Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

In a press conference on March 26th, Attorney General William Barr unsealed indictments against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and top regime officials, alleging drug trafficking and narcoterrorism. On the line with me to discuss this is Keith Mines, senior advisor for Venezuela and Colombia at the United States Institute of Peace. We discuss the indictments, how they fit into US policy toward Venezuela and whether or not this move may succeed in helping to dislodge Maduro from power.

During this state of emergency, some governments are using this time as a pretext to further consolidate power, crack down on a free press, and restrict civil liberties. Philippe Bolopion is the deputy director for global advocacy at Human Rights Watch. He chimes in to discuss how regimes are using the coronavirus pandemic to justify crackdowns and human rights abuse. We start with the example of Hungary and discuss other examples of leaders invoking COVID-19 to entrench themselves in power.

Today, nearly every country on earth has reported cases of COVID-19. In this episode, comparative politics gives us a helpful lens for understanding why some countries are dealing with it better than others. Sofia Fenner, assistant professor at Bryn Mawr College, specializes in comparative politics. Recently, She wrote an article that explains whether or not certain characteristics of a state determine how well it will respond to the crisis. We specifically compare authoritarian systems with democracies.

International non-governmental organizations provide emergency relief to people caught up in crisis. Now, they must respond to the impact of the coronavirus. I spoke with Susannah Friedman, the Humanitarian Policy Director for CARE, a large global humanitarian organization. We discuss the $2 billion funding appeal launched by the UN to coordinate a global response to COVID-19. We then discuss what CARE is doing to prepare for COVID-19 and how they can give aid to women and girls in vulnerable situations

Today, Ethiopia and Somalia are experiencing its worst locust situation in 25 years. For parts of Kenya, the swarms are larger than they have been in the last 70 years. These massive swarms are threatening to plunge this vulnerable region deeper into crisis. To help explain the situation is Keith Cressman of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. He explains why we are seeing an upsurge in desert locusts in East Africa, its impact on the lives of people in this region, and how to mitigate the swarms.

Jacqueline McAllister is an assistant professor of political science at Kenyon College. Her article, titled "Deterring Wartime Atrocities: Hard Lessons from the Yugoslav Tribunal" examines whether or not the ICTY was able to prevent war crimes during the wars in the Balkans. She finds that, indeed, there were some circumstances in which the ICTY deterred war crimes. We discuss conditions for deterrence , how she arrived at her findings, and the implications her study has for other war crimes tribunals.

The coronavirus pandemic could have major implications for international development. For now, low income countries have not yet recorded significant clusters of the coronavirus --  but the economic consequences of the virus are being felt around the world. Amanda Glassman is on the line with me to discuss the potential effects of the coronavirus on global development. She is the executive vice president and senior fellow with the Center for Global Development, and an international development expert.

The coronavirus pandemic is impacting institutions around the world, including the United Nations. In this episode, I speak with Margaret Besheer, the UN correspondent for Voice of America. She helps me understand how the coronavirus is impacting the work and life of the United Nations.   We start by discussing the work of the W.H.O. before having a longer conversation about the affects of COVID-19 on the UN. This includes UN peacekeeping, day-to-day diplomacy, and the work of the Security Council.

On February 29th, the United States and the Taliban entered into an agreement that would see the complete pullout of US troops from Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban would renounce international terrorist groups, like al Qaeda and the Islamic State. "This is very much not a peace deal," says Michael Kugelman, senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center. In this conversation, we discuss what is included in this deal and what this agreement means for the future of Afghanistan. 

On February 22nd, President Kiir and Riek Machar signed a power-sharing agreement to formally end South Sudan's six-year civil war. The war in South Sudan broke out in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his-then vice president Riek Machar of fomenting a coup. Discussing this agreement, we have Jok Madut Jok, a professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. This episode is supported, in part, by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

In recent years, Beijing began making big investments in Brazil. This included a potential new railway that would link Brazilian soy fields to its ports. However, these fields are mostly in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. As Chinese demands for Brazilian soy have increased, so too has the pace of deforestation. Melissa Chan, co-authored a piece in The Atlantic that examines the impact of China's demand for soy. The piece, "China Wants Food. Brazil Pays the Price," is supported by the Pulitzer Center.

So far, COVID-19 has mostly impacted countries with decently functioning health care systems. However, a great worry is, what happens should we see cases where there is no good health system. As it happens, Paul B. Spiegel was in the midst of a project to model scenarios around COVID-19 and the Rohingya refugee population. We spend time discussing that crisis and discussing the broader implications of COVID-19 spreading to vulnerable populations. https://www.undispatch.com/

The Boni Forest is a lush coastal ecosystem on the border between Kenya and Somalia. Its location and geography have made it an ideal hideout for al Shabaab -- the Somali terrorist group that has launched devastating attacks in Kenya over the last decade. That was until my guest today, Judy Kimamo, helped launch a grassroots peace conference, known as the Boni Enclave Stakeholders Conference. Now, nearly three years later, the impact of that peacebuilding effort is still being felt. 

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia. The treaty imposes limits on the size and composition of the nuclear arsenals of the world's two largest nuclear powers. But New START may not last much longer. The treaty officially expires in February 2021. Russia has already signaled that it would extend the agreement another five years, but the Trump administration has so far demurred.

The President of Cameroon is Paul Biya. He's been the president of Cameroon since 1982. Before that, from 1975, he was prime minister. My guest today, Maurice Kamto, challenged Paul Biya for the presidency in national elections in 2018. Kamto lost in what he plausibly claimed were rigged elections. Maurice Kamto is a lawyer and professor of law with the University of Yaounde, in Cameroon. He is the leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, which is known by its French acronym the MRC.