In the final episode of the Global Futures podcast, we look back at 10 years of the Global Governance Futures (GGF) program and talk with some of our alumni about their experiences and insights gained through the multilateral dialogues forum. We asked: What were their highest hopes for the program when they started? What had attracted them to GGF and what had they wanted to get out of the dialogues? During the program, what did they find worked well? What did not? Why do they think multilateral ...
Nov 09, 2021•40 min
Climate change is disrupting weather patterns and leading to extreme weather events, such as wild fires, all around the world. Climate-related natural disasters also cause unpredictable water availability, exacerbate existing water scarcities and contaminate established water supplies. In some situations, scarce and valuable fresh water has contributed to conflicts by being a causal factor, target, tool, or weapon. In this episode, we explore what the effects of climate change means for water se...
Dec 18, 2020•1 hr
Three months after the novel Coronavirus outbreak, companies across China are re-opening their doors for business. On March 19, Beijing announced that there were no new local infections. In fact, the country where the COVID-19 outbreak originated is now supporting other countries to fight the pandemic with material and medical staff. In this episode Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) sits down with Kun Tang to discuss how the Chinese government has been managing the Coron...
Mar 30, 2020•37 min
The coronavirus has paralyzed trade, caused stock markets to plunge and global economic activity to shrink. The pandemic has reached Latin America: Venezuela is under quarantine and Chile has declared “estado de catástrofe“ (state of catastrophy), sending in the military, while Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador continues to gather large crowds and hug his supporters. In this episode, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) sits down with Yaotzin Botello to talk ab...
Mar 21, 2020•30 min
International cooperation and multilateral approaches are being strained by rising populism and nationalism. The unabated march of the novel coronavirus (COVID19) across the globe threatens to further entrench unilateral approaches and nationalistic attitudes at a time when a global response is needed to combat this pandemic. Yet, we see travel bans being introduced, countries closing their boarders, schools and offices closing their doors, and shortages of medical and household supplies on the ...
Mar 14, 2020•33 min
This episode marks the start of season two of the Global Futures podcast. Over the course of the next few months, we will tackle the future(s) of climate-related conflict, media and information and the politics of inequality with our fellows and other leading experts from around the world. How should we navigate the media landscape in a world where information is available at the touch of a button? In this podcast, Sonya Sugrobova sits down with Allister Fa Chang to learn about media literacy, t...
Feb 28, 2020•24 min
As Beijing marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with an enormous military parade, protests have erupted again in Hong Kong where the national day was marked by bursts of violence as riot police deployed to major street corners, locked down the city, and clashed with protesters. Hong Kongers have been fighting to preserve the autonomy and freedoms they are granted by the “one country, two systems” policy – freedoms that do not apply to Chinese citizens on ...
Oct 01, 2019•41 min
Indonesia, an archipelago comprising of approximately 17,000 islands, holds just one percent of the Earth’s land area, but that one percent contains contain 10 percent of the world’s known plant species, 12 percent of mammal species, and 17 percent of all known bird species, making Indonesia biodiversity hotspot. The greatest threats to this biodiversity are habitat degradation and fragmentation, landscape changes, overexploitation, pollution, climate change, alien species, forest and land fires...
Aug 28, 2019•29 min
Cities are often described as sites of democracy at its deepest level – places where state actors are closest to citizens and their needs and the opportunities to plan and implement policies together are the greatest. Protest and frustration are also frequently the most intense when local governments are the target: Civil society advocacy groups and activist movements often assume that government will respond in a particular way, believing that if they clearly articulate a need, the authorities ...
Jul 19, 2019•23 min
From the yellow vests movement to critiques on his political acumen throughout the “Great National Debate”, Emmanuel Macron has faced many public challenges to his presidency over this past year. The people of France had high hopes for their new centrist leader post-election, but through his term we have seen his approval rating fall. In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) sits down with Sophie Pedder to discuss the Macron presid...
May 19, 2019•31 min
In May 2019, American and Taliban negotiators began a new round of peace talks in Doha, Qatar, hoping to settle the nearly two-decade long conflict in Afghanistan. The talks are aimed at securing a lasting peace agreement that includes Taliban guarantees regarding terrorism and a phased withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. Like many others with an interest in resolving the conflict, India and Germany will be paying close attention. In this episode, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public P...
May 15, 2019•37 min
In this episode, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) talks to Maria Laura Canineu about police violence, the prison system and human rights in Brazil under the government of President Jair Bolsonaro. Maria Laura Canineu is the Brazil Director in the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. She directs a team of public lawyers handling human rights issues. She has focused her efforts on protecting and promoting the rights of children, women, workers, members of the LGBT...
Apr 01, 2019•27 min
In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) sits down with Andres Schipani in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They talk about the role that cities can have in national and international politics and how cities could be more active on the global arena. Andres Schipani is the Brazil correspondent for the Financial Times. Before moving to São Paulo, he was the newspaper's Andes correspondent, covering Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, ...
Mar 11, 2019•18 min
Hong Kong has recently returned to the spotlight, as China cracks down on critics and pro-democracy activists in the city. Many Hong Kong observers see the erosion of the city’s civil liberties and democratic freedoms as a sign of China breaching the “one country, two systems” framework – established at the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China – which allows the region to retain an economic and administrative system separate from that of China. In this episode of the Globa...
Feb 22, 2019•35 min
Cyril Ramaphosa took over as South Africa’s president when Jacob Zuma resigned in February 2018 following years of corruption scandals and what many consider gross economic mismanagement. Ramaphosa’s victory sparked optimism in a country tied down by recession, rising fuel prices and high levels of unemployment. But his party, the African National Congress (ANC), is still struggling to hold on to power ahead of the upcoming national elections in mid-2019. Cyril Prinsloo, a Global Governance Futu...
