Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters artwork

Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

981 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★★ - 288 ratings

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.

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Episodes

Why North Korea is Suddenly Launching an Unprecedented Number of Missile Tests

November 14, 2022 03:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MB

Over the last several weeks, North Korea has launched an unprecedented number of missile tests. In one week alone in early November, North Korea launched over 80 missiles, including short and long range ballistic missles.  So why is North Korea suddenly flexing like this? And what do these missile tests suggest about North Korea's nuclear strategies and intentions? I put these questions and more to Kelsey Davenport, Director of Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association. We ki...

The Foreign Policy Implications of the US Midterm Elections

November 10, 2022 03:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MB

During the time of this recording, Wednesday, November 9th, the final results of the US mid term elections are uncertain, but trending towards an outcome in which the Democrats are likely to hold the Senate and Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives. At stake in these elections of course is control of Congress, which has a unique role to play in shaping US foreign policy. Congress approves budgets and spending on foreign affairs and foreign aid, confirms nominees for Amba...

What Will Drive the Agenda at COP27, The Big UN Climate Summit?

November 07, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

Delegates from around the world are en route to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt for the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Better known as COP27. The conference lasts from November 6th to the 18th. These COPS are key moments for international climate diplomacy.  And since the 2015 Paris Agreement, it is the main mechanism in which countries renew, review, and assess their progress towards the Paris Agreement goals to limit global warming to ...

Cholera is Surging Around the World and Vaccine Supplies Are Running Low

November 03, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

There are a record number of cholera outbreaks around the world today.   Consider this data point. In 2022 alone, 29 countries have reported a cholera outbreak. This compares to 20 countries over the previous five years. The outbreaks are distributed across several regions: countries in the Caribbean, middle east, Africa, and Asia are experiencing cholera outbreaks -- some for the first time in decades. Amidst all these concurrent outbreaks, there is a global shortage of cholera vaccines t...

The White House Makes Biosecurity a Pillar of National Security. Can Doing So Prevent the Next Disaster?

October 31, 2022 02:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MB

On October 18th, the White House released an expansive new strategy on Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security.  The strategy sets out a whole-of-government approach to mitigating biological risks. This includes naturally occurring pathogens as well as dangerous new pathogens created in a lab.  In this episode, we speak with Nikki Teran, Director of Biosecurity Policy at Guarding Against Pandemics. We discuss the substance of t...

Who is Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, The Haitian Gang Leader at the Center of Haiti's New Crisis?

October 27, 2022 02:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MB

On October 21st, the United Nations Security Council imposed individual sanctions on Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer turned gang leader in Haiti. For weeks, the coalition of gangs headed by Cherizier, known as the G9 Friends and Allies have imposed a blockade on the main fuel terminal in Haiti. Fuel is now getting more scarce by the day, with prices surging to as much as 20-dollars a gallon. This is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation, with parts of Port au Prince ex...

Why an Ebola Outbreak in Uganda is Not Yet Under Control

October 24, 2022 02:00 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MB

At time of recording an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Uganda has sickened 64 people. 24 people have died. The outbreak was declared on September 20th in a rural community but has since spread to Kampala, the sprawling capital city. In recent years, health officials in Africa have become very adept at responding to ebola outbreaks, and have relied on a highly effective vaccine that was developed in the wake of the 2014 West Africa ebola outbreak. However, there is no vaccine for the particular ...

What A More Powerful Xi Jinping Means for Chinese Foreign Policy

October 20, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MB

The Chinese Communist Party Congress is always a key moment on the Chinese political calendar. Every five years, party delegates select party leadership. This includes the selection of the top most ranks of the Chinese Communist Party, including its General Secretary. Being a one party state, the head of the Chinese Communist Party is also the President of China.  Over the last several decades, General Secretaries of the Chinese Community Party serve at most two consecutive five year terms...

