Countries from 2019-04-15T01:35:11
Among the many barriers to quality healthcare in the developing world is the high cost of medicine. This is due, in part, to frequent disruptions in the supply chain. Customers who visit a pharm...
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How to Stop a Demographic "Youth Bulge" From Causing Widespread Unemployment from 2019-04-09T07:30:50
South Africa is experiencing what demographers call a "youth bulge." This occurs when young people make up a very large percentage of the entire population. There are youth bulges similar in man...
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How Fear Distorts U.S. Foreign Policy from 2019-04-07T23:44:26
The world has never been safer, wealthier or healthier. So why is it that our foreign policy is dominated by fear and inflated perceptions of threats that can harm us?
How a Social Entrepreneur is Fighting Counterfeit Medicine in the Developing World from 2019-04-03T21:43:26
Not long ago, the social entrepreneur Bright Simons had a lofty goal of restoring social bonds between farmers and consumers. He tried to create a platform to pair organic farmers in Ghana with ...
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Egypt's Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is Looking More and More Like a Dictator-For-Life from 2019-03-29T15:39:42
The White House confirmed that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is to meet President Trump at the White House on April 9. The invitation to the White House was offered amid a deepening cra...
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New Trends in Global Trade are Changing How Women Work in the Developing World from 2019-03-27T18:59:03
Global trade is changing how women work.
Supermarkets and major brands source much of their materials and manufacturing in the developing world as part of a "Global Val...
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"It's Really Worrying Right Now." An Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is Not Under Control from 2019-03-22T19:24:22
The second worst Ebola outbreak in history is currently unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since August last year there have been nearly 1,000 confirmed c...
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Snakebites are a Global Health Problem from 2019-03-19T17:38:52
Getting bitten by a poisonous snake is not just an individual injury -- rather it is now recognized as a global health hazard. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that between 80,00...
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UN Correspondent Chat, With Carole Landry of AFP from 2019-03-16T21:29:36
Today's episode is the second installment of my new series "UN Correspondent Chat." As the name suggests, this series includes wide ranging conversations with in-house reporters at the United Na...
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CNN's Clarissa Ward Spent 36 Hours With the Taliban. This is What She Learned from 2019-03-14T00:21:51
I caught up with CNN's Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward not long after she returned from reporting inside Taliban controlled territory in Afghanistan. She is one of the only weste...
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Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy is a Fiasco from 2019-03-08T16:05:08
In late January, the Trump administration began a pilot program on the border between Tijuana and San Diego in which migrants who claim asylum are sent back to wait in Mexico as their asylum cla...
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Is an "Arab Spring" Coming to Algeria? from 2019-03-06T18:45:37
For the past several weeks Algeria has been rocked by mass protests that harken to the Arab Spring. The protests were triggered by the decision of longtime ruler Abdelaziz Bouteflika to run for...
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North Korea: What's Next For Nuclear Diplomacy After the Trump-Kim Summit Ends in Failure from 2019-03-01T22:36:22
A Crisis in Kashmir Threatens War Between India and Pakistan from 2019-02-27T16:23:51
Tensions are rapidly escalating between India and Pakistan, following a suicide bombing in India controlled Kashmir that killed scores of Indian security forces. In retaliation, India bombed wha...
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How "Energy Poverty" is Stifling Job Growth in the Developing World from 2019-02-23T20:17:05
Energy Poverty conventionally refers to the lack of household electricity. Over 1 billion people live without reliable sources of electricity -- but a new group seeks to change how we think abou...
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What Happens When Women Are Excluded From Peace Talks? from 2019-02-20T18:56:44
As I am recording this, the United States is deep into negotiations with the Taliban over some sort of political arrangement that would enable the Taliban's entrance into Afghan politics while t...
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How Vaccines Fight Poverty from 2019-02-14T19:59:57
We have known for years that vaccinations, including routine childhood vaccinations for diseases like measles, mumps and rubella prevent children from dying on a fairly massive scale. We also kn...
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Massive Protests in Haiti Spark a New Kind of Political Crisis from 2019-02-13T19:13:36
Thousands of Haitians have taken to the streets in anti-government protests that quickly turned violent. Several people have been killed and a great amount of property has been damaged in these ...
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New Research Shows How Countries Can Avoid the "Resource Curse" from 2019-02-10T22:14:17
The Co-Founder of Global Citizen Discusses the Future of Global Advocacy from 2019-02-06T21:40:51
About a decade ago, Simon Moss co-founded Global Citizen with a few friends in Australia. It has since grown into a behemoth of global advocacy on issues related to ending extreme poverty around...
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Protests and Repression Returns to Zimbabwe from 2019-02-01T20:59:33
What is Next for the US in Afghanistan? from 2019-01-30T21:38:31
UN Correspondent Chatter: Margaret Besheer of Voice of America from 2019-01-25T19:36
Today's episode is the launch of a new series: UN Correspondent Chatter. From time to time I'll check in with an in-house reporter at the United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss the l...
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Will Crisis in Venezuela Lead to a Civil War? from 2019-01-24T17:43:30
On January 23rd, the 35-year-old head of the Venezuela's National Assembly Juan Guiado declared himself president of Venezuela, promising to would serve in that role on an interim basis before f...
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Coffee Is Being Threatened With Extinction Because of Climate Change from 2019-01-20T23:39:32
Election Fraud in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2019-01-17T00:04:23
The Democratic Republic of Congo held elections on December 30th that would mark the country's first peaceful transfer of power since its independence in 1960. The long serving ruler, Joseph Kab...
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Will Protests in Sudan Bring Down the Genocidal Regime of Omar al Bashir? from 2019-01-12T21:38:57
A protest movement in Sudan is posing the biggest challenge to the genocidal regime of Omar al Bashir in decades. The protests began just before Christmas, ostensibly over an increase in the pri...
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What's Next for the World Bank After Jim Yong Kim's Sudden Resignation? from 2019-01-09T20:15:23
World Bank president Jim Yong Kim is stepping down at the end January. He made that announcement on January 7th, surprising most observers for the fact that he is resigning from his post with th...
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The Migrant Route to Europe is Changing from 2019-01-04T18:43:23
A Crisis Between China and Canada Has Big Global Implications from 2019-01-02T19:38:56
A Decade Old War Crime is Causing Instability in Sri Lanka Today from 2018-12-26T21:54:12
One of the worst mass atrocities in recent times took place in Sri Lanka during the final days of that country’s long civil war. In May 2009, tens of thousands of people were killed by Sri Lanka...
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Better Know Heather Nauert, Donald Trump's Pick for UN Ambassador from 2018-12-20T00:03:13
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert is Donald Trump's nominee to serve as the next US Ambassador to the United Nations. If confirmed, she will replace of course Nikki Haley, who served ...
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How Rivalry Between China and the United States Will Drive Global Development from 2018-12-16T00:41:13
Massive infrastructure projects like the building of ports, roads and railways are becoming more and more commonplace in the developing world. According to my guest today, the reason we are seei...
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Will The Yellow Vest Protest in France Bring Down Emmanuel Macron--and Europe With Him? from 2018-12-12T18:01:02
A protest movement in France known as the Gilets Jaunes, or Yellow Vests, has become a political crisis for French President Emmanuel Macron. The protest movement began over a hike in a...
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What is the 'Global Compact for Migration?' from 2018-12-09T22:31:24
Over 180 countries are endorsing what is known as the Global Compact for Migration. The text of this non-binding agreement was finalized over the summer, and countries are meeting in Marrakech M...
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What Sham Elections in Bahrain Tell Us About the Middle East from 2018-12-06T01:30:16
What You Need to Know About the Big UN Climate Conference, COP24 from 2018-11-30T18:52:01
Some Cultures Tolerate Rule Breaking More than Others. Comparing them can teach us a lot about international relations from 2018-11-29T00:19:48
Michelle Gelfand is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland and author of the new book Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire our World. The book,...
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What You Need to Know About Slums Around the World from 2018-11-21T16:58:44
My guest today, Diana Mitlin, is a professor of global urbanism at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester.
Much of her work focuses on issues surrounding informa...
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In Donald Trump V. International Law, Who Is Winning? from 2018-11-16T19:03:13
South Sudan's High Risk, High Reward Peace Process from 2018-11-13T10:47:24
On October 31, South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar entered the capitol city of Juba for the first time in two years to attend a peace ceremony. The ceremony in Juba was intended a confidence...
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Under Reported Human Rights Catastrophe: Thousands of Refugees Languish in Libyan Jails from 2018-11-08T20:24:07
In mid September, I was sitting next to the journalist Sally Hayden while attending a press briefing near the United Nations when phone started buzzing with WhatsApp messages. Refugees and migr...
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These Are the Foreign Policy Implications of the US Mid-Term Election Results from 2018-11-07T20:46:51
As was expected, Republicans have held onto control of the Senate while Democrats have won a solid majority in the House of Representatives.
So what does this mean for foreign poli...
The Top UN Humanitarian Official Discusses the Crisis in Yemen from 2018-11-02T17:34:37
Mark Lowcock is the top humanitarian official at the United Nations, serving as the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Macedonia May Get a New Name -- And this is a Very Big Deal for International Relations from 2018-11-01T15:07:29
For 27 years, the question of what to formally call the country informally known as "Macedonia" has been a diplomatic thorn in the side of Europe and the Balkans.
What Happens if the International Criminal Court Investigates American War Crimes in Afghanistan? from 2018-10-26T16:42:17
How India Defeated Polio from 2018-10-23T15:23:21
The challenge was immense
About twenty years ago, India accounted for over 60% of all polio cases worldwide -- in fact it was considered a "hyper" endemic country. Then, the Indian govern...
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Canada Goes to Pot from 2018-10-19T16:28:31
On October 17 Canada became the second country in the world to legalize the recreational use of Cannabis. The first was Uruguay, which decriminalized Cannabis a few years ago. But Canada's move ...
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Why the Latest Ebola Outbreak in the DRC is So Dangerous from 2018-10-18T17:19:12
The State Sanctioned Murder of Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Will Shake International Relations from 2018-10-12T16:24:48
The Grand Strategic Failure of Trump's Foreign Policy from 2018-10-11T13:53:31
My guest today Ivo Daalder served as the United States ambassador to NATO under President Obama from 2009 to 2013. He is now the president of the Chicago council on foreign relations and he is t...
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Are Development NGOs Fit for Purpose? from 2018-10-05T18:06:25
My guest today, Nicola Banks, is a lecturer in global urbanism and urban development at the University of Manchester. She has conducted some pioneering research on the role of the NGO sector in ...
