Foreign Policy Live

Jan. 15 marks 100 days since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people. Israel then retaliated by launching a ground invasion of Gaza. More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed, and numerous others face a dire humanitarian crisis. After months of conflict and mounting international pressure, Israel announced on Jan. 1 that it would begin to pull some troops back from Gaza. But the war’s reverberations continue to threaten the stability of the larger region as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon rise and the United States responds to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. Hezbollah and the Houthis are both backed by Iran. Host Ravi Agrawal revisits conversations with experts on all sides of this conflict as we enter a new phase of the war.Suggested reading:Jon Hoffman: U.S. Middle East Policy Has FailedElisabeth Braw: In the Red Sea, the Royal Navy Is BackAmy Mackinnon: How the Gaza War Could Shape Global Politics in 2024Raphael S. Cohen: The Trouble With a Cease-Fire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comfort Ero, President of the International Crisis Group, joins the podcast to share her analysis of 10 conflicts to watch in 2024. They discuss conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and Yemen, the rise of global conflicts due to great power competition and loss of faith in institutions, the role of the African Union in mediating conflicts, and what regular citizens can do in the face of global conflicts.

We already know that 2024 will be the year that more people vote than in any other time in history. That’s an easy prediction to make. But what other global trends will impact the world this year? FP columnist and Harvard University professor Stephen M. Walt sits down with Ravi Agrawal to look ahead at the next 12 months.Suggested reading:Allison Meakem: Elections to Watch in 2024Comfort Ero and Richard Atwood: 10 Conflicts to Watch in 2024FP Contributors: 5 Issues to Watch in 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Political scientist and columnist Stephen M. Walt reflects on the year 2023, discussing the impact of wars, U.S.-China competition, and the rise of artificial intelligence. They also analyze mistakes made by the West in Ukraine and the strains on the global order. The podcast concludes with a sneak peek into the upcoming episode, focusing on the significance of elections worldwide in 2024.

FP Live host Ravi Agrawal is joined by Foreign Policy’s executive editor, Amelia Lestor, for another ask-me-anything episode. The two discuss the Biden administration’s foreign policy strategy, the wars in Europe and the Middle East, how FP covers these conflicts, and much more.Suggested reading:FP Contributors: How Will This War End? How Can the Next One Be Prevented?Jared Cohen and Ian Bremmer: The Global Credibility Gap Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leaders from nearly 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at this year’s annual U.N. climate summit, known as COP28. But the agreement is nonbinding, and questions on how to finance such a transition remain unanswered. This week’s guest, however, might have those answers—and it all comes down to public-private partnerships, the reform of multilateral lenders, and better political will. Rajiv Shah served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development under President Barack Obama. He is now president of the Rockefeller Foundation and the author of Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens.Suggested reading:Rajiv Shah: Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really HappensChristina Lu: Good COP or Bad COP?Lili Pike: The Climate Envoys Who CouldShayak Sengupta and Abhinav Jindal: Are Global Climate Partnerships Fit for Purpose? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 16,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel’s response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. As Israel resumes ground operations in Gaza, is there an end in sight?Rashid Khalidi is the author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance and a professor at Columbia University. He describes why he thinks decades of failures of diplomacy have led to this moment and why the Biden administration’s Middle East policy gets an “F” in his report card. Suggested reading:FP Contributors: How Will This War End? How Can the Next One Be Prevented?Tareq Baconi: What Was Hamas Thinking?Steven A. Cook: Israel May End Up Reoccupying GazaSteven Simon and Aaron David Miller: Grading Biden on the Israel-Hamas War Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global energy and climate innovation editor at The Economist, discusses the challenges and progress in international climate summits, the role of the private sector in finance for clean energy, the economics of energy sources, the politics and pragmatism surrounding the summit, and the importance of hope, innovation, and accountability in fighting climate change.

Rory Stewart, head of the charity GiveDirectly, discusses the power of unconditional cash transfers and their potential to combat poverty. The podcast explores the effectiveness of cash transfers in addressing extreme poverty, the positive outcomes observed in education and small businesses, and the need for changes in international development aid.

James Palmer, Cindy Yu, and Evan Medeiros discuss the recent meeting between Biden and Xi, the outcomes of the meeting, challenges in controlling fentanyl exports, Europe's reception of the meeting, the state of doing business in China, and domestic pressures on the US-China relationship.