Foreign Exchanges: the Podcast

Thanks for listening! If you’re interested in more coverage of international affairs and US foreign policy, check out Foreign Exchanges at Substack and sign up for our free email list today:This week I’m joined for the second time by the University of Florida’s Terje Østebø. The last time Terje was on the podcast we talked about Ethiopia’s “ethnic federalist” political system and the tensions between it and the agenda of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. As most of you are probably aware, those tensions have since escalated into a full-blown armed conflict between the Ethiopian military and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Terje returns to discuss the TPLF’s background, the roots of this conflict, and where things stand in the wake of reports that Ethiopian forces have captured the Tigray regional capital, Mekelle.Terje Østebø received his PhD in the History of Religion from Stockholm University, and is currently the chair of the Department of Religion and associate professor at the Center for African Studies and the Department of Religion, University of Florida. He is also the founding director of the UF Center for Global Islamic Studies. His research interests are Islam in contemporary Ethiopia, Islam, politics, and Islamic reformism in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, ethnicity and religion, as well as Salafism in Africa. He has lived in Ethiopia for 6 years, and has extensive field-research experience.Terje’s major publications include “African Salafism: Religious Purity and the Politicization of Purity” in Islamic Africa, 6, 1-2, 2015; Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism (co-edited with Patrick Desplat), (Palgrave-Macmillan 2013); Localising Salafism: Religious Change among Oromo Muslims in Bale, Ethiopia (Brill 2012); Islamism in the Horn of Africa: Assessing Ideology, Actors, and Objectives, International Law and Policy Institute (2010). His latest book, Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale Insurgency (1963-1970), is now available for purchase and seems particularly relevant at present. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Thanks for listening! If you’re interested in more coverage of international affairs and US foreign policy, check out Foreign Exchanges at Substack and sign up for our free email list today:Returning champion Alexander Thurston rejoins the podcast to talk about his new book, Jihadists of North Africa and the Sahel: Local Politics and Rebel Groups. He’s offering a different way to understand jihadist organizations that challenges the dominant narratives of the War on Terror, which flatten those organizations into global monoliths at the macro level and simplistically treat their recruits as brainwashed dupes at the micro level. Alex instead focuses on the regional and local factors that create and sustain jihadist groups, emphasizing their roles as political actors and their interactions with the societies around them.Check out the book at bookshop.org or wherever you shop for books, and you can also check out Alex’s Sahel Blog at WordPress. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Thanks for listening! If you’re interested in more coverage of international affairs and US foreign policy, check out Foreign Exchanges at Substack and sign up for our free email list today:Thomas C. Field Jr. of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University joins me for the second time to update us on the situation in Bolivia. Luis Arce, nominee of Evo Morales’ Movement for Socialism (MAS) party, won a decisive victory in last month’s election, potentially capping a year that saw Morales ousted in a right-wing putsch that then made every effort to stop MAS from returning to power. We look back on what happened to Morales and the destructive legacy that the Jeanine Áñez-led junta has left in its wake, and look ahead to the challenges that face Arce, from a revanchist Bolivian far right, to an economy devastated by mismanagement and COVID-19, to a regional political environment (largely overseen by the Organization for American States) that is designed to undermine left-wing governments.Thomas is the author of From Development to Dictatorship: Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era and co-editor of the recently published Latin America and the Global Cold War, both of which are available from Powell’s (here and here, respectively) and many other booksellers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This is the web version of Foreign Exchanges, but did you know you can get it delivered right to your inbox? Sign up today:This time around I’m joined by Stephen Wertheim, Deputy Director of Research and Policy at the Quincy Institute and a Research Scholar at the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University. We’re discussing his brand new book, Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy, which is, ironically enough, coming out tomorrow. In contrast to those who argue that America has always been overtly an imperial project and to those who argue that America reluctantly had empire thrust upon it in the 20th century, in the book Stephen argues that the American Empire stems from a conscious choice made by policymakers during World War II.You can buy Tomorrow, the World direct from the publisher or wherever you get your books, ebooks, and/or audiobooks. You can also get a preview of what’s in the book from Stephen’s latest piece for the New York Times.Or from, you know, this interview. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

Daniel Bessner, a University of Washington professor and Quincy Institute fellow, dives into the depths of U.S. foreign policy and its institutional frameworks. He critiques the enduring influence of realism and the 'blob' of established policymakers, arguing for reforms from a leftist perspective. The conversation also highlights the pivotal role of the National Security Council and the need for a non-militarized approach to global issues. Bessner emphasizes constructive U.S.-China relations and the necessity for diverse voices in academia and media to reshape policy views.

