Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

Despite wide attention to the global refugee and migrant crisis, there has been little research of one key group that facilitates the movement of migrants: the smugglers themselves. In brand new book published by Oxford University Press authors Peter Tinti and Tuesday Reitano offer an in-depth look at the individuals who make the movement of migrants possible. The book Migrant Refugee Smuggler Savior examines the people and places that are profiting from this global phenomenon. And as the title of the book suggests, these people smugglers are not all exploitative human rights violators--rather, they are making a buck (or tens of thousands) by providing a valuable service for people who demand it. Co-author Peter Tinti -- who I'm proud to say is a listener of this very podcast -- is on the line with me to discuss the book. And in this conversation Peter offers some insights into the individual smugglers, how they operate, and what motivates them. And also, how this multi-billion dollar industry is transforming the political economies of several cities along migrant routes. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn more about the shadowy smugglers who are at the center of one of the most consequential global phenomenons of our era, have a listen. --Go Premium! Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! ---

--Go Premium! Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! --- James Goldgeier is the dean of the school for international service at American University. He's spent a career trying to bridge the gap between academic research and policy makers and he currently runs a program at American University appropriately called Bridging the Gap thats seeks to do just that. Jim is also a Russia expert-- and you might recall that he and I spoke about a month after the election to discuss Russia's key strategic goals during the Trump administration. We kick off this discussion along those same lines, but of course now armed with new information about the extent or Russian interference with the US election. I wanted to let you all know about another reward and offer available to premium subscribers of the podcast: a 75% discount off life and career coaching sessions with Alanna Shaikh. Alanna is a TED senior fellow, writer and longtime international development professional. She is also a trained career coach. If you think this is something that may benefit you become a premium subscriber to unlock that discount--which reduces the price of an a hour long coaching session from $145 to about $40.

---Go Premium! Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! --- Over the past several months, North Korea has engaged in a series of provocative nuclear and missile tests. It conducted nuclear tests in January and then September of last year along with several ballistic missile tests. And in 2017 alone there have been no less than 5 missile launches, most recently on March 6, when North Korea launched four missiles which landed off the coast of Japan. Meanwhile, later in March Secretary of State Tillerson traveled to the region, in his first big foray into the vexing regional diplomacy that so far has failed to stop North Korea from advancing its nuclear weapons programs. And while visiting the region, Tillerson promised to end the Obama-era strategy of strategic patience, but has not yet articulated what kinds of policies would take its place. On the line with me to discuss the North Korea nuclear issue is Kelsey Davenport, who is the director for non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. She discusses the strategic implications of the specific technologies that North Korea is testing, that is, why Pyongyang is conducting these kinds of tests. She also describes the policy options in the table for the Trump administration as is tries to confront North Korea's nuclear ambitions. And i must say, this conversation was very helpful to me personally and I suspect you'll learn a lot from it as well.

---Go Premium! Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! --- Elizabeth Arsenault is a professor at Georgetown University out with the new book How the Gloves Came Off: Lawyers, Policy Makers, and Norms in the Debate on Torture. The book examines how the Bush administration shattered a widely held consensus against using torture and what that means for the current debate about intelligence gathering, Guantanamo, so-called "black sites" and, crucially, executive power. These debates, which raged during the Bush administration, came roaring back just days into the Trump administration with word that a draft executive order covering many of these issues was circulating around the White House. We kick off discussing that executive order before having a wider conversation about debates surrounding torture and also what to do with ISIS combatants captured on the battlefield.

---Go Premium! Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! --- Julie Smith is Senior Fellow and Director of the Strategy and Statecraft Program at the Center for a New American Security. recently left her post as a top national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden. She takes me inside some of the key events, decisions and frustrations from her time in that senior policy making role. Julie is a NATO and European policy expert who spent much of her formative years working in Europe, and Germany in particular. And we have some interesting digressions about NATO, the Balkans conflict and the relevance of German foreign policy. Go premium to unlock my conversation with Julie about the history of NATO and key debates shaping its future.

---Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! --- Jeremy Konyndyk recently left his post as the top US global humanitarian relief official. Jeremy lead the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at USAID during much of Obama's second term and we discuss how the US responded to some key disasters, including the ebola outbreak. Jeremy's been working in this field since the Balkans crises of the 1990s and I caught up with him just as he returned from a trip to northern Nigeria, which is currently beset by a major humanitarian crisis. We kick off discussing what he saw there before pivoting to discuss some of the major global crises in which his career has intersected. ---BE A HERO: Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! ---

---Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! --- You may have seen news reports that the White House wants to substantially increase defense spending, and to offset those increases slash discretionary spending elsewhere. In particular the White House has signaled that foreign aid spending will be sharply reduced. Foreign aid is one of those issues that is pretty widely mis-understood by the general public; and I think fairly so, because its extremely complicated. I've spent over 10 years covering issues related to foreign aid and frankly I learn new and surprising things about foreign aid all the time. So what do we actually mean when we talk about foreign aid? What are some of the real-world implications of a steep reduction of US foreign assistance? And what are the politics of it all? On the line with me to discuss these questions and more is Joel Charny, who is US director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which is a large international NGO on the front lines of some major crises worldwide. He does a good job of walking me through the big picture questions surrounding foreign aid, but also some of the specific on-the-ground implications of what cuts would mean. He also discusses why this is a uniquely bad time to be cutting back on foreign aid. ---Support the Show! Unlock Bonus Episodes! Earn Rewards! ---

