Big World

In this episode, School of International Service professor Tazreena Sajjad joins Big World to discuss the difference in global responses to Rohingya and Ukrainian refugees. Sajjad, an expert on refugees and forced displacement, begins our discussion with a brief overview of the history of the Rohingya refugee crisis (2:53). Sajjad also discusses life inside the refugee camps in Bangladesh (7:26) a...

In this episode, Guy Ziv, School of International Service professor and associate director of American University’s Meltzer Schwartzberg Center for Israel Studies, joins Big World to discuss democracy in Israel, the political longevity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and current protests over Netanyahu’s attempts to limit the power of Israel’s highest court. Ziv, who teaches courses on US fo...

In this episode, SIS professor Samantha Bradshaw joins Big World to discuss the spread of disinformation online in the US. Over the last decade in the United States, disinformation is a topic that has dominated discussions surrounding elections, political campaigns, COVID-19, and more. Bradshaw, who is a leading expert on new technologies and democracy, begins our discussion by explaining her defi...

“Disinformation” and “misinformation” are two words we often hear, but how many people know what those words mean? How do we identify disinformation? How is it spread? The disinformation issue is not unique to the US, as countries around the world are facing the consequences of the spread of false and sometimes even harmful information. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Sumitra Badrinath...

This July marks 33 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed — a landmark law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, communications, and government resources. The ADA is meant to protect people with disabilities from discrimination in everyday life, and the law’s signing made the US the first cou...

Together, Pakistan and India account for nearly a quarter of the world’s population. The two nations and their peoples also have made innumerable contributions to the world’s great religions, history, and culture. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Akbar Ahmed joins us to talk about the interfaith dynamics within and between India and Pakistan; their global roles and influence; and his ow...

Classified information is utilized by nearly every agency in the government, but what happens when that information is leaked or mishandled? After classified documents were discovered in the private residences of both former and current presidents, and classified Pentagon documents were leaked online, classified documents and their handling have become a hot topic of discussion. In this episode of...

Whenever we hear the word corruption, we always think that it’s others who are corrupt; it’s never the people we support, and it’s certainly never us. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Malini Ranganathan and AU’s College of Arts and Sciences professor David Pike join us to talk about corruption, the stories we tell about it, and the narratives to which we cling. Professors Ranganathan an...

Since its inception in 1949, NATO has expanded both its size and role to keep up with a changing world. Its initial role as a counterweight to the Soviet Union was both reenforced and updated when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor and former dean Jim Goldgeier joins us to discuss the enlargement and role of NATO from its inception to today. Profes...

The United States military is the most powerful in the world; it is ordered from within by a strict hierarchy—people in uniform—and from without by civilian leadership, or people in suits. The Joint Chiefs of Staff bridge the gap between the military and executive branches to maintain the balance between military and civilian leadership. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Sharon Weiner jo...

The continent of Europe has been home to every conceivable type of government over thousands of years, with democracy being the dominant force since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet, with the elections of far-right politicians across the continent in recent years, the landscape has changed. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor and Tran...

The United States has been the leader in digital technology and innovation for decades. However, in recent years, the race between countries to control this space has become closer than ever. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Daniel Gerstein joins us to explore the global technology war and the power that comes from being its winner at every stage. Gerstein discusses his new book “Tech W...

December 1 is World AIDS Day, and January 2023 marks 20 years of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which provides for groundbreaking AIDS treatment, prevention, and research. In this episode of Big World, SIS dean Shannon Hader, an expert in infectious diseases and epidemiology and a global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, joins us to explore how the AIDS response infor...

When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, its republics were established as countries with internationally recognized borders. But borders are only as stable as the people within them will allow them to be. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has seemingly opened the floodgates for revisiting old conflicts and tensions, sparking border clashes among other former Soviet republics in the re...

Taking hostages and prisoners is not a new occurrence; people have been taken hostage by those seeking to gain a political upper hand for thousands of years. What is new today is that more US hostages currently are being held by foreign governments than by terrorist or militant groups. Some of the most recent, high-profile political prisoner cases are those of WNBA star and US citizen Brittney Gri...

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health case. The ruling overturned nearly 50 years of judicial precedent set by Roe v Wade in 1973 and sent the question of abortion regulations and laws back to individual US states. The impact of this decision and the precedent it sets will have far reaching effects on the current and future state of reproducti...

In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, anti-government militias like the Oath Keepers thrust themselves to the forefront of public consciousness. The ongoing January 6th committee hearings have increased the pressure on these groups to defend their actions leading up to and during that day. But the word “militia” is a very old word that appears in the founding document of the Unite...

While the modern Turkish Republic was founded in the 1920s as a secular republic, the last two decades have seen this nation move from a democratic regime toward an authoritarian one. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Doga Eralp joins us to discuss the political career and the politics of a man who’s been Turkey’s leader for most of that time period, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Professor Eralp...

Food insecurity is a serious problem that affects many, with people going hungry in all regions of the world. According to the US Department of Agriculture, approximately 1.2 billion people globally lack consistent access to enough calories. In this episode of Big World, SIS alumna Valerie Guarnieri, assistant executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), joins us to discuss world hunge...

While the immediate image that the phrase “rebel groups” brings to mind may be men dressed in fatigues and carrying Kalashnikov rifles, the activities of rebel groups extend beyond paramilitary engagements and into the provision of public goods and social services. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Megan Stewart joins us to discuss rebel governance. Professor Stewart defines rebel govern...

Last year, the release of the Pandora Papers exposed secret offshore accounts belonging to world leaders, billionaires, and celebrities, and when Russia invaded Ukraine, Western nations responded, in part, with economic sanctions on Russian oligarchs. And, of course, in the US, April is known for Tax Day, which this year falls on April 18. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Dan Schneider...

Humanitarian assistance tends to be associated with aid workers figuratively parachuting into a country or a region to do work in times of event-based trauma, but that conceptualization only scratches the surface of what such work entails. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Lauren Carruth joins us to discuss a different kind of humanitarianism. Professor Carruth discusses the issues that...

On August 30, 2021, nearly 20 years after they arrived, the last US troops left Afghanistan. Now, some six months later, the world has largely moved on from the story of Afghanistan and the people who remain there in the wake of the US withdrawal and the reinstatement of Taliban control. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Tazreena Sajjad joins us to discuss what we get wrong about Afghani...

On January 6, 2021, a throng of Donald Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol building. Their stated goal was to overturn the valid results of the 2020 presidential election by interrupting the US Congress's count of electoral votes that would certify the election. One year later, SIS professor Joe Young joins us on this episode of Big World to discuss the January 6 attack on the Capitol and dom...

Hollywood has made big business of spy films and television for decades, but the truth of intelligence gathering has always been opaque, even in a democracy like the US. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Aki Peritz joins us to discuss intelligence and national security. Peritz shares his definition of intelligence, discusses which US agencies gather intelligence (1:58), and dispels a DC...