Afleveringen
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Tjada D'Oyen McKenna is a veteran humanitarian official who now leads Mercy Corps, a major international NGO that provides relief in disaster zones, including Gaza and Syria. Since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, I have periodically checked in with her to discuss the challenges of meeting the needs of Gazans trapped and displaced by the conflict. Over a year later, the dynamics of getting aid into Gaza have largely remained unchanged—there are still significant bureaucratic obstacles imposed by the Israeli government, which controls the flow of aid. Moreover, there is no meaningful so-called "de-confliction mechanism" to allow aid groups to operate in Gaza without fear of being attacked by warring parties. Meanwhile, the situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, even as new signals suggest a ceasefire may soon be reached.
In Syria, the situation has obviously changed dramatically over the past several weeks, so we discuss how Mercy Corps plans to expand its aid operations as the new de facto authorities consolidate power in Damascus.
Please support our humanitarian journalism with a paid subscription: https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration as part of a series that examines effective approaches to improving the well-being of people in fragile and conflict-affected settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that brings together international organizations focused on research for food security.
We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability.” In today’s episode, we host a roundtable discussion with three experts on how to place women’s empowerment at the core of resilience-building efforts.
Our guests include:
Vivian Efem-Bassey, Programs Management Specialist in the Women’s Rights Unit at ActionAid in Nigeria. Sarah Hendricks, Director of the Policy, Program, and Intergovernmental Division of UN Women and Head of the Secretariat for the Secretary-General's Gender Equality Acceleration Plan. Jordan Kyle, Research Fellow in the Gender and Inclusion Unit at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). -
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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If Donald Trump actually follows through on many of his campaign promises to impose tariffs, it would thoroughly upend the rules-based system governing international trade. That system, which is partially embodied by the World Trade Organization, was once championed by the United States. However, over the years, U.S. presidents, including President Biden, have occasionally skirted its rules and processes. The incoming Trump administration, though, seems willing and eager to ignore it altogether.
So, what does that mean for global trade? And could Trump's actions spark a trade war? Joining me to answer these questions and more is Dmitry Grozoubinski, a trade expert and author of the new book Why Politicians Lie About Trade...and What to Do About It. The book is an excellent primer on trade policy—I learned a lot from it. We kick off by discussing the book before diving into a long conversation about how Trump's approach to international trade upends the logic of the rules-based trading system and whether or not his policies might result in a trade war.
https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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As a journalist who covers international humanitarian crises, I'm accustomed to seeing masses of refugees fleeing their homes for safer locations. But in Syria over the last several days, the reverse has happened. Thousands upon thousands of displaced people are now returning home -- the scenes of traffic jams, literally on the road to Damascus, were indicative of the fact that Syrians believe this new era to be one in which they are safe to return home.
A brutal regime has been toppled, but are the new de-facto authorities going to respect the rights of Syrians and be able to undertake the basic functions of government to avoid state collapse and the chaos that would bring? I put these questions and many more to my guest today, Emma Beals, a longtime Syria analyst and reporter who is a Senior Advisor at the European Institute of Peace and a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute. We kick off discussing the mood on the street in Damascus before having a long discussion about Syria's political future.
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Joe Biden's final foreign trip as President was a long-promised visit to sub-Saharan Africa—Angola, to be precise. Biden had pledged to be the first President to visit Africa in nearly a decade, but the trip was delayed and is only happening with just a few weeks left in his term. Still, the trip was intended to solidify at least one part of the Biden administration's legacy: a major infrastructure project called the Lobito Corridor. This rail line links the mineral-rich regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo to a port on Angola's Atlantic coast.
A key question now is whether this legacy will survive the incoming Trump administration. How might the Trump administration's approach to Africa differ, if at all, from that of the outgoing Biden administration?
Joining me to answer these questions—and many more—is Ziyanda Stuurman, Senior Analyst for Africa at the Eurasia Group. We begin by discussing why Angola is well-suited for a major American investment like the Lobito Corridor and then dive into a wide-ranging conversation about how this investment fits into the geopolitical competition between China and the United States, as well as what might—or might not—change about U.S. policy toward Africa under the new administration.
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Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration for a series that examines what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.
We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability” and in today’s episode we hold a roundtable discussion with three experts about Climate Security and Resilience in the Sahel.
You will hear from:
Ollo Sib, Head of the Research, Assessment Monitoring Division at the World Food Program’s Regional Bureau for Western Africa
Federico Doenhert: Deputy Head of the Research, Assessment
Monitoring at the World Food Program’s Regional Bureau for Western AfricaCarolina Sarzana: Climate Security and Adaptation Specialist – Alliance of
Bioversity International and CIAT, a center of (CGIAR) – who is seconded to WFP’s West Africa Hub. -
Listeners will no doubt remember the devastating Ebola outbreak of 2014–2016. More than 28,600 people were infected, and 11,325 people died across several countries in West Africa. One of the hardest-hit places was Sierra Leone, where nearly 4,000 people lost their lives.
