Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

The small west African country of the Gambia has lodged a suit at the International Court of Justice against Myanmar for committing a genocide against the Rohingya people. The Rohingya are an ethnic and religious minority in Myanmar, who have long faced discrimination and persecution. But it was not until the summer and fall of 2017 that this persecution became a mass atrocity event, and arguably a genocide. Some 700,000 Rohingya fled violence in this time, and now more than a million live as refugees in neighboring Bangladesh. Justice for the Rohingya victims of genocide has so far been elusive. But this action at the International Court of Justice, which is a UN body based in the Hague, could be a significant turning point. On the line with me to discuss the significance of this lawsuit is Param-Preet Singh. She is an associate director of Human Rights Watch in the International Justice Program. And in our conversation she explains what exactly this law suit alleges, why Gambia is the country bringing the suit, and how this action advance the cause of justice for victims of crimes against humanity and change how. We kick off with a brief discussion of the International Court of Justice and how the judicial process at the ICJ works.

For the past several weeks, Washington Post reporter Mustafa Salim has had a front row view to massive protests that have erupted in Baghdad and other cities in Iraq. As he explains in this Global Dispatches podcast episode, these protests are neither centrally organized, nor do they have an explicit set of demands. Yet, they may prove to be powerful enough to bring down the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. The protests began in early October, mostly by young men from poorer Shi'ite cities and towns angered by corruption and their own economic distress. But now, the protests have since expanded to include women and men from all walks of life. In our conversation, Mustafa Salim describes the scene on the ground in Baghdad where I reached him a few days ago. We discuss how these protests originated, where they may be heading, why Iran is a target of the protesters, and how humble drivers of three wheel taxis that cater to the urban poor, known as Tuk Tuks, became symbolic heroes of this protest movement. If you have 20 minutes and want both a deeper understanding of what is driving the Iraq protests and what the mood is on the ground in Baghdad, have a listen. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

In 1976 Peter Piot was a 27-year-old microbiologist working in Belgium when he travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, then called Zaire, to investigate a particularly deadly disease outbreak. He took samples back to his lab and was among the team that first discovered the ebola virus. Today, he is one of the world's leading experts on epidemics and infectious diseases. This includes HIV/AIDS. In 1995, he was the founding director of the United Nations Program on AIDS, called UNAIDS, and served in that role until 2008. He is now the director of one of the world's most prestigious health research institutes, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. And on the podcast today, we talk about epidemics and what can be done to avert and contain them. This includes the ongoing ebola epidemic in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,which is now the second worst ebola outbreak in history. And we also discuss what the world has gotten right -- and wrong about both fighting HIV and AIDS and how we define ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We kick off though discussing the kind of nightmare scenarios that most concern Peter Piot. This includes what he calls "the big one."

One of the driving forces of international relations over the last several years has been a rivalry between Arab states. This is sometimes called the "Gulf Crisis" and put simply, it refers to tensions and hostilities between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the one hand; and Qatar on the other. The roots of this rivalry run deep, but around the time of the Arab Spring these tensions came very much to the surface. The United States has historically had a profound interest in mitigating hostilities between Gulf Arab states, principally because each of these countries are key US allies. The US, for example, has a major Navy base in Bahrain and a major Air Force base in Qatar. But the Trump administration has been less adept at keeping a lid on the hostilities between these countries. Now these tensions are not only affecting relations between Arab gulf states, but are also leaving a mark in other regions. As my guest today, Elizabeth Dickinson explains, the Gulf Crisis has been exported. The true fallout from this feud has not been felt on the Arabian Peninsula, she argues, but on battlefields across the greater Middle East and in the fragile politics of countries in the Horn of Africa, specifically Sudan and Somalia. Elizabeth Dickinson is a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group and in our conversation she explains both the roots of this rivalry in the gulf and how this crisis in the gulf is stoking instability across several regions of the world. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Victor Madrigal-Borloz is a Costa Rican jurist who serves as the United Nations Independent Expert on Protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In other words, he is the UN's top watchdog for LGBTI rights worldwide The fact that this position even exists in the UN system was, at the time, controversial. In UN lingo, his position is known as the IE SOGI, or Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. It was created in 2016 by votes in the Human Rights Council and General Assembly, the latter of which includes every UN member state. Some of these states are actively hostile to LGBTI rights, and accordingly sought to block establishing this role. They were unsuccessful, and Victor Madrigal-Borloz has now been on his job for two years. When I spoke with Victor Madrigal-Borloz he had just briefed the General Assembly on his latest report on LGBTI rights globally so we kick off discussing that report and have a broader conversation about how he goes about his work, fulfilling his UN mandate to protect LGBTI individuals around the world. Before we start, some quick background on one aspect of the UN human rights protection system of which Victor Madrigal-Borloz is a member. The IE SOGI is one of dozens independent experts and special rapporteurs that report to the Human Rights Council about both thematic and country specific human rights issues. So, for example there is are special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and North Korea; and there are special rapporteur covering issues like the rights of people with disabilities; or focusing on protection of the freedom of expression worldwide. There are over 50 of these positions, and taken together they are called "special procedures."

What began last week as a protest against a fare hike in for the Santiago, Chile metro system has morphed into a broad social movement against increasing economic inequality in the country. And it has been violent. So far, at least 18 people have been killed. From an international perspective, these protests are coming at an inopportune time. Santiago is hosting the next major global climate change conference, COP25, in early December. And prior to that, in mid November, the city is playing host for the APEC summit on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Needless to say, the government of Sebastian Pinera is coming under increased pressure to address the concerns of the protesters. But as my guest today explains, so far the actions taken by his government have really only exacerbated this ongoing crisis. Estafania Labrin Cortes is a Chilean reporter for the newspaper The Clinic. When I caught up with her from Santiago on Wednesday October 23, protests were still ongoing. We kick off this conversation discussing the series of events that lead to the spontaneous eruption of nationwide protests. We then have a longer conversation about what is driving increasing inequality in Chile -- indeed it has one of the highest degrees of wealth inequality among the world's major democracies. As Estafia Labrin Cortes explains, this is partly due to legacies from the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s. If you have 25 minutes and want to learn what caused these protests, how they spread so quickly and learn some of the broader international implications of this crisis in Chile, have a listen https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

