Deep Dish On Global Affairs

Inspired by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, Thailand’s youth organized mass protests to demand reforms from the culturally revered monarchy. Political scientist Pavin Chachavalpongpun joins Deep Dish to explain how social media makes these protests different than past movements and why the United States should see Thailand as a foreign policy priority when negotiating a rising China.

Decades of political corruption and financial crisis in Lebanon came to a head in early August when an explosion decimated much of the country’s economic hub, Beirut. Carnegie Middle East Center Director Maha Yahya and the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Emile Hokayem join Deep Dish to examine the ongoing protest movement, Hezbollah’s role in the crisis, and how a system built on sectarian politics could be rebuilt.

This week, US intelligence released a report examining the threat of foreign influence in the 2020 presidential election from China, Russia, and Iran. The Alliance for Security Democracy’s Laura Rosenberger and Stanford University’s Jacob Helberg join Deep Dish to discuss digital interference, misinformation, and data privacy within the lens of geopolitics.

August 6 marks the 75th anniversary of the first time nuclear weapons were used in combat, when the United States bombed Hiroshima and later, Nagasaki. Former Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and Stanford University’s Scott Sagan join Deep Dish to examine nuclear weapons today and what Americans can do as arms control regimes falter, modernization programs move forward, and new technologies upend the logic we’ve relied on to deter the weapons’ use. 

This week, the Pentagon announced a plan to remove 12,000 troops from Germany, a key US ally, claiming the country was “delinquent” on defense spending. The Council on Foreign Relations’ Mira Rapp-Hooper joins Deep Dish to explain why the alliance system is still essential for America’s global leadership – but must be remade to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

The United States and China are locked in a tense global technology rivalry with significant geopolitical and national security implications. The Council on Foreign Relations’ Adam Segal joins Deep Dish to explain the battles between China and the US over products like Huawei and TikTok, their role in US foreign policy, and why US allies are choosing sides. 

Mali’s mass political protests against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita escalated over the last few weeks, prompting the government to clash with protestors and dissolve the constitutional court. This week on Deep Dish, the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Judd Devermont and the Financial Times’ Neil Munshi explain why Mali’s instability is a threat to Africa’s Sahel region — soon to be the West’s largest conflict zone.

Israel’s long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided not to annex the West Bank on July 1, at least for now. Former Netanyahu foreign policy advisor Jonathan Schachter and Brookings’ Tamara Cofman Wittes join Deep Dish to examine the bigger story — how Israel’s foreign policy has changed and the way the country’s relationships will shape the future.

From the controversial 2016 Muslim ban to recent efforts to dismantle DACA, immigration has been a key issue for President Trump's administration — but the legacy of punishing immigrants extends throughout US history. Lawyer and author Alina Das joins Deep Dish to share the stories that give a face to decades of legislation criminalizing immigrants and what we can do to begin to fix the system.

A July 1 presidential referendum will determine if Russia’s President Putin can remain in power until 2036. Investigative reporter Catherine Belton joins Deep Dish to examine the people that surround Russia’s enigmatic leader – and the financial ties to the West that makes the Kremlin’s dominance possible. 

Brazil is poised to overtake the United States for most total COVID-19 infections and deaths globally — but far-right President Jair Bolsonaro is preoccupied with politics and discredits the pandemic’s risk and response. The Igarapé Institute’s Ilona Szabó and the Financial Times' Andres Schipani join Deep Dish to examine the implications of social, political, and economic turmoil in South America’s largest economy. 

The murder of George Floyd and the US government’s reaction to national protests on racial injustice have raised concern over the demise of US global leadership. University of Wisconsin-Madison historian Brenda Gayle Plummer joins Deep Dish to examine what the United States must learn from our past in order to fix our foreign policy. 

Ahead of the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, China’s plan to implement a restrictive new national security law in Hong Kong prompted the United States to end decades of a special relationship with the city. Jamil Anderlini, the Financial Times’ Asia editor, and Ambassador Kurt Tong, former US Consul General in Hong Kong, join Deep Dish to examine what this means for the US-China rivalry.

This week President Trump announced he wants all US troops out of Afghanistan by election day. But is that possible? And what does it mean? In this episode from October 2019, the University of Chicago's Robert Pape joins Deep Dish to help us understand the right—and wrong—ways to end the United States’ longest war.

While the world is distracted by COVID-19, China has been ramping up its military actions in hotly contested waters – the South China Sea. The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Bonnie Glaser and Lieutenant Commander Matthew Dalton, US Navy, join Deep Dish to examine China’s strategy and potential US policy options to ensure freedom of navigation remains intact.

Venezuelans face a global pandemic, a stalled economy, crippling oil shortages, and a potential famine. After a failed coup attempt, will President Maduro hold on to his power? The Inter-American Dialogue’s Michael Camilleri and the International Crisis Group’s Ivan Briscoe join Deep Dish to discuss.

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.