Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

I caught up with Ambassador Karen Pierce in the middle of a very intense day of diplomacy on February 22.  She is the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the United States and earlier that morning Boris Johnson announced new British sanctions on certain Russian oligarchs and financial institutions. This was followed by similar sanctions announcements by the European Union and the United States later in the day.  These new sanctions come after Vladimir Putin's government formally recognized the independence of two regions of Eastern Ukraine,  and Luhansk.  This specific set of sanctions from the UK, EU and USA seem to be a very calibrated and coordinated response to this provocation, which we discuss at the outset of this interview.     

overran Kabul a few weeks prior. Despite the apparent danger and uncertainty, Zuhra Bahman told me that she was eager to get back home and return to work as the Afghanistan country director for the peace building NGO Search for Common. Ground. Today, she is back in Kabul, which is where I caught up with her for the conversation you are about to hear And she kicks off explaining why and how she returned home. We then have a long conversation about how she navigates her life and work as a professional woman in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and how her work on peace building issues continues under the new political order in Afghanistan.

Over the last few days, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Germany and France -- among others. Meanwhile, the messaging coming from the White House indicates that they believe a Russian attack on Ukraine is imminent.  I am joined by Melinda Haring of the Atlantic Council who offers some context and analysis of the recent diplomatic maneuvering. We spoke via Twitter Spaces just after President Biden concluded remarks from the White House. After I ended my interview with Melinda Haring, I noticed that the former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder was in the audience listening in, and he graciously agreed to take a few questions from me, impromptu.   

There have been a spate of coups in Africa over the last 18 months. Most of these coups have taken place in West Africa, but not all. This includes Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, Sudan and two coups in Mali. This is not to mention some attempted coups, most recently in Guinea Bissau.   On the line with me to discuss why there have there been so many coups recently, and whether or not this is a trend is Solomon Dersso. He is the founder of Amani Africa, an Adis Ababa based think tank with a focus on the African Union and African Union Affairs.

For about two weeks now, truck driving protesters have snarled traffic and otherwise disrupted daily life in downtown Ottawa, ostensibly to protest covid related restrictions and vaccine mandates.   These protests have spread elsewhere in Canada and for a time, forced the closure of the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada.  Meanwhile, right wing media in the US are now cheering on these protests.    Canadian journalist Justin Ling explains what exactly is happening in Canada, and the broader political implications of this protest movement in Canada and the United States.

The 2022 Winter Olympics have kicked off in  Beijing. Meanwhile, in the northwestern Xinjiang region of China, the government is implementing policies that many human rights organizations and foreign governments have determined amount to crimes against humanity and even genocide against the Uyghur people.   The juxtaposition of this internationally celebrated Olympics in the midst of an ongoing human rights calamity is what drives our conversation today, with four different speakers.    Rushan Abbas is the founder and executive director of the campaign for Uyghurs   Teng Biao is a Chinese human rights lawyer and the Pozen Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago.   Yaqiu Wang is the senior china researcher for human rights watch   Sean Roberts is a professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and author of the book The War on the Uyghurs.   We recorded our conversation live on Twitter Spaces just before the opening ceremony.

On January 31, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting about Russia's military buildup on the border of Ukraine.  Here to help understand what happened at this meeting and any potentially significant outcomes is Ashish Pradhan, who covers Security Council affairs for the International Crisis Group. We kick off discussing this procedural vote before having a broader conversation about the international and geopolitical dynamics informing diplomacy around this crisis. 

North Korea has already launched more than six missile tests since the start of the new year. Why is North Korea is suddenly launching so many new missile tests -- and what can be done about?  Three experts weigh in: Jeffrey Lewis is a Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterrey and an open source researcher at the James Martin Center for non proliferation studies Ankit Panda is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Michelle Kae is the Deputy Director of the 38 North Program at the Stimson Center  

On Monday January 24th, mutineers in Burkina Faso overthrew the democratically elected president, Roch Kabore.   This was the fourth military coup in the region in the past 17th months, including two coups in Mali and a coup in Guinea. To better understand the significance of the coup in Burkina Faso and its broader international and humanitarian implications, I am joined by three guests. Brice Bado is a political scientist and Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Center for Research and Action for Peace (CERAP)/Jesuit University, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire  Andrew Lebovich a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Alexandra Lamarche, the senior advocate for West and Central Africa at Refugees International. 

After nearly eight years, the conflict in Yemen is getting worse. Scott Paul, the senior manager for humanitarian policy at Oxfam America, explains the significance of a recent attack in Abu Dhabi and the latest bombardment of Yemen's capital before having a broader discussion about the trajectory and impact of this years long crisis.