On October 4th, the General Manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team shared a message on Twitter. It was which was an image with the words: "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong." The post was almost immediately deleted, but not before it caught the attention of Chinese authorities who began threatening huge sanctions on the Houston Rockets and on the NBA. The NBA quickly went into damage control mode with various officials profusely apologizing for this one tweet; and even the world's biggest NBA star, LeBron James suggested Morey was uniformed and uneducated about the situation in Hong Kong. What has unfolded between China and the NBA is to my mind one of the biggest stories of the last several years because it is such a blatant demonstration of the power that both the Chinese communist party and middle class consumers in China have over large western companies -- and that they are willing to use that power to punish and deter free speech outside of China. On the line with me to talk discuss what this incident with the NBA says about China's global reach, the future of freedom of expression, and the future of capitalism is Derek Thompson. He is a staff Writer at the Atlantic and host of the CRAZY/GENIUS podcast. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

The "Girl Effect" is a concept that has been around international development for the better part of a decade. It refers to the community and societal benefits that can accrue when investments are made in the education and health of girls. The concept has been backed up by research over the years and is now a driving force guiding many health and development projects. "The Girl Effect" is also the name of a non profit dedicated to catalyzing its namesake, and on the podcast today is the organization's CEO Jessica Posner. In our conversation, Jessica Posner kicks off by explaining the concept of the girl effect, and then we have a longer conversation about the work of the organization she leads. This includes projects aimed at increasing the demand for reproductive health services and education among young women and girls in the developing world. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Dionne Searcey travelled to the Central African Republic to report on a story that has previously lead to the murder of other foreign journalists. In July 2018 three Russian journalists were killed in the Central African Republic while investigating Russia's growing presence in the country. Their murder last year, however, has only increased international attention on Russia's shadowy aims in the Central African Republic. Dionne Searcey is a reporter for the New York Times and her story, published in late September, exposed evidence of Russian involvement in illicit diamond mining. More broadly, though, her story explains and identifies the contours of Russia's growing political interests in the Central African Republic. And at the center of this story is a man named Yevgeny Prighozin. He is a Russian oligarch and close ally of Vladimir Putin, and has been indicted in the United States for his role in interfering in the 2016 Presidential election. He is also the owner of a mining company that has extracted millions of dollars worth of diamonds from the Central African Republic. This was done through legal mining operations -- but also likely through illegal mines operated by armed rebel groups. We kick off discussing Yevgeny Prighozin before having a broader discussion of Russian involvement in the Central African Republic and what this signals about Russian-African relations more broadly. I've posted the article on Global Dispatches Podcast.com and encourage you to read it. It also includes some stunning images from photographer Ashley Gilbertson https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Kurdish forces have a long history of siding with the United States. And the United States has a long history of eventually selling them out. The latest iteration of this dynamic unfolded when Donald Trump ordered a small US military contingent to withdraw from Kurdish controlled parts of Northeastern Syria in advance of a likely Turkish military operation. The move came after phone call between Trump and Turkish President Recep Teyyep Erdogan in which Trump apparently acquiesced to a Turkish military operation against Kurdish fighters from the region. The situation is rapidly evolving -- so what I opted to do with this episode is speak with an expert on Kurdish politics and diplomacy, Morgan Kaplan, who provides some background and context so you can understand events as they unfold. Morgan Kaplan is the executive editor of the academic journal International Security at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School We kick off discussing the YPG -- these are the Kurdish forces who were the backbone of the fight against ISIS in Syria, and who control territory near the Turkish border. The US had backed them, while Turkey long accused them of being terrorists. We then discuss some of the broader geopolitics of this situation, including Turkish interests in the region; the role of Moscow and Damascus; and of course the Unites States fraught history with the Kurds. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

The battle of Mosul began exactly three years ago this month. Iraqi government forces and allied Kurdish militias with backing from the United States and other key international partners sought to re-take Mosul from ISIS, which captured the city two years earlier. Mosul is the second most populous city in Iraq. The fighting that ensued was the most intense urban warfare since World War Two. tThe liberating forces went neighborhood to neighborhood, house to house, to recapture territory. It took nearly a year, but eventually ISIS was evicted from Mosul in the summer of 2017. In a new book, the journalist James Verini embedded himself with the liberating forces and the civilians displaced by the fighting. He witnessed the fighting and its impact first-hand which he masterfully recounts in his new book: They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate. On the podcast James Verini discusses the significance of this battle to both the fight against ISIS and the overall politics of the region. We kick off discussing the long history of Mosul and events leading up to its capture by ISIS and eventual liberation by Iraqi and allied forces.

Gulalai Ismail won't tell me how she came to New York. Doing so, she says, will put too many lives at risk. Gulalai Ismail is a longtime human rights activist in Pakistan. Her organization, Aware Girls, helped to train the likes of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai and hundreds of other Pakistani girls, mostly in the very conservative parts of the country rife with Islamist militants. She has faced numerous death threats over the years for her outspoken promotion of the rights of women and girls, but it was not until she began speaking out against the Pakistani government that she felt compelled to flee the country. As she explains, she was put on a most wanted list for her leadership and participation in a protest movement this year seeking accountability for human rights abuses committed by the Pakistani security forces during counter-terrorism operations. This was when harassment and threats directly from the government forced her into hiding. She publicly resurfaced in New York in September, where she is now seeking political asylum. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

My guest today, Kumi Naidoo, is Secretary General of Amnesty International. He's a longtime activist and civil society leader who joined the anti-apartheid movement as a teenager and for many years lead Greenpeace. In September, ahead of the UN Climate Summit, Amnesty International conferred its highest honor, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, to Greta Thunberg and the Friday's for the Future Movement. In this conversation I sought to draw out Kumi Naidoo's perspective as a longtime activist on this burgeoning transnational youth climate movement. That is the focus of much of our conversation in this episode. We met in Amnesty's offices across the street from the United Nations, where days earlier hundreds of young people gathered for a Youth Climate Action summit. From a UN perspective, this was a pretty interesting and unique event. And Secretary General Antonio Guterres was very transparent that he sought this kind of youth engagement as a means to pressure government to take more meaningful action on climate change. We kick off discussing what impact he's seen from this youth movement around the UN and beyond. At times this conversation gets heavy. And I just want to thank Kumi Naidoo for both taking the time to speak during a very busy UNGA week and more importantly. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Around the United Nations you will often see CEOs of major companies participating in meetings and events around sustainability. Meaningful corporate participation is fairly commonplace at the United Nation these days. But this was certainly not the case ten years ago and more, when I'd regularly see Hans Vestberg around the United Nations as one of the very few corporate leaders engaging on development and sustainability issues. Hans Vestberg is the CEO of Verizon and he is on the Global Dispatches podcast to discuss the role of 5G technologies in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. We kick off with a discussion about what exactly 5G is, and how it can be used to advance sustainable development. We then have a discussion about his own commitment to sustainability issues and how Verizon has integrated the Sustainable Development Goals into its corporate strategies.

