Global Dispatches -- Conversations On Foreign Policy And World Affairs

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 2005 to 2015 he served as the UN High Commissioner for refugees and before that he served as Prime Minister of Portugal.  His term begins on January 1st and I thought it would be useful and interesting to learn more about Guterres from two distinct perspectives.   This episode is in two parts. First, I speak with the Portuguese political commentator Pedro adao e Silva who discusses Guterres' political career in Portugal and more broadly the political context in which Guterres emerged as a national leader and political figure. We discuss some of the key moments of his term as Prime Minister and how his background and experience in the Portuguese revolution against a authoritarian regime may shape his performance as Secretary General.   Next, I speak with Michel Gabaudan, who is the president of the advocacy organization R

At the United Nations last month there was a major meeting at the sidelines of the General Assembly about an issue called anti-microbial resistance. This meeting did not make much news outside the UN bubble, but it was arguably the single most meaningful thing to happen at the United Nations in months.    Anti-microbial resistance is one of the worst global health crises in the world that gets the least amount of attention. The short story is that the antibiotics we use to treat common infections are becoming less and less effective. There are many reasons for this, including the overuse of antibiotics in livestock and the over-prescription of these drugs for humans. The implications of ever-increasing anti-biotic resistance is exceedingly profound for both the health and wealth of our entire planet. The foundation of modern medicine is in peril.    On the line with me to discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance, its origins, and what the international community is doing to confront it is Elizabeth Tayler

The 52 year civil war in Colombia between the government and the Marxist rebel group the FARC is the longest running conflict in the Western Hemisphere. But after years of painstaking negotiations, the conflict looked as if it is finally coming to an end. There is ceasefire, and a peace deal was signed in September between FARC's leader and the president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos.    The government promised to put the peace deal to a final vote among the people of Colombia in a popular referendum, and low and behold, when the vote was taken in early October voters rejected the deal.      On the line with me to discuss the referendum results, the peace deal, and the implications of this failure to formally end this civil war is James Bargent, a freelance journalist based in Colombia. I caught up with James while he was in Medellin just days after the vote and he does an excellent job of describing the political climate that lead to this result, and games out scenarios for what happens next in this now qui

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-Awlaki and President Obama's decision to kill him. al-Awlaki was an American born man of Yemeni descent. He was a charismatic preacher who later moved to Yemen and joined an al Qaeda affiliate. In 2011 he was killed by a US drone strike, making him the fist American since the civil war to be deliberately assassinated by his own government.  Scott Shane's book is a masterpiece that won the 2016 Lionel Gerber prize for best international affairs book. It's now out in paper back. And unlike most episodes where we spend the first 10 or fifteen minutes speaking about an author's new book before exploring their own life story, Scott and I spend the bulk of our conversation telling the remarkable and gripping story of al-Awlaki before talking about Scott's own career. 

When a building is bombed, a group of volunteers known as the White Helmets rush to the scene to dig through rubble to find survivors. In a conflict known for its never-ending descent into depravity, this one group stands apart as true servants of humanity.    On the line to discuss their work is Orlando von Einsiedel, who directed the new Netflix documentary "The White Helmets." The film follows members of the Aleppo contingent of the Syrian Civil Defense Corps as they go on rescue and training missions.   The White Helmets are unarmed and apolitical. But as Russia and Syrian forces have intensified the battle for eastern Aleppo, the White Helmets have increasingly been a target themselves. In the last week alone, four of their bases in Aleppo have been targeted and they are often the victims of a bombing strategy known as "double tap" in which a second bomb is unleashed on a civilian target just as rescue workers are arriving on the scene.    In this conversation, director Orlando von Einsiedel -- whose cre

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 audience organized by New York chapter of the group Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, YPFP. Sarah Sewall kicks off telling some behind the scenes stories from her week at the UN and describing what it's like being a top US diplomat during the busiest week on the diplomatic calendar. We then discuss some of the substantive issues she is working on relating to countering violent extreemism and terrorism through diplomacy and development. She also recounts her ground breaking career path that lead her from her home in Maine to the highest reaches of foreign policy making. And finally, we take some questions from the audience.   This was taped live at the SLC Conference Center in mid-town Manhattan.    -----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast -->  http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/sup