In the years since, scientists and civil society advocates have raced to develop and implement a vaccine to protect against future outbreaks. That vaccine works—and works well. It was tested during outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is now being deployed proactively to protect at-risk populations, including frontline health workers. This includes Sierra Leone, where the vaccine is being rolled out to 20,000 frontline workers so they can protect their communities and the world from the next outbreak.
My guest today, Allyson Russell, is at the forefront of these efforts. She is the Senior Programme Manager for Outbreaks & Global Health Security, Vaccine Programs at GAVI—the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization—which is supporting the rollout of this vaccine in Sierra Leone. We begin by discussing the toll the 2014 outbreak inflicted on the region before diving into how this new Ebola vaccine will help prevent the next outbreak from spreading.
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Botswana's general elections were held on October 30th, and the results were nothing short of a political earthquake. Botswana has had the same ruling party for 58 years—since independence. Even by the standards of long-ruling post-independence parties in Africa, this is remarkable.
Just days after the elections, President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) conceded defeat. The incoming president is a human rights lawyer and advocate named Duma Boko, who leads the opposition coalition known as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
Botswana is a politically stable, upper-middle-income country—a rarity in the region—and it has long maintained this status. This stability partly explains the longevity of the Botswana Democratic Party. However, as my guest Ringisai Chikohomero explains, Batswana have grown disillusioned with the BDP, reflecting a broader global trend against incumbent governments.
In our conversation, Ringisai Chikohomero discusses why the BDP lasted so long in power, what to expect from the incoming government, and why Botswana's politics and economy matter to the global community. He is a researcher specializing in political affairs, governance, and democracy in the Southern Africa program of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. We spoke last week.
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Over the past few weeks, the situation in Haiti has gone from bad to worse. On November 10, the interim prime minister of Haiti, Gary Conille, was dismissed by the council that had appointed him in May. Since then, violence has surged throughout Port au Prince and in surrounding locals. A Kenyan-lead police mission has been powerless to stop this escalating security and humanitarian crisis.
In our conversation, Renata Segura of the International Crisis Group explains the shifting contours of this violence and what steps can be taken to enhance security in Haiti. She also delves into the ongoing debates about transforming the Kenyan-lead mission into a formal UN peacekeeping mission, discussing the potential advantages and disadvantages of such a move.
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The major UN climate conference, known as COP29, kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan, last week. Tens of thousands of attendees are present, including members of civil society, the private sector, and delegates from every country on the planet.
This long-planned summit, however, takes place just a week after the world's largest economy and second-largest emitter elected as president a man who denies climate change and intends to pursue American withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. What impact is the U.S. election having on these negotiations and on climate diplomacy moving forward? Joining me to explore this question and much more is Ryan Hobert, Associate Vice President for Climate and Environment at the UN Foundation.
We begin with an extended conversation about this and another elephant in the room: the irony of a petrostate hosting a climate conference. We also spend much of our discussion focusing on the substance of this year’s COP, particularly the effort to reach an agreement on funding for less-developed countries to help them adapt to climate change and mitigate its impacts.
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Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration for a series that examines what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.
We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability” and in today’s episode I host a roundtable discussion with three experts about how to escape the nexus of climate change, conflict and forced displacement
Ms. Jana Birner, Associate Partnerships Officer in the Office of the Special Advisor on Climate Action for the UN Refugee Agency
Barthelemy Mwanza, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of
Congo who works with the Global Refugee Youth NetworkAlessandro Craparo, a Bioclimatologist with CGIAR
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Republicans will soon control the House of Representatives, the Senate, and, of course, the White House. What does this Republican trifecta mean for the United Nations? Peter Yeo, Executive Vice President of the United Nations Foundation, explains the nuances of how Republicans have traditionally approached the United States's relationship to the United Nations, what we can expect from the second Trump Administration, the Senate and House moving forward.
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It was neither a surprise nor an upset: Donald Trump overwhelmingly won the United States Presidential Election. Republicans will also control the United States Senate, while control of the House of Representatives remains undecided.
Joining me less than 24 hours after this election is Robbie Gramer, national security correspondent for Politico and host of Politico’s excellent NatSec Daily newsletter. Few people are as connected to both the political and foreign policy worlds as Robbie Gramer, so I thought it would be valuable to hear what he is learning from his sources about the foreign policy implications of a second Donald Trump term and the potential Republican control of Congress.