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A Conversation with Kosovo's Foreign Minister from 2018-10-03T18:36:15
I met the Foreign Minister of Kosovo Behgjet Pacolli in a hotel lobby not far from the United Nations where the foreign minister had spent several days during the UN General Assembly last week. ...
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How Facebook is Abetting Rodrigo Duterte's Drug War in the Philippines from 2018-10-01T14:02:11
How Better Data Can Fight Global Hunger from 2018-09-25T20:09:44
Every year during UN Week there are a number of substantive and important issues discussed, new initiatives launched and new partnerships formed, typically around some big important global issue...
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UN Week is Here! These Are the Stories That Will Drive the Agenda from 2018-09-19T14:57:33
All eyes turn to the New York and the United Nations as world leaders gather for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, better known UNGA. This is always the busiest week of ...
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When UN Peacekeeping Works: The Story of the United Nations Mission in Liberia from 2018-09-14T18:57:49
In this special episode of Global Dispatches Podcast we are bringing you the story of how UN Peacekeepers partnered with the people and government of Liberia to h...
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Unmasking the Elite Charade of "Changing the World" from 2018-09-12T18:53:17
My guest today, Anand Giridharadas, is the author of the new book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. The book is a piercing examination of how the global elite h...
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The World is Experiencing a Dam Building Boom from 2018-09-07T15:55:58
The world is experiencing a dam building boom. According to research by my guest today David Hulme there are plans underway around for the construction of over 3,700 new dams around the world. A...
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How the Return of Refugees to Syria Will Define the Next Phase of the Conflict from 2018-09-05T17:37:39
There's New Evidence of China's Brutal Repression of its Uighur Population from 2018-08-29T16:01:38
Remembering Princeton Lyman from 2018-08-24T20:17:39
Ambassador Princeton Lyman passed away on August 24th at the age of 83. In January 2017, he came on the podcast to discuss his remarkable life and career, which included serving as the US ambas...
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A Final Showdown Looms in Syria. The UN Warns it Could be a "Bloodbath" from 2018-08-22T20:45:08
This is How Nuclear War Breaks Out With North Korea from 2018-08-19T19:56:53
On March 21, 2020 North Korea shoots down a South Korean civilian airliner, mistaking it for a US bomber. This sets off a series of events that leads to the launching 13 nuclear armed ballistic ...
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Dr. Vanessa Kerry Strengthens Health Systems Against Ebola and Other Threats from 2018-08-15T21:04:32
Dr. Vanessa Kerry is the Co-founder and CEO of Seed Global Health. This is an international NGO that works in five sub-Saharan countries to bolster the education of medical professionals.
... Listen
Fifteen Years Ago this Week, the UN Headquarters in Iraq Was Bombed from 2018-08-13T13:42:29
On August 19th 2003 the United Nations headquarters in Iraq at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, was hit with a truck bomb. At least 22 people lost their lives in this attack, including the UN's top o...
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Journalist Robin Wright from 2014 from 2018-08-09T15:33:10
In 2014, I spoke with New Yorker writer Robin Wright about her life and career as a foreign affairs journalist.
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The 1998 US Embassy Bombings, Twenty Years On from 2018-07-30T18:30:57
On August 7th, 1998 my guest today John Lange was the acting United States Ambassador to Tanzania when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy in Dar es Salaam....
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977 Days as the Hostage of Somali Pirates from 2018-07-29T14:11:53
Michael Scott Moore spent 977 days as a hostage of Somali pirates. He is a journalist and in 2012 he set out for the Somali coast on a reporting trip when he was kidnapped. What followed was a t...
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How the World Regulates Twitter from 2018-07-27T18:43:20
David Kaye, is the author of the UN's first ever report on the regulation of user generated online content. That is, how governments and companies like Facebook and Twitter police their users. <...
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Colombia Has a New President Who is Opposed to the Peace Deal from 2018-07-25T18:36:28
The Inside Story of How the World Closed the Hole in the Ozone Layer from 2018-07-22T16:00
The year is 1985. Ronald Regan is president. Margaret Thatcher is prime minister of the United Kingdom. Michael Jackson, White Snake and George Michael are dominating the billboard charts. B...
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How Much Progress Are We Making Towards the Sustainable Development Goals? from 2018-07-18T21:20:04
At the United Nations in mid-July officials gathered for an annual checkup on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs, as they are known, are a set of 17 anti-poverty, healt...
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These are the World's "Invisible" Countries from 2018-07-13T17:06:09
Like me, my guest today Joshua Keating, loves maps. His new book "Invisible Countries: Journeys to the Edge of Nationhood" is about borders we see on maps and the borders we don't see.
Sunitha Krishan Rescues Girls from Sex Slavery from 2018-07-11T17:55:27
Sunitha Krishnan literally rescues girls from sex slavery. She is the founder of the Indian NGO Prajwala which both physically removes girls from sexual bondage and provides social, medical and ...
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Crisis in Nicaragua from 2018-07-08T21:00:45
Nicaragua is in the midst of a deepening political and security crisis. Over the last three months the government has been increasingly violent in its response to a growing protest movement. Listen
An Interview with the Top UN Official in the Central African Republic from 2018-07-03T17:15:09
What We Know About Air Pollution Around the World from 2018-06-29T16:22:44
Peace Breaks Out Between Ethiopia and Eritrea from 2018-06-27T20:24:27
Something truly remarkable in African history and global affairs occurred on June 26 when Eritrean leaders flew to the capitol of Ethiopia for peace talks.
Why Mary Robinson Fights For Climate Justice from 2018-06-22T16:18:52
Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland, serving from 1990 to 1997. She then served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and has since undertaken a variety of roles at th...
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Understanding Asylum Law in the United States in the Context of Family Separations at the Border from 2018-06-19T17:49:34
My guest today, Kari Hong is an assistant professor at the Boston College law school and an expert on US asylum policy and law. As you can imagine, we have an extended conversation about the tra...
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Tom Catena is a Hero Doctor of Sudan's Nuba Mountains from 2018-06-14T20:51:27
For many years Tom Catena was the only doctor in the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan. This is an area on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. In 2011 it was the site of intense fighting betwe...
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How to Make Sense of the Trump-Kim Summit from 2018-06-13T22:00:14
When I last spoke with my guest today, Kelsey Davenport, the saber rattling between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un had reached a fever pitch. North Korea was launching nuclear a...
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A Bold Idea for UN Reform from 2018-06-10T13:46:04
I spent the last weekend of May at a conference in Stockholm called the New Shape Forum. This was an ideas festival and prize competition and workshop all around new ideas for better organizing ...
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World Food Program Director David Beasley on the Food Emergenices North Korea and the Sahel from 2018-06-07T09:57:23
My guest today, David Beasley is the executive director of the World Food Program. We caught up not long after he visited both the Sahel region of western Africa and from North Korea, where the ...
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What India Can Teach Indiana About Fighting Diabetes from 2018-06-01T20:23:16
Amy Israel is the global health thought leadership and policy director for the health and pharmaceutical company, Lilly.
Kristine McDivitt Tompkins was one of the largest private landowners in the world before she gave it away from 2018-05-30T19:16:46
Kristine McDivitt Tompkins made history earlier this year when she completed what is said to be the largest ever transfer of land from a private entity to a government.
In a ceremony in C...
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A New Ebola Outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018-05-24T19:22:28
The ebola outbreak ongoing the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most severe ebola outbreak since the 2014 calamity in west Africa that killed over 11,000 people. Citing figures about this...
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A Conversation With Michael Møller, Director General of the UN Offices in Geneva from 2018-05-23T19:53:36
I was a bit skeptical when my guest today told me that every person on the planet, in any 24 hour period, is somehow impacted by the work of the UN and other international entities in Geneva. Listen
How Shipping Containers Explain the Conflict in Yemen from 2018-05-18T20:07:12
Understanding the Gaza Protests from 2018-05-16T17:38:25
It's been a tumultuous week in Israel and Palestine. On the same day that the United States formally opened its embassy in Jerusalem, dozens of Palestinians were shot to death by Israeli soldier...
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How Colonialism Explains HIV in Africa from 2018-05-11T19:55:42
Around the world the HIV rates for men and women are more or less equal. Except, that is, in sub-saharan Africa which is the only region in the world where the HIV rates for women are substantia...
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The Demise of the Iran Nuclear Deal and What Comes Next from 2018-05-09T17:49:28
Can Dr. Tom Frieden Save 100 Million Lives? from 2018-05-04T18:21:36
Dr. Tom Frieden lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2009 to 2017. He now has a new role: President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of Vital Strategi...
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China's Foreign Policy is at a Turning Point from 2018-05-02T17:00:43
My guest today, Elizabeth Economy, is the author of the new book The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State. The book examines the transformative changes ongoing in Chin...
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A Past Podcast Guest is Reportedly Tapped for a Top State Department Post: Listening Back on the Paula Dobriansky Interview from 2018-04-27T15:39:11
In the hierarchy of the State Department the Secretary of State, of course, sits on top. Below the Secretary of State is the Deputy Secretary of State and below the Deputy Secretary is the numbe...
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How the US Can Get Its Multilateral Groove Back from 2018-04-25T17:54:52
My guest today, Paul Stares, is the author of the new book Preventative Engagement. How America Can Avoid War, Stay Strong, and Keep the Peace.
The book identifies what Stares ca...
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Venezuelans are fleeing their country in record numbers. This is Latin America's worst-ever refugee crisis from 2018-04-20T19:59:04
The View From Europe from 2018-04-18T18:25:44
Episode 190: Suzanne DiMaggio from 2018-04-16T14:04:31
What happened to Iraq's Oil Wealth? from 2018-04-12T01:16:41
What happened to Iraq's oil wealth? That is the central question of the book: Pipe Dreams: The Plundering of Iraq's oil Wealth by my guest today Erin Banco.
Episode 189: Steve Coll from 2018-04-05T18:21:04
My guest today is the renowned journalist Steve Coll. He is a staff writer at the New Yorker, dean of the Colombia School of Journalism and former president of the New America Foundation think t...
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Bosnia is Vladimir Putin's Next Target from 2018-04-04T19:11:38
A few weeks ago I was having lunch with a former high ranking US diplomat whose work focused on Russia and Europe. I asked him where he thought Vladimir Putin might target nex...
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Episode 188: Bangladeshi Immigrant Rais Bhuiyan Survived a Hate Crime and Fought to Save from Execution the Man Who Shot Him from 2018-03-30T15:09:04
On September 21, 2001, Rais Bhuiyan was working behind the counter at a gas station outside Dallas, Texas when a man named Mark Stroman walked in brandishing a sawed-off shotgun.
Stroman ...