The UN General Assembly kicks into high gear this week as world leaders flock to New York for the annual UN summit. There are many story lines for international affairs nerds to follow, and on the line with me to break them all down is Richard Gowen, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations.    Richard and I offer a preview of the big stories, high drama, and possible moments of intrigue that are sure to be present at one of the most important weeks ever year for global affairs.    Before we kick off, I have a special announcement--actually an invitation. I will be holding a live taping of Global Dispatches with Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall and you are cordially invited to attend. She is the highest ranking State Department official dealing with human rights, terrorism, refugees, and other issues related to civilian security, rights, and democracy, and it should be a fantastic conversation that will include some audience participation.   The event is organized in conjunction with the g

-----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast -->  http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/  World leaders gather at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. There will be much political drama and diplomatic storylines that I'll discuss in a later episode. But behind all the politics and drama are issues of substance -- and arguably the most important substantive issues on the table relate to the global refugee crisis.  There will be two high profile summits at the UN related to refugees. The first is organized by the United Nations itself, called the "Summit for Refugees and Migrants." The second is being organized by President Obama and is the "Leaders Summit on Refugees."   Taken together, these two high level meetings at the UN have the potential to provide an important inflection point in the international community's attempt to address the largest global displacement crisis since World War Two.    On the line to help me to help put t

-----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast -->  http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/  The crisis in Yemen is getting worse by the day. Hospitals are being bombed, seemingly at a routine frequency; some 10,000 people have been killed; and extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and ISIS have gained a foothold in parts of the country.    Yemen is the region's poorest country. And, since the Arab Spring, it's also been one of the most unstable countries in the Gulf. In March 2015, a rebel group known as the Houthis consolidated control over the capitol city Sana'a and moved against the internationally recognized government of President Hadi. That brought in Saudi Arabia, which lead a US-backed military intervention in support of the beleaguered president. Meanwhile, UN backed mediation efforts proceeded haltingly and as of now there is really no end in sight to this conflict.   On the line with me to discuss the current situation in Yemen, the roots of the c

-----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast -->  http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/ Over the course of the last six weeks or so, I've received a series of increasingly urgent sounding press releases from various humanitarian organizations operating in the far northeastern region of Nigeria, called Borno state.    In July, I received this from MSF saying (in all caps) "NIGERIA: CATASTROPHIC MALNUTRITION IN BORNO STATE...A major humanitarian operation is needed to save lives in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state, where more than 500,000 people are living in catastrophic conditions"  Also in July, I received an email from UNICEF saying, "An estimated quarter of a million children in Borno state, North-East Nigeria, face severe malnourishment and risk death" And from Mercy Corps, in August: "An estimated 7 million people are in need of lifesaving aid in the worst affected areas in the northeast; of those, an estimated 2.5 million people are malnourished and l

Guys, I need your help. I need you to support the show. If you can afford it, then please click the link below and make a contribution. I--literally--can do this without you. Or, to put this another way, I can't keep this podcast going without diversifying my funding streams. We get some ads, but not enough to keep the lights on.  Help us keep the lights on, and the quality of content high.  THANK YOU! Mark    -----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast -->  http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/ 

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 have been killed on the streets, many by vigilante groups empowered by the government. Meanwhile, Duterte has released a list of hundreds of public officials that he claims are involved in the drugs trade.  It's a human rights disaster unfolding in real time and another indication that Duterte is a singularly unique--and some may say threatening -- individual in global affairs.    My guest today Dr. Tom Smith of the University of Portsmouth at the Royal Airforce College Cranwel describes how Duterte, a long serving mayor of the city of Davao unexpectedly emerged as president of the Philippines in elections this year, and how he is applying harsh anti-crime tactics honed at the municipal level on a national scale.     This is a war on drugs like no other on earth.   

