Deep Dish on Global Affairs

The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his role in ending a 20-year military stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In fact, the historic rapprochement is just one element of the young leader's ambitious, fast-moving reforms. Boston University's Michael Woldemariam and the Council's Ertharin Cousin join Deep Dish to discuss the strides so far and the steps ahead.

More than 1,200 days have passed since Britain's referendum to leave the European Union, but little has been decided in that time about how Brexit will actually take place. As the Oct. 31 deadline nears and Boris Johnson's government tries to negotiate a deal at the wire, the editor-in-chief of The Economist joins Deep Dish to explain how the United Kingdom fell into this predicament and what to expect next.

Monday, October 7, marks 18 years since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom. Since 2001, more than 2,400 US military personnel have died in Afghanistan, yet the Taliban and other insurgents continue to launch attacks, hold terrain, and decimate the US-backed Afghan security forces. Robert A. Pape, professor of political science and the director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago, joins Deep Dish to discuss another way forward for America's longest war.

On October 1, the Chinese Communist Party marks 70 years in power. Much has changed since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but the legacy of its founder, the revolutionary Mao Zedong, still looms large today over Xi Jinping's leadership and Beijing's foreign policy. Julia Lovell, author of Maoism: A Global History, joins Deep Dish to discuss.

National security, alliances, immigration, and trade wars have already surfaced in debates and speeches by 2020 US presidential candidates. But how do the candidates' ideas match those of Americans overall? James M. Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations joins the Council's Dina Smeltz to discuss the findings of the newly released 2019 Chicago Council Survey on how Americans view US foreign policy.

Australia has long been a strong ally of the United States, but new challenges and opportunities, including the rise of China, confront the alliance in the 21st century. Ahead of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's visit to the United States and state dinner with President Donald Trump, Dr. Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute in Sydney, joins Deep Dish to delve into this important but often-overlooked relationship.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will annex part of the Jordan Valley if he stays in power after elections next week. The decision comes as tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon and with Iran-backed militias in Syria flare up. The Jerusalem Post's Middle East affairs analyst Seth Frantzman and the Council's Cécile Shea join Deep Dish to discuss.

Flames raging across the Amazon have captured the world's attention, but Brazil faces other pressing economic, political, and conservation consequences due to deforestation as well. In all, the fires have revealed a stark division between increasingly urban populations and the rural areas that feed their modern way of life. Robert Muggah of the Igarapé Institute in Rio de Janeiro joins Deep Dish to discuss.

On September 1, two important state elections are being held in Germany's Brandenburg and Saxony. The far-right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) looks poised to win. On Deep Dish, Sheri Berman of Barnard College explains why the AfD has emerged as a formidable populist challenger to the two long-dominant parties in Germany, the social democrats and the Christian democrats.

Indonesia's massive, overcrowded capital is sinking due to climate change and depleted ground water. Now President Joko Widodo wants to move the capital and build an entirely new city. The decision comes just as Jokowi, as he is known, begins his second presidential term—and it's not the only challenge he faces. Tom Pepinsky of Cornell University and the Brookings Institution joins Deep Dish to discuss.

Last week, Narendra Modi's government revoked the constitutional provision that had long granted special autonomy to India-administered Kashmir. Bloomberg's Nisid Hajari, author of Midnight's Furies, and Paul Staniland of the University of Chicago join Deep Dish to discuss how the decision has once again torn open tensions between India and Pakistan—and what it means for the United States.

Last week, Tokyo decided to downgrade its trade relationship with Seoul following weeks of protests, boycotts, and sparing. While bad blood between the two US allies goes back decades, its reemergence today raises new questions about stability and security in the region—and all while US relations with China and North Korea worsen. Alexis Dudden of the University of Connecticut and the Council's Karl Friedhoff join Deep Dish to discuss.

Tunisia is the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring. Yet the death of its first democratically elected president last week has raised new questions about its future. The outcome matters not just to Tunisians, but also as a test case for democracy across North Africa and the Arab world. Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Gordon Gray, the US ambassador to Tunisia from 2009 to 2012, join Deep Dish to discuss.

With the return of national populism to global politics, multilateral organizations such as the United Nations have come under renewed scrutiny. Yet the UN is much more than just colorful speeches from leaders each September in New York and vetoed resolutions in the Security Council. The Council's Catherine Bertini, a former executive director of the UN World Food Programme, and the Council's global governance fellow, Thomas Weiss, join Deep Dish to discuss the future of the UN and why the United States should lead its renewal.

US sanctions on Iran are shifting the strategic calculus for Tehran to retaliate, creating a situation reminiscent of the sequence in 1941 that led Imperial Japan to attack the US naval base in Hawaii, argues Robert Pape of the University of Chicago. Ellen Laipson of George Mason University, too, warns about the White House neglecting the risks of economic coercion when it fails. Both join this week's Deep Dish to discuss what is at stake with Iran.

