Jonathan Cristol, author of "The United States and Taliban before and after 9/11," discusses the status of the latest talks between the U.S. government and the Taliban, in an effort to end the decades-long war in Afghanistan. Are women's rights being addressed? Are neighboring countries' interests being taken into account? And can we trust the Trump administration in this tense geopolitical environment?
Feb 21, 2019•32 min
U.S.-Taiwan relations have long been an ingenious balancing act of "strategic ambiguity." What does the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act entail and why is it important, not only to Taiwan, but to U.S.-China relations and indeed security across Asia? Legendary China expert Jerome Cohen unpacks the history of Taiwan since 1895, its current situation and legal status, and what this could mean for Asia and the United States.
Feb 20, 2019•45 min
"There are areas where China lags behind other countries in its power, areas where it's catching up, and areas where China really has leapfrogged some other countries, including the United States, and is pulling ahead," says Bonnie Glaser of CSIS. Certainly, China is investing heavily in promoting a favorable narrative about China around the world, a strategy increasingly being referred to as "political influence operations."
Feb 19, 2019•27 min
Quinnipiac's Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox discusses her work researching the conception of human rights in a community in rural India. She tells the story of Chaya Kakade, a woman who went on a hunger strike after the Indian government proposed a tax on sanitary napkins, and has since built her own production center in Latur. How does Kakade understand human rights? How can Westerners move beyond a legalistic view of the concept?
Feb 14, 2019•36 min
"The rise of China is not the biggest story in the world," says Parag Khanna. "The Asianization of Asia, the return of Asia, the rise of the Asian system, is the biggest story in the world." This new Asian system, where business, technology, globalization, and geopolitics are intertwined, stretches from Japan to Saudi Arabia, from Australia to Russia, and Indonesia to Turkey, linking 5 billion people.
Feb 12, 2019•1 hr 3 min
How is China influencing democracies such as Taiwan, Korea, and the United States? "I think there are three areas that you can look at," says Asia security analyst Rachael Burton. "The first is narrative dominance, which I would call a form of cognitive warfare. Beijing has been able to set the terms of debate . . . and once you're asking the questions, then you're able to drive intellectuals or policymakers to a certain answer."
Feb 11, 2019•27 min
In this episode of The Crack-Up series, which explores how 1919 shaped the modern world, film historian David Bordwell discusses two big changes in the American film industry in 1919: the revolt of film stars against the powerful studio system, and Paramount's response, which was to try and control the "product" from creation to point of consumption. He goes on to look at how these creative and commercial tensions still play out today.
Feb 08, 2019•19 min
Ambassador Sidi Omar, UN representative for Frente POLISARIO, a liberation movement aiming to secure the independence of Western Sahara, discusses the decades-long dispute in Northwest Africa. With negotiations ongoing between Frente POLISARIO and Morocco at the UN, could there be a resolution? How do Europe and the Trump administration fit in?
Feb 07, 2019•22 min
The Supreme Court's 1919 decision in "Schenck v. United States" is one of the most important free speech cases in American history. Because of it we have an elaborate set of free speech laws and norms, but the context is always shifting. In this fascinating talk Bollinger and Stone explore how our understanding of the First Amendment has been transformed over time, and how it may change in the future to cope with social media and other challenges.
Feb 06, 2019•1 hr 3 min
As founder and executive director of The Polis Project, a research and journalism organization, Suchitra Vijayan is helping to document a concerning trend of identity-based violence in India. She discusses her organization's work on this issue, the violence's connection to a rise in nationalism in India since Prime Minister Modi came to power, and some imperfect parallels with the contentious political climate in the United States.
Jan 31, 2019•41 min
In the third podcast in The Crack-Up series, which looks at how 1919 shaped the modern world, Ted Widmer discusses the story of the Irish Declaration of Independence with fellow historian Christopher Pastore. Although the declaration was signed in 1919, Ireland's quest for self-determination would last for decades. How did America influence these developments? What did the Irish leaders think about nationalism so soon after World War I?
Jan 30, 2019•26 min
Discussions around cybersecurity often focus on the security and sovereignty of states, not individuals, says Professor Ronald Deibert, director of University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. If you start from a "human-centric perspective," it could lead to policies focusing on peace, prosperity, and human rights. How can we work toward this approach?
Jan 29, 2019•33 min
Quinnipiac University's Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox speaks about her 2018 campaign for state representative in Connecticut, which she lost by a slim margin. After months of speaking to her fellow citizens and absorbing their differing viewpoints on the campaign trail, she discusses the importance of ethics and political engagement and how we can remain civil in this divisive time.
Jan 24, 2019•37 min
China's economy has grown exponentially over the last four decades, but George Magnus, former chief economist at UBS, sees four traps that could derail its continued ascent: rising debt, the struggle to keep its currency stable, aging demographics, and the challenges of changing from a low-income economy to a complex middle-income one. Will Xi Jinping be open to reform? What could be the effects of lingering U.S.-China trade tensions?
Jan 23, 2019•1 hr 11 min
In the second podcast in The Crack-Up series, which looks at how 1919 shaped the modern world, historian Ted Widmer talks to Harvard's Professor Lisa McGirr about Prohibition's roots in anti-immigrant sentiment and its enforcement, in some cases, by the Ku Klux Klan. Plus, they discuss the Eighteenth Amendment's connections to World War I and the rise of the modern American state.
