Season 4, Episode 3: In the current series of Diplomatic Immunity, ISD Director of Programs and Research Dr. Kelly McFarland looks back at the first year of the Biden administration's foreign policy and looks forward to the next.  He is joined by Ambassador Eunice Reddick to talk about U.S. policy towards Africa. They discuss the important role the continent plays in global affairs, the impact of COVID-19 and vaccine rollout across Africa, political instability and the opportunities presented by a rapidly growing population of young people across the continent. During her more than 35 years of diplomatic service, Ambassador Reddick held ambassadorial assignments representing the U.S. in Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, and Gabon. She also served as Charge d’Affaires -- the acting chief of mission -- at the U.S. Embassies in Mauritania and Burundi. At the State Department, she served as director of the offices responsible for U.S. relations with countries in East and West Africa and Southeast Asia. Ambassador Reddick also held positions covering U.S. cooperation with development-focused international organizations and U.S. assistance for refugees in Africa. In addition to Africa diplomatic assignments, Ambassador Reddick covered political issues at the American Institute in Taiwan and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.  Ambassador Reddick was previously a Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and Diplomat-in-Residence at Howard University, advising students and career-seekers in Washington, DC, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia on State Department careers and foreign policy issues. Episode recorded: February 10, 2022. Image: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken participates in the U.S.-Kenya Strategic Dialogue with Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Raychelle Omamo, in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 17, 2021. [State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public]  Hosted by Kelly McFarland. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Audio editing by Aaron Jones. Production assistance by Kit Evans and Eleanor Shiori Hughes.  Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 4, Episode 2: In the second episode of a new series, ISD Director of Programs and Research Dr. Kelly McFarland looks back at the first year of the Biden administration's foreign policy and looks forward to the next.  He is joined by Ambassador (ret.) John Heffern to discuss U.S. policy toward Europe, including the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Ambassador Heffern is a former senior Foreign Service Officer who served as Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, and was U.S. Ambassador to Armenia from 2011-2014. He is now the Distinguished Resident Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship and Diplomacy, whose work includes connecting U.S.-based organizations and their fellows with partners overseas in the governmental and non-governmental sectors.  Episode recorded: February 3, 2022 Image: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Brussels, Belgium, on April 13, 2021. [State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain]. Hosted by Kelly McFarland. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Audio editing by Aaron Jones. Production assistance by Kit Evans and Eleanor Shiori Hughes.  Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 4, Episode 1: In the first episode of a new series, ISD Director of Programs and Research Dr. Kelly McFarland looks back at the first year of the Biden administration's foreign policy and looks forward to the next.  He is joined by Ambassador Lino Gutierrez to discuss U.S. policy toward Latin America. Ambassador Gutierrez is a former senior Foreign Service Officer whose final assignment was as U.S. ambassador to Argentina. During his tenure in Argentina, Ambassador Gutiérrez signed agreements on container security, narcotics cooperation, counter-terrorism, money laundering, proliferation security, and environmental cooperation. He is now a member of the ISD Board of Advisers, and until recently was the Executive Director of the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, which funds one of our flagship programs, the Diverse Diplomacy Leaders Speaker Series.  Episode recorded: January 25, 2022 Image: Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken participates in an Embassy Meet and Greet at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico, on October 8, 2021. [Photo by Ron Przysucha/ Public Domain] Hosted by Kelly McFarland. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Audio editing by Aaron Jones. Production assistance by Kit Evans and Eleanor Shiori Hughes.  Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Bonus epsiode: Jason Steinhauer, global fellow at the Wilson Center and senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, joins Kelly McFarland, ISD Director of Programs and Research, to discuss his new book, History, Disrupted: How Social Media and the World Wide Web Have Changed the Past.  The book takes a deep dive into how the Web has changed what type of history we view online, and how we view it as users. He also takes a look at what might lie ahead.  