Global Dispatches -- Conversations On Foreign Policy And World Affairs

The Labour Party won an overwhelming victory in the recent elections in the United Kingdom. Keir Starmer is now Prime Minister, ending 14 years of Conservative rule in the UK. So what does this mean for Britain's foreign policy? Can we expect any major changes to Britain's relationship with the world? Joining me to discuss the foreign policy implications of the UK elections is Jason Pack, host of the Disorder Podcast. We have an extended discussion about the new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, who Jason Pack argues will have an outsized role in shaping UK foreign policy in the years to come. This includes reorienting and reinvigorating Britain's once-vaunted global development programs. "The Lammy Doctrine"  New Statesmen The Disorder podcast: https://linktr.ee/disorderpod

From July 15th to the 18th, the Chinese Communist Party is holding a gathering known as the Third Plenum. This is a highly anticipated political event, as Xi Jinping and party officials are expected to announce key economic reforms intended to spur the Chinese economy. For the past several years, especially since COVID, the Chinese economy has been lagging. According to my guest today, Anja Manuel, executive director of the Aspen Security Group, this is largely because Xi has prioritized regime security over economic growth. We kick off by discussing what the Third Plenum is and have a broad conversation about the economic and political context in which this meeting is occurring. We also discuss the broader geopolitical implications of a slowing Chinese economy and what that means for competition between the US and China. Finally, Anja Manuel previews the Aspen Security Forum, which kicks off on July 16th. This is a significant foreign policy and national security gathering that I've had the pleasure of atten

A rather bizarre incident recently occurred in the South China Sea off the coast of the Philippines. On June 17th, the Chinese Coast Guard clashed with Philippine naval vessels en route to resupplying a stranded Philippine ship on a formation known as the Second Thomas Shoal. This desolate shoal is very much in the territorial waters of the Philippines, but China nonetheless claims it as Chinese sovereign territory. The Chinese have routinely harassed Philippine ships in the area, but on June 17th, the Chinese Coast Guard attacked the Philippine naval vessels with water cannons, swords, and axes in the most violent incident of its kind in years. This kind of escalation risks drawing in the United States due to the longstanding Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines, which obliges the US to come to the defense of the Philippines. This has the potential to draw the US and China into direct conflict. My guest today is Prashanth Parameswaran, founder of the ASEAN Wonk newsletter and f

On June 27th, a group of food security experts from the United Nations and major international relief agencies known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released devastating new data on hunger in Sudan. Their data shows that over 755,000 people are experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity. This means that there are almost no coping mechanisms left, and people are starving to death. Those experiencing this extreme level of food insecurity are spread throughout several regions; it is not localized to just one part of the country. The cause is conflict. In April last year, a full-scale civil war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The food system in the country, including farmlands and trading routes, has been destroyed. Meanwhile, international humanitarian relief is being obstructed by the warring parties and not reaching people in need in sufficient numbers. My guest today, Dr. Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, is a Research Fellow with the

On Tuesday, June 25, Kenyan protesters stormed parliament in Nairobi in scenes reminiscent of the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol. However, unlike January 6, police responded violently, and at least six people were killed. The protests had been ongoing for days as the Kenyan parliament moved on a finance bill that would increase taxes for ordinary Kenyans in unusual ways. Like many countries in Africa, the government of Kenya faces an extreme level of debt and was looking for new sources of revenue to service its debt payments while also keeping the government functioning. Following the protests, President William Ruto said he would no longer pursue this taxation bill. While protests in Kenya are hardly unusual, what makes this protest movement so unique, according to my guest today, Brian Obara, is that it was not organized along ethnic, tribal, or even class divides. Rather, it was youth-led and broad-based -- and that could signal a profound change in Kenyan politics. Brian Obara is a Kenyan lawyer, me

The situation in Southern Lebanon is extremely precarious. Israel is positioning more and more military assets along its northern border, while Hezbollah continues its near-daily attacks on Israeli targets from Lebanon and has threatened an all-out war. Caught in the middle are about 10,000 United Nations peacekeepers. The United Nations Interim Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has more peacekeepers deployed per square kilometer than any other UN peacekeeping mission in the world. These peacekeepers have helped avert an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah in the past, but tensions are very high right now. If conflict is averted, it may be due to the off-ramp to continued escalation between Hezbollah and Israel that UNIFIL provides. On the other hand, if Israel and Hezbollah decide to escalate, there’s little these peacekeepers can do to stop them. The lead segment of our second episode of To Save Us From Hell explains the role of UNIFIL in managing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah since 2006 and why some

Since 2019, Burkina Faso has been in a state of near-constant conflict. Extremist groups control or occupy large swaths of the country—about 40-50% according to some estimates. Meanwhile, the government is extremely unstable and has been toppled by a succession of military coups. The military government in power today is generally hostile to the same Western powers that have historically supported the people of Burkina Faso with humanitarian and development assistance. My guest today, Jan Egeland, is the president of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a large international humanitarian NGO. Each year, the NRC publishes a list of what it considers the most neglected humanitarian emergencies on the planet, and this year, the crisis in Burkina Faso tops the list. Jan Egeland recently returned from Burkina Faso, and in our conversation, he explains why the humanitarian crisis there is so challenging and what can be done to make Burkina Faso less neglected by the international community.    