The United Nations General Assembly, better known as UNGA, kicks in New York this week. Hundreds of heads of state, business and civil society leaders and dignitaries of all stripes will descend on the UN for a week of events, meetings, and of course speeches. UNGA is the single most important and action-packed week on the diplomatic calendar -- a behemoth of diplomatic events. On the line with me to preview the big stories that will drive the agenda at UNGA this year is Margaret Besheer, the UN correspondent for Voice of America, and Richard Gowan, the UN director of the International Crisis Group. We discuss a key youth summit on climate, the UN Climate Action Summit, how tensions between the United States and Iran may shape events at UNGA, and many other key moments, events, and ideas to watch during UNGA. If you have 25 minutes and want to learn the storylines that will drive the agenda at UNGA this year, have a listen. https://patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres discusses climate change in this special episode of the Global Dispatches podcast. On Tuesday, September 17th Antonio Guterres sat down with Mark Hertsgaard of The Nation and Mark Phillips of CBS News for an interview conducted on behalf of Covering Climate Now. This is a global collaboration of over 250 news outlets, including the Global Dispatches Podcast and UN Dispatch, to strengthen coverage of the climate story. The interview with Antonio Guterres was conducted on behalf of all participating members of this coalition and I am glad to be able to present the podcast version of it to you. If you are listening to this episode contemporaneously, I'd encourage you to check out the episode I posted earlier this week that gets into a little more detail about the UN Climate Action Summit; and later this week, I will have an episode that previews all the big stories that will drive the agenda around the UN Week in New York. After the interview concludes, I'll offer some short commentary about my big takeaways. I've covered the UN for nearly 15 years and I think Antonio Guterres' remarks in this interview for reasons I explain. If you are new to the podcast: welcome. Global Dispatches is a global affairs podcast that typically features my interviews with diplomats, NGOS leaders, policy experts journalists and academics all around topics of world concern. I encourage you to subscribe the show and check out our robust archive.

The UN General Assembly convenes at United Nations headquarters in New York next week. As in every year, UNGA is an annual opportunity for heads of state to come to the United Nations to meet each other and address the world. What distinguishes the UN General Assembly this year is a series of key events and meetings focused on climate change. Of these events and meetings the most high profile is what is known as the UN Climate Action Summit. This will take place on Monday the 23rd of September, and will include top government officials, business leaders, and civil society members bringing to the table concrete action plans to accelerate progress on addressing climate change. Today's episode of the Global Dispatches podcast is dedicated to explaining just what that Climate Action Summit entails and what to expect from this major climate meeting at the United Nations. On the line with me to discuss the significance of this summit and what it hopes to achieve is Cassie Flynn, she is the strategic advisor on climate change in the executive office of the UN Development Program, UNDP. She is the someone who has very much been involved in aspects of planning the summit and in this conversation offers a curtain raiser for the summit itself, and discusses some of the broader expectations for this event. The Climate Action Summit at the UN is the capstone to several climate related events happening at the UN, including a Youth Climate Summit that will feature young leaders from around the world. In this conversation we discuss how these events relate to each other and directly to the Paris Climate Accord. If you have twenty minutes and want to better understand the UN Climate Action Summit, have a listen. This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

In late August it appeared that the United States was very close to an agreement with the Taliban that would see US troops withdraw from the Afghanistan. Leading the negotiations on the US-side was Zalmay Khalilzad, a widely respected former US Ambassador to the UN who is an immigrant to the US from Afghanistan. He also served as US Ambassador to Afghanistan shortly after the fall of the Taliban. Significantly, these negotiations did not include the Afghan government, rather they were direct negotiations between the US and the Taliban. By early September it appeared that the two sides had reached a deal. Then, on September 7th Donald Trump appeared to upend the deal in a tweet suggesting that a planned meeting between the US and Taliban at Camp David had been cancelled, apparently ending these talks. But then, days later, he fired National Security Advisor John Bolton who had largely opposed negotiating with the Taliban in the first place. So where does this leave the peace process and negotiations for a US withdrawal from Afghanistan? And what happens next? On the line to discuss these questions and more is Daniel Serwer. He is a professor of conflict management and American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Study and a scholar at the Middle East Institute Daniel Serwer has had a long career in and out of government participating in peace talks and peace building efforts around the world, including Afghanistan. We kick off discussing just what Zalmay Khalilzad was negotiating with the Taliban before having a longer conversation about how those talks broke down and what comes next. If you have 20 minutes and want to get up to speed on US diplomacy towards Afghanistan, then have a listen. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Tanzania has long been recognized as stable country, generally more advanced in its democracy than many other countries in East Africa. To be sure, democracy in Tanzania was certainly imperfect and flawed. But there did exist a degree of press freedom, a robust civil society, and multiple political parties. Over the last few years, elements of Tanzanian democracy have been curtailed. The country is now in the midst of what scholars would call a democratic backslide. This occurs when the state uses its power to weaken institutions that sustain democracy, like civil society and a free press. A key inflection point in this process was the 2015 election of President John Magufuli. Magufuli is very much a populist -- his nickname is "The Bulldozer." He came to power on a pledge to stamp out corruption but has also shown himself to be increasingly intolerant of dissent. Since taking office he has enacted laws to severely restrict press freedoms; many journalists have been arrested, and political opponents silenced. But according to my guest today, Constantine Manda, the process of democratic backsliding really began under the previous administration. Still, for reasons he explains in this episode, the erosions of have accelerated in recent months. Constantine Manda is a Tanzanian national and a PHD candidate in the department of political science at Yale University. Support the show! https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Japan and South Korea are in the throws of a dispute - and its getting worse. What was a trade war escalated to the security realm last month when the South Korean government announced that it was pulling out of a key intelligence sharing agreement with Tokyo. This agreement enabled the real-time sharing of key intelligence as it related to common threats, including from North Korea. Needless to say, amid a growing threat from North Korea, which is regularly testing missiles that could reach both countries, this dispute between South Korea and Japan poses a big risk for international security. So why are two key US allies that share a common adversary at such loggerheads? And what does a frayed relationship between Seoul and Tokyo mean for regional security and international relations more broadly? On the line with me to answer these questions and more is Andrew Yeo, associate professor of politics at the Catholic University of America. We kick off talking through the World War Two era origins of this conflict before having a longer conversation about the global implications of a dispute between Japan and South Korea. If you have twenty minutes and want to learn why historical grievances have become hyper-relevant in East Asia -- and why relations are poised to get worse between these two countries, have a listen. People often ask me what podcasts I most enjoy listening to and top of the list for me is "First Person" from Foreign Policy magazine. The host, Sarah Wildman, is someone I have gotten to know over the years and whose work I have long admired. Each week she draws out from one guest a personal story or narrative that has some broader global significance.It's a great show and if you are fan of Global Dispatches, you'll certain enjoy First Person. First Person Homepage Apple Podcasts Spotify

