Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

My guest today, Geneive Brown Metzger, is the former Consul General of Jamaica in New York. She is also President of the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation. And she is the host of the new Caribbean affairs podcast, "Diplomatically Speaking." As we talk, she explains how COVID-19 is impacting the Caribbean. This includes the domestic affairs and foreign policy of the various countries in the region. In particular, she explains how China is using this moment to advance its interests in the Caribbean.

My guest today, Graham Allison, is a legendary scholar of international relations. The last time we spoke was just after the release of his 2017 book Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? The book examined over a dozen historic cases in which global power shifts resulted in wars, and a few cases in which it did not. The book makes a compelling case, that war between the US as established power and China as the rising power is far more likely than we might think.

Barbara Saitta is a nurse with Doctors without Borders who specializes in vaccination campaigns, primarily in poorer countries. She tells me that because of supply chain interruptions, a number of countries are running out of routine childhood vaccines. We kick off with a discussion of how vaccine campaigns generally operate in a developing country with poor infrastructure, before having a broader conversation about the impact of COVID-19 on routine childhood immunizations.

How Female Entrepreneurs Can Light Up Rural Rwanda

My guest, Dr. Mosoka P Fallah, is helping to lead Liberia's fight against COVID-19. He is an infectious disease and public health expert and the Director General National Public Health Institute of Liberia. Dr. Fallah was a key player in Liberia's successful suppression of Ebola in 2014. Liberia's experience with Ebola is very informative of how their government and society handles COVID-19. We discuss the role of regional cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 before we dive into Liberia's situation.

My guest, David Kaye, is the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. Today we discuss his new report to the UN Human Rights Council. In this report, David Kaye identifies and explains the ways in which governments and other entities have used COVID-19 to crack down on freedom of expression, independent media, and access to information. Among other things, this includes invoking laws to punish "fake news," and broad internet shutdowns.

The United Nations turns 75 this year. To celebrate, the UN is instead embarking on a listening tour. Today, I talk to Michelle Milford Morse, the UN Foundation’s Vice President for Girls and Women Strategy. She explains the significance of a key document called the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. We discuss progress and the lack there of on gender equality since that document, including how COVID-19 is impacting gender equality. Then, a consultation on the future of gender equality begins.

In the midst of the pandemic, Lebanon's deteriorating economic situation is poised to turn into a major political and social crisis. Maha Yayha is the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center and I caught up with her from Beirut. We kick off discussing the roots of this economic crisis, which she explains can be traced to the political arrangements that ended the civil war 30 years ago. We then have a broad conversation about the impact this economic crisis is having in a country that is already fragile.

Today's episode was recorded in front of a live-online audience, and featured an all-star panel discussing how to make the economic recovery from COVID-19 sustainable, just, and resilient. In other words, as governments and institutions prepare their economic rescue and stimulus packages what can they do to ensure that the recovery is a green one?

My guest, Prachi Singh, is an associate fellow at the Brookings Institution, India Center and is a PhD candidate at Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. Her research analyzed height and weight ratios of children who were exposed, in utero, to air pollution events. Further, she studies how this exposure influences India's GDP. We kick off discussing the impact of stunting on children's health before having a conversation about her research methods and the significance of her findings.

According to a recent report, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is gravely ill. He had apparently undergone heart surgery and was fighting for his life. However, we have no way of knowing whether or not this is true. Patricia Kim joins me to discuss the significance of this rumor. She is the senior policy analyst with the China program at US Institute of Peace. We also analyze North Korea's experience with COVID-19, and what lies ahead for nuclear diplomacy between the US, North Korea, South Korea, and China

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. was abdicating its traditional role as a global leader. China was also flaunting its rising power on the global stage. Now, all these trends are accelerating according to my guest. Ian Bremmer is President of the Eurasia Group and President of GZERO Media. In our conversation we discuss recently hastened geopolitical shifts, the economic and technological interdependence between the United States and China, and how political disruptions will impact geopolitics.

Congressman Ami Bera, a medical doctor and Democrat from California serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In November he served on a commission on pandemic preparedness that looks rather prescient today. Here we cover the trajectory of the outbreak in the US and how it might shape politics and foreign policy. Congressman Bera also explains the dangers of freezing the WHO's funding. He explains the WHO's critical role in preventing clusters of COVID-19 from taking hold in poorer countries.

Why Don't More People Use Clean Cookstoves?

Within Omar al-Bashir's long tenure he brutally suppressed revolts and rebellions. About a year ago, Sudan's longtime ruler was ousted from power. Today, Sudan is lead by a transitional council which contains people who benefited from institutionalized corruption. Suliman Baldo is a researcher with the Enough Project and recently published a report for the corruption watchdog group, The Sentry. Among other things, we discuss how previous corruption is complicating Sudan's transition to democracy.