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Palestinian Refugees are about to Face Yet Another Crisis from 2018-03-29T18:46:52
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, known as UNRWA, is facing a crisis. This is the humanitarian agency that provides relief for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jor...
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I Started My Career as a Journalist Covering John Bolton. Here is What I have Learned (special episode) from 2018-03-27T19:01:56
I got my start in journalism covering John Bolton when he was the US Ambassador to the United Nations. At the time, I was a reporter for the political monthly Th...
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Episode 187: Wanjira Mathai from 2018-03-23T17:58:17
Wanjira Mathai is a Kenyan environmental and civic leader. She is the chair of the Wangari Mathai Foundation, which is named after her mother who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
M...
A Successful End to the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia from 2018-03-20T20:22:10
By the end of this month the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia will no longer exist. The mission, known as UNMIL, is closing shop after nearly 15 years in operation, and its closing...
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Episode 186: Maggy Barankitse saved thousands of children in the wake of a genocide from 2018-03-18T20:12:53
Maggy Barankitse is the founder of Maison Shalom, an orphanage and school that was created in Burundi in the wake of the Civil War there in the 1990s. Like in neighboring Rwanda, the conflict in...
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Meet Mike Pompeo from 2018-03-14T20:01:19
I am still catching my breath over the news that Rex Tillerson was fired and CIA Director Mike Pompeo has been nominated as his replacement as Secretary of State. That happened, of course, just ...
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Episode 185: Joseph Kaifala from 2018-03-11T20:20:11
Joseph Kaifala was just a child when civil war broke out in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The war came to his town in 1989 and as a seven-year-old was imprisoned with his father. They we...
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How Democracies Can Defend Themselves from Disinformation Campaigns from 2018-03-07T20:50:59
Episode 184: Noubar Afeyan from 2018-03-02T22:02:20
Noubar Afeyan is a business leader, entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 2015, along with other decedents of survivors of the 1915 Armenian genocide, he co-founded the Aurora Humanitarian Initiat...
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Why We Lie About Aid from 2018-02-28T19:21:48
My podcast guest today Pablo Yanguas is a research fellow at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. He is the author of the new book "Listen
Episode 182: Sulome Anderson from 2018-02-23T16:25:12
Sulome Anderson was in utero when her father, the journalist Terry Anderson, was kidnapped in Beirut. She met him for the first time as a six year old, when he was finally released by his Hezbol...
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The Conflict in Syria Enters a New Phase from 2018-02-21T21:11
The conflict in Syria has entered a new phase. ISIS has been defeated, yet in many ways the war is metastasizing.
In places like Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus, the war is a...
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Episode 181: Djibouti Democracy Activist Daher Ahmed Farah from 2018-02-16T22:33:55
Djibouti is the only country in the world that hosts military bases for both the United States and China. The US base, Camp Lemmonier, hosts US special forces and its only a few kilometers from ...
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Why American Funding for the United Nations is a Bargain from 2018-02-15T22:08:56
It's budget season in Washington, DC. And this year (like last year) the White House has requested massive cuts to foreign affairs spending in general, and to the United Nations in particular. T...
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Episode 180: Anote Tong, Former President of Kirabati from 2018-02-12T14:54:49
To the people of Kiribati, climate change is an existential threat.
This is an Island nation in the pacific -- it is a string of atolls about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. ...
Olympic Truce? Not! Emerging Political Science Shows Us that International Sports Are Actually Bad for World Peace from 2018-02-07T23:30
All eyes turn to South Korea for the start of the Winter Olympics this week.
There is always a political political component to this Olympics and indeed all major international sporting e...
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Hate Speech is on the Rise in Poland from 2018-02-02T20:59:58
Last week, the Polish Senate passed a law that would make it a criminal offense to claim that Poland was complicit in Nazi crimes. The Israeli government strongly opposed this measure, as do mos...
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Episode 179: Max Boot from 2018-01-31T16:53:48
Max Boot is a foreign policy commentator and historian. Just this week he was named a contributing writer to the Op-ed page of the Washington Post.
He is the author of several bo...
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Donald Trump's Nuclear Weapons Policy is Radically Different from His Predecessors from 2018-01-25T23:36:31
You've may of the Doomsday Clock. This is a rubric created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists at the dawn of the nuclear age to demonstrate how close humanity is to nuclear ...
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A Crisis in Cameroon is Forcing Anglophones to Flee the Country from 2018-01-24T21:35:15
Over 10,000 people have fled from English speaking regions of Cameroon to neighboring Nigeria in recent weeks. They are escaping an ongoing crackdown by Cameroonian security forces against a mov...
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Mexican Towns Are Taking Security Into Their Own Hands from 2018-01-21T20:52:54
A School in India is Trying to Disrupt the Caste System from 2018-01-17T23:25:05
Shanti Bhavan is a school in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India that serves children from the Dalit community. These are the some of the po...
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Episode 178: Lidia Bastianich is a celebrity chef, and a refugee from 2018-01-15T21:10:33
Lidia Bastianich is a chef, restauranteur, cookbook author, TV personality, entrepreneur and for the purposes of this conversation, most importantly a refugee.
She was born on the Istrian...
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Episode 177: Robert Malley is the new head of the International Crisis Group from 2018-01-10T22:45:30
Robert Malley is the new president and CEO of the International Crisis Group. He took over on January 1st. The International Crisis Group, of course, provides the public and policymakers with an...
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What Big Data Can Teach Us About Terrorism from 2018-01-05T21:51:10
At the very end of last year I had the opportunity to moderate a panel at the United States Institute of Peace that served as the launch of a new report called the Listen
Big Protests are Sweeping Across Iran from 2018-01-03T22:16:29
Episode 176: Daniel Webb from 2017-12-31T16:31:07
Since 2013, the government of Australia has enforced a policy of sending any refugee or migrant who arrives who arrives by boat to detention centers in Papua New Guinea or the remote island nati...
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After a Vote, The United States Finds itself Isolated at the UN. (Plus: A 2017 UN Year-in-Review) from 2017-12-22T00:02:28
Meet the US Youth Observer to the UN from 2017-12-19T17:36:33
Munira Khalif is the US Youth Observer to the United Nations. This is a position created in partnership between the State Department and the United Nations Association of the United States to he...
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The International Committee for the Red Cross Plays a Unique Role in International Affairs from 2017-12-15T21:06:59
The International Committee for the Red Cross/Red Crescent, otherwise known as the ICRC, is a singularly unique international organization. It was founded over 150 years ago to care for soldiers...
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Episode 175: Dr. Mozhdeh Ghasemiyani is a Psychologist who Escaped a Genocide from 2017-12-13T19:22:40
Dr. Mozhdeh Ghasemiyani is a psychologist with Doctors without Borders. She is a Kurdish refugee to Denmark and recently delivered a TED Talk describing her refugee experience. In the talk she d...
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Trump's Jerusalem Gamble from 2017-12-06T22:20:42
The United States will formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol and intends to move its embassy there from Tel Aviv — thus, decreed President Trump from the White House yesterday.
Episode 173: Dr. Joanne Liu, Head of Doctors Without Borders / MSF from 2017-12-01T18:20:32
Episode 172: Agnès Marcaillou Leads the UN's Bomb Squad from 2017-11-29T18:13:40
Agnès Marcaillou is the director of the United Nations Mine Action Service. This is the UN agency that helps clear mine fields, defuse IEDs and clean up u...
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Zimbabwe and the fall of Robert Mugabe, Explained from 2017-11-19T15:13:27
Zimbabwe has had exactly one leader in its entire 37 year history as an independent country. That was, until November 14th Robert Mugabe was deposed in an apparent coup.
Can ISIS Face Justice for the Atrocities They Have Committed? from 2017-11-16T19:56:23
Over the last several weeks, ISIS has been systematically losing territory. Its last stronghold in Iraq, the city of Hawija, was liberated in early October. A few weeks later, ISIS' de-facto cap...
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Episode 170: Peter W. Galbraith from 2017-11-13T15:02:04
Peter Galbraith helped uncover and confront two genocides. As a staffer in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 1980s, Peter compiled evidence of Saddam Huss...
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The Crisis in Yemen Takes A Turn for the Worse from 2017-11-08T20:46:52
Saudi Crown Price Mohammad bin Salman consolidated power in a pretty dramatic fashion by detaining would-be rivals and diminishing other power centers in the country. These moves coincided with ...
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How Trump's Radical Approach to "Sovereignty" is shaping International Relations from 2017-11-06T16:22:37
Donald Trump's approach to sovereignty is not unique in American history. There is a longstanding political tradition that seeks no compromise with the world and see's all interactions with alli...
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The International Relations of California from 2017-11-02T16:33:33
If California were a country, it would be the sixth largest economy in the world. Its population is greater than countries like Poland and Canada.
Episode 169: Farida Nabouremba, Democracy Activist in Togo from 2017-10-27T18:33:44
Farida Nabourema spoke from an undisclosed location in West Africa, out of fear for her personal safety. Farida is a prominent Togolese activist and these are very tense times in Togo. Several p...
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How Tunisia Became the Only Real Arab Spring Success Story from 2017-10-25T21:59:58
Safwan Masri set out with a simple question: of all the countries caught in the turmoil of the Arab Spring, how is it that Tunisia was the only country to successfully replace a long ruling desp...
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Episode 168: 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Beatrice Fihn from 2017-10-20T22:34:54
Exactly two weeks to the day before this interview, Beatrice Fihn received a phone call from Norway. It was the Nobel Committee informing her that the NGO she leads, t...
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This Supreme Court Case Could Have a Big Impact on US Foreign Policy from 2017-10-18T18:41:46
Episode 167: Alexis Okeowo from 2017-10-16T17:37:43
Alexis Okeowo is a staff writer for the New Yorker whose debut book was published earlier this month. The book, A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa...
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Will Trump Destroy the Iran Nuclear Deal? from 2017-10-11T19:41:44
President Trump is widely expected to decertify the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Can UN Peacekeepers Prevent the Central African Republic from Descending Deeper into Conflict? from 2017-10-06T20:00:27
The Central African Republic is facing some serious challenges right now.
Four years ago, the country was on the brink of genocide after the longtime strongman Francois Bozize was o...
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What the Kurdish Independence Referendum Means for the Middle East from 2017-10-04T21:15:15
People in Kurdish region of Iraq have voted overwhelmingly for independence in a popular referendum that took place in late September. No country in the region wanted this referendum to happen--...
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Episode 166: Ambassador Keith Harper from 2017-09-29T15:14:17
When Keith Harper was confirmed as President Obama's Ambassador to the Human Rights Council he became the first American-Indian to achieve the rank of Ambassador. The longtime attorney for nativ...