This is the debut of "To Save Us From Hell," our new weekly chat show about the United Nations. "To Save Us From Hell" is a project of Global Dispatches and features weekly conversations between co-hosts Mark Leon Goldberg and Anjali Dayal about the latest news and happenings around the United Nations. They discuss the implications of Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea for the UN, recent progress on Gaza and Sudan at the Security Council, and who should replace the outgoing top UN humanitarian official, Martin Griffiths. To Save Us From Hell is a project of Global Dispatches and is supported entirely through the paid subscriptions of our supporters. You can access a discounted subscription here: https://www.globaldispatches.org/SaveUs  To Save Us From Hell is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere you get your podcasts. Go here to learn more: https://www.globaldispatches.org/s/to-save-us-from-hell      

Elections for the European Parliament saw sweeping gains for far-right parties in Germany and France. It was in France that these election results led to the surprising—and very daring—decision by Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament and call for snap elections. The first round of these legislative elections will be held on June 30th. Macron is facing a challenge from the far-right National Rally, a party that used to be known as the National Front, which was founded by the Nazi-adjacent Jean-Marie Le Pen and is now led by his daughter, Marine Le Pen. These elections could lead to the far right winning enough seats in the French parliament to lead the government. On the line to discuss the European Parliament elections in general and the results in France is Art Goldhammer, a senior affiliate at the Center for European Studies at Harvard. He explains the political dynamics leading up to these snap elections, and we have a long conversation about the implications for Europe should France be led by the ha

India's election was supposed to be a coronation for Narendra Modi. Instead, he got a comeuppance. India is, of course, the world's largest democracy, and after a nearly month-long election season, the final results were declared in early June. Narendra Modi and his political party, the BJP, fared much worse than expected. They secured far fewer seats in the Lok Sabha, the parliament, than anticipated, and now Modi and the BJP will have to form a coalition government after losing an outright majority. On the line to discuss the election results and what they mean for Indian politics and foreign policy going forward is Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute and also the deputy director of the Wilson Center's new Indo-Pacific program. As Michael Kugelman explains, the outcome of this election suggests a growing skepticism among the Indian public of Modi's brand of Hindu nationalism and the authoritarian tendencies he's embraced.

"To Save Us From Hell" is a new weekly chat show about the United Nations. Each week, two veteran UN watchers break down the latest news from the United Nations, giving our audience insights into what is driving the agenda at UN headquarters and in its operations around the world. Co-host Mark Leon Goldberg is a veteran journalist who’s the editor-in-chief of UN Dispatch and founder of Global Dispatches. He's covered the UN for nearly 20 years. Anjali Dayal is a Professor of International Relations at Fordham University who’s written widely about the UN and teaches students about its intricacies. They are teaming up for this one-of-a-kind podcast that will launch in the middle of June. For full access to the show at a discounted price, please visit GlobalDispatches.org: https://www.globaldispatches.org/SaveUs   

On Friday, May 31, President Biden made a surprising announcement about a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Biden laid out the terms of this three-phased cessation of hostilities and said that this deal was proposed by Israel and sent to Hamas. The optics of a U.S. president making public what he said was an Israeli proposal made many people question whether or not Israel was fully behind this deal. Meanwhile, Biden aimed much of his remarks at Hamas, urging them to accept this ostensibly Israeli deal. At the time of recording, Hamas has neither accepted nor rejected this proposal. My guest today is Joel Braunold, managing director of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace. We kick off by discussing what is included in this ceasefire agreement before having a long conversation about the reactions and responses to the Biden announcement by Hamas and Israel. We spend a good deal of time discussing some of the motivations behind Hamas' approach to a ceasefire deal and the complex domestic poli

Claudia Sheinbaum will be the next President of Mexico. In national elections on June 2, the protégé of President López Obrador and former Mayor of Mexico City won a landslide victory, earning nearly 59% of the vote. She is a former climate scientist and will be the first woman and the first person of Jewish origin to lead the overwhelmingly Catholic country. But beyond the presidency, there were over 20,000 positions at all levels of government up for election, and it was in these state and local elections that things turned violent. Very violent. This was by far the bloodiest election in Mexico's history, with over 30 candidates assassinated during the campaigning. My guest today, Falko Ernst, is the senior analyst for Mexico at the International Crisis Group. As he explains, this election-related violence is a product of criminal gangs competing for control, influence, power, and wealth. We kick off by discussing Claudia Sheinbaum's background and her unique approach to violent crime as mayor of Mexico Cit

After the Islamic State was largely defeated on the battlefields of northern Syria in 2019, thousands of fighters and their families were placed in detention facilities in the region. By far the largest of these detention camps is Al Hol, which at its peak held over 70,000 people from several dozen countries. Today, over 50,000 people live in Al Hol, which is essentially an open-air prison. The vast majority of people living there are children. My guest today, Sarhang Hamaseed, is the director of Middle East Programs at the United States Institute of Peace and is intimately involved with efforts to help repatriate families currently stranded in this prison camp. When we caught up, he had recently returned from Iraq, working on programs to support the reintegration of Iraqi families in Al Hol. In our conversation, Sarhang Hamaseed explains why this festering prison camp in northern Syria is both a humanitarian and security crisis that deserves broader international attention.