A Feminist Uprising in Iran

October 16, 2022 19:00 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MB

Iran is in the midst of the most significant protest movement in years -- and it is being lead by women and girls.  The spark that ignited this movement was the murder of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by Iran's morality police for improperly wearing her headscarf. She was beaten to death in police custody.  Protests erupted throughout the country, with women and school aged girls audaciously flaunting laws around dress codes. It is a feminist lead uprising against the ul...

The Ethiopia-Tigray War is About to Get Even Worse

October 13, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MB

Last March, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope that the brutal civil war between the Ethiopian federal government and the breakaway Tigray People's Liberation Front would come to an end. The government announced a ceasefire and an African Union lead peace process was underway. The conflict began two years earlier, in November 2020 with clashes between Tigrayan regional forces and federal government troops. It quickly escalated. This included the intervention of Eritrean troops to support...

If Putin Goes Nuclear, How Should the United States Respond?

October 10, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MB

These are perilous moments in the conflict in Ukraine. In response to the Ukrainian military's stunning gains in recent weeks, Putin is escalating. He has enacted a military mobilization within Russia and is once again threatening the use of nuclear weapons.  How seriously should we take these nuclear threats? In what scenarios and circumstances might Putin actually use a nuclear weapon. And how should the Biden administration and NATO respond if, indeed, Putin goes nuclear? We put these q...

What Brazil's Elections Mean for the World

October 06, 2022 05:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MB

On October 2nd, Brazilians headed to the polls for the first round of national elections. At the top of the ticket were two very familiar names in Brazilian politics: incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known best simply as Lula.  These two men are starkly different kinds of politicians. Bolsonaro is very much a right wing populist, often compared in style to Donald Trump. Lula is former union leader who served as Brazil's president from 2003 ...

The Coming War of Economic Attrition Between Russia and the West

October 03, 2022 02:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MB

Before Russia invaded Ukraine the United States and its European allies signaled strongly that they would impose crushing sanctions if Russia, indeed, invaded. Russia invaded anyway. The threat of sanctions were not a deterrent.  After surprisingly heavy sanctions were imposed, Russia did not moderate its behavior and cease its attack. Just the opposite. The imposition of sanctions were not, therefore what is known in International Relations speak, a means of compellence. So what have th...

Africa is Rolling Out a New Plan for Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies

September 29, 2022 02:00 - 26 minutes - 24.5 MB

There are over 100 health emergencies in Africa each year -- including outbreaks of infectious and deadly diseases like Yellow Fever, meningitis, and ebola. And it is sometimes the case that diseases endemic only in parts of Africa, like MonkeyPox, can spread globally precisely because of limited local capacity to contain an outbreak.  A new African Regional Strategy for Health Security and Emergencies commits African countries to concrete steps to strengthen disease surveillance, response...

Why is China Suddenly Expanding its Nuclear Arsenal?

September 26, 2022 02:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MB

China first tested a nuclear weapon in 1964. And since then, Chinese authorites have been content with a relatively small nuclear arsenal. That was, until very recently. There is now mounting evidence that China is substantially expanding its nuclear capabilities.  In this episode, we speak with Tong Zhao, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a Visiting Researcher at Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security, to explain what is driving C...

Live From the UN General Assembly: Global Fund Replenishment | War Crimes in Ukraine | Clean Energy and the Run Up to COP27 (UNGA Day 4)

September 22, 2022 20:30 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MB

One of the key events during UN High Level Week in the New York is a major fundraiser for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, hosted by President Biden. This is the topic of our first segment with Francoise Vanni, the Global Fund's Director of External Relations and Communications. Our second segment features an interview with Susan Ruffo, Senior Advisor for Oceans and Climate at the United Nations Foundation who discusses a meeting of foreign ministers and civil socie...

Live from the UN General Assembly: President Biden’s Speech and Other Key Moments | Pandemic Preparedness and Response (UNGA Day 3)

September 21, 2022 20:30 - 37 minutes - 34 MB

Today's episode was recorded on Wednesday, September 21 and under normal circumstances the President of the United States, as host of the UN, would have addressed the General Assembly yesterday. But because of the Queen’s funeral in London at the start of the week, the United States traded speaking slots with Senegal. Meaning today was the day of President Biden’s much anticipated address to the General Assembly.  Shortly after President Biden’s speech concluded, we spoke with Richard Gowa...