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Trump's New Travel Ban Has One Historic Precedent: The Chinese Exclusion Act from 2017-09-27T22:12:33
The Trump administration this week announced sweeping new restrictions on travelers from eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen
Days later, ...
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Episode 165: Meghan O'Sullivan from 2017-09-25T15:53:23
My guest today Meghan O'Sullivan is the author of the new book Windfall: How the new energy ...
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The Challenge of Getting Refugee Children in Quality Schools from 2017-09-21T14:43:53
Amid all the pageantry, hoopla and media circus that is UN week in New York there is always some interesting and substantive work being done on important global issues. Sometimes these issues ar...
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The United Nations and Donald Trump Get to Know Each Other from 2017-09-16T22:41:44
World leaders gather at the United Nations this week for the annual summit at the United Nations General Assembly. This is always one of the big highlights of the int...
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Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar from 2017-09-13T17:25:52
Nearly 400,000 ethnic Rohingya have fled Myanmar across the border to Bangladesh. By the time you listen to this, that number will almost surely be much higher.
Episode 164: John Shattuck from 2017-09-08T22:45:31
John Shattuck is the former US Ambassador to the Czech Republic, former President of the Central European University, and served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy Hum...
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Can the International Community Do Hurricane Response Better? from 2017-09-07T18:47:23
With Houston still reeling from Hurricane Harvey, Irma causing massive havoc in the Caribbean, and more storms on the way, I thought it would be timely and interesting to speak with my guest tod...
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Episode 163: Helene Cooper is a pulitzer prize winning journalist and refugee from Liberia from 2017-09-01T16:16:33
Helene Cooper is the Pentagon correspondent for the New York Times. She is also the author of the new book "Madame President: The extraordinary journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf" which is a biogr...
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Cutting Edge Research Finds a Link Between the Cost of Getting Married and the Outbreak Violent Conflict from 2017-08-30T19:23:29
Senator Sam Nunn Explains How a New "Fuel Bank" Can Curb Nuclear Proliferation from 2017-08-25T17:29:04
Poland is Fighting for its Democratic Life from 2017-08-19T21:00:16
Poland is in the midst of a democratic backslide. The country's politics is dominated by the far right Law and Justice Party, which has embarked on a series of moves to curb the independence of ...
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Can North Korea Be Stopped? from 2017-08-15T16:47:12
*** Special Episode *** Your Questions About Careers in International Affairs, Answered from 2017-08-09T18:13:06
After receiving dozens of emails from podcast listeners asking for career advice, I decided to put together this special episode in which your questions are answered. On the line are Paul Strons...
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Somalia is Caught in a Conflict-Climate Change Nexus from 2017-08-04T20:20:13
Somalia is ground zero for an emerging trend in global affairs-- the nexus between climate change and conflict. My guest today, journalist Laura Heaton spent years reporting on how climate chan...
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Everything You Know About Sweatshops is Wrong from 2017-07-26T19:25:24
Chris Blattman is a development economist who routinely conducts experiments to test ideas related to reducing poverty and improving the well being of people living in poorer countries. His late...
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An Unprecedented Coalition of NGOs Has Formed to Fight a Global Food Emergency from 2017-07-19T20:43:21
On July 17 a very rare thing happened in the world of humanitarian relief. Eight organizations that typically compete for donor dollars joined forces to launch a joint appeal to raise...
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Peace Breaks Out in Colombia from 2017-07-14T19:07:36
On June 27th, FARC rebels turned over the last of their weapons to the United Nations in a ceremony attended by both the leader of FARC and President Juan Manuel Santos. This officially marked t...
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Episode 160: Wendy Pearlman is an academic who studies the Middle East in an unusual way from 2017-07-12T17:54:08
Wendy Pearlman is an academic who studies the Middle East, but also writes popularly focused narratives that examines everyday life of people caught in the chaos of the region.Her latest book, <...
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Episode 159: Eric Schwartz, former top State Department official who ran US refugee programs from 2017-07-07T17:03:28
Eric Schwartz served as the top refugee policy official in the Obama administration as the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration between 2009 and 2011. He was recen...
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This Could Be Africa's Next Big Crisis from 2017-06-30T18:41:19
How the Supreme Court's Ruling on Trump's Travel Ban Will Impact Refugees Around the World from 2017-06-28T20:23:04
The Supreme Court has issued a preliminary decision on Trump’s travel ban–and this decision could have a profound impact on refugees around the world.
The court upheld ...
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Episode 157: Jeffrey Smith Helped Bring Down a "President for Life" from 2017-06-23T14:58
My guest today Jeffrey Smith helps topple dictators for a living. His organization, Vanguard Africa, is very new but they already have one success under their belt--the peaceful transition of po...
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The Latest World Population Facts and Figures Were Just Released from 2017-06-22T13:55:46
Episode 156: Greg Stone -- Ocean Scientist, Explorer and Advocate from 2017-06-16T20:58:50
Episode 155: Marietje Schaake, Member of the European Parliament from 2017-06-14T21:08:07
Marietje Schaake was under 30 years old when she first joined the European Parliament as a representative from the Netherlands in 2009. She candidly discusses the kinds of challenges she faced a...
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Episode 154: Hans Binnendijk from 2017-06-09T20:33:36
Hans Binnendijk is a senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic relations and a longtime DC foreign policy insider. He served in top posts in the Clinton administration, including in the Nati...
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Saudi Arabia moves against Qatar and we now have yet another crisis in the Middle East from 2017-06-07T21:20:32
There is yet another crisis in the middle east. This week, Saudi Arabia and its close allies in the region moved against Qatar, cutting off sea and air travel and moving to isolate their fellow ...
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What You Need to Know About the Paris Agreement Pullout from 2017-06-02T20:38:27
What you need to know about the world's "Internally Displaced" from 2017-05-31T20:43:04
One overlooked aspect of the global conversation on conflict, disaster and humanitarian affairs is internal displacement and the plight of internally displaced people, or IDPs. Like refugees, ID...
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Episode 153: Sharon Weinberger from 2017-05-26T20:01:53
Sharon Weinberger is the author of the new book The Imagineers of War:The Untold Story of DARPA. <...
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What Political Science Can Teach Us About the Killing of Journalists from 2017-05-24T16:22:51
We are nearly six months into the year and already 9 journalists have been killed in 2017, including 4 in Mexico alone. That figure comes from reporters without borders and is part of a larger d...
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Episode 152: Jill Filipovic from 2017-05-19T18:58:36
Trump's First Foreign Trip: Here's What to Know from 2017-05-17T17:19:01
As I'm typing, the White House is busy doing damage control over revelations that Donald Trump revealed sensitive information to the Russians when he met wth the Russian ambassador and foreign m...
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Episode 151: James Walsh from 2017-05-12T16:44:58
Dr. James Walsh of MIT is a nuclear security security expert and one of the few Americans who have travelled to both Iran and North Korea for talks on nuclear issues. To this day, Jim meets freq...
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Meet Emmanuel Macron, the Surprising New President of France from 2017-05-10T19:17:07
Episode 150: Lisa Palmer from 2017-05-05T16:07:04
Lisa Palmer is author of the new book Hot Hungry Planet: The Fight to Stop a Global Food Crisis in the Face of Climate Change. As the title suggests, the book examines the intersection ...
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Yemen, Already Beset by Civil War, is Now Facing Famine from 2017-05-03T17:26:50
Episode 149: Marcus Bleasdale from 2017-04-28T19:34:42
The internationally acclaimed and award-winning photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale has a spread in the latest issue of National Geographic magazine from his collection of photos documenting the co...
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What's Next for Afghanistan from 2017-04-26T20:39:55
Episode 148: Laurie Adams from 2017-04-21T18:50:56
Laurie Adams is president of the NGO Women for Women International which works with women survivors of war. She has had a long career in the NGO sector and as an activist, including many years w...
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The Venezuela Crisis, explained from 2017-04-18T18:18:01
Episode 147: Linda Thomas-Greenfield from 2017-04-14T20:47:09
Linda Thomas-Greenfield grew up the oldest of eight children in a small segregated town outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They were poor. Her father was not literate. Despite these circumstance...
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What Political Science Can Teach Us About the Syria Strikes from 2017-04-12T17:06:42
What's Next for the US-China Relationship? from 2017-04-05T18:34:35
Xi Jinping is headed to Mar-a-Lago for his first big meeting with Donald Trump.
The US-China relationship is arguably the most consequential bi-lateral relationship in the world so natura...
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These Are the Smugglers Who Make Mass Migration Possible from 2017-03-29T18:23:21
Despite wide attention to the global refugee and migrant crisis, there has been little research of one key group that facilitates the movement of migrants: the smugglers themselves.
Episode 144: James Goldgeier from 2017-03-24T17:23:15
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What North Korea Wants from 2017-03-22T20:05:24
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Episode 143: Julie Smith from 2017-03-10T20:15:21
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Episode 142: Jeremy Konyndyk from 2017-03-09T15:58:40
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Jeremy Konyndyk recently...
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What We Mean When We Talk About "Foreign Aid" from 2017-03-03T17:28:44
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Bonus Episodes! A Message from Mark from 2017-03-02T16:22:38
I've started to roll out special bonus episodes for premium subscribers. I'm calling these "Background Briefings." Through interviews with experts, we will provide you with the context you need ...
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For the first time in six years, a famine has been declared from 2017-02-23T15:14:43
The United Nations did some extremely rare in February: agencies declared that a famine was ongoing in parts of South Sudan. More than 100,000 people are affected by this famine and childhood mo...
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Episode 139: Bathsheba Crocker from 2017-02-15T17:00
Diplomacy runs in her family. Sheba Crocker and her father Chester Crocker are the first parent-child combination to have both served as assistant secretaries of state. Crocker-the-elder was a n...
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Is "Gross National Happiness" the New GDP? from 2017-02-12T10:38:32
Greetings from the World Government Summit in Dubai! This one of those big international conferences (think: World Economic Forum in Davos) that is hosted by the government of the United Arab Em...
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Crimes Against Humanity in Burma are Ongoing (and terribly under-covered) from 2017-02-08T20:41:48
Crimes against humanity are ongoing in Burma and they are being committed by the state against the Rohingya people. This is a minority community in Burma that has historically faced intense disc...
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Episode 138: Dr. Larry Brilliant from 2017-02-03T16:27:43
How the Middle East is Reacting to Trump's Travel Ban from 2017-02-01T20:03:03
Episode 137: Princeton Lyman from 2017-01-27T19:06:34
Princeton Lyman was a long serving US Diplomat who has become one of the leading experts on African politics and policy. He most recently served as President Obama's special envoy to Sudan and S...