Some of the most heavily indebted countries in the world are also the ones most vulnerable to climate-induced natural disasters. When a hurricane, cyclone, or massive drought hits a country, officials can be faced with the choice of either servicing their debts or paying for disaster recovery. As the pace and scale of natural disasters increase due to climate change, some policy entrepreneurs have introduced the idea of including so-called "Pause clauses" in loan agreements that would enable the country to suspend debt payments for a period of time as it recovers from a natural disaster. The best-known champion of this idea is the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley. This was her signature proposal in a suite of reforms to international financing policies for climate-vulnerable countries known as the Bridgetown Initiative. My guest today, Michael Sheldrick, tells the story of how Pause Clauses went from an idea on paper to a policy now widely implemented by the World Bank in his new book: "From Ideas to I

Over the past several weeks, hundreds of thousands of people in the Republic of Georgia have taken to the streets to protest against a law making its way through parliament that would force many NGOs to register as foreign agents. The law is modeled on similar measures in Russia that led to the near wholesale criminalization of pro-democracy and human rights civil society groups. This move in Georgia's parliament is being pushed through by a political party led by an oligarch who made his fortune in Putin's Russia. It is also happening at the same time as Georgia is seeking to establish closer ties with the West and join the European Union. On the line to discuss what this law actually says, how it may impact Georgia's future, and human rights inside Georgia is Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Director for Europe & Central Asia at Amnesty International.

On Monday, May 20th, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, applied for arrest warrants for three senior Hamas leaders and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The Hamas leaders include the top official in Gaza, Yahyah Sinwar, Hamas’ military commander Muhammad Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, the Qatar-based political leader of Hamas. These three men were charged with crimes related to the October 7th attack and their treatment of hostages in captivity. On the Israeli side, Netanyahu and Gallant were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including using starvation as a method of warfare. For those of you who subscribe to the Global Dispatches Newsletter, you'll know that I've been expecting this shoe to drop since November, when Karim Khan first warned Hamas and Israeli officials that his office has jurisdiction in relation to this conflict. Well, this ICC action has now happened, and on the line with me to discuss what th

For humanitarian professionals, people whose job it is to deliver aid in conflict and disaster zones, Gaza is unique. Unlike other crises that suffer from lack of attention, the situation in Gaza is a top priority for governments around the world. Accordingly, there is no shortage of aid available to stem the crisis, which in some parts of Gaza has crossed the famine threshold. Rather, it is distributing the aid that has become the challenge, both in terms of getting the aid through Israeli inspections and, once in Gaza, getting the aid to where people need it most. My guest today, Jeremy Konyndyke, is the President of Refugees International and a veteran humanitarian professional who served as head of USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance from 2013-2017. We kick off discussing why humanitarian groups, the United Nations, and the Biden administration are so concerned about a full-scale Israeli assault on Rafah in southern Gaza. We then discuss the propriety of a humanitarian pier the US is constructin

Thousands of delegates gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, last week for the UN Civil Society Conference. The gathering was dedicated to the upcoming Summit of the Future, a major UN conference in September intended to reform and revitalize the UN and the multilateral system. The Nairobi civil society conference was an important opportunity for advocates, the NGO community, and other interested parties to help shape the outcome of the Summit of the Future. On the line to discuss with me what happened at the Nairobi conference and to explain more broadly the role of civil society as we approach the Summit of the Future is Lili Nkunzimana, United Nations representative at the Baha'i International Community's New York Office. We also discuss the current state of play of the intergovernmental negotiations over the Pact for the Future, which is the outcome document for September's summit. Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the Baha’i International Community, an NGO that represents the worldwide Baha’i communi

Each year, the United Nations Development Program produces the Human Development Report. This is a compilation of country-level data around education, health, and economic security that aspires to give a more holistic understanding of a country's development beyond economic indicators alone. UNDP has been putting this Human Development Report together for decades, and while some countries would sometimes register advances or declines in the so-called Human Development Index, the global trend was always one of unrelenting progress. Until COVID. The COVID years resulted in global declines along the human development indicators for reasons explained by my guest today, Pedro Conceicao, Director of the Human Development Report Office at the United Nations Development Program. As Pedro Conceicao explains, the most recent report shows that, globally, the Human Development Index is registering progress, but that progress is not as sharp as it was prior to COVID. We discuss this trend and much more about the Human Dev