Jan 18, 2019•28 min
Historian Ted Widmer discusses his new Carnegie Council podcast series "The Crack-Up" and how 1919 has shaped the modern world. He and host Alex Woodson speak about parallels to 2019, Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations, Babe Ruth, the early days of Hollywood, and populism in Europe in the aftermath of World War I. Don't miss a new "Crack-Up" tomorrow with Harvard historian Lisa McGirr on prohibition and the American state.
Jan 17, 2019•48 min
If populism is a reaction to a globalism that is viewed as unresponsive to the needs of citizens, can populism sustain any version of globalization? Eurasia Group's Ian Bremmer and Tom Nichols of the U. S. Naval War College discuss and debate this important question and much more.
Jan 16, 2019•57 min
The wide array of global issues--more than 90 percent of them--that Eurasia Group follows are now headed in the wrong direction in 2019. Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer break down those risks--from U.S.-China relations and cyberwar to European populism and American institutions--and their ethical implications with Carnegie Council's Devin Stewart for their eleventh annual discussion of the year's coming top risks.
Jan 15, 2019•41 min
From the U.S. operation against Iran's nuclear enrichment plant, to Chinese theft of personal data, North Korea's financially motivated attacks on American companies, or Russia's interference in the 2016 election, cyberweapons have become the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. "New York Times" national security correspondent David Sanger explains how and why cyberattacks are now the number one security threat.
Jan 14, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Now based in California, Mark Payumo previously served as a Philippine Army Special Forces officer. Reflecting on his recent Carnegie Council site visit to Manila to investigate climate change and the role of the defense establishment, he concludes that securitizing climate change--i.e. having the military involved, both in adaptation and mitigation--is a decided advantage for the community.
Jan 10, 2019•17 min
National security expert and U.S. Army veteran Asha Castleberry makes sense of a busy and seemingly chaotic time for the Department of Defense in the wake of Secretary Mattis' departure. What should we think about Trump's plans in Syria and Afghanistan? How is the U.S. planning to counter China in Africa? And has John Bolton actually been a moderating influence?
Jan 09, 2019•32 min
This podcast is part of "The Crack-Up," a special series about the events of 1919, a year that in many ways shaped the 20th century and the modern world. In this episode, host Ted Widmer speaks with fellow historian Patty O'Toole about her "New York Times" article on Teddy Roosevelt, who died 100 years ago this week. Why was health care reform so important to him? What did he think about nationalism? How would TR fit in with the modern GOP?
Jan 08, 2019•20 min
Gold leaf tattoos that would act as a screen for our devices, chips implanted in our brains--these are some of the worrying technologies under development with no thought of the consequences to our minds and bodies, says crisis management expert Ian Mitroff. He blames the "technological mindset" that believes that technology will solve every problem. We need technologists, but we also need ethicists and we need to have crisis plans in place.
Jan 08, 2019•20 min
Waleed Alhariri, U.S. director of the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, discusses major developments in the Yemen conflict, which remains the world's worst humanitarian crisis. With renewed momentum at the UN and in U.S. Congress, an increased international focus on the war after the Jamal Khashoggi murder, and a fragile ceasefire in Hudaydah, Yemen's biggest port, Alhariri is "carefully optimistic" that conditions could improve in the coming months.
Dec 20, 2018•30 min
Elana Beiser of the Committee to Protect Journalists discusses the latest CPJ report, which finds that for the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. Also for the third year running, Turkey, China, and Egypt were responsible for about half of those imprisoned, with Turkey remaining the world's worst jailer.
Dec 19, 2018•32 min
Pacific Delegates Austin McKinney and Chetan Pedada both have military backgrounds and technology expertise. They discuss ways in which machine-learning and military cooperation could help the Philippines cope with climate change and natural disasters and also reflect on the human impact that climate change is already having on these islands and how Filipinos are working together to respond.
Dec 18, 2018•24 min
Yoko Okura of Mercy Corps discusses her recent visit to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, the site of a camp for 1 million Rohingya refugees. She learned every day, that 700 tons of trees--four football fields--are being cut down for firewood and construction, bringing an increased risk of landslides and floods. She also reflects on her visit to Manila with Carnegie Council and the advantages of traveling with a group from different disciplines.
Dec 17, 2018•10 min
There are few, if any, who understand the Korean Peninsula situation better than Ambassador Hill. He served as U.S. ambassador to South Korea and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and was head of the U.S. delegation to the 2005 six-party talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis. In this wise and witty talk he explains where we are today, how we got here, and where we're likely to go in the future.
Dec 14, 2018•1 hr
Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev and host Alex Woodson discuss the state of foreign policy after the midterm elections. How can newcomers like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have a tangible effect in Washington? Will Democrats be able to unite behind a platform? Plus, they look ahead to 2020 and speak about Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Nikki Haley and how American values will play into the future of international relations.
Dec 13, 2018•42 min
"You saw the Russians start to pay attention to social media, in particular after Obama's election, because the way that he was elected was new to them. They always watch our elections very closely. So you see them toying around in this whole space of the sphere of information, the use of information as a tool of political warfare, developing new tools." Molly McKew delves into Russian disinformation campaigns in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Dec 12, 2018•29 min