-----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast -->  http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/  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.  Stanton is a descendent of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and as you'll learn from this conversation, the human rights gene runs strong in this family. His father was a liberal preacher and civil rights activist, and Greg tells me the most dangerous place he's ever worked, to this day, was registering black voters in Mississippi in the 1960s.    Greg is the founder of the NGO Genocide watch. His career as a genocide scholar and activist began in the 1980s as an humanitarian worker in Cambodia, and he recounts collecting evidence of war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. Greg served for many years in the State Department as well, including in Rwanda to help establish the war crimes tribunal f

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 become much more intense. And caught in the middle are 2 million people. Food is scarce. Hospitals have been bombed. Humanitarian aid has not been able to reach the city. And earlier this week, the UN warned that water supply has been cut off for about a week.  On the line with me to discuss the situation in Aleppo is Dave DesRoches, a professor at National Defense University. We discuss the strategic significance of Aleppo in the context of the civil war, that is, why fighting for control of the city of Aleppo is so consequential to the trajectory of the entire conflict; he describes the various fighting forces that are converging on Aleppo to participate in this fight, their disparate motives;  the role of the United States and Russia, and of course the dire humanitarian consequences of this particularly brutal fight.

Derek Chollet is the author of the new book The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America's Role in the World.  Derek served in a number of foreign policy positions in the Obama administration, including in the National Security Council, State Department and finally as an assistant secretary of defense for international security so this book serves, very much, as an insider's assessment of 7 years of Obama's foreign policy.    We kick off with an extended discussion about his book and Obama's foreign policy more broadly before pivoting to a conversation about Derek's fascinating career path from a college town in Nebraska to the highest reaches of US foreign policy making.   

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 insecurity, but the extreme nature of this El Nino is causing a humanitarian emergency not experienced in decades. On the line with me to discuss the food crisis in Southern Africa are two officials from the US Agency for International Development, USAID: Dave Harden, the Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance and and Dina Esposito a deputy assistant administrator and Food for Peace director.  The two officials discuss some of the root causes of the food crisis and its implications across a number of sectors. We discuss what the US and international response is looking like and why this crisis differs so substantially from a devastating famine that the region experienced 35 years ago.

Arsalan Iftikhar is the author of the new book Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms. Arsalan is a human rights lawyer by training and was one of the original guests on this podcast a couple years ago, when he discussed his career and life journey that lead him to this line of work. Arsalan is on TV a lot. And often times he get's the call after there has been some sort of terrible terrorist attack. To that end, we have an extended conversation about what it's like to be a

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 Development Program. We spoke in mid-July as part of a series of conversations I’m having with the candidates in the race to replace Ban Ki Moon when his term expires at the end of this year.The goal with these candidate conversations is to learn how some of their past experiences might inform the kinds of decisions they would make as Secretary General, and so to that end Ms Clark discusses growing up on a farm in New Zealand in the shadow of World War Two; becoming politicized in high school and university around the anti-apartheid movement; her decision to enter politics and some of the big foreign policy decisions she took as Prime Minister. This is a great conversation with one of the most high profile of the Secretary General candidates.

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 transition from Apartheid and in Japan and Moscow.  Clapp is the co-author with Mort Halperin of what I consider one of the most important books you can read about US foreign policy. It's called Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy, and as the title suggests the book describes the role of the bureaucracy in shaping US foreign policy. We kick off with an extended conversation about that book, and then have another extended conversation about how Clapp, as the State Department official in charge of refugee programs in the late 1980s, used tools of bureaucratic politics to helped engineer the emigration of jewish refugees from Russia to the United States.  This is a great conversation--a little longer than most--but well worth it.

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 service of humanity.   Just after the July 4th holiday Congress passed the Global Food Security Act, which was a piece of legislation that will inform how the US government fights hunger worldwide.    My guest today, Judith Rowland was deep in the trenches of the years long effort to pass this bill. She is the US government relations lead for the Global Poverty Project and we spoke just a few hours before the passage of this bill.    Judith discusses what is contained in the bill, including the strengthening of a Obama administration program known as Feed the Future. And we also discuss how in such a polarized political environment, something like the Global Food Security Act could get passed.