Deep Dish on Global Affairs

The US Congress has not approved a use of force since 2002, when it voted to invade Iraq. "Too many members of Congress are all too happy to abdicate their constitutional responsibility and allow the president to go it alone," explains Oona Hathaway, professor of International Law at Yale Law School. Hathaway joins Deep Dish to lay out a step-by-step plan for Congress to revive its war powers.

The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his role in ending a 20-year military stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In fact, the historic rapprochement is just one element of the young leader’s ambitious, fast-moving reforms. Boston University’s Michael Woldemariam and the Council’s Ertharin Cousin join Deep Dish to discuss the strides so far and the steps ahead.

More than 1,200 days have passed since Britain's referendum to leave the European Union, but little has been decided in that time about how Brexit will actually take place. As the Oct. 31 deadline nears and Boris Johnson's government tries to negotiate a deal at the wire, the editor-in-chief of The Economist joins Deep Dish to explain how the United Kingdom fell into this predicament and what to expect next.

Monday, October 7, marks 18 years since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom. Since 2001, more than 2,400 US military personnel have died in Afghanistan, yet the Taliban and other insurgents continue to launch attacks, hold terrain, and decimate the US-backed Afghan security forces. Robert A. Pape, professor of political science and the director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats at the University of Chicago, joins Deep Dish to discuss another way forward for America’s longest war.

On October 1, the Chinese Communist Party marks 70 years in power. Much has changed since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but the legacy of its founder, the revolutionary Mao Zedong, still looms large today over Xi Jinping’s leadership and Beijing’s foreign policy. Julia Lovell, author of "Maoism: A Global History," joins Deep Dish to discuss.

National security, alliances, immigration, and trade wars have already surfaced in debates and speeches by 2020 US presidential candidates. But how do the candidates’ ideas match those of Americans overall? James M. Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations joins the Council’s Dina Smeltz to discuss the findings of the newly released 2019 Chicago Council Survey on how Americans view US foreign policy.

Australia has long been a strong ally of the United States, but new challenges and opportunities, including the rise of China, confront the alliance in the 21st century. Ahead of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to the United States and state dinner with President Donald Trump, Dr. Michael Fullilove, executive director of the Lowy Institute in Sydney, joins Deep Dish to delve into this important but often-overlooked relationship.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will annex part of the Jordan Valley if he stays in power after elections next week. The decision comes as tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon and with Iran-backed militias in Syria flare up. The Jerusalem Post's Middle East affairs analyst Seth Frantzman and the Council's Cécile Shea join Deep Dish to discuss.

Flames raging across the Amazon have captured the world’s attention, but Brazil faces other pressing economic, political, and conservation consequences due to deforestation as well. In all, the fires have revealed a stark division between increasingly urban populations and the rural areas that feed their modern way of life. Robert Muggah of the Igarapé Institute in Rio de Janeiro joins Deep Dish to discuss.

On September 1, two important state elections are being held in Germany’s Brandenburg and Saxony. The far-right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) looks poised to win. On Deep Dish, Sheri Berman of Barnard College explains why the AfD has emerged as a formidable populist challenger to the two long-dominant parties in Germany, the social democrats and the Christian democrats.

Indonesia's massive, overcrowded capital is sinking due to climate change and depleted ground water. Now President Joko Widodo wants to move the capital and build an entirely new city. The decision comes just as Jokowi, as he is known, begins his second presidential term—and it's not the only challenge he faces. Tom Pepinsky of Cornell University and the Brookings Institution joins Deep Dish to discuss.

Last week, Narendra Modi’s government revoked the constitutional provision that had long granted special autonomy to India-administered Kashmir. Bloomberg’s Nisid Hajari, author of Midnight's Furies, and Paul Staniland of the University of Chicago join Deep Dish to discuss how the decision has once again torn open tensions between India and Pakistan—and what it means for the United States.

Last week, Tokyo decided to downgrade its trade relationship with Seoul following weeks of protests, boycotts, and sparing. While bad blood between the two US allies goes back decades, its reemergence today raises new questions about stability and security in the region—and all while US relations with China and North Korea worsen. Alexis Dudden of the University of Connecticut and the Council’s Karl Friedhoff join Deep Dish to discuss.

Tunisia is the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring. Yet the death of its first democratically elected president last week has raised new questions about its future. The outcome matters not just to Tunisians, but also as a test case for democracy across North Africa and the Arab world. Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Gordon Gray, the US ambassador to Tunisia from 2009 to 2012, join Deep Dish to discuss.

With the return of national populism to global politics, multilateral organizations such as the United Nations have come under renewed scrutiny. Yet the UN is much more than just colorful speeches from leaders each September in New York and vetoed resolutions in the Security Council. The Council’s Catherine Bertini and Thomas Weiss join Deep Dish to discuss the future of the UN and why the United States should lead its renewal.