More than a million people have demonstrated in Hong Kong over the last month, rallying against a proposed bill that would have allowed for the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China. Yet even now that the bill has been suspended, the protests show no sign of abating. Director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute Ben Bland joins Deep Dish to explain what is happening.

In a recent 90-minute interview with the Financial Times, President Vladimir Putin detailed his thoughts not only about Russia, but also about the United States, China, Europe, and the Middle East. Financial Times editor Lionel Barber, who conducted the interview, joins Council President Ivo Daalder and Deep Dish host Brian Hanson to discuss what the Russian president revealed about his worldview.

Sudan is careening towards a crisis. President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April after three decades in power, yet heavily armed groups are now fighting in Sudan for control. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, and the United States are each vying for influence. Andrew Natsios, director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the Bush School at Texas A&M University and US envoy to Sudan during the George W. Bush administration, joins Deep Dish to explain what is going on and why it matters.

For each bold move abroad, from the Belt and Road Initiative to island building, China seems confronted with new vulnerabilities at home, including the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. Jessica Chen Weiss, author of an intriguing new essay in Foreign Affairs, and Ali Wyne of the Rand Corporation join Deep Dish to discuss what is intrinsic and what is incidental to Beijing's ambitions.

This week President Donald Trump touted a new agreement with Mexico to stem the flow of migrants into the United States. But Mexican officials claimed both sides were still evaluating the situation. Earl Anthony Wayne, a former US ambassador to Mexico, joins Deep Dish to discuss what can realistically be done about migrant flows.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is facing "the most severe crisis in the security environment in Europe since the end of the Cold War and perhaps ever," warn Douglas Lute and Nicholas Burns. The two former US ambassadors to NATO recently joined Deep Dish to explain why.

As cities grow in size and power, local governments are increasingly shaping their own diplomatic agendas independent from national governments. New York City's Commissioner for International Affairs Penny Abeywardena and Montréal's Director of International Relations Henri-Paul Normandin join Deep Dish to discuss the rise of city diplomacy.

The Trump administration raised tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum last year in the name of national security. Last week, President Trump ended the tariffs as a new trade agreement, the USMCA, moves forward. Bruce Heyman, a former US ambassador to Canada, and the Council's Phil Levy join Deep Dish to discuss what happened and where the relationship goes now.

The White House escalated warnings about a threat from Iran this week, Tehran warned it may resume enriching uranium at higher levels, and more US warships were sent to the Middle East. Michael Singh of the Washington Institute and Ariane Tabatabai of the RAND Corporation join Deep Dish to explain what's going on.

The spread of internet-connected smartphones in India is upending everything from jobs and marriage to politics and education. In 2000, only 20 million Indians had internet access. By 2020, more than 700 million will. Ravi Agrawal, author of India Connected, joins Deep Dish to explain how the smartphone is transforming the world's largest democracy.

Washington Post contributing editor and Council expert Daniel Drezner joins Deep Dish to discuss how trade disputes could spark World War III and why US grand strategy is more or less dead. His views on both could pretty accurately be described as "apocalyptic."

Artificial Intelligence is changing what it means to be human. From jobs and the economy to security and geopolitics, AI is rewriting human society in big ways that we are only just beginning to understand. Data scientist JT Kostman joins this week's Deep Dish podcast to explain.

Warming ties between Baghdad and Iran and souring ties between Washington and both raise the question: Did Iran come out as the real winner of the Iraq war? Ryan Crocker, who served as the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon, joins Deep Dish to discuss.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's long-dominant political party lost elections in Ankara and Istanbul last week. At the same time, a dispute between Washington and Ankara over Turkey buying a Russian missile system has hurt ties between the NATO allies. Steven A. Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations and Mustafa Akyol of the Cato Institute join Deep Dish to explain.

President Trump has signed an executive order to formally recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Ambassador Dennis Ross, who led the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for 12 years and served in senior political positions under Presidents Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama, joined this week's Deep Dish podcast to explain what this means.

The world is in for a shock. Global population is expected to peak and then decline this century, reshaping everything from economic growth and immigration to government spending. Darrell Bricker and John Ibbitson, authors of the provocative new book Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline, join the Council's Brian Hanson and Dina Smeltz to discuss why it's happening and how nations can prepare for this radical shift.

Comic actor Volodymyr Zelensky, who has no political experience but has played the Ukrainian president on TV, is leading in the polls ahead of Ukraine's presidential election on March 31. Last weekend marked five years since Russia annexed Crimea, and fighting in eastern Ukraine, which has killed thousands, continues. Steven Pifer, former US ambassador to Ukraine, joins Deep Dish to explain what's going on.