Greg Stanton has spent a career researching and fighting genocide. He speaks candidly about the psychological toll of this line of work and managing the PTSD which he confronts to this day. Stanton is a descendent of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and as you'll learn from this conversation, the human rights gene runs strong in this family. His father was a liberal preacher and civil rights activist, and Greg tells me the most dangerous place he's ever worked, to this day, was registering black voters in Mississippi in the 1960s. Greg is the founder of the NGO Genocide watch. His career as a genocide scholar and activist began in the 1980s as an humanitarian worker in Cambodia, and he recounts collecting evidence of war crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. Greg served for many years in the State Department as well, including in Rwanda to help establish the war crimes tribunal following the 1994 genocide. We kick off discussing an ongoing genocide against the Yazidi people in Iraq and Syria. The subject matter of this episode is pretty heavy and i just want to thank Greg for being so open and honest about the emotional challenges he's faced throughout his career. This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally aired in August 2016.

Fires raging in the Amazon have captured the world's attention and put focus on the policies of the Brazilian government. The true extent of the fires is not yet known--but most sources suggest that the scale of the fires and deforestation underway is much greater than that of previous years. The reason for that is the permissive policies of the Jair Bolsonaro government. Bolsonaro is a rightwing firebrand who was elected to office in 2018 following major scandals implicating more left wing parties. As my guest today Rebecca Abers explains, once in office Bolsonaro quickly enacted policies that reversed years of progress against forestation of the Amazon. Rebecca Abers is professor of political science at the University of Brasilia in Brazil. And in this conversation, she describes the bureaucratic maneuvers engineered by Bolsonaro to undermine protections against de-forestation. We also discuss how and why international pressure, including an upcoming major UN Summit on Climate Change is impacting domestic politics in Brazil and forcing Bolsonaro to more productively combat de-forestation. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

About 75% of the world's population live in societies that practice of form of dowry payment. This is also known as brideprice and it is essentially wealth that a potential husband must pay to the family of his would-be wife. But in this way, brideprice acts as a kind of regressive flat tax that younger, and generally poorer men must pay to wealthier, older men. Hilary Matfess, a PHD candidate at Yale University, undertook a wide study of the impact of fluctuations in brideprice on broader issues related to conflict. She found that there is a positive correlation between changes in brideprice and the outbreak of violent conflict. In other words, when the cost of getting married increases, so too does the probability of armed conflict. Hilary Matfess published her findings a paper published in the 2017 issues of the academic journal International Security. In it, she and her co-author Valerie Hudson identify how the cost of getting married can lead to the outbreak of violent conflict and war. Anyone who has ever taken an international relations or security class knows that there are volumes of research on what causes the outbreak of violent conflict. Through case studies, which Matfess discusses in this conversation, the paper demonstrates how fluctuations in brideprices can lead to the outbreak of violent conflict. It is fascinating research with very real-world policy implications. This is a re-broadcast of an August 2017 episode. Become a premium subscriber to unlock bonus episodes, earn other rewards, and support the show!

The fish you eat may have been caught by slaves. Most Thai fishing boats operating in the South China Sea are dependent on migrant labor. But many of those vessels are essentially floating slave ships in which migrant workers are forced into a kind of debt bondage from which they cannot escape. Journalist Ian Urbina covered this issue for years as a reporter for the New York Times. He reported from land and sea to offer a first hand account of both the conditions on these ships and the broader economic, political and environmental forces that propel slavery on fishing boats in the South China Sea. Ian Urbina is on the podcast today to discuss his reporting on this issue, which is included in his new book the Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier. We kick off discussing the plight of these debt-bonded laborers before having a broader conversation about the issue of slavery at sea. Support the show! https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, released a report in August demonstrating the harmful relationship between climate change and how we humans are using land for food and agriculture. The warnings are dire. Agriculture and deforestation account for nearly a quarter of all human made greenhouse gas emissions -- and big changes in how we produce and consume food need to take place if we are to curb the worst effects of climate change. At the same time, the world population is increasing and poverty is declining, meaning food consumption patterns, particularly around meat, are changing. Big changes in how we produce and consume food need to take place if we are to curb the worst effects of climate change. On the line with me to discuss how we can feed the world without destroying the planet is Timothy Searchinger. He' s a research scholar at Princeton University and fellow with the World Resources Institute. He was recently the lead author on a report by WRI Creating a Sustainable Food Future: A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050. We kick off discussing the IPCC report and the significance of its findings before having a solutions- focused conversation about policies that can be enacted to help better balance our relationship between food and how humans use the finite resource of land. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn how we can feed the world without destroying the planet, have a listen. Unlock Rewards. Become a Premium Subscriber

In August 2017, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya muslims from Myanmar fled across the border to Bangladesh. The Rohingya are a minority population that have long faced discrimination by the Buddhist Burmese majority. In the summer of 2017, things got very bad, very quickly. A Rohingya militant group attacked some police outposts in Myanmar. The government and military responded by attacking Rohingya towns and villages, unleashing massive violence against a civilian population. This drove over 600,000 Rohingya to refugee camps in a region of Bangladesh known as Cox's Bazar. Some 700,000 Rohingya refugees remain there, to this day. The violence that drove these people from their home was certainly a crime against humanity -- a UN official called it "a text book example of an ethnic cleansing." And maybe even a genocide. That of course demands the question: who will pay for these crimes. What does accountability look like in a situation like this. And can perpetrators of these crimes even be brought to justice in the first place? On the line with me to discuss these questions in the context of the current plight of the Rohingya refugees is Param-Preet Singh, Associate Director, International Justice Program of Human Rights Watch. We kick off discussing the events of August 2017 before having a longer conversation about possible avenues for justice for these crimes. This episode pairs well with my conversation last week with former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes, who discusses the fall from grace of Aung San Suu Kyi, the nobel peace prize winner who was the de-facto head of state of Myanmar while these crimes against humanity occurred--and who remained a notably silent bystander to ethnic cleansing.

