Global Dispatches -- Conversations On Foreign Policy And World Affairs

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 the Sudanese military purged the civilians from their leadership positions, including arresting the prime minister. On the line with me to discuss this coup and what comes next is Cameron Hudson. He is a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former chief of staff in the office of the special advisor to Sudan at the US State Department. We taped our conversation live using Twitter Spaces. This is a new platform that Twitter has rolled out allowing audio conversations to take place on its platform. Follow me on Twitter to join the next live taping 

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 deal of speculation that it was motivated by a desire to burnish the image of the Saudi ruler.  What is not speculation is that overnight Newcastle United  became the richest soccer team in the world. On the line with me to explain the significance of Saudi Arabia's purchase of Newscastle United is Alex Ward, national security reporter at Politico and anchor of the National Security Daily newsletter.

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 that examine the relationship between climate and security. I moderate a panel discussion in which experts discuss and explain the need for a coherent approach to climate security across multiple policy sectors. Introductory remarks are given by Rob Vos Director of Markets, Trade and Institutions Division, CGIAR who frames the conversation before I moderate the panel. To view other episodes in this series and to participate in a future live taping of the podcast please visit climatesecurity.cgiar.org.

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 thousands of children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO's backing of this Malaria vaccine is both a breakthrough in scientific research and an important moment in human history. Margaret McDonnell, executive director of Nothing But Nets at the UN Foundation, explains why this new malaria vaccine is so promising    

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's Liberation Front.  William Davison of the International Crisis Group explains how the civil war in Ethiopia has evolved in recent weeks and describes the ongoing calamitous humanitarian impact of the conflict in Ethiopia.   

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 of International Studies and director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the University of Denver. He has written extensively about the tapestry of Chinese institutions that inform foreign policy decision making, and in this conversation explains the key players that shape how Chinese foreign policy is made.   

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 examining the relationship between climate variability and security. In today's episode, I moderate a panel discussion in which experts discuss the relationship between climate variability, migration and security in Latin America.  To participate in future live tapings of the podcast as part of this series, please visit ClimateSecurity.cgiar.org  

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 whether or not the government of China will let Evergrande collapse -- and whether or not the collapse of this real estate giant will have knock on effects throughout the region and the world? Richard Vague is Secretary of Banking and Securities for Pennsylvania and an author who has written extensively about global financial crises. He explains how debt has fueled economic growth in China and discusses the potential international implications of Evergrande's insolvency. We kick off discussing how Evergrande got buried in such deep debt and what that says about the role of debt in fueling China's massive economic growth over the past decade. He then explains some policy options available to the Chinese government and some of the potential international implications of Evergrande's insolvency. Richard Vague's article

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 Africa in the last 12 months. David Zounmenou, senior research consultant at the Institute for Security Studies, explains the circumstances that lead to this coup. He also explains how events in Guinea fit into a broader regional trends in which once duly elected presidents become authoritarian and are deposed in a coup.    

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 with CGIAR for a special series that examines the relationship between climate and security and in today's episode we explore how Africa is experiencing and approaching the climate security nexus -- in particular how institutions in Africa and beyond are responding to climate security crises.  The episode kicks off with some introductory remarks from Harold Roy Mcauley, Regional Director, East and Southern Africa, One CGIAR, and Director General of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice). I then moderate a panel discussion. To participate in a future live taping as part of this series, please visit climatesecurity.cgiar.org  

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 analysis from UNGA, in partnership with the UN Foundation.  Today's episode was recorded Friday afternoon, September 24. Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, discusses ongoing diplomacy on the crisis in Afghanistan.  Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation, discusses her key takeaways from this week in diplomacy. Kanika Chawla, Programme Manager with UN Energy, Sustainable Energy For All explains the significant outcomes from a major meeting on Energy and Energy transitions called the High Level Dialogue on Energy.  Link mentioned: https://ourfutureagenda.org/report/

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 analysis from UNGA, in partnership with the UN Foundation.  Today's episode was recorded Thursday afternoon, September 23. Dr. Jemimah Njuki, Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute, discusses the significant outcomes from a much-anticipated Food Systems Summit. Ireland's Ambassador to the United Nations Geraldine Byrne Geraldine Byrne Nason explains why Ireland chaired a unique meeting on climate security at the Security Council and Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group discusses the key outcomes from this meeting. 

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 analysis from of UNGA, in partnership with the UN Foundation.  Today's episode was recorded Wednesday afternoon, September 22. Kate Dodson, vice president for global health at the United Nations Foundation explains the big outcomes from a major COVID Summit convened by the White House. Also, Panama Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the work of a senior diplomat during UNGA. 

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 analysis from of UNGA, in partnership with the UN Foundation.  Today's episode was recorded Tuesday afternoon, September 21. Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group and Anjali Dayal of Fordham University discuss the key takeaways from speeches by world leaders, including Joe Biden and Antonio Guterres. We also discuss some important stories to follow from the United Nations during the week ahead. 

The annual opening of the UN General Assembly is always one the most important weeks on the diplomatic calendar. The podcast has partnered with the United Nations Foundation to provide listeners with daily news and expert analysis about what is driving the diplomatic agenda at the United Nations during this key week. Today, we speak with UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed who articulates her priorities for #UNGA76. We then turn to climate diplomacy expert Yamide Dagnet of the World Resources Institute who explains the significant moments in climate diplomacy this week. 

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 with CGIAR, the world's largest agricultural innovation network and features a panel discussion examining the links between food systems and action needed to confront climate change.   

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 crisis; the 2015 refugee and migrant crisis; Brexit, Crimea, Trump, COVID, and much more.  Throughout it all, Angela Merkel has been the de-facto leader of the European Union. On the line with me to discuss some of the significant moments in Angela Merkel's 16 years as Chancellor of Germany is Constanze Stelzenmüller, the Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and Transatlantic Relations at the Brookings Institution. 

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 agencies like the World Food Program. Meanwhile, the Security Council's role in managing the political transition in Afghanistan is unclear, and many of the Taliban's senior leadership are still under UN sanction On the line with me to discuss the UN's role in the new Afghanistan is Mark Malloch Brown. He is the President of the Open Society Foundations and had long career at the United Nations, including as administrator of the UN Development Program and as the Deputy UN Secretary General.  

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 in community based peace-building work. I was eager to speak with her because it is very unclear to me and to the entire international community the extent to which NGOs will be able to operate under Taliban rule.  As Zurha Bahman explains, she is eager to get back to her work and life in Afghanistan -- but only if certain conditions are met. To that end, she is urging engagement with the Taliban to enable development and humanitarian NGOs to work in the country on behalf of the Afghan people. 

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 links between climate variability and security.  The episode features a discussion amongst a panel of experts who explore the relationship between security and land use, including forestry. Visit https://climatesecurity.cgiar.org/ to register for the next live event in this series.