I've started to roll out special bonus episodes for premium subscribers. I'm calling these "Background Briefings." Through interviews with experts, we will provide you with the context you need to understand key ideas, debates, dilemmas and institutions shaping foreign policy and world affairs today. Think of these as "explainers." And you, the listener, get to assign me a topic to explore. I've created two of these episodes already and many more are on the way. Become a premium subscriber to unlock these episodes and get other rewards. Click here to become a Patron of the show. Other rewards include: Complimentary subscription to my DAWNS Digest global news clips service--an email news clips service for the global affairs community. Join my email list that previews upcoming episodes so you can suggest questions to my guests I'll mail you a Global Dispatches sticker. Other bonuses as they become available. Global Dispatches is totally unique and I need your support to sustain it. If this podcast is part of your weekly routine, become a premium member and support the show. You understand that there is no podcast out there like Global Dispatches. It is totally unique and it relies on you to become a sustainable social and media enterprise. Support the show through this secure platform --> Patreon.com/globaldispatches Sample the bonus episodes here.

The United Nations did some extremely rare in February: agencies declared that a famine was ongoing in parts of South Sudan. More than 100,000 people are affected by this famine and childhood mortality rates are already surging there. On the line with me to discuss why this famine declaration was made, what is means on the ground for the people affected by it and the humanitarian agencies trying to contain the damage is Steve Taravella, senior spokesperson for the World Food Program in Washington. And as Steve describes "famine" is actually a technical term -- it does not mean just having no food. Rather it is a threshold that is taken from a number of indicators that taken together mean that people are dying from starvation in extreme numbers. This famine declaration comes as the UN is also fighting intense food security crises in Yemen, Somalia and parts of Northern Nigeria. And Steve describes how this is really an unprecedented moment for relief organizations like his.

Diplomacy runs in her family. Sheba Crocker and her father Chester Crocker are the first parent-child combination to have both served as assistant secretaries of state. Crocker-the-elder was a noted Africa specialist who served in the Regan administration, and Sheba describes his how influence and the influence of her mother's family, who were Jews who fled eastern Europe to Zimbabwe, had a profound impact on her worldview. Bathsheba Crocker recently left her post as President Obama's Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. She had served in various posts in the State Department for the entirety of the Obama administration and before that she worked in the office of the United Nations' special envoy for Tsunami Recovery and Relief-- and that "Special Envoy" was none other than Bill Clinton. Since leaving her post, Sheba admitted says she has more time on her hands these days and you find her on twitter and also writing for foreign policy magazine's Shadow Government vertical. We kick off with a discussion about how the transition to the Trump administration is shaking up the state department. ---

Greetings from the World Government Summit in Dubai! This one of those big international conferences (think: World Economic Forum in Davos) that is hosted by the government of the United Arab Emirates. It focuses on ways that governments can better serve their people and operate in the service of sustainable development. There's heavy UN participation (the Secretary General is giving an address.) The heads of the World Bank and IMF are also presenting, among many other national leaders and dignitaries. The first day of the summit focused on the question of "happiness"-- that is, how can governments measure happiness and design policies that promote happiness? The underlying premise is that happiness is more than a personal pursuit, but actually a public good. This is obviously on the fringes of public policy discourse in the United States and most other countries, but as one panelist, who is the Ecuadorian minister for Buen Vivar, pointed out: the pursuit of happiness was literally written into the founding documents of the United States. These days other countries have taken the mantle of taking a serious look at the intersection of public policy and happiness. In addition to Ecuador, here in the UAE there is a minister for happiness, Slovenia has a similar position as well; and the government of Bhutan an indicator it calls "Gross National Happiness." With me to discuss the intersection of happiness and public policy is economist Andrew Oswald who pioneered this line of study. We discuss how one actually measures and quantifies happiness in a way that's relevant to public policy and also some of the political implications of a happy verses a discontented population. This is cutting edge stuff and I think intellectually very interesting.

Crimes against humanity are ongoing in Burma and they are being committed by the state against the Rohingya people. This is a minority community in Burma that has historically faced intense discrimination, but there was some degree of hope that as the country transitioned to a democracy the situation of this community would improve. Alas, we are now nearly a year into the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and the plight of this minority community is as dire as ever. A number of recent reports have indicated an uptick in violence against the Rohingya -- including what appears to be the systematic use of rape and sexual violence. One of those reports was published by Human Rights Watch on February 6 and on the line with me to discuss the report and the broader situation of the Rohingya in both Burma and across the border in Bangladesh is Brad Adams, the Asia director of human rights watch. This is a fairly under covered story, but one in which I've tried to highlight on this podcast from time to time.

Dr. Larry Brilliant starred in a 1960s film that was a total flop. The movie was called Medicine Ball Caravan and it was a sort of documentary that followed Larry and a bunch of other hippies as they followed the touring busses of acts like the Grateful Dead. But despite the commercial failure of this film I would posit that it lead, though somewhat indirectly, to the global eradication of small pox. That's because after the filming ended, Larry kept the hippie caravan going until he reached India, and, while there, joined the World Health Organization's efforts to eliminate small pox from the country. It's a great story. Larry is now an epidemiologist with the Skoll Foundation and we have an absolutely fascinating conversation about his life and career, including how a chance encounter with Martin Luther King in 1962 forever changed his life. Many of these stories are included in his recently published memoir: Sometimes Brilliant:The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the World's Worst Disease. We kick off discussing the current threat from global pandemics before pivoting to his extraordinarily unique life story.

