Deep Dish on Global Affairs

Germany’s effective, science-driven response to COVID-19 is a model for countries around the world. But as life returns to normal for many Germans this week, Chancellor Merkel says the country is still on the “thinnest of ice” in addressing the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal’s Bojan Pancevski joins Deep Dish from Berlin to examine Germany’s reopening strategy.

Tensions between the United States and Iran continue to simmer amid the coronavirus pandemic. Iran is blaming US sanctions for its lack of medical supplies and recently harassed US warships in the Gulf, while the United States is threatening to increase economic pressure with additional sanctions. Brookings’ Suzanne Maloney and the German Marshall Fund’s Ariane Tabatabai join Deep Dish to examine internal politics and the future of the US-Iran standoff.

As New Zealand prepares to emerge from a national lockdown on April 27, Axios’ Rebecca Falconer joins Deep Dish from Auckland to explain the aggressive and effective national eradication strategy and how the government’s actions might influence the general election in September. 

Drawing from today’s global crises and the patterns of American history, geopolitical forecaster George Friedman predicts the 2020s will be a decade of storm and strain for the United States, followed by a period of prosperity. He joins Deep Dish to examine the institutional and socioeconomic cycles of upheaval that have rebuilt and reinvented American life in the past and explains why he’s still optimistic about the future.

In another special edition episode, we’re taking you inside the global COVID-19 pandemic response by talking to Nikkei’s Kiyoshi Ando, reporting from Tokyo. He joins Deep Dish a few days after the start of a national state of emergency to explain why Japan appeared to be a miracle success story but is currently seeing a spike in infections — complicated by an impending national travel holiday and a lack of protective medical equipment.

Over the weekend, OPEC+ finalized the biggest oil supply deal in history — drastically cutting production with the hopes of stabilizing plummeting prices as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns. Charlotte Howard, the Economist’s New York bureau chief and energy and commodities editor, joins Deep Dish to explain the economic and political implications of the agreement and how it could affect the future of oil in the United States and beyond.

Through a series of special edition episodes, we’re taking you inside the global COVID-19 pandemic response by talking to journalists on the ground. The New York Times’ Steven Erlanger, reporting from Brussels, joins Deep Dish to examine how European nations are learning from the devastation in Italy and Spain — and what the pandemic might mean for European solidarity in the long-term.

While Europe has been struggling to contain COVID-19, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has used his country’s emergency response to reduce checks on his power and make himself a de facto dictator. Princeton University’s Kim Scheppele joins Deep Dish to explain why the failure of one democracy should matter to every democracy and examine whether Hungary could have ripple effects on other political systems in Europe and beyond.

Stock markets have plunged, economic output is falling, businesses are closed with some facing bankruptcy, and unemployment is soaring as a result of COVID-19. In a new episode of Deep Dish, former Bank of London governor Lord Mervyn King draws from lessons he learned during the 2008 financial crisis to discuss how to manage the current economic uncertainty. 

Through a series of special edition Deep Dish episodes, we’re taking you inside the global COVID-19 pandemic response by talking to journalists on the ground. We begin in South Korea, which ranked among the top ten countries for total cases at the time of recording. The Wall Street Journal’s Dasl Yoon, reporting from Seoul, joins us to explain what other countries can learn from South Korea’s innovative approaches to successfully flatten the curve of new infections – without shutting down the econ

Countries across the globe are rushing to contain COVID-19 and “flatten the curve” – with mixed results. After months of shutdowns China is slowly reopening; India has initiated a national lockdown; leaders in Brazil and Mexico have dismissed the danger; and Italy and Spain report high death totals and lack medical supplies. POLITICO’s Ryan Heath joins Deep Dish to explain the lessons the United States can learn from countries that are further ahead in the infection timeline. 

While the political importance of the American Midwest in 2020 is clear, the region of 70 million people is all too often written off as an economic has-been and a cultural backwater. Shayndi Raice of the Wall Street Journal and John Austin of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs join Deep Dish to tell a different story, one of bright spots as well as blights in this region encompassing all or part of 12 US states.

Yemen's years-long war pits Iran-backed Houthis against a coalition of Saudi-led forces seeking to restore Yemen's internationally recognized government. The war has created not only a dire humanitarian crisis but also an opening for terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. International Crisis Group's Daniel Schneiderman, who was NSC director for Yemen under presidents Obama and Trump, joins Deep Dish to explain the US role in the conflict.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Levant Affairs and Special Envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn joins Deep Dish to explain the Trump administration's plan in war-torn Syria, discussing everything from ISIS and the Assad regime to Russian and Iranian influence.

"The United States needs allies more than it ever has," says Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the forthcoming book Shields of the Republic. On the latest Deep Dish, Rapp-Hooper joins Council President Ivo Daalder for a discussion about the state of US alliances at a moment when new concerns are flaring up from the Philippines and East Asia to Europe.