This is the web version of Foreign Exchanges, but did you know you can get it delivered right to your inbox? Sign up today:This week I’m joined by Jessica Moody, a PhD candidate at Kings College London whose work focuses on post-conflict Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire for you francophones out there). She’s here to discuss the tensions surrounding President Alassane Ouattara’s (somewhat abrupt) decision to seek a constitutionally-questionable third term in the forthcoming (October 31) election, and the context for those tensions going back to the 1990s), as well as her thoughts on what’s likely to happen next.Ouattara speaking at a 2017 US State Department event (State Department photo via Flickr)Jessica is on Twitter and is a great source for news and analysis on Ivory Coast and West Africa in general: @JessMoody89. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This is the web version of Foreign Exchanges, but did you know you can get it delivered right to your inbox? Sign up today:Today I’m joined by reporter Joshua Kucera of Eurasianet, a great source for news and analysis on the Caucasus and Central Asia. As you may be aware, fighting broke out several days ago between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Josh gives us an update on that situation (current as of Tuesday evening, September 29, in the Caucasus) as well as some of the historical and political context to the Nagorno-Karabkh dispute and some perspective on the potential for this latest clash to escalate into a full-blown war or even a wider regional conflict.This map of the situation as it’s been frozen in place since the 1990s Nagorno-Karabakh War ended may be helpful:Source: Wikimedia CommonsYou may also appreciate this photo of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin pretending to like each other, which as you’ll see is relevant to the discussion:Source: Russian government via Wikimedia CommonsJosh’s latest, which attempts to suss out what Azerbaijan is trying to accomplish with this latest round of fighting, is now available at Eurasianet. You can also find him on Twitter: @joshuakucera. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This is the web version of Foreign Exchanges, but did you know you can get it delivered right to your inbox? Sign up today:FX’s regular analyst on all things related to the Sahel, Alex Thurston, joins me to discuss the August 18 coup in Mali, the ouster of former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, and what may be on the horizon for Mali and the rest of the region.Keïta voting in Mali’s 2018 presidential election (Voice of America via Wikimedia Commons)As always, Alex’s blog is a great resource for those interested in the political ups and downs of the Sahel region. He also mentioned a recent Jacobin piece by historian Gregory Mann that is available here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This is the web version of Foreign Exchanges, but did you know you can get it delivered right to your inbox? Sign up today:I’m very pleased to be joined this week by Terje Østebø of the University of Florida to discuss the roots and nature of Ethiopia’s “ethnic federalist” system and the impact that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s political changes have had on it. If you’ve been following reports of violence in Ethiopia’s Oromo community or of the rise of nationalist movements among some of its smaller ethnic groups and felt like you would appreciate some deeper background into those stories, this is the interview for you.Abiy during last year’s Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi (Russian government via Wikimedia Commons)Terje Østebø received his PhD in the History of Religion from Stockholm University, and is currently the chair of the Department of Religion and associate professor at the Center for African Studies and the Department of Religion, University of Florida. He is also the founding director of the UF Center for Global Islamic Studies. His research interests are Islam in contemporary Ethiopia, Islam, politics, and Islamic reformism in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, ethnicity and religion, as well as Salafism in Africa. He has lived in Ethiopia for 6 years, and has extensive field-research experience. Major publications include Islam, Ethnicity, and Conflict in Ethiopia: The Bale Insurgency (1963-1970) (Cambridge University Press, 2020); “African Salafism: Religious Purity and the Politicization of Purity” in Islamic Africa, 6, 1-2, 2015; Muslim Ethiopia: The Christian Legacy, Identity Politics, and Islamic Reformism (co-edited with Patrick Desplat), (Palgrave-Macmillan 2013); Localising Salafism: Religious Change among Oromo Muslims in Bale, Ethiopia (Brill 2012); Islamism in the Horn of Africa: Assessing Ideology, Actors, and Objectives, International Law and Policy Institute (2010). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe

This is the web version of Foreign Exchanges, but did you know you can get it delivered right to your inbox? Sign up today:The Ploughshares Fund’s John Carl Baker returns to the show to talk about the push to modernize the US nuclear arsenal, what that entails, and how much it will cost. We then assess the wreckage the Trump administration has made in terms of arms control and what that means for the future, depending on what happens in November.Then-US President Barack Obama signing the ratification of New START, February 2011 (Official White House Photo)Plugs:Check out the work Ploughshares and its partners are doing.Sign up for the Discontents newsletter.Check out what’s happening with OptOut and sign up for their newsletter.If you’ve somehow come here and aren’t signed up for Foreign Exchanges, please do that too. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.foreignexchanges.news/subscribe