Deep Dish On Global Affairs

In recent weeks, the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena sightings in North America have left many wondering whether US air defense systems are equipped to handle such threats. Ex-NORAD chief Scott Clancy and Carnegie Council’s Arthur Holland Michel join Deep Dish to discuss how worried Americans should truly be.       Reading List:  The Chinese balloon is hardly alone in watching America from the sky, Arthur Holland Michel, Washington Post, February 3, 2023  If you’re interested in learning more about defending American airspace against unidentified objects, tune into the Council’s virtual event with US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi. 

About The Episode Globalization is said to have fused our economies, societies, and cultures—but what if our world is not as globalized as we think? On Deep Dish, Shannon O’Neil, author of “The Globalization Myth,” argues that, in fact, regionalization has played a more key role in global economic competition, discussing the implications for the United States and the future of the world’s economy.    Like this episode? Leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Israel’s right-wing legislators have taken aim at the country’s supreme court. Their proposal to overhaul and limit the judiciary has sparked mass protest and debate and could dramatically change the balance of power. Joining Deep Dish from Israel are Times of Israel journalist Tal Schneider and legal scholar Tamar Hostovsky Brandes to examine the judicial reform proposal, its potential impact on political checks and balance, and whether the nation’s democracy is at risk.

Unrest & instability has surrounded Peruvian politics for the last seven years as six different presidents have taken office. Over the past month, anti-government protests have erupted, uniting disenfranchised Peruvians who are demanding that the newest president, Dina Boluarte, step down. Reporting from Peru, Cynthia Sanborn and Ryan Dube explore what is driving the unrest, unpack Peru’s unprecedented political instability and why democracy is at stake on Deep Dish.  Reading List: Peru's Overlapping Messes, Cynthia Sanborn & Beatriz García Nice, Wilson Center, Jan 20, 2023  Peruvian Protesters March in Capital Against Government, Ryan Dube, Wall Street Journal, Jan 20, 2023 

Brazilian authorities swiftly detained more than 1,500 pro-Bolsonaro rioters in connection with the January 8 attack on Brazil's capital and have charged dozens in recent days. Following the insurrection, what deeper challenges lie ahead for Brazil's president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva? On Deep Dish, Sarah Esther Maslin and Ryan Berg unpack Brazil’s response and what the future holds for one of the world’s largest democracies. Reading List: A copycat insurrection in Brazil, and its troubling aftermath, Sarah Esther Maslin, The Economist, January 12, 2023

This Friday, Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida will make his first visit to Washington, DC for a summit meeting with President Biden. On Deep Dish, Council on Foreign Relations’ Sheila Smith and Hudson Institute’s Masashi Murano explore what is behind Japan’s new security vision, how the changes are viewed generationally by the Japanese public, and what this means for the future of the US-Japan security alliance to address rising threats from China. Reading List: How Japan Is Doubling Down on Its Military Power, Sheila Smith, Council on Foreign Relations, December 20, 2022

From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the climate crisis, to soaring food and energy prices, headlines in 2022 have been tough. If this barrage of negative news has made you want to switch off, you’re not alone. On Deep Dish, behavioral science expert Dr. Kris Lee and former Foreign Policy editor-in-chief Jonathan Tepperman share tips for how to reframe your global outlook and navigate anxiety in 2023. Plus, Deep Dish listeners comment on how the heavy news affects their mood and how they cope as global citizens.   Reading List: The Fix: How Countries Use Crises to Solve the World’s Worst Problems, Jonathan Tepperman, Crown; Reprint edition, July 25, 2017  Worth the Risk: How to Microdose Bravery to Grow Resilience, Connect More, and Offer Yourself to the World, Kristen Lee, Sounds True, June 14, 2022 

As digital technologies and social media have evolved to dominate our everyday lives, governments and businesses – at home and abroad - have been able to collect vast troves of our personal information. On Deep Dish, author Aynne Kokas explains why China has been so effective at collecting and “trafficking” the data of United States and other foreign citizens, and how this data could give them a geopolitical advantage. Plus, we hear from data privacy attorneys on the state of regulation protecting user data.  Reading List: Trafficking Data: How China Is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty, Aynne Kokas, November 1, 2022, Oxford University Press 

FIFA World Cup 2022 has reached its nail-biting knock-out stage. For big-spending hosts Qatar, the tournament has provided an opportunity to bask in the international spotlight, but it has also drawn scrutiny of human rights and the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf state. On Deep Dish, Jules Boykoff & Minky Worden discuss the growing phenomenon of sportswashing, why sport appeals to autocratic governments, and how businesses, athletes, and fans can respond. Plus, we spoke to sports writers and analysts to understand how fans perceive accusations of sportswashing.  Reading List: Qatar 2022: China and Iran Confront the Political Power of the World Cup, Chris Morris, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, November 28, 2022 NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo and Beyond, Jules Boykoff, Fernwood Publishing, April 01, 2020  The World Cup is Exciting, Lucrative, and Deadly, Minky Worden, Newsweek, August 23, 2022 

As protests have erupted throughout China, in response to lockdowns imposed from the government’s zero-COVID policy, some protesters have broadened their criticisms of the government, including even calls for President Xi to step down. On Deep Dish, journalist Lizzi Lee reports on what is transpiring, and author Teresa Wright discusses the frequency and nature of protest in modern China and why this latest wave could destabilize China’s political system.  Reading List: Popular Protest in China, Teresa Wright, Polity, July 2018  The Perils of Protest: State Repression and Student Activism in China and Taiwan, Teresa Wright, University of Hawaii Press, March 1, 2001  Handbook of Protest and Resistance in China, Edited by Teresa Wright, Edward Elgar Publishing, June 18, 2019 

