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By all accounts, the situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia is extremely grim and about to get much worse. The United Nations now says that famine has struct parts of the region. The civil war in Ethiopia continues without and end in sight. Meanwhile, fraught national elections are scheduled for June 21.  Ethiopian journalist Zecharias Zelalem explains how we got to this point and where the conflict may be headed next.  

Ban Ki-moon served as the eighth Secretary General of the United Nations from 2007 to 2016.  He is out with a new memoir titled Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World. We cover quite a bit of ground in this interview, including his perspective on what the covid crisis revealed about the strengths and weaknesses of the United Nations, what can be done to bolster multilateralism today, his frustrations with the Security Council and what advice he might offer to his successor Antonio Guterres. We also spend a good deal of time talking climate change diplomacy, which was Ban's signature issue as Secretary General.  Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World, by Ban Ki-moon For The Love Of Hong Kong: A Memoir From My City Under Siege, by Hana Meihan Davis  

Digital repression is on the rise. Governments around the world have used tools like mass surveillance, internet blocking and disinformation to stay in power. This includes both autocratic governments and weak or illiberal democracies.  New research from my guest today Steve Feldstein offers some novel insights into the kinds of digital tools governments are using to consolidate power, and for what purpose. He is the author of the new book The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance   

Hana Meihan Davis comes from a long line of democracy activists in Hong Kong. Today, they are all either in exile, facing arrest, or somewhere in between. Hana Meihan Davis is the author of the new book For The Love of Hong Kong: A Memoir From My City Under Siege, which tells the story of Hana's family and friends who have been on the frontlines of an epic struggle to defend democracy, freedom of speech and human rights in the face of increasing repression by Chinese government authorities. This is the first book under the new Global Dispatches publishing imprint.    

On Sunday May 23rd a Belarusian fighter jet intercepted a civilian Ryan Air flight and forced it land in Minsk, Belarus. Authorities promptly arrested a dissident journalist onboard and his girlfriend.  Often described as "Europe's Last Dictator," this incident was an audacious example of the lengths that the regime of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko would go to silence opposition voices and dissidents. Guest: Sofya Orlosky, senior program manager for Europe and Eurasia at Freedom House.      

As the world turns towards greener economies there will be a surge in demand for natural resources that enable a less carbon intensive future. This includes the mineral cobalt, which is key component of batteries.  Most of the world's supply of Cobalt is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This raises the prospect that increasing demand for Cobalt might contribute to insecurity in the DRC.  On the line to explain the link between mineral extraction and conflict in the DRC and how cobalt mining can lead to peace and sustainable development is Laurent Kasindi, Program Quality Specialist at Search for Common Ground.

Elected in 2019 as a 37 year old third party candidate, the president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele is a political phenom. He has a hipster's disposition, but an authoritarian's proclivities.  a On the line to explain the rise of Nayib Bukele and the demise of democratic checks and balances in El Salvador is Frida Ghitis,  She is a world affairs analyst and columnist for World Politics Review.  We kick off discussing the sudden rise of Bukele in Salvadorian politics before entering into a discussion about the implications of his authoritarian tendencies.   

Conflict in Israel and Palestine is escalating in ways we have seen before: an Israeli military assault on Gaza as rockets fly from Gaza to Israel. But what distinguishes this latest iteration of the Arab-Israeli conflict is that violence is spreading within Israel. Over the last several days there have been multiple incidents of mob attacks between Jews and Arabs in towns in Israel with mixed populations between Palestinian citizens of Israel and Jews. The threat of widespread communal violence is now very acute. On the line with me to help me understand the events leading up to this latest conflict and where it may be headed next is Dana el-Kurd. She an assistant professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and a researcher at the Arab Institute for Research and Policy Studies.   

The last time World Food Program Chief Economist Arif Husain came on the show to discuss global trends in food security was 15 months ago. Needless to say, since January 2020 and the onset of the pandemic food insecurity and hunger around the world have gotten much worse.  We kick off this conversation discussing a new report on global hunger and food security before have a longer discussion about what, exactly, is driving a current surge in food insecurity and hunger around the world today -- and what can be done about it.        

It was a combination of imperial ambition and white supremacy that inspired the advent of the field of global health in the 19th century and that colonialist legacy can still be seen in the practice of global health today.  Guest: Dr. Ashti Doobay-Persaud is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Medical Education at Northwestern University where she co-directs the Center for Global Health Education and is the Faculty Director of the Master of Science in Global Health program.  Learn more about the MSc in Global Health https://sps.northwestern.edu/global   

The longtime ruler of Chad, Idriss Deby, died from wounds sustained while visiting troops on the battlefield. Deby had been the president of Chad for over 30 years and was considered a stalwart ally of the United States and France, who viewed him as the lynchpin of regional counter-terrorism efforts.  On the line to discuss what the death of Chad president Idriss Deby means for regional and international security -- and for the future of Chad is Reed Brody, Counsel for Human Rights Watch.   