What does all of this mean for historians and historical studies? Is it creating a world full of students and citizens with a greater historical knowledge? What possible connection does it have to future foreign policy making?  In addition to his work at the Wilson Center and the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Jason is a contributor to TIME and CNN; a past editorial board member of the Washington Post's "Made By History" section; and a presidential counselor of the National WWII Museum.  ​ In 2020, he founded the History Club on Clubhouse, which he hosts regularly. The club has more than 100,000 members and averages 2,500 participants per week.  Episode recorded: January 19, 2022.  Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland.  Episode image: Watching Darkness Fall cover [MacMillan Publishers] Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Bonus episode: David McKean, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, joins Kelly McFarland, ISD Director of Programs and Research, to discuss his recent book, Watching Darkness Fall: FDR, His Ambassadors, and the Rise of Adolf Hitler. The book tells the story of U.S. diplomacy in the 1930s through a historical examination of 4 U.S. ambassadors to European countries during the 1930s, and their respective experiences, perspectives, reports to Washington, and relationships with President Roosevelt: William Dodd, U.S. Ambassador to Adolf Hitler’s Germany from 1933 to 1937; William Bullitt, ambassador to the Soviet Union and France during this period; Breckinridge Long, ambassador to Italy from 33 to 36; and Joseph Kennedy, ambassador to  the United Kingdom) from 1938 to 1940.  David has been an author, attorney, political advisor and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg from 2016 to 2017. He was previously Director of Policy Planning at the State Department from 2013 to 2016 under Secretary of State John Kerry, and before that as the Director of Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review under Secretary Hillary Clinton.  He is a recipient of multiple high level awards from the Department of State, and spent many years working in the U.S. Senate.  Episode recorded: December 10, 2021.  Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Editing support by Optimum Audio. Episode image: Watching Darkness Fall cover [MacMillan Publishers] Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 3, Episode 7: Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, joins ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland and Council of Foreign Relations Fellow Jennifer Davis for the final episode of season 3. They discuss a specific problem that the press secretary faces every day: disinformation from foreign adversaries who seek to undermine American democracy. Psaki was well-placed to speak to this issue, due to her experience of a highly personalized disinformation campaign from Russian-backed actors during her time as State Department spokesperson from 2013 to 2015. In addition to the particular impact of disinformation on women in the public eye, she discusses positive strategies to counter disinformation, the role of productive partnerships, and how to build trust from the podium.  Featured articles:  The New Weapon of Choice: Technology and Information Operations Today, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (October 2020) Democracy under Siege, Freedom House (February 2021) Episode recorded: November 17, 2021.  Produced by Alistair Somerville, Kelly McFarland, and Jennifer Davis. Thanks to Amanda Finney at the White House for her help with this episode.  Episode image: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks to reporters during a daily briefing on Wednesday, August 27, 2021 in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. [White House/Yash Mori/Flickr] Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 3, Episode 6: ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland talks to Rebecca Katz, professor and director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security, who holds joint appointments in Georgetown University Medical Center and the School of Foreign Service, and Matt Boyce, PhD student in the Global Infectious Diseases program at Georgetown, about the COVID-19 pandemic and cities' responses. They discuss the public health and medical responses to COVID-19, vaccine development, the HIV and Malaria pandemics, and the ways in which city, state, and local governments have responded. Rebecca also draws on over 15 years experience working on infectious disease at the State Department.  The Rise of Metropolitanism: The International Order and Sub-National Actors, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (September 2019) The New Weapon of Choice: Technology and Information Operations Today, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (October 2020) Matt Boyce and Rebecca Katz (eds.), Inoculating Cities: Case Studies of Urban Pandemic Preparedness (Elsevier, 2021)  Rebecca Katz, "Case 342 - Global Governance of Disease," ISD Case Studies Library (2017) Episode recorded: October 28, 2021.  Episode image: Train guard [Liam Burnett-Blue/Unsplash]. Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 3, Episode 5: For our next installment on global commons issues, ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland talks to Beth Ferris, research professor in the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown and non-resident senior fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution, about the impact of environmental change on migration. They discuss the ways in which climate change is driving internal displacement and international migration, the need for new vocabulary to describe this phenomenon and the people who experience it, and recent events in Afghanistan and other migration hot spots. Beth also provides a forecast on what she's hoping for from the forthcoming COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.  We also hear from Jeremy Mathis, professor the Science, Technology, and International Affairs program and the Center for Security Studies in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown, and Bibi La Luz Gonzalez of Eat Better Wa'ik—an anti-hunger NGO in Guatemala. Listen to previous episodes with Bibi and Jeremy on our website, or by searching for Diplomatic Immunity in your podcast app.   New Challenges to Human Security: Environmental Change and Human Mobility, ISD New Global Commons Working Group (April 2017) The New Arctic: Navigating the Realities, Possibilities, and Problems, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (July 2018) Peace Through Food: Ending the Hunger-Instability Nexus, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (August 2021) Groundswell: Preparing for Internal Climate Migration, The World Bank (March 2018)  Report on the Impact of Climate Change on Migration, The White House (October 2021) Episode recorded: Interview with Beth Ferris: Friday, October 22, 2021; Interview with Bibi La Luz Gonzalez: Friday, September 24th, 2021; Interview with Jeremy Mathis: Monday, September 20th, 2021.  Episode image: Peace Through Food (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy)  Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Produced by Alistair Somerville and Kelly McFarland. Production Assistance by Emily Linn.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 3, Episode 4: ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland talks to Bibi La Luz Gonzalez of Eat Better Wa'ik—an anti-hunger NGO in Guatemala—and Johanna Mendelson Forman of the Stimson Center, a think tank based in Washington, DC. They discuss food security and hunger in the context of worsening conflict, climate change, and the effects of the pandemic around the world. Johanna participated in ISD's spring 2021 working group on the nexus between food insecurity, instability, and conflict. Bibi is an activist and organizer focused on hunger and human rights. Their insights help us to understand better the links between local solutions and global food systems in the quest for food security.  Featured articles: Peace Through Food: Ending the Hunger-Instability Nexus, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (August 2021) Event video: Covid, Conflict, and Climate: Food Insecurity Today and the Way Forward (ISD and the Stimson Center, September 14, 2021) Johanna Mendelson Forman, "Can food build peace? Challenges for life in the Anthropocene," The Diplomatic Pouch, September 13, 2021.  Episode recorded: Friday, September 24th, 2021.  Episode image: Peace Through Food (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy)  Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

Season 3, Episode 3: ISD Director of Programs and Research Kelly McFarland talks about the Arctic with Sherri Goodman of the Wilson Center and Jeremy Mathis of the Science, Technology, and International Affairs program in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. Sherri and Jeremy discuss the deteriorating climate situation in the Arctic, security challenges, defense capabilities, geopolitical competition between the United States, Russia, and China, and the recent death of a Russian official on an exercise in the region. Featured articles: The New Arctic: Navigating the Realities, Possibilities, and Problems, ISD New Global Commons Working Group Report (July 2018) Sarah Kaplan and Andrew Ba Tran, "Nearly 1 in 3 Americans experienced a weather disaster this summer," The Washington Post, September 4, 2021 Episode recorded: Monday, September 20th, 2021.  Episode image: U.S.-Canada Fourth Joint Mission To Map the Continental Shelf in the Arctic Ocean. Views of the U.S.-Canada fourth joint mission to map the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean in August and September 2011. The 2011 joint mission employed the flagship icebreaker from each country, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy and the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent (LSSL), with each ship performing different functions and one ship breaking ice for the other [State Department photo/Public Domain]. Diplomatic Immunity: Frank and candid conversations about diplomacy and foreign affairs Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.  For more, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter @GUDiplomacy. Send any feedback to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.