By now, you are well aware of President Trump's sweeping ban on migrants from seven Muslim majority countries; the indefinite suspension of refugees from Syria and the suspension of all refugee resettlement into the United States for at least four months. The executive order is, of course, the subject of intense debate and discussion here in the United States, but I wanted to get a sense of how this executive order is playing out in the region so I called up one of my favorite scholars and public intellectuals who studies the politics of the Middle East, Marc Lynch. Marc describes how different countries are reacting to the executive order and the implications it has for both domestic politics in the Middle East and those countries' foreign policies. This is a useful conversation that puts into context the foreign policy and international relations implications of this executive order. If you have 20 minutes and want to understand what this policy means for Middle East, have a listen.

Princeton Lyman was a long serving US Diplomat who has become one of the leading experts on African politics and policy. He most recently served as President Obama's special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan from 2011 to 2013; but before that had an extensive career in the foreign service that included stints as US Ambassador to Nigeria and to South Africa during the negotiations that lead to the end of Apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela. And we do have an extensive conversation about his participation in those historic negotiations. We spoke the day that news broke that Donald Trump was readying an executive order that would severely curtail refugee resettlement to the US, including from a number of Muslim majority countries. Princeton served as the top US official for refugee issues during the George HW Bush administration so we kick off discussing how those potential restrictions fit into the history of US refugee resettlement policy. We then pivot to a longer conversation about his life and career, including his rather unique first name. It's a good story. A classic one, actually.

On his third day on office President Trump signed a memorandum re-instating what is known as the "Global Gag Rule" or sometimes alternatively as the "Mexico City Policy." This is a policy that Republican Presidents enact and Democratic presidents lift when they come to office. Simply put the rule places restrictions on NGOs that receive US government assistance about what they can say about abortion. As you can imagine, this policy is very much caught up in domestic US politics about abortion, but when Donald Trump signed the order re-instating the rule, his version of it went much, much farther than the George W. Bush administration or any republican administration since the Regan era. On the line with me to discuss the Global Gag Rule, it's history and impact on women's lives is Seema Jalan, the Executive Director of the Universal Access Project and Policy, Women and Population, at the United Nations Foundation. She does an excellent job of explaining the policy why the Donald Trump version of it is a big departure from previous republican administrations and in fact may affect every aspect of US global health assistance around the world.

In many ways Ambassador Khalilzad was the ideal person with whom to speak at the dawn of the next republican administration. He served in senior positions in the Bush white house, including as ambassador to his native Afghanistan and Iraq and was also someone on the shortlist for Secretary of State as Donald Trump assembled his cabinet. We kick off discussing what to expect from Trump's foreign policy and how the new president will approach some of the myriad of challenges around the world before pivoting to discuss his own fascinating personal story that took him from poverty in Afghanistan to the heights of power in Washington DC--stories I should note that are included in his recently published memoir: Then Envoy: From Kabul to the White House: My Journey through a Turbulent World" To set the scene for you a little bit, this event was taped in the event room of 1871, a tech co-working space. There were about 200 people in the crowd, most of whom were members of IVY: The Social University which organized the event. This episode is presented in partnership with IVY: The Social University. Through a robust curriculum spanning policy, entrepreneurship, social impact, and the arts — IVY members enjoy access to a lifetime of new experiences, friendships, and ideas. Whether it's in-person talks with world-class leaders including Ambassador Cameron Munter, GE Chairman Jack Welch, and Pulitzer Prize Winner Nicholas Kristof; cultural expeditions to Cuba and Iceland; or tickets to the Opera or Ballet — IVY provides its members a lifetime of learning. Over the past three years, the IVY community has grown to 20,000 inspiring members in seven cities across the nation including New York, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Miami. Register on IVY.com to begin the application process (2 minutes, no commitment) — and you'll receive a $100 event credit if you join IVY and mention GlobalDispatches in the referral section when registering.

The Two State Solution--the idea that a sovereign, secure and independent Palestine can co-exist with a sovereign secure and independent jewish state of Israel is arguably as far from being realized now than at anytime in the past twenty five years. With the election of Donald Trump, the unrelenting expansion of Israeli settlements and political incertitude in Palestine it appears we soon may be signing the requiem for the two state solution. But what comes next? Are we living in the post-two state solution era? What does this mean for Palestinian rights? For Israeli security? For Israeli and Palestinian foreign policy? I put these questions and more to Michael Omer-Man, the editor in chief of the excellent 972 magazine. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn what the future holds for Israel and Palestine, have a listen.

Karen Greenberg has spent the last 15 years studying the intersection of national security, terrorism and civil liberties. She's currently the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School. She's authored several books on the subject including most recently Rogue Justice: the Making of the Security State. In 2009 she wrote the critically acclaimed Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days. We kick off discussing why was it that President Obama, having come to office eight years ago promising to shut down the Guantanamo prison, failed to do so. Karen is someone who has been on my radar since the early Bush years and the debate over the Patriot Act, but I was fascinated and interested to learn how her career in foreign policy and national security was really launched while working with dissidents from Eastern Europe during the Soviet era. It's a great conversation. Animated for sure. And I think you'll like it. Quick announcement before we start: if you are listening to this contemporaneously and are in Chicagoland come to a live recording of the podcast with special guest former US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad on January 19. Send me an email via the contact page on GlobalDispatchespodcast.com and I can get you a complimentary ticket!

