Global Dispatches -- Conversations On Foreign Policy And World Affairs

Turkish foreign policy is always a fascinating case study. As the sunni insurgency in Iraq is gaining steam, how are Turkish foreign policy elites responding? What are Turkey's near term strategic goals for Iraq and Syria? And how does this impact Turkey's sometimes hostile relationship to its Kurdish population? Mark speaks with professor Louis Fishman who answers these questions and more.  Be sure to check out Prof. Fishman's blog, Istanbul-New York-Tel Aviv.   

Something different on the podcast this week! I recent sat down with a number of officials at the United Nations as part of Talk Radio Day 2014. This is an annual event hosted by the United Nations Foundation in which talk radio hosts from around the country broadcast from the UN for the day. I spoke with about a dozen officials, both from the United Nations secretariat and from member states. Each of the interviews focuses on topical issues related to the work of my very interesting guests.  Here's the first batch of interviews. Look out for part two in the near future.    John Ashe, President of the General Assembly Courtenay Rattray, Jamaica's Ambassador to the UN Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam's Ambassador to the UN Kurt Chesko, UN Mine Action Service Andrew Hudson, UN Development Program Chris Whatley, United Nations Association of the USA

From the perspective of the United Nations, the crisis in Iraq cannot be disaggregated from the crisis in Syria. In this special edition of Global Dispatches, I speak with the United Nations Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliason who shares his deep concern that ISIS's offensive in Iraq and Syria's escalating conflict could plunge the entire region into sectarian war. I also speak with Bettina Luescher, spokesperson for the World Food Program, who discusses the UN's humanitarian response to the Iraq and Syria crises. Have a listen. Look out for more of these conversations from the United Nations on Monday.

  In 2022 Qatar will host the World Cup. Migrant workers, mostly from Southeast Asia, are living in harsh conditions and dying in large numbers as they construct the infrastructure for the World Cup in the Gulf Kingdom. Mark speaks with journalist Pete Pattisson of the Guardian who takes us inside the migrant worker industry to expose horrid conditions, stolen wages, and corrupt practices faced by Nepalese workers in the Gulf.     

Egypt's ex Army Chief Abdel Fatah al Sisi won election this week (with an astounding 96% of the vote!) The ascent of this Mubarak-era military functionary speaks to the profound failure of Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring revolution.  Who is al-Sisi? Why did the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammed Morsi fail so spectacularly? And what can prevent Egypt from lurching from one political crisis to the next? Here to provide the context for Morsi's fall, al Sisi's rise and What It All Means is Issandr al Amrani of the International Crisis Group. If you have 20 minutes and what to understand what's going on in Egypt, have a listen.   

President Obama's commencement address to West Point Graduates this week was billed by the White House as a major foreign policy address. But there were some conspicuous absences from the talk. What was notable about this speech? And how does this fit into Obama's overall foreign policy legacy? Here to put the talk in context is Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress.  

Libya today is arguably closer to a full blown civil war than at any time since the fall of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011. A renegade general named Khalifa Haftar is on the March, seeking to upend an Islamist controlled parliament. Who is this man, what does he want, and why are conditions ripe for a civil war? Mark speaks with journalist Marine Casalis who puts the unfolding situation in Libya in some context.  

  The largest excerise in democracy in the history of humanity is coming to an end. Narendra Modi will cruise to victory, but what does his ascent mean for India's relationship with Pakistan, China, the USA and the rest of the world? Mark speaks with Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution about the foreign policy implications of India's elections. 

Boko Haram is in the news for all the wrong reasons. A series of audactious attacks, including the kidnapping of hundreds of school girls, has provoked international outrage. But why would Boko Haram launch such an attack? Who are these people, what do they want, and how can they be defeated?  Mark Leon Goldberg catches up with Jacob Zenn of the Jamestown Foundation who offers insight, context and an explanation for the Boko Haram insurgency. Have a listen. 

The scion of Ted Turner is forging a new philanthropic path, focusing on reproductive health and environmental issues. She talks to Mark Leon Goldberg about growing up a Turner, her focus on reproductive health issues, and how Captain Planet shaped a generation of environmentalists.  