Live from the UN General Assembly: Food Security in Focus | The Global Refugee Crisis (UNGA Day 2)

September 20, 2022 17:42 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MB

A key focus of events at the United Nations and around New York this week is on food security and food access. On Tuesday, world leaders held a major Food Security Summit to combat soaring food prices and food insecurity around the world. This is the topic of our first segment today, featuring Rob Vos, director for Markets, Trade and Institutions at the International Food Policy Research Institute.   In the second segment, I speak with the Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at the ...

Live from the UN General Assembly: Key Moments That Will Drive the Diplomatic Agenda During UNGA | What Happened at the Transforming Eduction Summit? (UNGA Day 1)

September 19, 2022 20:30 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MB

The annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly is always a key moment on the diplomatic calendar. Hundreds of world leaders head to New York to address the General Assembly and participate in various meetings and events around the city.  Each day this week, we will bring you the key highlights from the 77th United Nations General Assembly. Today's epsode kicks off with an UNGA77 curtain raiser featuring Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the United Nations Foundation. She d...

Europe is in the Midst of a Deepening Energy Crisis

September 15, 2022 02:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MB

Energy prices are soaring in Europe, driven largely by the uncertainty surrounding Russian gas exports. Making matters worse was an announcement in early September that Russia would not re-open its Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which is a major supplier of gas to Europe.  As winter looms, European governments are scrambling to devise policies to minimize the impact of rising energy costs to both their economies and individual consumers. Putin is very deliberately using gas and energy exports a...

Somalia is on the Brink of Famine

September 12, 2022 02:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MB

United Nations officials issued fresh warnings that parts of Somalia are on the verge of famine. Half the country is in need of food assistance and if present trends continue famine could hit Somalia by October. In this episode, we are joined by Tjada McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, a large international humanitarian organization with operations in Somalia. She recently visited the country to witness this unfolding crisis first hand. We kick off discussing what she saw on her trip, before hav...

The Crisis in Myanmar Takes a Turn for the Worse

September 08, 2022 02:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MB

In lay July, the military Junta in Myanmar carried out its first executions in decades. Four activists were killed, including very prominant pro-democracy leaders. The military carried out these executions despite widespread international and regional pressure.  These executions come a year and a half after the February 1 2021 coup that ended Myanmar's experiment in democracy. The military has imprisoned much of the civilian political leadership of the country, including the country's de-f...

How the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States Will Impact International Climate Diplomacy

September 05, 2022 16:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MB

On August 16, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. This legislation is a $750 billion dollar health, tax and climate bill. Indeed, the inflation Reduction act is the single most significant climate legislation ever passed in the United States. So what impact will this legislation have internationally,  Including in ongoing international climate diplomacy? In this episode, we are joined by Casey Katims, executive director of the US Climate Alliance,  a coalition of...

Why This Female Civil Society Leader in Afghanistan is Urging Greater Engagement With the Taliban

September 01, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

In this episode, we are joined by Zuhra Bahman, the Afghanistan country director for the peacebuilding NGO Search for Common Ground. She is based in Kabul.  A year ago, when the Taliban captured Kabul and became the de-facto authorities, Zuhra Bahman happened to be out of the country on a previously scheduled business trip. Yet when she and I spoke for the podcast last September she told me that she was determined to return home and get back to work. And when she and I last spoke for the p...

Confronting a Catastrophic Nuclear Meltdown at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine

August 29, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MB

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine is Europe's largest. In March, Russian forces captured the plant and a crew of Ukrainians are maintaining operations at the plant -- effectively at gun point.  In recent weeks, fighting around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power plant has intensified, causing some damage to the plant and raising the prospect that in the context of armed conflict a catastrophic nuclear accident becomes a very real possibility.  In this episode, we are joined by J...