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Trump Just Re-Instated the "Global Gag Rule." Here's what that means. from 2017-01-25T19:51:09
On his third day on office President Trump signed a memorandum re-instating what is known as the "Global Gag Rule" or so...
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Live from Chicago! Zalmay Khalilzad: former UN ambassador and GOP Foreign Policy Insider from 2017-01-23T15:34:43
What's Next for the Israel and Palestine? from 2017-01-18T16:20:10
The Two State Solution--the idea that a sovereign, secure and independent Palestine can co-exist with a sovereign secure and independent jewish state of Israel is arguably as far from being real...
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Episode 136: Karen Greenberg from 2017-01-13T17:42:58
Sponsored: Get a Master of Arts in Social Innovation from the University of San Diego from 2017-01-13T17:22:54
This is a special episode of the podcast sponsored by the Master of Arts in Social Innovation program at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies...
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Turkey is in Crisis from 2017-01-11T18:01:46
Turkey is in crisis. A number of terrorist attacks in recent weeks has rattled Turkish society, there is a persistent and ongoing crackdown on civil society, and President Erdogan is engineering...
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Episode 135: Maria J Stephan from 2017-01-06T18:42:03
Maria Stephan is a pioneering academic and public intellectual who studies authoritarian regimes and how they fall. She'...
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Here are the big stories that will drive the global agenda in 2017 from 2017-01-03T15:58:46
What Russia Wants from 2016-12-21T19:08:55
Russia has successfully influenced the election here in the United States in its favor. It's side is winning the war in Syria. Crimea looks like it will remain in Russia for the foreseeable futu...
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Episode 133: Amy Costello from 2016-12-18T21:58:56
Amy Costello is a veteran reporter who now hosts the excellent Tiny Spark podcast that investigates what goes right and what goes wrong in philanthropy, including global philanthropy and the NGO...
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Trump has Assembled a "Team of Generals." So What's the Problem? from 2016-12-14T20:29:41
Episode 132: Cameron Munter from 2016-12-11T16:24:41
Conditions are ripe for a genocide in South Sudan from 2016-12-07T21:02:54
Episode 131: Mark Tokola from 2016-12-04T17:08:22
Mark Tokola is the vice president of the Korea Economic Institute of America. He's a long serving American diplomat with postings around the world and we discuss a few of them in this episode, i...
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What Political Science Can Teach Us About Trump's Cabinet Picks from 2016-11-30T20:21:22
Better Know Nikki Haley, the next US Ambassador to the UN from 2016-11-29T15:43:10
Episode 130: Tali Nates from 2016-11-18T21:57:30
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What Does President Trump Mean for the Paris Climate Agreement? from 2016-11-16T23:09:56
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As Americans headed to the polls on election da...
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Episode 129: Maina Kiai from 2016-11-14T22:42:08
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American Foreign Policy in the Age of Trump from 2016-11-09T22:33:48
Donald Trump will become president and commander-in-chief in January. I am pledging to you right now that I will dedicate myself and dedicate this podcast to helping you make sense of foreign po...
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How the UN is Fighting Hunger in Somalia from 2016-11-05T20:08:47
How the international community saves lives in conflict prone countries or insecure places is becoming increasingly relevant and important to global affairs. On the line to walk me through the n...
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Why Hot Sauce Can Explain the US Election from 2016-11-03T17:20:06
Here we are days from the US election, so I thought to myself let's have a US focused episode that explains US culture and American politics and why Trump is facing such an uphill battle by talk...
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Episode 128: Brian Katulis from 2016-10-30T19:43:57
Brian Katulis is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress where his work focuses on US National Security and Foreign Policy.
The Battle for Mosul from 2016-10-26T21:17:08
Mosul is Iraq's second largest city, and in 2014 ISIS militants took the city as Iraqi army units fled. Now, a large scale military operation backed by the United States is underway to regain c...
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Is this the end of the International Criminal Court? from 2016-10-21T21:17:57
Late in the evening on October 20th news broke that South Africa is moving to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
The ICC is the first permanent international court to prosecu...
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Episode 127: Sarah Chayes from 2016-10-19T21:37:07
Sarah Chayes was a reporter for NPR working in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. Then, in early 2002 she decided to give up her career in journalism to help rebuild the country. She joi...
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Meet Antonio Guterres, the Next UN Secretary General from 2016-10-16T17:01:56
Last week the UN General Assembly Officially elected Antonio Guterres as the next UN Secretary General. Guterres is a well known figure around the UN and in global politics more broadly. From 20...
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Beware the Global Superbug from 2016-10-12T16:16:31
Episode 126: Charles Kenny from 2016-10-10T17:57:42
Charles Kenny is an optimist. He's the author of several book about global development, including Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding--And How We Can Improve the World Even ...
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Why the Colombia Peace Deal Failed and What's Next from 2016-10-05T21:50:38
Episode 125: Scott Shane from 2016-09-29T18:31:02
Scott Shane is a veteran reporter with the New York Times.His latest book is titled Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President and the Rise of the Drone. It tells the story of Anwar al-Aw...
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The Heroes of Syria from 2016-09-28T19:21:29
Episode 124: Sarah Sewall, Live! from 2016-09-25T15:15:05
I was in New York for the UN General Assembly and so was Under Secretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights Sarah Sewall. We taped this episode in front of a live audienc...
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UN Week Is Here! These Stories Will Drive the Global Agenda at the UN General Assembly from 2016-09-16T18:28:05
Here's How the International Community Is Trying to Solve the Global Refugee Crisis from 2016-09-14T22:28:43
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How Yemen Became Mired in a Brutal Civil War from 2016-09-09T16:33:43
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This is the worst crisis in the world that gets the least amount of attention from 2016-09-08T14:18:42
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An Important Message from Mark from 2016-08-31T20:32:24
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I need your help. I need you to support the show. If you ...
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An Insane Drug War in the Philippines from 2016-08-15T18:03:37
The new bombastic and brash president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is undertaking a war on drugs like no other country on earth. In the last few months, hundreds of alleged drug offenders ...
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Episode 121: Greg Stanton from 2016-08-12T20:38:44
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Why the Battle for Aleppo is So Consequential from 2016-08-10T15:21:01
There is a catastrophe underway in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The city has been at the center of fighting since the civil war broke out in 2011, but in recent weeks the battle for Aleppo has b...
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Episode 120: Derek Chollet from 2016-07-29T16:38:31
Derek Chollet is the author of the new book The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America's Role in the World.
El Nino Has Caused a Food Shortage in Southern Africa from 2016-07-27T18:42:51
There catastrophe is looming in southern Africa.
This year’s historically intense El Nino sparked a region-wide drought that has decimated harvests. The area was already prone to food ins...
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Arsalan Iftikhar Battles Islamophobia from 2016-07-22T17:03:57
Arsalan Iftikhar is the author of the new book Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemi...
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UN Secretary General Candidate Conversations: Helen Clark from 2016-07-20T19:52:33
Helen Clark is a candidate to become the next UN Secretary General. She’s the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, serving from 1999 to 2008 and is currently the head of the United Nations Deve...
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Episode 118: Priscilla Clapp from 2016-07-15T20:35:35
Priscilla Clapp had a 30 year career in the state department, which ended in 2002 as the top US official in Burma. She also served in top positions in South Africa in the early 1990s during the ...
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Congress Actually Does Something Good from 2016-07-13T19:31:22
If you follow US politics even just slightly you will probably be surprised to learn that Congress actually did something last week. And deeper still, the action they took was broadly in the ser...
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Episode 117: Lauren Wolfe from 2016-07-10T22:35:01
Lauren Wolfe is an award winning journalist who covers sexual violence in conflict. She's the director of the Women Under Siege project, which is a journalistic endeavor founded by Gloria Steine...
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The World's Newest Country Turns Five Years Old and There's Not Much to Celebrate from 2016-07-07T15:52:28
On July 9, South Sudan commemorates its 5th independence day. And I say "commemorates" and not "celebrates" because there is not a whole lot to celebrate. The country has been mired in conflict ...
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The International Development Implications of Brexit from 2016-06-30T14:41:38
Both the European Union and the United Kingdom are important players in international development. In fact the EU is the single largest foreign aid provider; and the United Kingdom's own aid pro...
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Episode 116: Stewart Patrick from 2016-06-24T18:59:16
Stewart Patrick is an international relations scholar with a background in studying human evolution. As you might imagine, that combination makes for some fascinating conversation.
Trouble in the South China Sea from 2016-06-22T16:53
You've probably heard about the dispute in the South China Sea. And if you have heard about it, you are probably vaguely aware, as I was, that it involves disputed territorial claims between Chi...
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The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Turns 20. It's an anniversary worth celebrating from 2016-06-15T20:05:26
I caught up with my guest today, Arms Control Association president Daryl Kimball from his hotel in Vienna. Daryl, along with hundreds of diplomats around the world were gathered for the 20th an...
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Episode 114: Marc Lynch from 2016-06-12T20:49:22
The Worst Dictatorship You Have Never Heard Of from 2016-06-08T18:09:38
The Gambia is a tiny country in western Africa. It's a narrow sliver on the ocean, surrounded by Senegal. It has a population of under 2 million, and according to my guest today, Jeffrey Smith, ...
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Episode 113 Shelly Culbertson from 2016-06-06T02:01:53
In her new book The Fires of Spring my guest today Shelly Culbertson travels to six countries in the Middle East and North Africa to describe for readers how each of these countries are...
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Should the Rio Olympics Be Cancelled over Zika? from 2016-06-02T00:41:01
Venezuela is on the Verge of Collapse from 2016-05-26T01:10:18
Venezuela is on a rapid and precipitous decline. You might even say, as my guest today Francisco Toro wrote in a recent piece in the Atlantic that Venezuela is falling apart. Between food, fuel,...
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Episode 111: Jennifer Harris from 2016-05-22T20:53:13
Jennifer Harris has devoted much of her career to studying what she calls "geo-economics," -- the ability of countries to shape world politics, diplomacy, and global affairs more broadly throug...
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How One Senator is Trying to Change the US-Saudi Relationship from 2016-05-18T15:10:19
Senator Chris Murphy wants to change a bedrock relationship in US foreign policy.
In April this year he introduced legislation to restrict arms sales to Saudi Arabia over that country's ...
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Episode 110: Calestous Juma from 2016-05-15T22:41:52
How to Fix a Broken Humanitarian System -- The World Humanitarian Summit Has Some Ideas from 2016-05-11T20:09:58
The international humanitarian system is stretched beyond capacity. In fact, it's fair to say it is broken.