Feb 13, 2019•25 min
Since the beginning of January 2019, Brazil has new president - Jair Bolsonaro - a right-wing, conservative, nationalist whose beliefs in country, God, and anti-corruption swayed many to vote him into Brazil’s highest office. In this episode Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) sits down with Matias Spektor exactly a year after their first conversation. Matias Spektor is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Fundação Getulio Vargas’s School of International Relations...
Jan 19, 2019•22 min
In this episode Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) talks to David Bandurski about the media landscape, internet and state censorship in China. They discuss the growing digitisation of media and its influence, the (in)famous Chinese social credit system, the state of Chinese investigative journalism, and more. David Bandurski is adjunct lecturer and researcher at the Journalism Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong. He is also the co-director of China Media P...
Dec 03, 2018•48 min
In this episode, Joel Sandhu from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) sits down with Matthieu Tardis to discuss his recent study,European Union Partnerships with African countries on Migration: Common Issues and Conflicting Interests. Since 2015 and what some would call the refugee crisis, dialogue between the European Union and African countries on migration issues has assumed a new intensity. In this discussion, Matthieu shares some of the key takeaways of his study, and surprising insig...
Nov 19, 2018•44 min
Global Futures is a podcast about global politics and how rising powers like China and India are transforming it. We discuss foreign policy, economics, war and peace, and how the world is changing with experts from across the world. Countries, their citizens and politics, seem more and more polarized by the day. Across Europe, far-right political parties proclaiming nationalist rhetoric are on the rise. We are grappling to understand the rise of an Us versus Them narrative, as well as the normal...
Nov 02, 2018•37 min
Forced migration is one of the critical issues of our time. 1 in 110 people in the world is currently displaced because of conflict, violence or persecution, or natural and environmental disasters. More common among those who are already vulnerable, forced migration also often creates tensions in the countries or regions that host such migrants. In this episode of the Global Futures podcast we talk about displacement in the South Asian region. In this age of radicalism and polarization we are se...
Oct 11, 2018•27 min
India aspires to a global leadership role and expansion of its already rapidly growing economy. At the same time, the country faces developmental challenges around access to food, education and health care. India’s bureaucracy has been criticized for not being nimble, adaptable and/or innovative enough to deal with these challenges. So what would the administration have to look like in order to be able to tackle India’s challenges and goals? And how can a bureaucracy which is so criticized for b...
Sep 28, 2018•28 min
The future is a topic that inspires speculation, fear and hope. In a world of rapid change and growing insecurity, scenario planning is a method that can provide a way to structure our thinking and foster much-needed debates. It deserves more attention. In this episode, our strategic foresight expert Johannes Gabriel is back with us to elaborate on scenario planning. The 27 fellows from nine different countries participating in GGF 2030 use the scenario planning method to look ahead 10 years and...
Aug 31, 2018•30 min
The migration and refugee challenge is probably the biggest challenge the European Union has faced in recent years. The EU is divided on how to handle the internal and external dimensions of the so-called migration crisis. And the issue has not only become a security challenge, but also a tool in the fight for political power and identity, which populist movements across Europe try to exploit for their own gains. What’s more, the question of how to handle asylum seekers also threatens the stabil...
Aug 10, 2018•31 min
The recent water shortage crisis in Cape Town refocused attention on this precious resource, the procurement of which is a serious concern for millions across the globe. The world’s fresh water supplies are unevenly distributed and the scarcity of clean water has already led to tensions within and between countries. Climate change, urbanization and population growth exacerbate the problem. Since water is so crucial to the existence of all living things on our planet, can these challenges fuel co...
Jul 27, 2018•37 min
It seems we are entering a new era of global order, with increasing divergence between countries such as China, Russia, the US, and the member states of the European Union. How will international politics evolve and what will define it? Will it be cooperation based on mutual interests or geopolitical competition between major powers? In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) meets Thomas Wright, director of the Center of the Uni...
Jul 13, 2018•29 min
What are the concerns that preoccupy American citizens beyond the Washington, DC policy bubble? They range from US relations with Russia and engagement in the Middle East, to migration and refugee issues in the US homeland and in Europe. In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Thorsten Benner from the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) meets Julie Smith, senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, to discuss public opinion...
Jun 28, 2018•24 min
Urban growth is one of today’s major challenges. What does this mean for world politics? Are cities and their leaders more able than national governments to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems? In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu discusses these questions with Michele Acuto, professor of global urban politics at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and an inaugural senior fellow in the Global Governance Futures multilateral dialogues program.
Jun 14, 2018•19 min
India is the world’s largest democracy, its second-most populous country, one of its fastest-growing economies, and a nuclear power. Is the country ready to play a bigger role in global politics in pursuit of its national interests and in the face of the emerging global challenges? What about India’s relations with the United States and China? What are New Delhi’s objectives and priorities? In this episode of the Global Futures podcast, Joel Sandhu discusses these questions with Tanvi Madan, dir...
Jun 01, 2018•25 min
What are the upcoming global challenges that demand our consideration in order to avoid surprises, mitigate risks, and make use of the opportunities they offer? In search of the answers, the 27 fellows of the Global Governance Futures 2030 program will meet over the course of 2018 and 2019 in four dialogue sessions to look ahead 10 years and think of ways to better address global challenges. To do so, the fellows will use a variety of strategic foresight instruments, including scenario planning ...
May 09, 2018•27 min
It seems as if the global political climate has never been more volatile since the end of the Cold War. Confidence in liberal democracy, Western-led institutions and the free market economy has eroded over the past decade. The European Union also lacks common responses to major challenges, such as rising populism, growing social and economic inequalities and migration issues. So how did we get there? What are the reasons that led to the current state of global governance and liberal democracy? H...
May 04, 2018•28 min