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On October 26, the Republic of Georgia held parliamentary elections with immense geopolitical stakes. The former Soviet republic was once staunchly pro-Western and pro-European. But over the last several years, the country has drifted closer to Russia's orbit, largely due to one man: the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili. His Georgia Dream party has dominated Georgian politics for nearly a decade, and this rule has brought some democratic backsliding, including a new NGO law, modeled after a similar law in Russia, aimed at undermining civil society.
However, the people of Georgia remain overwhelmingly pro-West and pro-European. So, this election was seen as a reckoning: would the ruling Georgian Dream Party be voted out, halting the country’s drift towards Russia?
Despite some reports of election irregularities, Georgia Dream declared victory, claiming 54% of the vote. The opposition rejects this outcome, leaving the country in an uneasy post-election period.
Joining me from Tbilisi, Georgia, is Andres Ilves, Regional Director for the Near East and Eastern Europe for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. We discuss what happened in these elections, what accounts for Georgia's drift towards Russia, and some of the key geopolitical implications of these results.
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Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration for a series that examines what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.
We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability” and in today’s episode I host a roundtable discussion with three experts about how social assistance can improve mental health in fragile settings.
You will hear from:
Michael Mulford, World Vision International
Adiam Hailemichael, World Bank economist
Melissa Hidrobo, Senior research fellow, IFRPRI
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The escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has sparked a rapidly unfolding displacement crisis in Lebanon. Over the past few weeks, as Israel intensified its strikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, around 700,000 people have fled their homes. This is in addition to the 100,000 people who fled the region shortly after the October 7 attacks, which saw some exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah. In the last two to three weeks, what began as a limited conflict has sharply escalated, leading to this new displacement crisis.
Joining me to discuss the contours of this crisis and its potential impact on Lebanese society, politics, and security is Juan Gabriel Wells, the country director for Lebanon at the International Rescue Committee. As he explains, this new wave of displacement is layered on top of several other crises affecting Lebanon today, including a deep and ongoing economic catastrophe.
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Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration for a series that examines what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.
We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability” and in today’s episode I host a roundtable discussion with three experts about how to better deliver humanitarian and social assistance in fragile settings
You will hear from:
Kibrom Abay (IFPRI Senior Research Fellow - Development Strategies and Governance)
Mitchell McTough (IWMI Postdoctoral Fellow – Water, Conflict & Resilience)
Susanna Sandstrom (Senior Economist, Head of Economic and Markets Unit, World Food Program)
You can find this episode and other episodes that are part of this series on GlobalDispatches.org
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My guest today, Marietje Schaake, is the author of a brilliant new book, The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley. The book explains how the tech industry has effectively captured government, assuming many of the functions traditionally held by governments, but without the oversight inherent in democratic governance. This includes areas like national security, domestic functions, and even the maintenance of democracy itself.
Marietje Schaake is an old friend of mine and a former member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands. We begin our conversation by discussing her experience leading the EU's election observation mission in Kenya in 2017, when a faulty French voting technology company disrupted the election with serious political consequences. We then move on to examine the tech industry's role in supplanting government in the national security realm, and why Elon Musk's alliance with Donald Trump is so potentially dangerous for democracy.
The Tech Coup is easily one of the best books I've read this year. It presents a compelling argument for why democracies should push back against the growing influence of the tech industry—and how they can do so.
Here is my conversation with Marietje Schaake, a non-resident Fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and the Institute for Human-Centered AI, and the author of The Tech Coup.
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Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration for a new series that examines what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.
We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability”
In today's episode, I host a roundtable discussion with three experts on the topic of Anticipatory Action— that is, how acting before a crisis hits can reduce impacts on the most vulnerable. You will hear from:
Ms. Catalina Jaime, Head of Climate and Conflict | Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Colombia Dr Emmanuel Attoh, Researcher in Climate Adaptation | International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka Esraa Elgadi, Project Officer, Resurgence (TBC)To learn more visit: https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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When Sudan's civil war erupted in April 2023, something extraordinary happened. Neighborhoods, mostly in and around Khartoum, began setting up what they called "Emergency Response Rooms." This name is somewhat of a misnomer because, while some Emergency Response Rooms do provide medical assistance, others serve as communal kitchens, day care centers, or offer maternal health services. In each case, they were created by the community in response to its own needs. This so-called mutual aid happens across cultures and around the world.
What is profoundly unique about mutual aid in Sudan is that these Emergency Response Rooms have organized themselves into a coherent network that connects very local, neighborhood-level humanitarian responses to international donors. They have done this through a homegrown system of oversight and governance, providing a revolutionary new model for humanitarianism.
Joining me to discuss Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms, how they work, and why they represent such a departure from more conventional approaches to humanitarian relief, is Alsanosi Adam. He is the external communications coordinator for the national umbrella group that supports the work of over 700 Emergency Response Rooms throughout Sudan.
You can support their work, like I did, here: https://mutualaidsudan.org/
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