The inability of the international community to confront multiple manmade and n...
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How Tom Vilsack and the US Department of Agriculture are Taking on Climate Change from 2016-05-07T20:53:17
What Would Happen if You Offered People Living in Extreme Poverty a Guaranteed Basic Income? from 2016-05-04T19:40:12
Paul Niehaus is undertaking a radical experiment. His organization, Give Directly, wants to find out would happen if people living in extreme poverty were offered the guarantee of a basic income...
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Episode 109: Tom Nagorski from 2016-04-30T01:57:09
Tom Nagorski is a longtime TV editor reporter and producer for ABC news and is currently an executive vice president at the Asia Society.
Haitians in the Dominican Republic Face Statelessness from 2016-04-27T19:17:55
Episode 108: Kevin Rudd from 2016-04-24T18:38:23
Kevin Rudd is the former prime minister of Australia who knows China far better than most western leaders. He served from 2007 to 2010, and then again in 2013. These days, among other things, he...
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UN Secretary General Candidate Conversations: Srgjan Kerim from 2016-04-20T20:46:28
My guest today Srgjan Kerim is a diplomat with the soul of an artist, who wants to become the next UN Secretary General. Karim is the former foreign minister of Macedonia, was an official in the...
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UN Secretary General Candidate Conversations: Vesna Pusic from 2016-04-18T01:02:11
Vesna Pusic is the former foreign minister of Croatia and a candidate to become the next UN Secretary General. She's a sociologist by training. Politician and diplomat by practice and I caught u...
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Who Will Be the Next UN Secretary General? from 2016-04-14T20:42:24
Something extraordinary took place at the United Nations this week. For twenty hours, over three days, each candidate in the race to become the next UN secretary general submitted themselves to ...
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UN Secretary General Candidate Series: Danilo Turk from 2016-04-10T20:15:38
Danilo Turk is the former president of Slovenia and one of eight currently declared candidates to be the next United Nations Secretary General. He was president from 2007 to 2012 and also served...
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A New, Old Crisis in Western Sahara from 2016-04-06T19:53:14
Ban Ki moon visited a refugee camp in Algeria that is home to people displaced by conflict in Western Sahara and he uttered remarks that created a diplomatic maelstrom.
Episode 104: Mary Fitzgerald from 2016-04-01T18:38:36
Mary Fitzgerald is an Irish journalist who for the better part of five years has covered Libya, including the fall of Gaddafi, Libya's fractured politics, and the the rise of ISIS. Mary got her ...
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Meet the Next Big Global Environmental Treaty from 2016-03-30T19:06:22
Work started at the United Nations this week on the next big global enviromental treaty. The treaty would create rules of the road for management of the high seas. This would include provisions ...
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Anna Day 3:28:16, 12 54 PM from 2016-03-28T17:21:25
The last time I saw Anna Day we were both attending a conference in Dubai. That was just last month, in February. I hopped a plane back to the United States. She went to Bahrain, and was promptl...
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After Brussels, A Disasterous Deal for Refugees from 2016-03-24T01:37:21
The attacks in Brussels this week are accelerating an already heated conversation in Europe about the unrelenting movement of refugee from the Middle East to the continent.
Episode 102: Somini Sengupta from 2016-03-20T19:03:14
My guest today Somini Sengupta is the United Nations correspondent for the New York Times. She's the author of the new book The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India's Young which tel...
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How the Islamic State Came to Libya from 2016-03-16T20:56:23
The Islamic state is seemingly on the ascent in Libya. It controls territory, including the coastal city of Sirte, and over the past several weeks it has launched a series of spectacular attacks...
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Episode 101: Thomas Fuller from 2016-03-13T19:31:59
Thomas Fuller was the longtime Southeast Asia correspondent for the New York Times. He's now based in San Francisco, but his last posting from the region caught my attention. Fuller describes a ...
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Episode 100: Ashish Thakkar from 2016-03-06T22:30
Ashish Thakkar is an African entrepreneur who started his business at the age of 15 having just escaped from the Rwanda genocide. That business, the Mara Group, is now a multi-billion dollar ent...
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The War Crime of Cultural Destruction from 2016-03-02T23:03:17
On March 1 a man named Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi made an appearance at the international criminal court in the hague, and in so doing earned the dubious distinction of being the first person to ev...
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Episode 99: Raj Shah from 2016-02-26T20:40:16
Dr. Raj Shah served as the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, from 2010 to 2015. He was just 36 years old when he was appointed to this cabinet-level...
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The Global Implications of Apple V FBI from 2016-02-24T20:08:04
By now you have probably heard of the legal and public relations battle between the FBI and Apple. In short, the FBI is trying to force Apple to unlock the phone of one of the San Bernardino sho...
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Episode 98: Susan Benesch from 2016-02-21T21:28:43
Susan Benesch is the founding director of the Dangerous Speech Project. And in this role she has helped to create a set of guidelines that helps policy makers and observers deduce the conditions...
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Burundi is in a Tailspin from 2016-02-18T03:06
Burundi is in a tailspin. It has been for the last year since President Pierre Nkurinziza decided to run for a constitutionally dubious third term in office. That set off protests, a violent sup...
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From the World Government Summit in Dubai from 2016-02-11T20:55:02
I'm coming to you from World Government Summit this week, which is a conference dedicated to ideas and technologies to make government work more effectively. It's sort of a cross between TED ta...
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Episode 97: Michelle Mays from 2016-02-08T04:00
The Syrian Humanitarian Crisis Enters a New Phase from 2016-02-03T15:08:53
The United Kingdom plays host to a major conference this week intended to raise money and political support for the Syrian humanitarian disaster. There are now over 4.6 million Syrian refugees w...
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Episode 96: Raymond Baker from 2016-01-31T21:06:14
Raymond Baker was a newly minted Harvard Business School graduate working in Nigeria in the 1960s when he discovered that foreign businesses were nefariously sneaking money out of the country. A...
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The Coming Zika Crisis from 2016-01-27T20:57:37
Earlier this week the World Health Organization warned that a mosquito borne viral disease known as Zika was fast spreading throughout the Americas. That includes the United States, which it wil...
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Episode 95: Elizabeth Economy, and China's environmental challenges from 2016-01-22T22:39:57
Elizabeth Economy has for decades studied something that used to be considered somewhat obscure, but today is very much in vogue: the relationship between Chinese politics and economy to climate...
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The Psychology of Drone Strikes from 2016-01-20T16:16:57
Episode 95: Dan Byman from 2016-01-18T17:32:49
Dan Byman was fresh out of school when he took a job as an analyst for the CIA. Byman was a generalist, and they put him on a backwater Persian gulf desk in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Then ...
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Rwanda is on a Dangerous Path from 2016-01-13T22:28:10
Episode 94: Marcy Hersh understands the plight of female refugees from 2016-01-11T03:06:08
Marcy Hersh recently returned from a research trip to the Balkans, where she followed refugee women and girls as they made their way through Europe. Marcy is a senior advocacy officer with the w...
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Decision 2016: Who Will Become the Next UN Secretary General? from 2016-01-06T22:49:20
Happy New Year everyone! And what an interesting an exciting year this will be for the United Nations because the new year marks the semi-official kickoff of the race to select the next UN secre...
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An Update From Mark from 2015-12-30T17:56:01
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The Paris Agreement from 2015-12-16T14:35:17
Why Are So Many Eritreans Are Fleeing Their Country? from 2015-12-09T22:06:41
After Syrians and Afghans, the largest nationality of people who are fleeing as refugees to Europe are Eritreans. And the vast majority of Eritreans who are fleeing to Europe are young people be...
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Episode 90: Emma Sky from 2015-12-07T03:20:52
Why the Paris Climate Talks Are a Political Tipping Point from 2015-12-03T01:44:55
Unlike any other global climate or environment conference I've covered over the years, civil society and the activist community this time around is genuinely enthused about the Paris Climate Tal...
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Episode 89: Katie Meyler from 2015-12-01T01:25:01
Will the Paris Attacks Lead to a Dayton-Style Peace Plan for Syria? from 2015-11-18T20:51:49
Could the horrible attack in Paris might provide the kind of exogenous shock to the international system that could unstick international diplomacy on Syria and move the needle in right directio...
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The Life and Times of James P Grant, former UNICEF Director, as told by his biographer from 2015-11-13T21:05:53
James P Grant is not a household name. But he most certainly should be. Grant lead UNICEF from 1979 until his death in 1995, and as Nick Kristof once wrote he "probably saved more lives than wer...
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Paris Climate Talks: What You Need to Know from 2015-11-11T20:45:15
Playing the Devil's Advocate In International Relations from 2015-11-05T15:33:07
What Russia Wants from Syria from 2015-10-28T20:07:48
The Foreign Policy Implications of Canada's Elections from 2015-10-20T21:28:11
The Liberal party in Canada, lead by Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre, shocked the world with a big, big win in hotly contested national elections. The Liberal ascent ends a near decade in power fo...
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Episode 84: Felice Gaer from 2015-10-16T18:24:39
Felice Gaer has served on the UN Committee Against torture since 1999, making her the longest serving American elected to a UN Human Rights body. Though there is little power vested...
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My Wife Gave Birth to our Son in the Passenger Seat of our Toyota So This Episode Is About Maternal and Newborn Health from 2015-10-14T14:21:26
Christine Fair, a scholar of South Asian Security, speaks openly about sexual harassment in the IR field from 2015-10-09T17:12:31
Christine Fair is a respected scholar of South Asian politics and security. But her career path has been tough, with unnecessary obstacles in her way. In this episode, she speaks candidly about ...
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Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Victor Ochen Survived the LRA from 2015-10-06T17:44:36
The Nobel Peace Prize is announced on October 9. In March this year, Victor Ochen was nominated for the 2015 prize by the same organization the nominated previous laureates, Martin Luther King, ...
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Civil Rights Icon, UN Ambassador, Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young (Repost) from 2015-09-30T17:38:45
Andrew Young is a civil rights icon who was with his friend Martin Luther King Jr when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. In this interview, Young traces his a lifelong commitment to non-violenc...
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Introducing the Brand New Sustainable Development Goals from 2015-09-23T19:56:29
UN Week kicks off on a high note on Friday, with the opening of a special summit on the Sustainable Development Goals. Pope Francis will be one of the first to address the summit on Friday morni...
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UNGA Games from 2015-09-17T18:23:16
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Episode 81: Elmira Bayrasli from 2015-09-14T02:09:10
Elmira Bayrasli is the author of the new book "From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneu...
