Deep Dish on Global Affairs

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.

Two big shocks are hitting the Chinese economy at once. The first shock is within China—slowing growth, increasing debt, an aging population, and an underdeveloped consumer base. The second shock is with the United States as tensions rise and a trade war looms. Angela Lee, professor of Marketing at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, Paul Schickler, a former president of DuPont Pioneer, and Vivian Lin Thurston, a partner and global research analyst with William Blair, discuss the changing Chinese economy with the Council's Phil Levy.

Within hours of President Trump's announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal, Iran's foreign minister was on a plane, first to China and then to Russia. This often overlooked but important geopolitical trio, Iran, Russia, and China, is the subject of a new book by Dina Esfandiary and Ariane Tabatabai.

Two distinguished public opinion surveys reveal how American foreign policy is perceived at home and abroad. Pew's director of global attitudes research Richard Wike joins Dina Smeltz, lead author of the Chicago Council Survey on US public opinion on foreign policy, to discuss their findings.

Sheila Bair was front and center for the 2008 fiscal crises as George Bush's appointee to the FDIC. Notably, she was also among the small number of officials who voiced concerns about the dangers of subprime mortgages before the meltdown. On this episode of Deep Dish, we ask her what we've learned about the global crisis and how vulnerable we are today.

Of the 50 most violent cities in the world, 47 are in the Americas. This week's Deep Dish features World Bank citizen security expert Flavia Carbonari, Mario Maciel from San Jose's Gang Prevention Task Force; and Medellín's Chief Resilience Officer Santiago Uribe discussing how cities can combat urban violence.

Hurricane Florence and Typhoon Mangkhut have inflicted widespread damage to property, food production, and human life. As extreme weather increasingly uproots communities and economies, leading experts Simon Dalby and Joshua Busby join this week's Deep Dish podcast to predict how today's climate change will affect tomorrow's foreign policy.

The Trump administration is furious that the International Criminal Court is considering an investigation into US military action in Afghanistan. In a major speech this week, National Security Advisor John Bolton threatened the court with sanctions. One of the court's founder's, Ambassador David Scheffer, joins Deep Dish this week to react.

Yale Historian Tim Snyder says "if it can happen in Poland, it can happen anywhere." Find out how this Eastern European poster child for democracy backslid into autocracy, and what lessons it holds for the rest of the West.

President Trump announced a new trade deal with Mexico to replace NAFTA, and called on Canada to join the deal or risk being left out. On this week's Deep Dish, Mexico expert Duncan Wood, Canada expert Laura Dawson, and US trade economist Phil Levy analyze the new deal and lay out what could happen next.

The Turkish Lira has been plunging in value, causing investor concern about a greater financial contagion. This comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Turkey on a range of domestic and geopolitical issues. Turkey experts Steven Cook and Henri Barkey join economist Phil Levy on this week's Deep Dish podcast to examine the causes and consequences of this emerging market crisis.

Ambassador James Dobbins established the US embassy in Kabul 17 years ago, at the beginning of the War in Afghanistan. Since then, the United States and its NATO allies have been at constant war. On this episode of Deep Dish, Ambassador James Dobbins and US NATO Ambassador Douglas Lute discuss whether and how an endgame might take shape in America's longest war.

The results of Zimbabwe's first election in decades will signal how the country proceeds economically and politically during its transition to a post-Mugabe era. Experts Alex Vines and Rachel Riedl join Deep Dish this week to explain the election's importance for the country and region.

From the South China Sea to the DMZ, there are tensions in the world that could lead to deadly war. But two renowned political theorists believe they have the keys to conflict prevention. Paul Stares and Bruce Jentleson join this week's Deep Dish podcast to discuss how preventative engagement can help keep global peace.

Russian election interference changed the cyber playing field. While United States intelligence knows what happened before, is it ready to stop it from happening again? Cybersecurity experts Adam Segal and David Sanger join this week's Deep Dish podcast to discuss the latest in US cyber policy.

With the NATO summit underway in Brussels, former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder joined this week's Deep Dish podcast to discuss President Trump's relationship with the alliance and his upcoming summit with Russian Vladimir Putin.

The United States has gone from threats to action on a number of trade fronts. China and Europe are both retaliating, while NAFTA negotiations continue to slog on. To help see the big picture, global economy fellow Phil Levy joins Brian Hanson on this week's Deep Dish.

Mexico heads to the polls on Sunday, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador is largely expected to claim presidential victory. NPR's International Correspondent in Mexico City, Carrie Kahn, explains how this election is Mexico's anti-establishment statement and why President Trump may not be relevant to the campaign.

Until Wednesday, family separations were part of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" response to illegal immigration. The Bipartisan Policy Center's Theresa Brown breaks down how we got there, why migrants risk so much to enter the United States, and what else can be done to deal with migrant flows.

Following their historic meeting on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for "complete denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula. But they offered few specifics. To break down what happened, how we got here, and what all this means, Asia experts Katrin Katz and Karl Friedhoff join Brian Hanson on this week's Deep Dish podcast.

