The World Unpacked

Mohammad Bin Salman rose to power with the promise of reform and liberalizing Saudi society. The war in Yemen and the murder of Washington Pos t journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed his reputation dramatically - but has he suffered any real consequences? Jen talks with Yasmine Farouk about MBS's ambitions, recklessness, brutality, and miscalculations.

Tens of thousands of Indonesians took to the streets last week to protest a series of controversial moves undertaken by President Jokowi and his government. While Indonesians are no stranger to protests, these demonstrations come less than five months after Jokowi was re-elected with 55% of the vote. Jen talks to Dan Slater about why voters have turned against a seemingly popular, democratically-e...

The United Nations General Assembly has gathered world leaders since 1945. But while presidents and prime ministers stage dramatic speeches in the hall, much of the real diplomatic work takes place on the sidelines. How does UNGA really work? What thorny issues are diplomats tackling this week? And what will we remember from this year's meeting? Jen talks to Carnegie expert Salman Ahmed, who has a...

Hong Kong has been in turmoil for months, as residents in their millions continue to take to the streets. What started as a protest against an extradition bill has grown into a full blown movement for democracy. As the protests have grown, the central government has deployed disinformation strategies to shape public perception of what's happening on the ground, and has accused the United States of...

Kashmir has been contested land since the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. It has been a flashpoint for political tension and the site of multiple wars. But last month, the Indian government made a bold move, changing the Indian constitution and revoking the special status of Indian-occupied Kashmir – which was also India’s only Muslim-majority state. At the same time, they shut down telec...

On Monday, U.S. negotiators signaled that they had nearly finalized a long-sought agreement that is a step toward ending the American conflict with the Taliban. What does the deal contain? And does it really mean that the war in Afghanistan is over? Jen talks to Jarrett Blanc and Frances Brown about the long peace process ahead. Read: Jarrett's Washington Post oped, " We Need to take the Best...

Like most of DC, we're going to take a few weeks off this August. We'll be back in September with more episodes. If there's a topic in foreign policy you'd like us to unpack, tweet @CarnegieEndow with #WorldUnpacked.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest the ban on opposition candidates in the upcoming Moscow city council elections. More than two thousand people have been arrested since the protests started, and opposition leaders, including Alexei Navalny, have been detained. What do these protestors want? And what might they mean for Putin’s political future? Jen talks to Ca...

In light of the horrifying shootings this weekend in the United States, and the ongoing conversation about the role of white supremacist ideology in at least one of these attacks, we’re re-sharing Jen’s recent conversation with terrorism and law enforcement expert Lisa Monaco from earlier this summer. Jen and Lisa talked about how law enforcement has approached the problem of white supremacist vio...

In the darkest days of the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union created, together, a way to control nuclear weapons. As the President Trump withdraws from the hallmark INF treaty and other agreements teeter on the brink, that system is on life support. How did we get here? Jen Psaki talks to Pranay Vaddi and Connor O'Brien about how to save arms control.

While the loud, public conflict between the United States and Iran rages on, a secret war has been waged in the shadows for years. How dangerous is the cyberwar between the two countries? And how has the digital battlefield changed? Jen Psaki talks to Jon Bateman about the tools and strategies of both countries have developed, and what an all-out cyberwar would look like.

As Boris Johnson gears up for a probable victory in the British leadership election, can he deliver the Brexit deal that Theresa May failed to achieve? And what's the status of the U.S.-UK relationship after Trump's spat with now former British ambassador Sir Kim Darroch? Jen Psaki talks to Peter Kellner about May's legacy, the future of Brexit, and Johnson's promised trade deal with Trump. Read m...

Facial recognition has moved beyond matching two grainy photos. Abundant, networked cameras, cheap data storage, and powerful AI has made biometric surveillance more invasive than ever. China has built a massive surveillance state designed to monitor and incarcerate Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region, and now Chinese firms are trying to sell those same tools to countries in the Gulf. But they'r...

Donald Trump just became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot inside North Korea. How did we get here? Is Trump's cozy relationship with Kim Jong-un enough to get a deal done? And what's going to happen next? Jen talks to Carnegie expert Toby Dalton about how to keep track of the dizzying roller coaster of the U.S.-North Korea relationship.

The people of Hong Kong have taken to the streets in the largest protests the city has ever seen. A controversial extradition treaty sparked demonstrations that have lasted for weeks, but now that the bill has been withdrawn, what's keeping protesters on the streets? What does Hong Kong’s long-simmering dispute with Beijing boil down to? And what does the showdown between protestors and Hong Kong’...

Khartoum erupted in violence on June 3, as its transitional military government attacked and killed more than 100 peaceful protestors. But didn’t Sudan just oust a dictator? What’s happened since then? And what can the international community do help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe? Jen talks to Amr Hassan Sayed about Sudan's protests, the complicated political forces colliding on the ground, and...

White supremacist terrorism has gone global. Racially motivated mass murderers have targeted Muslims worshipping in New Zealand, Jewish synagogues in Pittsburgh and San Diego, church goers in South Carolina, and kids at a summer camp in Norway. Many of these attackers were radicalized online, and have claimed inspiration from each other. Are we watching the rise of a new international terrorist ne...

The United States is negotiating with the Taliban to end the longest war in U.S. history. But this isn’t the first time we’ve been at the table with them. What keeps us mired in this long, bloody, and complicated conflict? And is there actually a path out of it? Jen talks to Jarrett Blanc , who led negotiations with the Taliban as the Obama administration’s acting Special Representative to Afghani...

As women of color take the lead in national security, how are they changing the conversation and the culture of the foreign policy community? Jen talks to Mareena Robinson Snowden and Bonnie Jenkins about their careers in nuclear policy, how more diverse voices lead to better policy outcomes, and how the culture of the national security community must grow to better foster inclusion and representa...

The Trump administration has been has been ratcheting up the pressure on Iran over the past few weeks. As Trump and Zarif trade insults on Twitter, the United States has accused Iranian proxies of firing a missile into Baghdad and sabotaging oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Washington has responded by deploying an aircraft carrier and bombers to the region. What is each side hoping to get out of t...

President Trump said the Islamic State was defeated after they lost the last territory of their self-declared caliphate. But then they claimed credit for the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, and elusive ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi appeared for the first time in five years, in a video praising the attack. Is ISIS really beaten, or are they just regrouping? Jen talks to Brett McGurk , forme...

Today we're unpacking the news coming out of Venezuela. Jen talks to Moisés Naím about where the crisis in Venezuela came from, the showdown between Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó, and why countries like Cuba, Russia, and the United States are so invested in what happens there. Listen to get smart on what's really happening in Venezuela. Read Moisés' piece on Venezuela's suicide here .

This is the first episode of a three-part special series on sanctions—a 101 course on how sanctions work and how policymakers should use them. This episode, Jen talks with her Jarrett Blanc about what sanctions are and how they work. To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Jarrett Blanc is a senior fellow in the Geoeconomics and Strategy Program at the Carn...

Milan chats with Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj , star of the hit Netflix show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj . In the season finale of Patriot Act , which aired on March 17, Minhaj turned his focus to the Indian general elections . In just half an hour, Minhaj covered topics ranging from Narendra Modi to the Congress Party’s corruption scams to the rising tide of nationalism—all with his t...

Jen talks to Karim Sadjadpour and Kim Ghattas about the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and how it shapes the Middle East. This episode originally aired on March 30, 2018. We'll be back with a new name, a new look, and new episodes on May 9.