This is a special episode of the podcast sponsored by the Master of Arts in Social Innovation program at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego. This is a brand new program that seeks original thinkers who are looking to make a lasting impact in the world to join the inaugural class. On the line with me to discuss the program, including the curriculum, the faculty and the kind of experience and education students can expect is the dean of the Kroc school, Patricia Marquez. Applications are due March 15. Learn more!

Turkey is in crisis. A number of terrorist attacks in recent weeks has rattled Turkish society, there is a persistent and ongoing crackdown on civil society, and President Erdogan is engineering constitutional changes to further consolidate power. On the line with me to discuss recent events in Turkey and offer some deeper context into the political situation and the future of US-Turkey relations is Elmira Bayrasli. She is an author and the co-founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted which seeks to amplify the voices of women in foreign policy debates and she was also my guest in episode 81. I learned a great deal from this conversation and suspect you will as well. Before we begin an announcement: On Thursday January 19th at 7pm I will be hosting a live taping of the podcast at the University of Chicago with former UN ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. If you are in Chicago and want to attend in person please send me an email via the contact page on GlobalDIspatchesPodcast.com. This is a ticketed event and the organizers have reserved tickets for my most loyal listeners so if you are interested, send me an email and I'll send you the registration info.

Maria Stephan is a pioneering academic and public intellectual who studies authoritarian regimes and how they fall. She's the co-author with Erica Chenoweth of the groundbreaking and award winning book Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict which was a first-of-its kind study that offered empirical evidence that non-violent resistance is more effective than conflict and civil war in toppling oppressive regimes. She recently lead a study with the Atlantic Council showing that authoritarianism is on the rise globally and we kick off with an extended conversation about that study and how the recent US election fits into her overall thesis. Maria grew up in rural Vermont and we have a great conversation about the roots of her intellectual curiosity and how that took her to study and compare resistance movements around the world, including East Timor and Palestine.

On the line with me to preview the big stories, ideas, trends and crises and provocations that will set the agenda at the United Nations and beyond is Richard Gowen. He's a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Affairs and a regular guest of this very podcast. We have a lively conversation about Trump's relationship with the UN, the new incoming secretary general and more. We recorded this conversation in late December, before the big vote on Israel settlements into which the president elect weighed on twitter. So that vote does not factor into this conversation, but I would say that the big implication of that vote is that it's likely makes the UN more vulnerable to moves by the incoming congress to restrict or undermine US support for the UN, including the possible withholding of funding. If you want to read my full thoughts on that, check out UN Dispatch. For now though, here is Richard Gowen and I chatting about the big stories at the UN and around the world in 2017

Russia has successfully influenced the election here in the United States in its favor. It's side is winning the war in Syria. Crimea looks like it will remain in Russia for the foreseeable future and the NATO alliance may become weakened when Donald Trump takes office. This is pretty much springtime for Putin in Moscow. But what are Russia's grander ambitions? Why did they hack the US election? What do they want from the Middle East? From Europe and China? I put these questions and more to James Goldgeier, a Russia expert and the Dean of the School of International Studies at American University. James describes some of Putin's near term and longer term strategic goals and how a less contentious relationship with the USA--one not based on values, but on individual transactions -- may reshape Russian foreign policy and international affairs more broadly.

Amy Costello is a veteran reporter who now hosts the excellent Tiny Spark podcast that investigates what goes right and what goes wrong in philanthropy, including global philanthropy and the NGO sector. At the very end of our conversation Amy reveals she started this podcast in part as a response to a story she reported that was wildly popular, but she later learned rested on a false premise. Amy was one of the first television reporters in Darfur during the midst of the genocide, a work for which she was Emmy nominated. She describes the kinds of scenes she saw and how that reporting project left a lasting impression upon her.We kick off in this holiday season discussing philanthropy and how individuals, perhaps you out there listening right now, can be an effective altruist by maximizing the impact of your charitable giving.

President Elect Donald Trump has assembled a team of generals to fill key posts in his national security team. Former Army General Mike Flynn is his National Security Advisor, Marine General John Kelly has been tapped to serve as homeland security chief and of course recently retired marine general ames Mattis has been nominated as Secretary of Defense. Top military brass have served in civilian roles But never before have so many generals been tapped to serve at once and in top positions in the government. And this is out of the ordinary precisely because the American political system has historically shunned it for reasons that my guest Alice Hunt Friend describes. Alice Friend studies civil military relations--she's currently writing her PhD thesis on the topic. She's a former official in the Pentagon and is currently both a Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security. She offers what I find to be a very nuanced take on the kind of challenge or even threat to the American democratic system that is posed when the military takes on a greater role in civilian political life. She also discusses the kinds of policy implications that result from when generals are put in charge of civilian institutions.

Cameron Munter was the US Ambassador to Pakistan when US Special forces conducted the midnight raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. He watched the raid live and hours later was dealing with the diplomatic fallout. Munter had a career in both academia and the diplomatic corps, serving in a wide variety of posts. He's now the president of the East West Institute. And this is arguably the first podcast ever in the history of the universe in which both Otto Von Bismark and Lou Reed are each discussed. We kick off with a brief discussion of the ways that Chinese domestic politics influence its foreign policy and what the future holds for US-Chinese relationship in the Trump era. And then of course, as we always do, we pivot to a longer conversation about his life and career with some fun digressions along the way.