In the summer of 2014, ISIS forces swept through parts of Iraq that were home to the Yazidi people. This is an ethnic minority that has lived in Northwestern Iraq for centuries -- and suddenly they were under attack. What transpired was a genocide. Men and boys were murdered for being Yazidi; women and girls were kidnapped and taken as sex slaves for ISIS fighters. At the time, my guest today Emma Beals was reporting from Erbil, a city in the Kurdish region of Iraq near to where these atrocities were taking place. She was reeling from the news that a fellow journalist, James Foley, had been brutally murdered when she received a call from a human rights organization asking her to investigate rumors of a massacre in the Yazidi town of Kocho. Emma Beals describes whats next in a series of powerful essays, titled Kocho's Living Ghosts.There were 19 surviving men from the town's original population of 1,888. In our conversation Emma Beals recounts the massacre through the testimony of the survivors she interviewed.

When Ben Rhodes first met Aung San Suu Kyi she exuded the all traits that made her such an international icon for human rights and democracy. It was 2012, and Ben Rhodes, who was the deputy national security advisor, was accompanying Barack Obama in an historic visit to Myanmar. As he puts it, this meeting was the high water mark for her moral authority. There was a hopefulness, surrounding her, he says. Now seven years later, she has stripped of many international accolades, honors and prizes. At issue is the fact that as the most powerful civilian leader in Myanmar she refused to intervene against, or even publicly condemn, a genocide committed by the government against a religious and ethnic minority. Some 700,000 ethnic Rohingya have fled Myanmar amid what a UN official has called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. All the the while, Aung San Suu Kyi was silent. So what happened to Aung San Suu Kyi? How did a Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent decades under house arrest in an elegant pursuit of democracy and justice in Myanmar fall so from grace? And was the international community, including the Obama administration, wrong about her all along? Ben Rhodes grapples with these questions and more in a new piece in the Atlantic that combines some of his own self-reflection with fresh reporting. He's on the podcast today to discuss the piece. We kick off setting the historic context for Aung San Suu Kyi's rise to prominence and the circumstances of her persecution and house arrest before having a longer conversation about the causes and implications of her becoming a bystander to genocide. I do want to note that next week on the podcast, I'll be doing whole episode more directly focusing on the Rohingya genocide, including ongoing human rights abuses and the current humanitarian challenges facing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. So, stay tuned to that--it will compliment this conversation with Ben Rhodes. Before I begin: A big thank you to premium subscribers who support the show through recurring monthly contributions on Patreon.com/GlobalDispatches. You help me do what I do and get rewards in return, including bonus episodes. The bonus episode I'm posting this week is my conversation with George Mitchell, a former US Senator from Maine and international peacemaker who is largely responsible for the Northern Ireland peace agreement. You can unlock access to that episode and many more by becoming a premium subscriber. Check out the tiers of support and the rewards you earn, including access to a daily global humanitarian news clips service I run, by going to patreon.com/GlobalDispatches. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

The Horn of Africa region, which includes parts of Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, is experiencing a severe drought. This region has been particularly vulnerable to droughts in recent years--but the situation this summer has become increasingly dire and is raising the prospect of a widespread humanitarian emergency. A little background: In the summer of 2011, there was a similar drought in the region. But warnings about the humanitarian consequences of this drought went largely unheeded until the drought lead to a famine -- the first of the 21st century. Over the subsequent weeks and months over 260,000 people died, making this famine one of the worst mass atrocities of this decade. That was 2011. In 2017, there was another drought. But this time, the international community and governments in the region responded with urgency. They were able to provide humanitarian assistance and other aid and interventions that prevented the tragedy of 2011 from being repeated. This brings us So that is all some recent historic background to an email that landed in my inbox from Oxfam, which compared data around the humanitarian response in 2011 to the response to the current ongoing drought, which shows that compared to 2011, the humanitarian needs are greater and the international response is far less robust. This of course suggests that unless something changes, the current drought could lead to another famine. On the line with me to discuss the current humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa is Dustin Barter, the regional drought policy and advocacy lead, Oxfam. He authored a report comparing the impact of the 2011, 2017 and current drought and the international humanitarian response. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn why the international community ought to be paying attention to an incipient humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa, have a listen Support the show https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Ethiopia is in the midst of a fairly remarkable democratic renewal. Since taking office in April 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has accelerated a process of political opening, including a greater freedom of press, the release of political prisoners, a detente with Eritrea, and other meaningful reforms. But Ethiopia's transition to a liberal, open and multi-party democracy has faced some significant challenges in recent weeks. On June 22, an a general tried to orchestrate a coup attempt, which resulted in two high profile assassinations. That coup attempt, which failed, came on the heels of inter-communal clashes that forced nearly 3 million people from their homes. Now, the transition underway in Ethiopia is very much being challenged. On the line to help explain why Ethiopian politics is at such a pivotal moment right now William Davidson, senior Ethiopia analyst with the International Crisis Group. He offers listeners some helpful context and background for understanding the current situation, including what is driving change and the counter-reactions to the process of democratic renewal. To that end, argues William Davidson, it is crucial to understand how rivalries within the ruling coalition, known as the the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, or EPRDF, are driving politics. Thank you to all the premium subscribers who have filled out the survey I sent about discounts you'd like to receive to publications, products, membership organizations and the like. I'll be reaching out to those in the coming few weeks to see what kind of group discounts we can secure for you guys. Support the Show https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

One of the largest cities in India is running out of water. Is this our climate future? Monsoons typically provide the bulk of water for Chennai, which is one of the largest cities in India. It is on the south eastern coast of the country, in the Tamil Nadu province which is an area that relies on seasonal monsoons to supply the bulk of water. But last year's monsoons were exceptionally weak, causing aquifers and other water sources to run dry. Now, in some neighborhoods if taps run at all, only a trickle comes out. Many neighborhoods are reliant on water trucks-- if they can afford it. Meanwhile many people are fleeing the city while this crisis persists. The proximate cause of this crisis is poor rains. But according to my guest today, Meera Subramanian, deeper political and social factors have exacerbated this crisis. This includes poor city planning and a focus on massive infrastructure projects of limited utility. Meera Subramanian is a freelance journalist and independent author. She is the author of a book about water issues in India titled: A River Runs Again: India's Natural World in Crisis, from the Barren Cliffs of Rajasthan to the Farmlands of Karnataka. In July she authored an op-ed piece in the New York Times which makes the case that disaggregated water resource management could be far more effective in combating crisis like the one we are seeing in Chennai today. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn the implications of the fact that one of the largest cities in one of the most populous countries is running out of water, have a listen. Go Premium! https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Since taking office the Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps to sharply reduce both the number of refugees who are resettled in the United States and also the number of people who can claim asylum. This has included significantly lowering what is known as the "ceiling" on refugee admissions to the smallest number ever and placing onerous restrictions on exactly who can be admitted as a refugee. Meanwhile, the administration is implementing several policies of dubious legality that would effectively make it impossible for people entering the southern US border to claim asylum. The Trump administration's restrictive policies toward refugees and asylum seekers are reaching a new phase. In this episode one of the world's leading experts on refugee and asylum policies is on the line to both discuss the mechanics of what the Trump administration is doing. Eric Schwartz is the president of Refugees International and also served as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration in the Obama administration. He has deep experience working on humanitarian and refugee issues, which he summons in our conversation to help put this administration's assault on refugees and asylum seekers in context. We also discuss the very real global implications of the fact that the United States can not be meaningfully relied on to advocate for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers around the world. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn the implications of the Trump administration's increasingly hostile approach to refugees and asylum, have a listen. Unlock Rewards. Support the Show. Become a Patron https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