When COVID-19 forced countries to impose widespread lockdowns last year, there was a concurrent surge in gender based violence and domestic abuse. The United Nations has called this a "shadow pandemic" in which lockdowns everywhere lead to a sharp increase in gender based violence. This includes Poland, where even before the pandemic levels of gender based violence were extremely high.  During the first month of the lockdown in March 2020, the country's largest women's rights center received a 50% increase in calls to its emergency domestic abuse hotline. This COVID-induced spike in gender-based violence in Poland comes as the country is deep into a democratic backslide. The government of Poland is controlled by the ruling Law and Justice Party which has eroded media freedom and eviscerated the independence of the judiciary, among other anti-democratic moves. The government is also reactionary in its worldview, including on issues related to gender. It has imposed a near-total ban on abortion and is seeking to withdraw from a key treaty to combat violence against women known as the Istanbul Convention.   My guest today, Annie Hylton is an independent investigative journalist who examined the increase in gender-based violence in Poland in the context of the country's vulnerability to atrocity crimes. "Atrocity crimes" is generally understood to encompass genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. As she explains, there is research suggesting that the erosion of women's rights precedes atrocity crimes. We discuss her reporting from Poland at length in this conversation. Today's episode is produced in partnership with the Stanley Center for Peace and Security whose project "Red Flags or Resilience?" examines COVID-19's impact on atrocity risks.  The project uses journalism to explore the connections between the coronavirus pandemic and the factors for risk and resilience to mass violence and atrocities around the world. You can view Annie Hylton's article on Poland and other works of journalism as they are published by visiting resilience.stanleycenter.org.

India is currently in the midst the single worst spike in COVID cases experienced anywhere in the world since the start of the pandemic.  On the line with me to explain how and why the COVID crisis got so bad so quickly in India is Michael Kugelman, Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center. We kick off discussing the current humanitarian emergency in India before having a broader conversation about the political and international implications of India's spiraling health crisis.   

On April 22 and 23rd, the White House hosted the Climate Leaders Summit which featured more than 40 world leaders. Joe Biden kicked off the summit with a major announcement that the United States has set a target to reduce by 50% its carbon emissions by the year 2030 On the line with me to discuss the significance of the White House announcement and its implications for climate diplomacy is Pete Ogden, Vice President for Climate and the Environment at the United Nations Foundation.  

The American foreign policy tradition has been recently dominated by just a few ideologies: neoconservatism of the Regan and George W. Bush eras and the liberal internationalism of the Clinton and Obama administrations.  Robert Wright, has helped to introduce and popularize a new kind of intellectual tradition to the public square called "Progressive Realism."  He explains some key principals of a progressive-realist foreign policy and how this ideology might be applied to some key foreign policy challenges, including competition with China and conflict in the middle east.  Guest:  Robert Wright is the author of several books, including  NonZero: The Logic of Human Destiny and runs a newsletter of the same name.  

On April 14th President Biden announced that American Troops will be leaving Afghanistan by September 11, 2021, formally ending US military engagement after twenty years of war. What contributed to this decision? What impact will it have on internal dynamics in Afghanistan and does this mean the Taliban will gain control?  On the line with me to discuss the implications of the decision to end US military presence in Afghanistan is Adam Weinstein,  Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft  

The COVID-19 pandemic is just the latest iteration of what Charles Kenny calls an unending war between humanity and infectious disease. His new book "The Plague Cycle" documents and describes how the course of human history has been shaped by infectious disease from thousands of years ago to early 2021.     Guest: Charles Kenny,  senior fellow with the Center for Global Development and author of The Plague Cycle: The Unending War Between Humanity and Infectious Disease

For the last several months Niger has experienced a surge in attacks against civilians by violent extremists. This region of West Africa, the Sahel, has experienced profound and growing security challenges in recent years. What distinguishes this new upsurge in violence in Niger is that civilians are being targeted -- and on the basis of their ethnicity.  Guest: Ornella Moderan the Sahel Program Head for Institute for Security Studies.        

When economies started tanking last year as COVID-19 spread rapidly around the globe, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund mounted their crisis response. Now, one year later we can assess some of the impact of the response of these institutions, and what comes next as countries continue to try weather this economic storm.  On the line with me to discuss how the World Bank and IMF have responded to the COVID-19 crisis is Scott Morris, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development.     

On March 30th, leaders from 23 countries plus the heads of the World Health Organization and the European Union called for a new international treaty to confront the next pandemic. Global health expert Kate Dodson explains what would be included in a new international treaty on pandemic preparedness and response; how might a pandemic treaty be negotiated among world powers; and asks if a new global pandemic treaty even a good idea?  (It is)  Guest: Kate Dodson, Vice President for Global Health at the United Nations Foundation. Premium Subscription Link