There are some frightening warning signs that a genocide may erupt in South Sudan. The country has been at war with itself for the better of three years, ever since a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his Vice Preisident Riek Machar turned into an armed conflict between those two men. The conflict took on ugly sectarian dimensions--these men hail from different ethnic groups--and peace has been elusive. In recent weeks, however, it seems that the government of Salva Kiir is readying itself to commit ethnic-based mass atrocities for reasons that my guest Cameron Hudson explains. Cameron is the director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. He's also a former CIA officer with extensive background in the region. And in this episode, he explains what conditions are ripe for genocide in South Sudan are ripe.

Mark Tokola is the vice president of the Korea Economic Institute of America. He's a long serving American diplomat with postings around the world and we discuss a few of them in this episode, including his first posting to Turkey where his main job was helping Americans sent to prison on drug trafficking charges. He also compares his work in the Balkans in the 1990s to Iraq after the fall of Saddam and I think makes an important point about the value of multilateralism to American interests. We spoke a day after the Security Council passed new a sanctions resolution on North Korea following a nuclear test in September and we kick off discussing the implications of those sanctions before pivoting to a longer conversation about his globe-spanning career. Mark's last posting was to South Korea and we end with some discussion about the political upheaval underway there and whether or not my man Ban Ki Moon may run for president next year. Mark is an alumnus of the Salzburg Global Seminar which is a podcast sponsor this month and at the top of the episode we also reference a seminar about North Korean human rights in which he participated

Donald Trump's foreign policy and national security team is still taking shape. He has appointed Nikki Haley as his UN ambassador and Mike Flynn as his National Security Advisor. But at the time of recording, he has not picked a Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. So how are you best able to interpret and understand the implications of those selections to American foreign policy? Thankfully, there is some is some emerging political science that speaks to the role of advisors in shaping national security policy, and on the line with me to discuss this research is Professor Elizabeth Saunders of George Washington University. Saunders has conducted a number of studies that speak to the circumstances in which cabinet picks and top advisors can shape public opinion and decision making on key foreign policy issues. We discuss her research and its implications for the Trump transition in this episode. And after you listen to this episode, you should have a fairly decent grounding in how to interpret the significance of these picks, no matter who the end up being.

--- Support the podcast and join our premium subscribers club! ---> https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches President elect Donald Trump will nominate Nikki Haley to be his Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a rising star in Republican politics and currently serves as the governor of South Carolina. She was sharp critic of Trump during the primaries, yet he has picked her to represent him at the United Nations. On the line with me to discuss Nikki Haley, her political background, her personal story, and her place in South Carolina and national politics is Andy Shane the Colombia bureau chief of the Post and Courier newspaper in South Carolina. We have an in-depth conversation about the woman who will next lead the United States Mission to the UN and we discuss how some experiences she had as governor may suggest how she takes on her next role. Trump's cabinet is still taking shape and it's notable that he would pick his UN Ambassador position before his Secretary of State, but I think we have come to expect the unexpected from this president elect. One other political wrinkle that we did not discuss, but is on the minds of people who follow national politics is that there may be a senate seat in South Carolina opening up in 2019, and if so, political watchers speculate that she may vie for that position. So the thinking goes, this could be a good platform for which to run for president in 2024. Now this is a long way off, but it's what the chattering class is chattering about.

--- Support the podcast! Join the premium subscribers club! --- Tali Nates has a personal connection to Schindler's List. On it was the name of her father and uncle, whom Oskar Schindler saved from a Nazi extermination camp. She is now the director of the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Center in South Africa and we have a fascinating conversation about how the lessons of the Holocaust are applied and learned in post-Apartheid South Africa. Tali was born in Israel and moved to South Africa before the end of Apartheid. She candidly describes the moral compunction she experienced during that era and how teaching Holocaust history to white south africans became a method of resistance. This episode is part of a series that is being created in partnership with the Salzburg Global Seminar, which is a forum and meeting space that brings together a cross section of global leaders to take on some of the big global challenges of the day. We kick off discussing her participation on one of the Salzburg sessions before turning to her own family history and contemporary work.

--- Support the podcast and join our premium subscribers club! --- As Americans headed to the polls on election day, diplomats from around the world headed to Marrakech, Morocco for the first big global climate summit since the Paris Agreement last year. This was to be an important inflection point in the global effort to combat climate change. Just a week earlier the Paris Agreement officially entered into force after the requisite number of countries ratified it and this meeting in Marrakech would to fill in some key details and add some technical guidance to enable the implementation of the agreement. And then, Donald Trump was elected. During the campaign he pledged to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and defund UN programs to combat climate change. So I was interested to learn the implications of the election on the ongoing negotiations in Morocco and this episode is in two parts. First, I speak with Eliot Diringer of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, who I caught up the day after the election just as he was headed to Morocco. Eliot discusses the ways domestic politics here in the USA may affect climate negotiations and also recounts the history of American leadership (or lack thereof) in international climate diplomacy. Next, I speak with Hugh Sealy, a diplomat from Grenada who is a lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, known as AOSIS in UN speak. I caught up with Hugh in Marrakech about a week after the election, and as you'll see he does not report that much has changed. He does though, also discuss the importance of American leadership and also offers some interesting insights into the role that small countries like his can play in these big negotiations. If you have not already done so, please check out the Patreon page I have created which is a way for you to support the show and also, if you are interested, take a deeper role in its production. Listeners who make a recurring monthly contribution through this platform can receive rewards for your support. So, for being a Global Dispatches premium subscriber you get a complimentary subscription to my DAWNS Digest global news clips service, sneak previews of upcoming episodes and the opportunity to have your questions posed to my guests, and also, if enough of you join the premium club I will launch a new podcast series, shaped by you, exclusively for. And stickers! Check it out.

