Global Dispatches -- Conversations On Foreign Policy And World Affairs

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," flips that idea on its head and demonstrates how governments have exploited economic integration to pursue their foreign policy goals and compel foreign adversaries.  Guest: Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts and co-editor of the new book The Uses and Abuses of Weaponized Interdependence  https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches   

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 severity of COVID and now deaths are spiking in South America's largest country. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro's rival, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is poised for a comeback in elections next year after a stunning court decision.  Guest:  Leticia Casado, a journalist and stringer for the New York Times who is based in Brasilia.  

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 would mean for the United States and how a feminist foreign policy is one that necessarily must also embrace multilateralism. Guest: Devon Cone, Senior advocate for women and girls at Refugees International. 

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 and independent media is a key guardrail for a free and open society -- yet many media organizations in the developing world are struggling to stay afloat.  Guest: Nishant Lalwani, managing director of Luminate, and driving force behind a new International Fund for Public Interest Media. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

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.   Since then the fighting has gotten worse and the humanitarian impact for people living in Tigray has been catastrophic. Guest: William Davison, a senior analyst for Ethiopia for International Crisis Group discusses how and why this conflict started, and where it may be headed next.  Premium subscriptions: https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches   

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 key members of her ruling party.  This coup is a major setback for Myanmar's transition to democracy and a key foreign policy challenge for the new Biden administration.  Why was there a coup in Myanmar and what happens next?  Guest:  John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director Human Rights Watch. Premium Subscription: https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches 

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 effective COVID-19 vaccines. Ghana became the first country to receive COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX when 600,000 doses landed at the airport in Accra.  On hand to receive these doses was an old friend of mine, Owusu Akoto. He is the founder and CEO of a Ghanian cold chain logistics company called Freezelink.  It was an historic day for COVAX, a hopeful day for Ghana and an exciting moment for my friend who started this company just a couple years ago as a social enterprise to combat food waste in Ghana.  He explains the sometimes unheralded role that cold chain technologies and logistics play in a country's economic and social development. https://www.humanityinaction.org/ 

The conflict in Yemen is entering a new phase. The Houthi rebel group that controls much of the country is launching a new offensive in an oil rich region of the country. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has breathed new life into international diplomatic efforts to end the war by ending US support to the Saudi Arabia lead military campaign.  This episode examines how the Yemen conflict has evolved over the years and where it may be headed next.  Guest: Gregory D. Johnsen, Brookings Institute and former member of the UN Security Council's Panel of Experts on  Yemen.

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 investment in coal.  Steckel along with his research collaborator Michael Jakob are coordinating a series of global case studies to understand the non-economic factors associated with investment in coal-fired power. This episode, produced in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Transitions Initiative (SETI) examines how politics drives new investments in coal in the developing world. Their framework is published online here, and a case study on Vietnam is published here.    

President Biden must soon make a key decision about American troop levels in Afghanistan. There are currently about 2,500 American troops in Afghanistan, but under a deal negotiated last year between the United States and the Taliban all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by May 2021.  This deal was negotiated by the Trump administration and it is unclear whether or not the new Biden administration will honor it. Guest: Jessica Donati of the Wall Street Journal, author of Eagle Down: The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War.      

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 in the United states is seeking to leave its mark on international climate action. The geo-politics of this moment in climate diplomacy are complex and the new administration must skillfully navigate a path forward in order to make good on its promise to treat climate change like the priority it is.  Guest: Rachel Kyte, Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University.  Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the Better World Campaign as part of a series  examining the opportunities for strengthening multilateral engagement by the new Biden-Harris administration and the incoming 117th Congress. To learn more and access additional episodes in this series, please visit http://getusback.org/

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 allow large corporations to dictate the price of agricultural goods.  Now, the apparently ever growing size of these farmer protests, particularly around New Delhi, have brought worldwide attention to these mass protests.  Guest: Michael Kugelman, the Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center.      

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 the world. As USAID goes, so goes global development. As Samantha Power prepares to lead USAID, this episode examines the global development priorities the new administration may pursue.  Guest: Sarah Rose, policy fellow at Center for Global Development.

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.  Peace-builder and advocate Joel Brunold explains how the Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, recently passed by US Congress, can build momentum for a lasting resolution to longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.    

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 Ben Rhodes explains Aung San Suu Kyi's rise to prominence in Burmese politics and how she ultimately fell from grace as a human rights icon, once revered in the West. The episode covers the political dynamics and recent history of Myanmar that lead to the January 31 military coup (hence the re-release.)     

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 humanitarian supplies is imported to CAR from neighboring Cameroon. The capitol city, Bangui is under an effective siege.   On the line to discuss what is happening in the Central African Republic is Hans de Marie Heungoup, the Central Africa senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. 

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.  Navalny returned to Russia and was promptly arrested.  On the line with me to discuss the significance of these protests and what they signal about politics in Russia today is Michael McFaul, who served as US Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.  Link to McFaul's International Security article Support the Show!   

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 already fragile health system. But Nigerian officials have not been able to secure any doses of any COVID-19 vaccine for their frontline health workers--let alone general population. My guest today, Dr. Faisal Shuaib heads Nigeria's National Primary Healthcare Development Agency and a member of the country's COVID-19 task force. He explains the impact of the COVID--19 in Nigeria and the difficult task of securing doses of the vaccine.  

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 year old music star turned politician who goes by the stage name Bobi Wine. Museveni claimed victory and his security forces have laid siege to Wine's home.   On the line to help me understand the current state of play of the fraught election and its aftermath in Uganda is Rosebell Kagumire. She is a writer and editor at a the publication African Feminism and I caught up with her from Kampala, Uganda. 

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 and biological weapons -- that is, prohibit their use on humanitarian grounds.  Nobel Peace Prize winning Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, discusses exactly this treaty obliges of its member states and also the broader politics surrounding the effort to get countries to sign onto the treaty.           Beatrice Finh -- exec dir of int'l camp to abolish nuclear weapins