North Korea is under the world's most stringent set of international sanctions. This includes, since 2006, a ban on exporting of luxury goods to North Korea. This has not stopped Kim Jong Un from amassing a fleet of high end cars. He is regularly seen in Mercedes and Rolls Royces both in North Korea and on his trips abroad. And now a fascinating report in the New York Times offers some key insights into how Kim Jong Un smuggles his luxury cars into North Korea. Reporters from the New York Times teamed up with researchers at the non profit Center for Advanced Defense Studies to track two Mercedes Maybachs from their manufacture in Germany to the streets of Pyongyang. The route was a circuitous one, involving multiple shipping vessels docking in at least five countries over the course of several months. But using open source data and satellite imagery, the reporters and researchers were able to paint a pretty clear picture of how those cars ended up in North Korea. And in so doing, they reveal how the North Korean regime is able to evade some sanctions. On the line with me to discuss his reporting is one of the journalists on the story, Christoph Koettl. He is a visual investigations journalist with the New York Times video team, specializing in geospatial and open-source research. We spend most of this conversation discussing the step-by-step journey of these cars. And I think going through each leg of this trip is important because this story reveals a weakness in international sanctions in general and on North Korea in particular. And that's this: which is that that are only robust to the extent that countries are willing and able to enforce them. Support the Show. Become a Premium Subscriber. Unlock Rewards https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

In 2015, the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals. These are 17 goals around improving health, welfare and the environment that members of the United Nations agreed to achieve by 2030. The "SDGs," as they are known, built upon a previous set of global goals, called the Millennium Development Goals, which expired in 2015. The idea behind the SDGs was to create an ambitious but achievable set of quantifiable targets around which governments, civil society organizations and the UN can organize their development and environmental policies. These targets include things like eliminating extreme poverty, as defined by people who live on less than $1.25/day; reducing maternal mortality to less than 70 per 100,000 live births; ending the aids epidemic; significantly reduce ocean acidification; among many others. In all there are 162 targets built around those 17 goals. This week at the United Nations there is an major meeting called the High Level Political Forum on the SDGs in which top government officials and civil society participate in a stock taking of where we stand in terms of progress on these goals. A number of foreign ministers and other officials are in New York to discuss progress--or lack there of -- on the SDGs, so I thought this might be a good moment to have a conversation that examines where the world stands four years into the sustainable development goals. On the line with me to discuss progress on the SDGs and how, four years in the SDGs are affecting global affairs and international relations is John McArthur, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and Senior Advisor to the UN Foundation. Become a Premium Subscriber. Unlock Rewards https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Ash Carter served as President Obama's Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2017. What made Ash Carter so unique among his predecessors was that by the time he became the Secretary of Defense, he'd already spent nearly 30 years working at the Pentagon. This included stints as both the deputy Secretary of Defense and as the number three in the department, a position often referred to as the acquisitions Tsar. Ash Carter is out with a new book "Inside the Five-Sided Box: Lessons from a Lifetime of Leadership in the Pentagon." This is not your conventional Washington, DC memoir. Rather, what I found so valuable about the book is that offers a grounds-eye view of how the world's largest national security bureaucracy operates. Decisions made at the Pentagon -- from the kinds of weapons bought, to the bases that are opened, to personnel decisions -- really do have world-shaping implication. This book takes you inside that decision making process. In our conversation, we kick off discussing the sheer vastness of the pentagon. The annual budget of the pentagon is about half of all discretionary spending in the US--that is, money spent on government programs excluding things like social security and medicare. This comes to over $700 billion. For comparison's sake the budget of the State Department is about $50 billion; and UN peacekeeping budget is under $7 billion. We then discuss what he thinks the US--and world--get for that huge investment. We also discuss his views of the role of the United Nations and UN Peacekeeping; and also the significance of the fact that the US has not had a secretary of defense since Jim Mattis left on December 31. If you have 25 minutes and want to learn insights from the former Secretary of Defense, have a listen. Unlock Premium Content and Other Rewards https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

When Reccep Tayyep Erdogan party, the AKP, won a landslide victory in Turkey's 2002 general elections he became a very different kind of Turkish leader from his predecessors. The AKP is a religious party in what was an avowedly secular political tradition. For a time, Erdogan presided over a booming economy and was hailed for being a modernizing muslim leader in a troubled region. His relations with Europe and the United States were strong, and he sought to play a stabilizing role in the middle east. But all the while, Erdogan was consolidating his power. It started slowly at first and in recent years the degradation of Turkey;s independent institutions has accelerated. This includes clampdown on media and the corruption of the courts and a massive political purge following what Erdogan alleged was an attempted coup in 2016. Erdogan was become the quintessential example of a new kind of leader around the world--the illiberal authoritarian democrat. That is, someone who is democratically elected, but then systematically uses the power of the state to entrench himself in power. This brings us to recent events in Turkey. On March 31, an opposition leader Ekrem Immoglu won election as Mayor of Istanbul, a position incidentally that Ergoan held before he became Prime minister. Election authorities, clearly at Erdogan's request, invalidated those results and called for a re-run of the election and weeks later, Immoglu won again--this time by a wider margin. So what does this election tell us about Ergodan's hold on power and the trajectory of Turkish politics? On the line with me to explain the global significance of municipal elections in Turkey is Howard Eisentstat, he is an associate professor of middle eastern history atSt Lawrence University and senior non-resident fellow a the Project on Middle East Democracy. Become a premium subscriber https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Events are unfolding rapidly between the United States and Iran. At time of recording, it was reported that Trump ordered and then called off a military strike against Iran in retaliation for the downing of a US surveillance drone over the gulf of Oman. Meanwhile, Iran is threatening to take actions that would put it in direct violation of the nuclear deal, otherwise known as the JCPOA and Europe is trying is darndest to hold the deal together. There are a lot of moving pieces right now, so I wanted to bring you an episode that gives you some context and background for understanding and interpreting events as they unfold in the coming weeks and months. To that end, I could think of no better interlocutor than Laicie Heeley. She is the host of a fantastic podcast called Things That Go Boom. She just wrapped up her second season, which was all about the Iran Nuclear Deal. The podcast tells the story behind the Iran nuclear deal in a really interesting and entertaining way, and I'd urge people to check it out. In our conversation today, we kick off discussing Europe's efforts to salvage the deal and the tough position Europe finds itself in. And then we have a forward looking conversation about some of the key decisions that Iran, the United States and Europe will be forced to make that could determine whether this crisis leads to war. Support the Show!