--- Support the podcast and join our premium subscribers club! --- Maina Kiai has some profound insights into how governments abrogate the rights of people to freely assemble. He is a Kenyan human rights lawyer and activist who currently serves as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. His career was born in opposition to an oppressive government in Kenya and he discusses the kinds of tactics and strategies he used to advance human rights under an authoritarian government.He also recounts his role in helping to mediate during the disputed 2007 Kenya elections, which turned very violent and resulted in his life being in danger. We kick off discussing the impact of a Trump presidency on human and civic rights around the world and in the United States. This is a great conversation, which I did leave feeling inspired. --- I started a Patreon page! This is sort of like a KickStarter for internet content creators. If you make a recurring monthly contribution to the podcast I'll give you a complimentary subscription to my DAWNS Digest global news clips service; the chance to hear about upcoming shows and have your questions posed to my guests; access to a community forum; and if enough of you sign up, I will create a for-your-ears only podcast episode. Learn more: https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

--- Click here to go to the Patreon Page to earn rewards and support the show! --- I'll get straight to the point. These are uncertain times. They are confusing times. We are entering the Trump era of American foreign policy. What does that mean for the world? For the ideals we care about? For the entire liberal international world order? I don't know. But I am going to make a pledge to you right now: I will dedicate this podcast to exploring and explaining the implications of President Trump to foreign policy, international relations and global affairs. These are uncharted waters into which we are all about to set sail. And in times like this community is more important than ever. I am going to open up Global Dispatches and offer you a chance to share your experiences, anxieties, hopes and ideas for what the future will hold. I'll give you expanded opportunities to interact with my guests, with me, and with each other. But I need help to make this work so here's my pitch: I need to spend more time putting together great shows, building community, and less time hustling to cover costs. That's where you come in. I've created this page to give you an easy way to support the podcast and earn awesome rewards in the process. Together, we can build this into a powerful community and keep the podcast going strong in these uncertain times. Patreon is a platform used by many podcasters and "content creators." It is a way for you, dear listener, to become a Patron of the show. Several listeners suggested I create one, so here goes. The Rewards Contributors at the $10/month level or above will receive: 1) A complimentary subscription to my DAWNS Digest global news clips service. Every morning you will receive in your inbox an easy-to-skim summary of the most interesting and relevant news and opinion from around the world. It's a news clips service that major global NGOs, think tanks and government agencies wake up to in the morning. And it can be yours! 2) Sneak previews of upcoming episodes and the chance to pose questions to my guests. I'll let you know ahead of time about the topics I'm covering and individuals I'm interviewing. If you have a specific question you'd like me to ask, I'll work it into my interview. 3) Bonus episodes! If 100 of you to become sustaining members of the podcast, I'll create a regular series for your-ears-only. It will be a looser kind of show than Global Dispatches and focus on the consequence of Trumpism inside the UN and global institutions more broadly. It will also cover the big events, ideas, politics and other happenings around the UN that may be off the radar. It should appeal to a general global affairs audience and UN-insiders alike. This is a special bonus for sustaining members, so we can tailor this special programming to your requests. 4) Access to a community platform. This will be a space where we can have discussions about world events, about our lives and careers, or reflect on previous episodes. It can serve as a safe, private outlet where you can share whatever is on your mind with your fellow listeners. 5) Swag! I'll mail you a sticker. Who doesn't love stickers? As more and more people sign up, the swag will get awesomer. (Tote Bags! Mugs! Flashdrives!) ----- Why this? Why now? I've been writing on the Internets for 13 years -- as a blogger, twitter person and beyond. In all my projects over the years, I've never felt a deeper connection with my audience than through this podcast. There is an intimacy to this medium. I really cherish that. And based on the feedback I receive everyday, you do too. If the podcast is part of your daily routine, become a patron. It cannot keep going without your support. Together we can turn this challenging election outcome into something positive--into an opportunity to learn and grow. Lots of Love, Mark PS If you have any questions or concerns, contact me.

Donald Trump will become president and commander-in-chief in January. I am pledging to you right now that I will dedicate myself and dedicate this podcast to helping you make sense of foreign policy and world affairs in the era of Trump. To that end, I caught up with Heather Hurlburt of the New America Foundation. Heather and I have a pretty wide ranging discussion about the implications of a Trump presidency for American alliances, for Syria, for the Iran nuclear deal and for the lives of some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. We kick off discussing the kinds of personnel choices that President Elect Trump must take in the coming weeks which will be a very early sign of what kind of foreign policy president he will be.

How the international community saves lives in conflict prone countries or insecure places is becoming increasingly relevant and important to global affairs. On the line to walk me through the nuts and bolts of one of these relief operations is Laurent Bukera, who runs the World Food Program's operations in Somalia. We have a pretty fascinating conversation about how a humanitarian agency like the World Food Program operates in profoundly difficult environments beset by insecurity and terrorism. Laurent walks me through some of WFP's operations in Somalia--that is how they deliver aid and some of the challenges of working in that country. And these challenges includes not only threats from terror groups like Al Shebaab, but more broadly extremely low levels of infrastructure development. To deal with some of these obstacles the WFP is rolling out some new technological innovations, which we discuss toward the end of this episode.