Fake news, cyber-attacks, election tampering, and expanding its territory are some of the ways Russia continues to antagonize the West. Former president of the Brookings Institution, diplomat, and journalist Strobe Talbott joins this week's Deep Dish podcast to share his view of Russia based on extensive personal experience.

Spain's Congress will hold a vote of no-confidence at the end of this week. If it is successful it will bring down the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. What are the implications of this vote on the state of Spain's domestic politics today? How does Spain view its role in NATO and other transatlantic agreements? Spanish Ambassador to the United States, Pedro Morenés, joins Brian Hanson to discuss.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro handily won reelection, but the international community rejected his election as a sham, and the United States responded with new sanctions. To explain what happened and what's next, Francisco Rodriguez, a Venezuelan economist and a policy advisor to leading opposition candidate Henri Falcón, joins this week's Deep Dish with Brian Hanson.

After weeks of popular protest, Armenia's Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was replaced by opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan. Former Foreign Minister of Armenia and Member of Parliament, Vartan Oskanian, along with Salpi Ghazarian, director of the University of Southern California's Institute of Armenian Studies, joined Deep Dish to give their eyewitness accounts of the "Velvet Revolution" and explain how it all happened.

President Trump's "Maximum pressure" campaign could be working, or Kim Jong-un's playbook could be running the show. After an historic South-North summit, The Wall Street Journal's bureau chief in Seoul, South Korea, Jonathan Cheng, joins the Council's Karl Friedhoff to examine the drivers and developments leading up to President Trump's meeting with Kim Jong-un.

Iran's leaders may fear regime collapse enough to consider renegotiating the nuclear deal, but President Trump could walk away anyway. Expert Iran watchers Saeid Golkar and Ilan Goldenberg explore the ramifications of ending the Iran deal on this week's Deep Dish.

While China bolsters its military strength in the South China Sea, the US Navy is expanding its capability to enforce maritime norms across the region. "The US Navy will not be deterred," says Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, as he dives into the Navy's latest steps to challenge its near-peer rivals.

The United States, United Kingdom, and France launched coordinated air strikes against Syria's military on Saturday. To analyze the fallout, Council President Ivo Daalder and Greg Jaffe, national security reporter from The Washington Post, join this week's Deep Dish podcast.

National Security Council alums from both sides of the aisle sit down to look at what responsibilities and challenges President Trump's new National Security Advisor will face on the job. A National Security Adviser trying to implement the President's agenda might be tempted to run around any bureaucracy slowing down the President's impulses. With no congressional or public oversight, John Bolton may soon find himself taking national policy into his own hands. Former National Security Council members Ivo Daalder and Kori Schake join Brian Hanson to discuss the future of the NSC under John Bolton.

What can the president do in trade wars, and what restraints exist? This episode originally aired in 2017 but has become newly relevant as China and the US go tit for tat in opening trade skirmishes. Listen again to learn what powers the president has in true trade wars. Featuring Phil Levy and Gary Clyde Hufbauer.

Deep Dish often takes a strategic or policy-oriented view toward conflicts around the world. In this episode, we pause to consider the real human lives impacted by the headlines we read. Becky Carroll, who is in direct contact with people on the ground in Eastern Ghouta, co-founded the #StandWithAleppo social media campaign in 2016 and serves on the Ambassador Board for MedGlobal. Dr. Wendy Pearlman, whose new book, "We Crossed a Bridge and it Trembled: Voices from Syria," reports first-hand testimonials of those affected by political violence in Syria. Dr. Pearlman is a political science professor at Northwestern University.

Social media, the internet of things, and the dark web are the latest battlegrounds in a new era of asymmetrical warfare. Premier cyberterrorism expert Gabriel Weimann joins Deep Dish to discuss how terrorists and bad actors use cyber networks to recruit members, spread propaganda, and cause physical harm.

Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, president of the American Foreign Service Association, joins Deep Dish to give voice to the members of the US Foreign Service. She talks State Department cuts, political appointees, military partners, and how members of the US Foreign Service cope with the challenge of forming and implementing US foreign policy.

President Donald Trump has accepted North Korea's invitation for direct talks with Kim Jong-un. North Korea expert Karl Friedhoff and national security expert Commander Thomas Bodine discuss what brought us here, what China, North Korea, South Korea, and the United States want out of these talks, and what to watch for next.

After five months of uncertainty, Germany has formed a new government. Meanwhile in Italy, right-wing populists triumphed electorally but left no clear path toward a governing coalition. Italian expert Nathalie Tocci and German expert Constanze Stelzenmüller analyze the results and what it could mean for stability in Europe.

Stav Shaffir, the youngest-ever woman elected to Israel's parliament, joins Deep Dish to discuss corruption charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as her own Labor party's failure to pull ahead in polling, despite what she says is a broad base of support for its progressive agenda.