Iraq is in the midst of an unrelenting descent into violence. Every day brings news of another bombing or attack that leaves scores of people dead. This has been the case for the past several months, and it only seems to be getting worse. I speak with Douglas Ollivant of the New American Foundation who helps put this current wave of violence in context. Ollivant served as a military officer in Iraq, then served on the Iraq team at the National Security Council under both President Bush and Obama. Ollivant offers an indepth analysis of what is driving this violence, what can be done to stop it and the regional implications (read: Syria) of it all. Have a listen.

The historian Gary Bass has penned a new book that is getting rave reviews. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide tells the story of the muted American response to a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe that befell Bangladesh in the wake of its separation from Pakistan in the early 1970s.  Gary and I talk about his story, what made this particular genocide "forgotten", and how one goes about researching history like this.  Have a listen!

Mark Leon Goldberg speaks with the demographer and economist Mark Montgomery about global population trends. It turns out that adolescent girls in the developing world hold a tremendous amount of demographic power.     

Doing things a little differently this week. Mark conducts a series of back-to-back-to-back interviews with experts from around the United Nations. Interesting, wonky discussions were had! Here are the interviewees in order of appearance.  Sarah Crowe, UNICEF Jo Scheuer, UN Development Program expert on disaster risk reduction Dan Sheppard, Department of Public Information, specializing on climate issues. Randy Rydell, UN Office for Disarmament Affairs Andrew Rudd, UN Habitat Roland Rich, UN Democracy Fund Mahar Nasser, Creative Community Outreach Boaz Paldi, UN Development Program

In this special edition of Global Dispatches, Mark Leon Goldberg interviews Shelly Pitterman of the UN Refugee Agency. Today, June 20th, is World Refugee Day and earlier this week the UN High Commission for Refugees released a report showing that the global number of displaced persons has reached a 20 year high. Pitterman discusses this report, describes the UN Refugee Agency's work in Syria, and explains how the Syria emergency is complcating other humanitarian efforts around the world. 

Mark Leon Goldberg speaks with Suzanne Nossel, author of the influential Foreign Affairs article "Smart Power." Nossel served as a deputy assistant secretary of state during president Obama's first term, and has served in leadership roles in high profile human rights NGOs. Suzanne tells Mark about how familty connections to South Africa shaped her dedication to human rights; how a cold call to Richard Holbrooke lead to a career in public service; and what American leadership can accomplish at the United Nations.    

We are doing something a little different  today. Instead of one in depth interview, Mark chats with several experts who work for various arms of the United Nations.  Here's the set up: The UN Foundation invited a number of talk radio hosts to broadcast from inside the United Nations headquarters in New York and arranged for UN experts to stop by the broadcast room.  I couldn't fit every single interview into one podcast, so look out for a future "Live from the UN Volume 2." On this program, in order of appearance, we have: Paul Heslop from UN Mine Action Service--the real life Hurt Locker. Zainab Hawa Bangura, Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict on her remarkable career fighting for women's rights. George Papagiannis, UNESCO. On the USA's self-defeating policy toward UNESCO Jos Vandaveer, Chief of Immunizations, UNICEF. Why vaccines can save the world. Khalid Malik, UNDP. What the New Human Development report tells us about the Global South; and why China's remarkable rise is not going to

On the line this week is PJ Crowley, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Mark and PJ talk about the role of public diplomacy in US foreign policy, PJ's long career in the Air Force, and how speaking out against the treatment of accused Wikileaker Bradley Manning marked the end of his public service. 

You probably know him as "The Muslim Guy." Arsalan Iftikhar is a civil rights lawyer and popular media commentator who fights daily against widespread bigotry facing Muslim Americans. In our conversation we discuss the how the child of immigrants from Pakistan got into this line of work, how the Bush administration officially sanctioned discrimination against Muslim Americans, and why Barack Obama refuses to set foot in an American Mosque. 

In this week's episode, I talk with Dr. Laura Seay who you probably know better as @TexasinAfrica. I learn how the daughter of a preacher from a cotton farming community near Lubbock became one of America's most influential Africanists. We talk about how activism around Africa (think: Kony 2012 and 'conflict minerals') often has nefarious consequences on the ground; how the DR Congo can get back on its feet; and, speaking of feet, why she cringes at the sight of TOMS shoes.