The Big Problem With "Great Power Competition" | Ali Wyne

August 25, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MB

In this episode, we are joined by Ali Wyne, senior analyst with Eurasia Group's Global Macro-Geopolitics practice, focusing on US-China relations and great-power competition, and author of the new book "America's Great-Power Opportunity: Revitalizing U.S. Foreign Policy to Meet the Challenges of Strategic Competition," which is generating a great deal of buzz in foreign policy circles. Ali Wyne offers a  critique of using competition with China and Russia as an organizing principle for US ...

What We Get Wrong About Missile Defense and Nuclear Deterrence

August 22, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

When national security professionals discuss "missile defense" they are are typically referring to technologies that can intercept an in-coming nuclear missile and blow it out of the sky. In 2002, the George W. Bush administration unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty the US signed with the Soviet Union in 1972. Since then, there has been a sharp increase in the development of missile defense technologies around the world. This has seriously complicated nuclear deter...

Why Do Some Countries Succeed With Economic Development While Others Fail? | Stefan Dercon

August 18, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

Why have some countries experience durable economic progress while other countries remain left behind? This basic question has vexed development economists for decades -- and for decades economists have tried to reverse engineer one country's economic successes story to discover a blue print that could be applied elsewhere.   Stefan Dercon, was one of those economists when he had an insight that forever changed his approach to the field of development economics. He explains this insight ...

How "Longtermism" is Shaping Foreign Policy| Will MacAskill

August 15, 2022 02:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MB

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 influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. The foreign policy community in general and the the United Nations in particular are beginning to embrace longtermism.  Next year at the opening of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the Secretary General is hosting what he i...

Lab Leak? Bioweapons Attack? Natural Pathogen? A New Proposal Would Give the UN the Ability to Investigate | Angela Kane

August 11, 2022 02:00 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MB

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 international mechanism to do so. Veteran UN diplomat Angela Kane is trying to change that. She is working to create a new UN body to strengthen UN capabilities to investigate high-consequence biological events of unknown origin. Angela Kane, is the Sam Nunn Distinguished Fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiat...

Kenya's UN Ambassador Martin Kimani | Live from the Aspen Security Forum

August 08, 2022 02:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MB

Kenya's Ambassador to the United Nations Martin Kimani gave a viral speech at the UN Security Council on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Months later, Ambassador Kimani reflects on the impact of that speech and why Russian aggression against Ukraine is so resonant to Africa's own experience with colonialism.  Our conversation was recorded live at the Aspen Security Forum in Mid July and Ambassador Kimani also discusses the impact of the war in Ukraine on Kenya and what opportuniti...

How The Global Food Crisis is Impacting People and Politics in the Middle East

August 04, 2022 02:00 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MB

Prior to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East was heavily dependent on importing food from Ukraine and Russia. The disruption of grain exports from the Black Sea region has had a profoundly negative impact on food security in the Middle East. I'm joined today my Arnaud Quemin, Middle East regional director for Mercy Corps. We kick off discussing what the food security situation in the region looked like before the war and then have an extended conversation about how the global foo...

The Philippines Gets a New President With A Very Familiar Name

August 01, 2022 02:00 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MB

On May 9th, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was elected President of the Philippines. If that name sounds familiar to you, it is because he is the son of Ferdinand Marcos Senior, the brutal kleptocrat who ruled the Philippines for nearly 20 years. Marcos Jr., who is commonly known as “Bongbong,” took office on June 30th succeeding Rodrigo Duterte, whose six year term was marked by a sharp deterioration of human rights in the Philippines, including a so-called “war on drugs” in which several thousands...

Kenya is Holding a High-Stakes Election

July 28, 2022 02:00 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MB

Kenyans will go to the polls on August 9th to elect a new president. The current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, is term limited from seeking re-election and the two main candidates are both very familiar figures in Kenyan politics.  William Ruto is currently the Deputy to President Kenyatta. But the two men had a falling out and now President Kenyatta is backing Ruto's main rival, Raila Odinga. For his part, this is Odinga's fifth time running for president.  Kenya has a recent history of h...

Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz | Live From the Aspen Security Forum

July 25, 2022 02:00 - 20 minutes - 16.1 MB

I caught up with Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Pryzdaz at the Aspen Security Conference in mid July.  Poland is a front line state to the crisis in Ukraine and has been directly impacted by Russia's invasion, including hosting millions of Ukrainian refugees. Poland was also and early target of Vladimir Putin's efforts to use gas exports as a kind of blackmail; and when Poland refused to pay for Russian gas in Rubles, Russian gas was abruptly cut off.  I kick off my conversation...

Is the US Inflating The Military Threat From China?

July 21, 2022 02:00 - 32 minutes - 26.1 MB

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 claiming that this threat is existential.  This is part of a pattern that my guest today calls "threat inflation" which he argues leads to policy decisions that paradoxically leaves the US less secure.  Michael D Swaine, is director of the east asia program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible...

Why There's a Resurgence of Armed Conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

July 18, 2022 02:00 - 28 minutes - 22.5 MB

In November 2021, a rebel group known as M23 carried out a series of surprising attacks in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. By the spring and summer of 2022, M23 had captured even more territory in this region.  These attacks caught many by surprise because the M23 was believed to be largely defunct But nearly 10 years later, the group is now engaged in battles with the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo for control of strategic locations in eastern DRC. My gue...

From "Pariah" to Partner: Why President Biden is Going to Saudi Arabia

July 13, 2022 14:00 - 20 minutes - 16.8 MB

Joe Biden is traveling to the Middle East for the first time as President, with stops in Israel, Palestine -- and most notably Saudi Arabia. As a candidate for president, Biden called the Saudi government a "pariah." Just weeks after taking office, he released an assessment from the US intelligence community revealing that US intelligence believes that Mohammad bin Salman approved of the operation that lead to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.  Yet in the face of high oil prices and the perce...

How to Stop the Global Food Crisis From Getting Worse | Sir Mark Lowcock

July 11, 2022 02:30 - 25 minutes - 20.2 MB

Food prices are soaring around the world, and along with it so are rates of food insecurity and the risk of famine.  As my guest today, Sir Mark Lowcock explains, this is only partly due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which exacerbated an already worsening situation. Mark Lowcock is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development and author of the new book Relief Chief: A Manifesto for Saving Lives in Dire Times. He served as the top United Nations humanitarian off...

The Last Humanitarian Lifeline To Syria May Soon Be Severed | A view from Northern Syria and the United Nations

July 04, 2022 02:00 - 36 minutes - 29.1 MB

As the Syrian civil war escalated, the Syrian government began obstructing access to humanitarian relief in rebel held parts of the country. So, in 2014 the UN Security Council took the extraordinary step of allowing the United Nations to deliver humanitarian relief to parts of Syria without the consent of the Syrian government and in violation of Syrian sovereignty. Since then, humanitarian aid has been able to reach besieged parts of Syria through border crossings, mainly from Turkey int...

Hostage Diplomacy and the Case of Brittney Griner

June 30, 2022 02:00 - 31 minutes - 25.4 MB

Brittney Griner is an American basketball superstar. On February 17th, she was arrested in an airport outside of Moscow allegedly for possession of cannabis oil. She has been held in a Russian jail ever since and her trial is scheduled to begin on July 1.  Brittney Griner's case is a text book example of what my guest today calls "Hostage Diplomacy." Dani Gilbert is an Assistant Professor of Military and Strategic studies at the US Air Force Academy.  She is a leading researcher and expert...

What Explains Turkey's Foreign Policy and Its Relationship With NATO?

June 27, 2022 00:00 - 31 minutes - 25.5 MB

Sweden and Finland have both formally requested to become members of the NATO alliance. To admit new members to NATO requires the approval of all existing NATO members and so far, Turkey is objecting. My guest today, Sibel Oktay, is associate professor at University of Illinois at Springfield and non-resident senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.  We kick off with a discussion about Turkey's specific grievances with Sweden and Finland and then have a broader conversatio...