Congressman Mike Gallagher is a Republican representing the eighth district of Wisconsin, which includes the city of Green Bay. Congressman Gallagher has an interesting profile, which includes a PHD in International Relations. He's very thoughtful and I think this conversation offers listeners some key insights into how an emerging leader in Republican foreign policy circles considers the US role in the world, the value of multilateralism and international institutions, and more. We kick off discussing Iran, before having a broader conversation about US foreign policy writ large. If you are a regular listener to the show my own foreign policy and political views are fairly apparent. You also know that I don't do adversarial interviews--I don't debate people. Rather, I find more value in drawing out the perspective of the person I'm interviewing. And I think that is why you will find this conversation with Congressman Gallagher useful in terms of understanding how a key Republican foreign policy maker sees the world. The bonus episodes I've posted this week for premium subscribers includes my conversations with Joseph Nye and Carolyn Miles. Joseph Nye is the international relations theorist who coined the term "soft power" and Carolyn Miles is the longtime CEO of the global humanitarian organization Save the Children. In both conversations they trace their career path with me and tell stories from their life and career. To access those episodes, and other rewards like complimentary subscription to my news clips service, please visit Patreon.com/GlobalDispatches or follow the links on GlobalDispatchesPodcast.com Support the show! Become a Premium Subscriber! Unlock Rewards!

Donald Trump's pick to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations is unlike any other previous nominee for the US-UN role. Kelly Knight Craft currently serves as the US Ambassador to Canada, a position she was conferred for the fact that her family are billionaire Republican donors. Her family owns a major coal company with deep roots in Kentucky. It is not at all unusual at all for Democratic or Republican administrations to reward major donors with plum ambassador roles. For better or worse that is part of US diplomatic tradition. But this is the first time that the UN ambassadorship is going to a major donor. This sets up some interesting political dynamics that were on display during Ambassador Kelly Craft's confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. On the line with me to discuss how Kelly Craft may fit in the role of UN Ambassador is Richard Gowan. He is the UN director for the International Crisis Group and recently wrote a piece in Politico examining some of the key debates and diplomatic dynamics that the next US Ambassador may face Coming into this job, Kelly Craft did not have much a foreign policy profile, particularly on issues relevant to the UN. This conversation provides a useful introduction to her and the issues into which she'll be thrust. Get a Premium Subscription Support the Show. Unlock Rewards, Like Bonus Episodes and Access to an Exclusive Global News Clips Service. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organization, an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed over 1400 people. This makes it the second worst ebola outbreak in history, following the 2014 outbreak in West Africa that killed over 11,000 people. The current outbreak in the DRC is so far confined to the eastern part of the country, which has long been beset by insecurity and violence. There were, however, two cases reported over the border of Uganda from a family that contracted the disease while attending a funeral in the DRC. This marked the first time that this outbreak crossed an international border which brought this long festering outbreak back into the news. On the line to discuss some of the international efforts to halt the spread of ebola is Ambassador John Lange. He is a retired US Ambassador and currently serves as the senior fellow for global health diplomacy at the United Nations Foundation. We kick off discussing why this outbreak has been so hard to contain and then have a broader conversation about strategies the international community, including the World Health Organization, are using to halt this outbreak. Become a premium subscriber to unlock bonus episodes and other benefits, like access to the DAWNS Digest global news clips service

The protests in Hong Kong represent a key turning point for China, Hong Kong, and the world. Hong Kong is in the midst of the most significant protest movement since China assumed sovereignty in 1997. These protests were sparked by a proposed law that could permit people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China to face trial. Protesters fear that this law could be used by authorities in Beijing to erode the rights and liberties currently enjoyed by people in Hong Kong. At the heart of these protests is the longterm viability of Hong Kong's Independence from China When sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, there was embedded in that agreement the principle of one country, two systems. In other words, while Hong Kong is formally part of China, the political and judicial system, civil liberties and rights enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong would be respected by authorities in Beijing. However, as my guest today MK Tam explains, that principal of one country, two systems has been eroding in recent years. China has been steadily encroaching on civil and political life in Hong Kong and this protest movement is a profound demonstration that the people of Hong Kong are willing to defend their rights. Man- Kei Tam is the director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, which puts him very much at the forefront of this fight. We kick off discussing the proposed extradition law itself, which is up for a potential vote in the Hong Kong legislative assembly, before having a longer conversation about the causes, consequences and implications of the shrinking space for civil rights and political freedom in Hong Kong This conversation is obviously very timely. It will give you the context you need to understand what is driving these protests from someone who is directly impacted by Beijing's encroachment on rights and liberties in Hong Kong. Support the Show! Become a Premium Subscriber!

Sudan is at a crossroads. In April, popular protests lead to the ouster of the country's longtime ruler, Omar al Bashir. He was toppled in a coup -- but the peaceful protests did not stop. Rather, the protesters held their ground and rallied outside the headquarters of the military junta demanding that civilians -- not military leaders -- lead the transition to democracy. The standoff between the military council and civilian protesters held firm until early June, when a paramilitary group known as the Rapid support forces, or RSF, attacked the protesters, killing over 100. At time of recording, the situation remained fluid. The protesters had called for a general strike and are now reportedly back in negotiations with the Junta. On the line with me to discuss the situation in Sudan is Zachariah Cherian Mampilly, a professor of political science at Vassar College. We last spoke in early January, just as the protest movement was beginning to pick up steam. And that is where we pick up the story today. We kick off discussing the circumstances that lead to the ouster of Sudan's longtime ruler Omar al Bashir and then have a longer conversation about the political and geo-political dynamics that are shaping events in one of Africa's largest and most strategically significant countries. ***Become a Premium Subscriber! *** Unlock 10 bonus episodes. Newly posted this week: David Miliband and Jendayi Frazer interviews. You can view the entire archive by clicking the link above. Premium subscribers also get complimentary access to my daily news clips service, DAWNS Digest. An exclusive service for some major NGOs, government agencies and media outlets.