In recent months, Somalia has seen a surge of airstrikes by the US military as part of an intensifying campaign against al Shabaab, an extremist group affiliated with al Qaeda. Bronwyn Bruton of the Atlantic Council and Paul D. Williams of George Washington University join Deep Dish this week to explain what the United States is doing in Somalia and why al Shabaab is a target.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces corruption charges ahead of Israel's election and the subsequent rollout of President Trump's Mideast peace plan. Douglas J. Feith, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the George W. Bush administration, and Aaron David Miller, a twenty-year analyst, negotiator, and adviser on Middle Eastern issues at the Department of State, join Deep Dish this week to discuss the future of US-Israel relations.

Bad blood between India and Pakistan goes back decades, but tensions have escalated in recent days after a suicide bomber from a Pakistan-based militant group killed Indian paramilitary troops in Kashmir. Former US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution explain what you need to know about the ongoing crisis between two nuclear powers on this week's Deep Dish podcast.

The 91st Academy Awards take place on Sunday in Los Angeles, but international markets, led by China, have eclipsed the domestic market in importance for the US movie industry, rewriting the rules about what kinds of films get made. On this week's Deep Dish podcast, Lynda Obst, producer of Sleepless in Seattle, Contact, Interstellar, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and Orville Schell of the Asia Society join Brian Hanson to discuss how China is changing the US box office.

For thirteen straight weeks, demonstrators in high-visibility vests have taken to the streets in Paris and in cities around France. Government buildings have been attacked, shops looted, and cars set ablaze. On this week's Deep Dish podcast, Sophie Pedder of The Economist and Benjamin Haddad of the Atlantic Council explain what the political demonstrations mean for French President Emmanuel Macron, for France, and for Europe.

The chief of naval operations recently visited the Council and spoke with Deep Dish host Brain Hanson about China's growing global ambitions and Russia's troublesome actions in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic. Richardson also explained what the US Navy needs now to retain its supremacy in the years ahead.

Venezuela has two claimants to power: Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro. Western countries back Guaidó, Putin and China favor Maduro, and the people of Venezuela are looking for a way out of their country's rolling economic disaster. Latin America expert Peter Schechter and veteran diplomate Cécile Shea join this week's Deep Dish to discuss.

China announced its economic growth had slowed to its lowest annual rate since 1990. At the same time, Beijing and Washington remain locked in a trade war that shows no sign of resolution. Global economics expert Phil Levy joins this week's Deep Dish podcast to explain what's going on, and how lessons from the US shutdown might help explain what will happen next.

As the Trump administration prepares to withdraw from Syria, former US ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and Tamara Cofman Wittes, former deputy assistant secretary of state for near East Affairs, join this week's Deep Dish podcast to dissect the withdrawal's implications for US-Syria policy.

A president's ability to enact their vision is not absolute. It is constrained by international laws and by the willingness of allies and partners to go along with what the White House wants. On this week's Deep Dish, Harold Hongju Koh, former Legal Adviser at the US State Department, joins Council President Ivo Daalder and Brian Hanson to discuss Koh's new book The Trump Administration and International Law.

The massive Marriott records breach was the latest in a series of economic espionage cases attributed to China. Top cybersecurity experts Lesley Carhart and Adam Segal join this week's Deep Dish podcast to discuss the evolving tactical and policy challenges involved in managing international cyber space.

The war in Yemen has created one of the greatest unseen humanitarian tragedies in the world. It finally drew public attention after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, which triggered a debate about US involvement in the war. As peace talks begin in Sweden, Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen joins this week's Deep Dish podcast.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a "frozen conflict," but Russia recently seized three Ukrainian naval vessels near the Kerch Strait to the Black Sea. In this week's Deep Dish podcast, US Navy Commander Tony Chavez joins Council President Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to NATO, to discuss the geopolitical importance of this maritime dispute.

Sitting Conservative Member of Parliament Rory Stewart joined this week's Deep Dish podcast, along with Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post and guest host Phil Levy, to weigh the pros and cons of voting for Theresa May's Brexit deal. Now that EU leaders have accepted the deal, it's up to Parliament to decide what happens next.

US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War has been a resounding failure, argues Stephen M. Walt in his new book "The Hell of Good Intentions." What's worse, the failure is our fault, a direct result of America's chosen grand strategy of liberal hegemony, he says. But Walt has an alternative, as he explains in this week's Deep Dish podcast.

For the first time ever, the European Union rejected a proposed budget from a member state: Italy. A deadlock has ensued, threatening a "doom loop" that could consume Italy's economy, the eurozone, and perhaps even the global economy. Former International Monetary Fund official Isabelle Mateos y Lago and Adam Tooze, economic historian and author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World, join Brian Hanson to discuss this issue.

Council President Ivo Daalder and James M. Lindsay, senior vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss their new book "The Empty Throne: America's Abdication of Global Leadership"—a revealing look at President Trump's foreign policy and its implications for the rules-based international order.

Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil's presidency with a far-right populism that drew comparisons to President Donald Trump. But Brazil and Latin America don't fit neatly into the Western populism narrative, says Peter Schechter, host of the Altamar podcast and 20-year veteran of Latin American politics.