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Why Do Countries Build Walls? from 2015-09-09T19:50:49
Why do countries build fences and walls at their border and under what conditions are those walls and fences likely to work as intended? These questions are obviously topical right now, with the...
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Episode 80: Jina Moore from 2015-09-04T21:46:30
When Jina Moore was in Middle School she became intensely curious about the Holocaust, reading about every...
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The Refugee Crisis Comes to Europe's Doorstep from 2015-09-02T19:12:01
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Episode 79: Juliana Barbassa from 2015-08-30T23:22:19
My guest today, Juliana Barbassa is a journalist and the author of the new book Dancing with the <...
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This Gay Syrian Refugee Risked it All from 2015-08-26T21:16:18
Earlier this week the UN Security Council did something it's never done before: it held a meeting specific...
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The Worm Wars! from 2015-08-19T21:53:08
A New Ebola Vaccine Has Profound Global Implications from 2015-08-13T02:17:47
There is a new ebola vaccine. And it works spectacularly well. A recent paper in the Lancet demonstrated o...
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Colombia's FARC Insurgency May Be Coming to an End. But Can the Peace Hold? from 2015-08-05T20:58
The FARC Insurgency in Colombia has been raging for fifty years. And now, after a long peace process, it may soon ...
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South Sudan is in a Freefall from 2015-07-29T19:00:18
South Sudan is in a tailspin. On July 9, the country commemorated its 4th anniversary of independence but it was h...
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Episode 74: Jessica Jackley from 2015-07-27T13:37:20
Jessica Jackley co-founded Kiva and revolutionized micro-lending. Her new memoir Clay, Water, Brick tells the story of the founding of Kiva and her own personal journey from a religious family i...
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What Obama's Ethiopia Visit Says About His Africa Policy from 2015-07-26T14:50:16
This is a special bonus episode of Global Dispatches. Mark speaks with Prof Laura Seay about the implications of President Obama's decision to visit Ethiopia, and what it says about US policy to...
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Obama's Kenyan Homecoming from 2015-07-22T20:07:53
President Obama is visiting Kenya this week. This is his first trip to his father's country of birth since becoming president, and people in Kenya are certainly treating it like a homecoming. Listen
The IAEA and Iran from 2015-07-15T21:28:36
An Update....And A Question for all You Global Dispatchers from 2015-07-13T01:11:48
Taking a break this week. Instead, I wanted to give you all an update on where things are going with the podcast. Let me know what you think.
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Can a UN Conference in Ethiopia Solve the Riddle of Financing International Development from 2015-07-08T20:56:52
Episode 72: Anand Gopal from 2015-07-02T19:56:31
Anand Gopal's first book, "No Good Men Among the Living: America, The Taliban and The War through Afghan E...
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UN Peacekeeping is Facing Some Big Challenges. Can It Adapt? from 2015-07-02T14:32:18
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Episode 71: Stephen Morrison from 2015-06-29T18:04:25
The UN Charter Turns 70 Years Old. Here is How it Came to Life from 2015-06-24T15:41:08
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Episode 70: Paula Dobriansky from 2015-06-21T19:43:06
Paula Dobriansky served as Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs for pretty much the entire Geo...
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A Fugitive from the International Criminal Court Escapes from South Africa from 2015-06-17T20:26:07
Earlier this month, the African Union held a summit in South Africa. Among the attendees was Omar al Bashi...
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Can ISIS Be Contained? The White House is Betting On It from 2015-06-10T20:01:46
It was a year ago this week that the Iraqi city of Mosul--the second largest city in country--fell to ISIS. The lo...
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Episode 68: Olivier Bancoult and Chagossian Exile from 2015-06-07T20:01:55
What Air Conditioners Can Teach Us About International Development from 2015-06-03T23:12:58
Episode 67: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon from 2015-06-01T01:58:50
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a journalist and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who in April published...
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Why Most Foreign Aid Does Not Go To the Poorest Countries from 2015-05-27T20:33:05
Here's a statistic that may surprise you: most foreign aid does not go to the poorest countries on earth. In fact,...
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The Rohingya Refugee Crisis from 2015-05-20T23:06:55
A dangerous game of human pingpong is underway in the Adaman Sea between Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Thousands of Rohingya, a Muslim minority primarily from Myanmar, are adrift at...
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Episode 65: Jean-Marie Guéhenno from 2015-05-15T13:58:53
Jean-Marie Guéhenno is the president of the International Crisis Group and long serving head of UN Peacekeeping. He comes from an interesting background-...
Burundi on a Knife's Edge from 2015-05-13T17:05:19
Burundi is in the midst of a deepening political crisis that has many observers extremely worried about the prospects of mass violence. Dozens of people have been killed and tens of thousands of...
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Epsiode 64: Reza Aslan from 2015-05-08T20:53:10
Reza Aslan is arguably the most influential scholar of religion in America today. He's best known for mixing it up with the likes of Bill Maher and explaining the basics of the academic study of...
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The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Means Business from 2015-05-06T22:27:14
The advent of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, sometimes called a Chinese-led rival to the World Bank, is one of the most genuinely interesting developments in global affairs. Thought n...
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Episode 63: Albina du Boisrouvray from 2015-05-03T17:02:26
Albina du Boisrouvray is a French countess who sold her family heirlooms to start an anti poverty NGO. She was born into one of the wealthiest families in the world and was a successful film pro...
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Nepal Dodges a Bullet from 2015-04-30T01:48:29
Two years ago, I asked a top UN expert in disaster to desc...
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Episode 62: Fareed Zakaria from 2015-04-27T12:21:42
Fareed Zakaria shares stories about his upbringing in India and the influence of his die-hard pro-American mother and Indian nationalist father. He discusses his intellectual journey from a midd...
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Earthquake in Nepal: "Our Nightmare Scenario," says UN Official from 2015-04-25T13:45:45
An eart...
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Inside the Fight Against Malaria from 2015-04-22T18:56:14
Humanity is winning the fight against Malaria, but we still have a long way to go. Since the advent of the Global Fund, the Millennium Development Goals and the President's Malaria Initiative, d...
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Episode 61: Juliette Kayyem from 2015-04-20T01:00:06
Juliette...
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Palestinians in Syria: Stuck in "The Deepest Circle of Hell" from 2015-04-15T20:22:08
When the Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus was overrun by ISIS, a bad situation got much worse. Ban Ki moon called it "the deepest circle of hell" and UN humanitarian agencies are struggling...
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Yemen is a Hot Mess from 2015-04-08T22:14:53
Yemen is the latest country in the region to collapse. Shi'ite rebels have taken control of much of the country and Saudi Arabia has launched a military campaign to re-install the ousted governm...
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Episode 59: Caryl Stern from 2015-04-06T01:16:32
Caryl Stern is the president and CEO of the United States Fund for UNICEF. This is the big fundraising arm (think "trick or treat for UNICEF") of one of the most important humanitarian organizat...
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The Iran Nuke Deal-- How the Inspections Will Work from 2015-04-02T01:18:26
International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors are going to play a critical role in any final deal with Iran. But who are these inspectors? What do they do? What can't they do? Mark speaks with f...
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Episode 58: Victor Ochen from 2015-03-30T01:38:18
Victor Ochen grew up in displaced persons camps in Northern Uganda, fleeing from the Lord's Resistance Army. He emerged from that difficult situation to become a civic leader and peacemaker. And...
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The Nigeria Elections from 2015-03-25T17:38:23
Nigerians go to the polls on March 28 in consequential elections that could decide the future of Africa's largest democracy. Incumbent Goodluck Jonathan is facing a tight race with Muhammdu Buha...
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Episode 57: Jessica Stern from 2015-03-23T02:09:05
Jessica Stern was a mid level National Security Council staffer when Hollywood literally came calling. Nicole Kidman portrayed a fictionalized version of her work as a nuclear security analyst i...
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Israeli Elections--What Happened and What it Means for Peace from 2015-03-18T16:57:53
Benjamin Netanyahu secured a substantial victory in the Israel's elections this week. The consequences of this right wing victory will be profound both for Israeli politics and the prospects for...
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Episode 56: Todd Moss from 2015-03-15T14:45:09
Todd Moss is a true international development wonk. ...
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Guinea Worm Disease is Tantalizingly Close to Global Eradication from 2015-03-11T21:57:37
Guinea Worm eradication is near. Guinea Worm is a waterborne di...
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Why Healthcare Systems in the Developing World Need a Shot in the Arm from 2015-03-05T00:02:04
The ebola crisis demonstrated that countries with very weak health care systems are extremely vulnerable to a preventable disease outbreak. Now that the crisis is on the wane, organizations are ...
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Episode 55: Sarah Margon from 2015-03-01T18:25:25
Sarah Margon is the Washington director of Human Rights Watch. She's spent her career fighting for human rights in Africa and beyond, but took a somewhat circuitousListen
What We Know About What We Don't Know About International Development from 2015-02-16T23:17:33
How good are the data that drives international development policies? It turns out, not that great. This week's episode comes in two parts. In part 1, Mark speaks with Morten Jerven, author of "...
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A Stunning Turn of Events in Sri Lanka from 2015-02-16T21:45:45
Sri Lankans stunned the world--and probably themselves--when th...
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Episode 53: Leila Zerrougui from 2015-02-14T02:50:04
Leila Zerrougui is the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict. It's her job to help free child soldiers and ensure that children are spared from the worst effects ...
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Migrant Ship Disasters in the Mediterranean from 2015-02-12T00:59:14
There is a tragedy unfolding in the Mediterranean sea. Migrants trying to reach an Italian island off the coast of Libya are dying by the boatload, and Europe is turning a blind eye. Just this w...
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Measles Around the World from 2015-02-04T22:22:44
The measles outbreak in the United States is an aberration. Sin...
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Episode 51: Ambassador Susan Jacobs from 2015-02-02T02:39:24
Boko Haram and the Nigerian Elections from 2015-01-28T23:42:29
The Boko Haram insurgency is intensifying precisely as Nigerians prepare to go the polls in hotly contested elections. Earlier this month, the group pulled off their deadliest attack to date (th...
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Episode 50: Trita Parsi from 2015-01-25T21:30:47
Trita Parsi is the founder of the National Iranian American Council. He tells Mark the story of his family's escape from Iran to Sweden during the revolution, and how he eventually came to Washi...
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Obama in India from 2015-01-22T00:27:07
President Obama visits India this week. This means that for the first time in history, a US President will visit India twice while in office. Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institute discusses the...
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Can We Really End Extreme Poverty? from 2015-01-14T22:31:14
In September delegates at the United Nations will decide upon a set of Sustainable Development Goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals, which are expiring. The SDGs will almost certain...