Here we are days from the US election, so I thought to myself let's have a US focused episode that explains US culture and American politics and why Trump is facing such an uphill battle by talking about....hot sauce. Now, it's been widely reported--and I'm being completely serious here--that this is Hillary Clinton's favorite condiment. And full disclosure: I too love everything spicy. But it is also true that more Americans like spicy food than at any time in the history of this country. On the line with me to discuss the political and cultural implications of Americans' growing appetite for spicy cuisine is Denver Nicks, author of the new book: Hot Sauce Nation: America's Burning Obsession. We discuss how spicy peppers became integrated into the mainstream of the American cuisine largely through public policy decisions that be traced to a profoundly important date in 20th century American history. The results on election day may be one more indication that spicy peppers and American elections are far more intertwined than we may think.

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress where his work focuses on US National Security and Foreign Policy. He's had a long career working and living in several middle eastern countries at key junctures in their history, including Jordan, Israel, Palestine and Egypt and we discuss many of these experiences in this conversation. We kick off discussing a new report he helped write about some of the key challenges facing the next administration as it navigates an ever evolving political and security landscape in the Middle East.

Mosul is Iraq's second largest city, and in 2014 ISIS militants took the city as Iraqi army units fled. Now, a large scale military operation backed by the United States is underway to regain control of the city, which is situated in Northern Iraq. The fight to re-take Mosul may have profound domestic and regional political implications says my guest today Kirk Sowell, publisher of the Inside Iraqi Politics newsletter, He argues in a recent piece published by the Carnegie Endowment that the operation to retake mosul is part of a broader power struggle between Turkey and Iraq. The conversation you are about to hear explains the political and diplomatic context in which this battle is taking place. If you believe, as Clausewitz said, that "war is the continuation of politics by other means" than it behooves all of us to understanding better the kind of regional, sectarian and even parliamentary politics at play in the battle for Mosul.

Late in the evening on October 20th news broke that South Africa is moving to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The ICC is the first permanent international court to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity and back in 2002 when it came to life, South Africa was a founding member. In recent years the court has come under criticism by some African governments for holding a perceived bias against Africa, but until now no major country has withdrawn from the court after joining it. There is a fear that South Africa's withdrawal will spark an cascade of countries doing the same thing. If South Africa's withdrawal leads to a mass exodus, the ICC's jurisdiction around the world could be significantly shrunk. Maybe even fatally. On the line with me to discuss these questions and more is David Bosco, associate professor of international studies at Indiana University's School of Global and International Studies. He is also author of the book Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court in a World of Power Politics and someone I have looked to over the years to help me understand the ICC's role in international relations.

Sarah Chayes was a reporter for NPR working in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. Then, in early 2002 she decided to give up her career in journalism to help rebuild the country. She joined the NGO world, eventually founding an Afghan based NGO. And during this time, while living in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, she became an advisor to the top US generals in Afghanistan. These experiences in Afghanistan informed her prize winning book, Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, which as the name suggests examines the corrosive effect of corruption in post conflict countries and beyond. We kick off talking about the problem of corruption before discussing Sarah's fascinating life and career.

Last week the UN General Assembly Officially elected Antonio Guterres as the next UN Secretary General. Guterres is a well known figure around the UN and in global politics more broadly. From 2005 to 2015 he served as the UN High Commissioner for refugees and before that he served as Prime Minister of Portugal. His term begins on January 1st and I thought it would be useful and interesting to learn more about Guterres from two distinct perspectives. This episode is in two parts. First, I speak with the Portuguese political commentator Pedro adao e Silva who discusses Guterres' political career in Portugal and more broadly the political context in which Guterres emerged as a national leader and political figure. We discuss some of the key moments of his term as Prime Minister and how his background and experience in the Portuguese revolution against a authoritarian regime may shape his performance as Secretary General. Next, I speak with Michel Gabaudan, who is the president of the advocacy organization Refugees International. Gabaudan was a senior official at the UN Refugee Agency for many years and served in top positions while Guterres was in charge of it. He offers some perspective on Guterres' leadership style of a complex UN agency and shares some insights into his skill sets and how he interacts with powerful member states like the USA. I was so glad to get both perspectives. Guterres is someone who I've followed closely as the UN Refugee Chief. I've seen him speak on numerous occasions, and both Pedro and Michel do a good job helping me understand how someone who has been so outspoken, in the words of Michel "speaks truth to power" could still win the favor of the world's most powerful country.

At the United Nations last month there was a major meeting at the sidelines of the General Assembly about an issue called anti-microbial resistance. This meeting did not make much news outside the UN bubble, but it was arguably the single most meaningful thing to happen at the United Nations in months. Anti-microbial resistance is one of the worst global health crises in the world that gets the least amount of attention. The short story is that the antibiotics we use to treat common infections are becoming less and less effective. There are many reasons for this, including the overuse of antibiotics in livestock and the over-prescription of these drugs for humans. The implications of ever-increasing anti-biotic resistance is exceedingly profound for both the health and wealth of our entire planet. The foundation of modern medicine is in peril. On the line with me to discuss the problem of antibiotic resistance, its origins, and what the international community is doing to confront it is Elizabeth Tayler. She is with the World Health Organization and is one of the few people on the planet working day in and out to reverse this trend. Tayler does an excellent job of describing the root causes of anti-microbial resistance, its implications for modern medicine and what the global plan is to confront it.