Ethnic Violence is Escalating in Ethiopia

June 23, 2022 02:00 - 33 minutes - 26.6 MB

On June 19th, reports began to emerge of a mass atrocity in the Ethiopian region of Oromia committed against members of the Amhara ethnic group. This latest attack fits into a broader pattern of ethnic violence in Ethiopia since the outbreak of civil war in November 2020. Laetitia Bader is the Horn of Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. She contributed to a joint Human Rights Watch-Amnesty International report titled "We Will Erase You from This Land:  Crimes Against Humanity and Ethni...

Iran Nuclear Diplomacy Enters a Perilous New Phase

June 20, 2022 02:00 - 27 minutes - 22.1 MB

In early June, Iran took the dramatic step of turning off some monitoring cameras in key nuclear facilities that had been installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The move came in reaction to a vote by the IAEA board of governors to censor Iran over its lack of cooperation with IAEA inspectors. This latest turn in the ongoing saga of nuclear diplomacy with Iran is further indication of just how precarious the 2015 Nuclear deal seems to be.  Laura Rozen is a veteran reporter w...

Can Justice and Accountability Solve Nigeria's Security Challenges?

June 16, 2022 02:00 - 24 minutes - 19.9 MB

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, is director of the Center for Democracy and Development in Nigeria. We kick off discussing this church attack as well as another high profile recent attack on a train in northern Nigeria. Idayat Hassan then describes how these attacks fit into broader patterns of insecurity in Nigeria.   The increasing ...

Can The Monkeypox Outbreak Be Contained?

June 13, 2022 02:00 - 29 minutes - 23.3 MB

At time of recording there have been over 1,000 confirmed cases of Monkey Pox across 29 countries -- mostly in Europe and North America. The actual number of cases circulating in the population is likely much higher.  We are in the midst of an outbreak of Monkey Pox, which is rarely found outside of West Africa.   My guest today, Dr. Eric Toner is a Senior Scholar at The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. We kick off discussing what exactly Monkey Pox is and how spreads before havin...

Climate-Related Mobility and Conflict: Pathways to Peace and Human Security | Recorded Live

June 09, 2022 02:00 - 1 hour - 49.9 MB

Today's episode was recorded live in front of a virtual audience at a side event of the International Migration Review Forum. The episode is produced in partnership with CGIAR and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  The event was titled "Climate-related mobility and conflict: Pathways to peace and human security" and includes some extended expert commentary on this topic.  You will first hear from Sheggen Fan, system board member CGIAR followed by remarks from S...

Colombia's VERY Surprising Presidential Election

June 06, 2022 02:00 - 26 minutes - 21.2 MB

Colombia held the first round of its presidential elections on May 29th and it is hard to overstate just how surprised most analysts were by the results. For generations, Colombia has been dominated by a small political establishment that ranges from the center right to the hard right. Unlike other countries in the Latin America, Colombia has never elected a President from the left wing; nor has Colombia ever experienced a right wing populist.    Yet this be the choice as Colombians head t...

The Fascinating Origin Story of the United Nations Environment Program, UNEP

June 02, 2022 02:00 - 30 minutes - 24.1 MB

The United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, turns 50 years old this year. And in early June world leaders are gathering in the city where UNEP was born to commemorate this milestone in a conference known as Stockholm+50.  Maria Ivanova wrote the book on the absolutely fascinating history of the United Nations Environment Program.  She is a professor of Global Governance at the University of Massachusetts Boston and author of the book "The Untold Story of the World's Leading Environmental I...

These Lessons from COVID Can Help Us Prevent the Next Pandemic | Dr. Joanne Liu

May 30, 2022 02:00 - 29 minutes - 24 MB

Dr. Joanne Liu is a professor at the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University and a practicing physician at the University of Montreal. She is the former international president of Medicines Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Borders and for the purposes of this conversation she served on the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.  This panel was co-chaired former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf....

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