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Stories that will Drive the Agenda at the United Nations in 2015 from 2015-01-08T15:43:29
2015 will be a big year for the United Nations. Richard Gowan of New York University and host Mark Leon Goldberg discuss the debates, events, and ideas that are going to drive the agenda at the ...
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Name Your Favorite Foreign Policy Book of All Time from 2014-12-24T20:07:19
This is a special edition of Global Dispatches Podcast for the holidays! Leave me a voicemail at 202 780 5166 and tell me what book about the world inspired you the most? What book shaped your w...
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How the Pope Helped Seal the Cuba Deal from 2014-12-18T03:37:05
Pope Francis and the Vatican played a key role in brokering the historic resumption of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States. This was high diplomacy, Vatican style. Father Tho...
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Episode 45: Aaron David Miller from 2014-12-14T22:30
Aaron David Miller has been at the center of nearly every major Arab-Israeli peace initiative since the late 1980s. The historian and Middle East exp...
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An Ebola Fighter Speaks from 2014-12-10T17:55:44
Time Magazine named Ebola Fighters as their 2014 Persons of the Year. Mark spok...
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Episode 44: Samantha Nutt from 2014-12-07T23:44:34
Dr. Samantha Nutt is the founder of War Child, a group that assists children and their families in con...
High Stakes Diplomacy at the Climate Change Talks in Lima, Peru from 2014-12-03T23:47:54
Delegates from around the world are in Lima, Peru for the latest round of international climate talks, known as "COP20." The climate change conference is not getting a tremendous amount of media...
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Episode 42: Howard French from 2014-11-24T02:47:58
The journalist Howard French spent a career covering West Africa and China for...
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The Geopolitical Implications of an Iran Nuclear Deal from 2014-11-20T14:58:35
The USA and Iran may remake the geopolitics of the Middle East with a successful outcome of a nuclear deal. Failure to reach a nuclear agreement between the USA and Iran will come with its own s...
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Episode 41: Kori Schake from 2014-11-17T14:43:37
Kori Schake is a Republican foreign policy advisor who served in various positions in the George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations before joining the McCain-Palin campaign in...
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The Rohingya of Myanmar from 2014-11-12T21:14:16
The Rohingya are a religious and ethnic minority in Myanmar that faces horrid abuse and discrimination by Burmese authorities. As the politics of Myanmar lurches toward representative democracy,...
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Episode 40: Tom Hart from 2014-11-10T01:26:42
Tom Hart was at the center of the...
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The Foreign Policy Implications of the U.S. Midterm Elections from 2014-11-05T16:23:38
The foreign policy implications of the U.S. midterms could be profound. How might Republican control of the U.S. Senate affect the on-going and sensitive nuclear negotiations with Iran? How woul...
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Episode 39: Erica Chenoweth from 2014-11-03T02:00:13
Erica Chenoweth is a pioneering academic whose ground breaking ...
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What Ebola Reveals About Americans' Understanding of Africa from 2014-10-23T16:39:14
The ebola outbreak and its importation to the United States has unleashed a wave of panic in the United States that reveals the paucity of Americans' knowledge and understanding of Africa. I spe...
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The Sustainable Development Goals--What You Need to Know from 2014-10-16T17:14:55
The Millennium Development Goals are expiring in 2015 and they will be replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals. This is a big year for international development--and humanity -- as complex...
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In an historic first, a president faces charges at the International Criminal Court from 2014-10-09T14:40:40
For the first time in the history of the world, a sitting head of state is attending his trial for crimes against humanity. The head of state is Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta. The venue is the ...
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Episode 35: Scott Guggenheim from 2014-10-06T15:15:55
Scott Guggenheim is the most influential development expert that you've never heard of. The writer Rebecca Hamilton sits in for Mark today and interviews Guggenheim about his pioneering model of...
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Somaly Mam, in her own words from 2014-10-02T14:22:18
Somaly Mam is on the line today. She is the Cambodian anti-sex trafficking activist who came to prominence a few years ago as celebrities in the west rallied around her and her organization. Tha...
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How the UN Helps Fight Terrorism from 2014-09-23T21:37:59
The Big UN Climate Summit from 2014-09-17T19:57:09
Hundreds of world leaders are descending on the United Nations ...
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Episode 33: Ruth Messinger from 2014-09-15T13:42:31
Ruth Messinger cut her teeth in New York Cit...
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The Crisis in the Central African Republic from 2014-09-11T17:00:03
The Central African Republic is far from the headlines these days, which is unfortunate. Things are bad, but there's a potential that the situation may improve in the coming weeks as the current...
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Obama's Syria Dilemma from 2014-09-04T16:53:40
It looks increasingly likely that the United States will expand its military operations against ISIS to Syria. Mark speak with William McCants of the Brookings Institution about the prospects an...
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The Fear of Ebola from 2014-08-28T18:48:14
In many ways, the fear of ebola is more deadly and consequential than the virus itself. Jina Moore of BuzzFeed just returned from a reporting trip to Liberia where she detailed how the outbreak ...
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An Update for All You Global Dispatchers from 2014-08-25T02:00:19
Hi all-
No interview this week. Rather, after 30 longform interviews I thought it was a good time to take a quick break and update you all on where I want to take this podcast.
<...
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South Sudan's Looming Famine from 2014-08-21T15:29:18
South Sudan is quite possibly on the verge of famine. The conflict that erupted in December shows little signs of abating. The peace process is halting and in the meantime the humanitarian situa...
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Sex Slaves in Iraq from 2014-08-14T13:49:44
The United Nations released a grave warning this week that some 1,500 women have been captured as sex slaves by the Sunni extremist group that is rampaging through parts of Iraq and Syria. Mark ...
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The International Criminal Court's Palestine Problem from 2014-08-07T13:40:38
Episode 28: Nancy Birdsall from 2014-08-04T13:33:29
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How to Negotiate a Gaza Ceasefire from 2014-07-24T16:44:18
As the conflict in Gaza drags on, there's a renewed diplomatic effort to secure a ceasefire. Mark speaks with Michael Hanna of the Century Foundation about the complex diplomatic efforts underwa...
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Episode 26: Helene Gayle from 2014-07-21T13:39:28
CARE CEO Helene Gayle is on the line this week....
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HIV/AIDS - How Humanity is Winning the Fight from 2014-07-17T16:08:52
In the fight between humanity and the AIDS virus, humanity is winning. That is the top line conclusion you can draw from the newest global data about HIV/AIDS from the United Nations. Erin Hofhe...
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A Child Migrant's Perspective from 2014-07-10T13:43:57
There is a refugee crisis in the USA. ...
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Live from the UN 2014, Part 2 from 2014-07-07T13:14:38
It's a special edition of the podcast t...
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Inside the Iran Nuke Talks from 2014-07-03T13:25:22
All eyes are on Vienna as delegations from the United States, Germany, France, the UK, Russia and China meet with Iranian officials in a final push to secure a comprehensive agreement over Iran'...
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Turkey's Strategic View of the Iraq Crisis from 2014-06-26T13:35:51
Turkish foreign policy is always a ...
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Live from the UN, 2014 (Part 1) from 2014-06-23T14:18:12
Something different on the podcast this week! I recent sat down with a number of officials at the United Nations as part of Talk Radio Day 2014. This is an annual event hosted by the United Nati...
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A UN View of the Iraq Crisis from 2014-06-19T16:27:11
From the perspective of the United Nations, the crisis in Iraq cannot be disaggregated from the crisis in Syria.
In this special edition of Global Dispatches, I speak with the United Nati...
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Egypt After the Counter Revolution from 2014-06-05T13:21:59
Egypt's ex Army Chief Abdel Fatah al Sisi won election this week (with an astounding 96% of the vote!) The ascent of this Mubarak-era military functionary speaks to the profound failure of Egypt...
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What Obama Left Out of His Big Foreign Policy Speech from 2014-05-29T14:44:57
President Obama's commencement address to West Point Graduates this week was billed by the White House as a major foreign policy address. But there were some conspicuous absences from the talk. ...
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Why Libya is Suddenly on the Verge of Civil War from 2014-05-22T13:48:02
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The Foreign Policy Implications of India's Elections from 2014-05-15T13:21:57
The largest excerise in democracy in t...
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Episode 15: Laura Turner Seydel on Philanthropy and Captain Planet from 2013-12-02T15:14:09
The scion of Ted Turner is forging a new phila...
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Episode 14: Douglas Ollivant on Iraq's Violent Death Spiral from 2013-11-01T14:14:28
Iraq is in the midst of an unrelenting descent ...
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Episode 13: Gary Bass from 2013-10-17T18:46:28
The historian Gary Bass has penned a new book that is getting r...
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Episode 12: Mark Montgomery from 2013-08-01T15:40:11
Mark Leon Goldberg speaks with the demo...
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Episode 10: Live from the UN, Volume II from 2013-07-10T18:36:48
Doing things a little differently this week. Mark conducts a series of back-to-back-to-back interviews with experts from around the United Nations. Interesting, wonky discussions were had! Here ...
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Special World Refugee Day Edition from 2013-06-20T17:04
In this special edition of Global Dispatches, Mark Leon Goldberg interviews Shelly Pitterman of the UN Refugee Agency. Today, June 20th, is World Refugee Day and earlier this week the UN High Co...
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Episode 8: Suzanne Nossel from 2013-06-19T16:20
Mark Leon Goldberg speaks with Suzanne Nossel, ...
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Episode 7: Live from the UN, Vol I from 2013-06-12T16:18:12
We are doing something a little different today. Instead of one in depth interview, Mark chats with several experts who work for various arms of the United Nations.
Here's the set up: T...
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Episode 6: PJ Crowley, former State Department Spokesperson from 2013-06-05T19:34:24
On the line this week is PJ Crowley, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Mark and PJ talk about the role of public diplomacy in US foreign policy, PJ's long career in the...
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Episode 4: Arsalan Iftikhar, "The Muslim Guy" from 2013-05-22T16:15:20
You probably know him as "The Muslim Guy." Arsalan Iftikhar is a civil rights lawyer and popular media commentator who fights daily against widespread bigotry facing Muslim Americans. In our con...
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Episode 2: Laura Seay, aka @TexasinAfrica from 2013-05-08T16:30
In this week's episode, I talk with Dr. Laura Seay who you probably know better as @TexasinAfrica. I learn how the daughter of a preacher from a cotton farming community near Lubbock became one ...
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Episode 1: Heather Hurlburt from 2013-04-30T20:05
Executive Director of the National Security Network Heather Hurlburt kicks off the new podcast series. She discuses why Syria is a such a vexing dillemma for Obama; how different generations of ...
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