The 52 year civil war in Colombia between the government and the Marxist rebel group the FARC is the longest running conflict in the Western Hemisphere. But after years of painstaking negotiations, the conflict looked as if it is finally coming to an end. There is ceasefire, and a peace deal was signed in September between FARC's leader and the president of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos. The government promised to put the peace deal to a final vote among the people of Colombia in a popular referendum, and low and behold, when the vote was taken in early October voters rejected the deal. On the line with me to discuss the referendum results, the peace deal, and the implications of this failure to formally end this civil war is James Bargent, a freelance journalist based in Colombia. I caught up with James while he was in Medellin just days after the vote and he does an excellent job of describing the political climate that lead to this result, and games out scenarios for what happens next in this now quite tenuous peace process. A resumption of conflict is not out of the realm of possibility.

Scott Shane is a veteran reporter with the New York Times.His latest book is titled Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President and the Rise of the Drone. It tells the story of Anwar al-Awlaki and President Obama's decision to kill him. al-Awlaki was an American born man of Yemeni descent. He was a charismatic preacher who later moved to Yemen and joined an al Qaeda affiliate. In 2011 he was killed by a US drone strike, making him the fist American since the civil war to be deliberately assassinated by his own government. Scott Shane's book is a masterpiece that won the 2016 Lionel Gerber prize for best international affairs book. It's now out in paper back. And unlike most episodes where we spend the first 10 or fifteen minutes speaking about an author's new book before exploring their own life story, Scott and I spend the bulk of our conversation telling the remarkable and gripping story of al-Awlaki before talking about Scott's own career.

When a building is bombed, a group of volunteers known as the White Helmets rush to the scene to dig through rubble to find survivors. In a conflict known for its never-ending descent into depravity, this one group stands apart as true servants of humanity. On the line to discuss their work is Orlando von Einsiedel, who directed the new Netflix documentary "The White Helmets." The film follows members of the Aleppo contingent of the Syrian Civil Defense Corps as they go on rescue and training missions. The White Helmets are unarmed and apolitical. But as Russia and Syrian forces have intensified the battle for eastern Aleppo, the White Helmets have increasingly been a target themselves. In the last week alone, four of their bases in Aleppo have been targeted and they are often the victims of a bombing strategy known as "double tap" in which a second bomb is unleashed on a civilian target just as rescue workers are arriving on the scene. In this conversation, director Orlando von Einsiedel -- whose credits include the documentaries Virunga and Skateistan -- describes the work of the White Helmets and his decision to make them the subject of his newest film.

I was in New York for the UN General Assembly and so was Under Secretary of State for civilian security, democracy and human rights Sarah Sewall. We taped this episode in front of a live audience organized by New York chapter of the group Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, YPFP. Sarah Sewall kicks off telling some behind the scenes stories from her week at the UN and describing what it's like being a top US diplomat during the busiest week on the diplomatic calendar. We then discuss some of the substantive issues she is working on relating to countering violent extreemism and terrorism through diplomacy and development. She also recounts her ground breaking career path that lead her from her home in Maine to the highest reaches of foreign policy making. And finally, we take some questions from the audience. This was taped live at the SLC Conference Center in mid-town Manhattan. -----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast --> http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/

The UN General Assembly kicks into high gear this week as world leaders flock to New York for the annual UN summit. There are many story lines for international affairs nerds to follow, and on the line with me to break them all down is Richard Gowen, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations. Richard and I offer a preview of the big stories, high drama, and possible moments of intrigue that are sure to be present at one of the most important weeks ever year for global affairs. Before we kick off, I have a special announcement--actually an invitation. I will be holding a live taping of Global Dispatches with Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall and you are cordially invited to attend. She is the highest ranking State Department official dealing with human rights, terrorism, refugees, and other issues related to civilian security, rights, and democracy, and it should be a fantastic conversation that will include some audience participation. The event is organized in conjunction with the group Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, is being held in New York on Wednesday, September 21st at 7pm at the SLC Conference center 15 W 39the st (near Bryant Park.) So, for those of you in the New York area, please come by. If you are planning to attend, you can RSVP here. http://www.ypfp.org/globaldispatches -----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast --> http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/

-----SUPPORT THE SHOW----- Click here to make a contribution to the podcast --> http://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/support-the-show/ World leaders gather at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York next week. There will be much political drama and diplomatic storylines that I'll discuss in a later episode. But behind all the politics and drama are issues of substance -- and arguably the most important substantive issues on the table relate to the global refugee crisis. There will be two high profile summits at the UN related to refugees. The first is organized by the United Nations itself, called the "Summit for Refugees and Migrants." The second is being organized by President Obama and is the "Leaders Summit on Refugees." Taken together, these two high level meetings at the UN have the potential to provide an important inflection point in the international community's attempt to address the largest global displacement crisis since World War Two. On the line to help me to help put these two summits in a broader context of how countries confront a growing refugee crisis and an ever increasing number of migrants around the world is Shannon Scribner, a humanitarian policy adviser for Oxfam. Shannon describes what these two distinct summits hope to accomplish, some of their benefits and weak points, and explains the exceedingly complex challenge of crafting a global strategy to confront this global problem.