Deep Dish is taking this week off for the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, but we'll be back next week with a new episode! In the meantime, here’ a quick note about Giving Tuesday. We’re able to make this show because of the support from our community of listeners —people like you!     Would you consider making a tax-deductible gift this upcoming Giving Tuesday so that we can keep bringing you Deep Dish each week? To make a gift, visit our website.    Thank you for your support and join us next week for another slice of Deep Dish when we discuss sportswashing. With the Qatar World Cup underway and mired in controversy, we’ll examine how governments use major sporting tournaments to burnish their image at home and abroad and ask whether the global exposure that comes with these events can be used to advance issues like human rights.  -The Deep Dish team

Winter is coming, temperatures are dropping, and people in Europe and elsewhere face a cost-of-living crisis that would have seemed unimaginable only a year ago. On Deep Dish, young people across Europe share how they are coping with the rising costs. Then, the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Susi Dennison unpacks how overlapping economic, climate, and geopolitical crises are shaping people’s lives and could alter the continent’s politics.  This episode is in collaboration with our wider organization's listening project, the Winter Diaries. Are you a young person living in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, or the United States? We want to hear from you and will share and amplify your stories. We hope you’ll engage with us by posting on Instagram, tagging @globalaffairscouncil, and using #WinterDiaries. This episode is sponsored by Horizon Therapeutics.   

North Korea fired over 80 missiles last week, triggering evacuation alerts in parts of Japan and South Korea. On Deep Dish, a Japanese citizen shares a firsthand reaction and their concerns for nuclear risks from North Korea. Plus, Stimson Center’s Jenny Town discusses what Kim Jong-un is trying to achieve and how the United States and its regional allies can reduce the risk of escalation.  Reading List: Americans Focused Elsewhere as Tensions Rise on the Korean Peninsula, Karl Friedhoff, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, November 6, 2022 Thinking Nuclear: South Korean Attitudes on Nuclear Weapons, Toby Dalton, Karl Friedhoff, and Lami Kim, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, February 21, 2022  Preventing Nuclear Proliferation and Reassuring America's Allies, Ivo H. Daalder, Chuck Hagel, Malcolm Rifkind, and Kevin Rudd, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, February 10, 2021

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory in Brazil’s presidential election is part of a larger leftward shift in Latin American politics in recent years that stretches from Mexico to Chile. On Deep Dish, Brazilian students share some of the issues facing their country as they went to the polls and the challenges the new president will face. Plus, expert Yannik John discusses what the world should expect from this new wave of Latin American leaders and whether this leftward shift represents a new “pink tide”.   Reading List: Latin America’s Second Pink Tide Looks Very Different from the First, Oliver Stuenkel, Americas Quarterly, July 18, 2022  Pink Tide 2.0? The same trap awaits, Yannik John, Global Americans, September 22, 2022    This episode is sponsored by UL Solutions.  

From microwaves to missiles, smartphones to the stock market, microchips are essential to modern economies and future technological advancements. On Deep Dish, we hear from a representative of a manufacturing sector on how critical chips are to businesses and consumers and the effects of a global shortage. And Chip War author Chris Miller argues that microchips – not data - are the new oil and discusses what this means for the geopolitical contest between the US and China.  Reading List: Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, Chris Miller, Scribner, October 4, 2022    This episode is sponsored by the Dr. Scholl Foundation. 

This week, the Chinese Communist Party hosts its twice-a-decade National Congress and President Xi Jinping is set to secure power for a third term. Nonresident Senior Fellow Paul Heer joins Deep Dish to argue the importance of engagement with China as a necessary component of US foreign policy. If we do not pursue it, he says, we are missing opportunities for a more peaceful coexistence between both countries and the world.  This episode originally aired on August 4, 2022. 

President Putin has demanded the West take his nuclear threats seriously and North Korea is rumored to preparing to undertake a nuclear test in the coming days. On Deep Dish, South Korean and Ukrainian citizens share what it is like to live under the looming shadow of possible nuclear warfare and Ankit Panda discusses whether the nuclear taboo is likely to be broken and how the world should respond. 

President Putin mobilized over 300,000 military reservists to buttress Russia’s battered forces, prompting protests and an exodus of Russians to neighboring countries. On Deep Dish, recently fled Russian social media personalities share their perspective on the darkening political climate in their homeland. And independent journalist and filmmaker Mikhail Fishman and Moscow Times’ Leyla Latypova discuss how Russia’s reversals on the battlefield are transforming the nation's politics and society and could even threaten Putin’s leadership. 

Iran has entered its 12th day of protests following the death of #MahsaAmini in morality police custody. On Deep Dish, women in the Iranian diaspora share firsthand the severity of what is transpiring, and Narges Bajoghli of Johns Hopkins University unpacks why these demonstrations are different and strike at the core of Iran’s regime.

While Putin overreaches in his war on Ukraine, tensions are flaring in the former Soviet territories along present-day Russia’s southern border. The most immediate danger comes from two conflicts that escalated this month— between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Caucasus and between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, both clashes leading to hundreds being killed. Eurasianet’s Joshua Kucera and University of Oxford’s Madeleine Reeves join Deep Dish to explore the erupting violence and whether it could spiral into war. Reading List: Russia’s struggles in Ukraine seed conflict in its neighborhood, Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, September 22, 2022