In 2003, before the US invasion of Iraq, there were an estimated 1.2 million Christians living there. Today, that number is less than 250,000 -- an eighty percent drop in less than two decades. If this trend continues, a religious minority that has been in Iraq for centuries will be gone entirely. A recent article in The Atlantic by reporter Emma Green describes the plight of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic community and the incredible pressure that they have been under since the fall of Saddam. This not only includes ISIS's reign of terror, but day-to-day discrimination against Christians that is causing so many to seek to leave the country. Emma Green is a staff writer at The Atlantic covering policy, politics and religion. We kick off discussing the history of Christianity before having a broader conversation about the causes and consequences of the fact that a religious minority is fleeing Iraq in droves. The plight of Iraq's Christians has key geo-political consequences as well as serving as an indicator of the healthiness and strength of Iraqi democracy itself. This conversation explains why what happens to Christians in Iraq matters to the entire world. ***Become a Premium Subscriber. Support the Show. Access Rewards. *** Over the course of six years of running this podcast, I have interviewed hundreds of astounding people who have lived fascinating lives and had storied careers in international affairs. This includes foreign ministers, diplomats, famous academics, journalists, social entrepreneurs and more. I've decided to collect the very best of these interviews and offer them exclusively to premium subscribers. I have already posted several of these interviews Premium Subscribers unlock the growing archive of these unforgettable interviews. Each week, I will be posting one or two of these episodes, exclusively for premium subscribers.

Over the course of six years of running this podcast, I have interviewed hundreds of astounding people who have lived fascinating lives and led storied careers in international affairs. This includes foreign ministers, diplomats, famous academics, journalists, social entrepreneurs and more. I've decided to collect the very best of these interviews and offer them exclusively to premium subscribers. Premium subscribers unlock the growing archive of these unforgettable interviews. Each week, for the next year, I will be posting one or two of these episodes, exclusively for premium subscribers. To access these episodes and unlock other rewards, like a complimentary subscription to my daily global news clips service DAWNS Digest, please click here. Support the Show --> Unlock Rewards https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

According to the latest data, over 41 million people were internally displaced last year due to conflict and violence, according to a new report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. This is a record high and excludes an additional 17 million people who were internally displaced due to a natural disaster. When we say "internally displaced" we mean people who are forced to flee their homes, but do not cross an international border. This distinguishes internally displaced people, or IDPS, from those would be considered international refugees. This distinction is significant because, among other reasons, while there is a robust international law obligating governments to treat international refugees in a certain way, there is not much that international law or norms governing internal displacement. My guest today, Alexadra Bilak, is director of the Internal displacement Monitoring Center which just released its flagship report on global displacement. In our conversation, Alexandra Bilak describes the drivers and trends in internal displacement and also explains why cities are becoming a major focal point for interventions to support potentially vulnerable people who are internally displaced.

In 2020 the West African Country of Ghana will conduct a census. This is a massive undertaking. Some 60,000 people will be deployed across the country in an effort to count every single person in Ghana. Last week, in a reporting trip to Ghana, I got a sense of what this process entails. Along with a few other journalists, I shadowed census takers, known as enumerators, as they tested their systems in a few places around Accra. This included a mental health hospital and an urban slum. The idea is to ensure that even marginalized groups are counted in this census. On the line with me to discuss how the census will be conducted, the kinds of questions that will be asked, and how census data can be harnessed to advance national goals around sustainable development is Omar Seidu. He is the head of demographic statistics and coordinator for the sustainable development goals at the Ghana Statistical Service. This conversation offers an interesting perspective on the kind of herculean effort that is required to conduct a census in a developing country like Ghana, and also offers a really good grounding in why a census is such a valuable undertaking to advance development goals.

Sherwin Bryce-Pease is the United Nations Bureau chief for South African Broadcast Corporation, SABC News. We have a wide ranging discussion about happenings at the United Nations, including debates and discussions at the Security Council about the deteriorating situation in Libya, why the dispute in Western Sahara is at a key inflection point, how the ongoing ebola outbreak in the Congo is being discussed at the UN, and why the Trump administration's Middle East peace Pplan will likely shape debates at the UN in the coming months. This episode is the third installment of my series of chats with in-house UN correspondents about what's buzzing in Turtle Bay. The idea is to touch base with a UN reporter every six weeks or so to take the temperature around the UN and learn what issues are driving the agenda. We kick off discussing the recent appearance of Ghassan Salame, the Secretary General'a special envoy for Libya, before the Security Council. Sherwin Bryce-Pease was in the room during that briefing and he describes the scene. Support the show. Become a Premium Subscriber!

Air pollution results in the premature death of 7 million people around the world each year. It is a major global killer harming people in nearly every corner of the globe. My guest today, Beth Gardiner is a journalist who traveled the world examining the impact of air pollution. Her new book is called Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution. In our conversation she shares stories from her reporting, which includes not only detailing the harmful impact of air pollution but also an examination of policies that are working toward cleaner air for all.

Several countries have laws on the books that enables governments to freeze the assets of corrupt foreign officials. Canada is one of those countries, and now one Canadian Senator is trying to take that law one step further by redistributing the frozen assets to those harmed by the actions of the corrupt official. Ratna Omidvar is an independent Senator from Ontario to the Senate of Canada. She is the author of legislation that is starting to make its way through the Canadian Parliament called the Frozen Assets Repurposing Act. The bill would seize the assets of corrupt and abusive foreign officials and redeploy those assets to the very people harmed by those foreign officials. This includes people displaced by the actions of corrupt and violent regimes. We kick off discussing Senator Omidvar's personal history of displacement before having a longer conversation about the contours of this legislation. This includes an extended discussion about how legislation in Canada can influence other parliaments of liberal democracies around the world. Support the show and become a premium subscriber

Over the last several weeks an estimated 140,000 people have been displaced by escalating fighting in Idlib, Syria. Syrian regime forces, backed by Russia, have scaled up their attacks in what is the last part of Syria controlled by rebel forces. Idlib is the only remaining rebel held territory. As regime forces re-captured parts of Syria under rebel control, rebels and their families fled to Idlib, which the key players in the conflict agreed would be a "de-escalation zone." There are now 3 million people in Idlib. Most are displaced and the vast majority are civilian non-combatants. But there are also al Qaeda affiliated militants and other jihadis. My guest today, Dareen Khalifa is the senior Syria analyst with the International Crisis Group. She explains this escalating crisis and what the situation in Idlib says about the broader trajectory and trends of the Syria conflict. This includes some key geo-political forces that are now very much driving events on the ground. The escalating fighting in Idlib, which had experienced a period of relative calm since an agreement between Russia and Turkey, is a powerful reminder that the conflict in Syria continues to drag on even as international attention is fading. -- Become a Premium Subscriber --