Big World

Since the US military transtioned from a draft to an all-volunteer force in 1973, most Americans can go their entire lives without thinking too much about their fellow citizens who sign up to serve in uniform. In this episode of Big World, Kayla M. Williams, SIS/MA ‘08, the assistant secretary of the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, joins us...

The world’s most pressing problems—including climate change, pandemics, and cybersecurity—cross borders. And to solve these problems, our students need international experience, believes Fanta Aw, vice president for undergraduate enrollment, campus life, and inclusive excellence at American University and Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer at SIS. In this episode of Big World, Aw joins us to discu...

At 8:46 a.m. ET on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center—the first of four plane crashes that morning—and nothing was ever the same again. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and in this episode of Big World, SIS professor Josh Rovner joins us to discuss the national security legacy of 9/11. Profes...

The original Star Trek television series, which aired from 1966 to 1969, spawned movies, sequels, and an entire pop culture universe. Along the way, the show and its successors have used their futuristic settings to animate a universe that both reflects and challenges the attitudes of their viewers. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Patrick Thaddeus Jackson joins us to discuss Star Trek,...

Fellowships can help students and recent graduates gain hands-on experience in international affairs and bolster their résumés for their desired career paths. In this episode of Big World, Chris Swanson, associate director of the Office of Merit Awards at American University, shares his expertise about landing a top fellowship in international affairs. Swanson discusses the landscape of major inte...

Agriculture in America is older than the United States itself. But agriculture policy and the politics that drive it have always been, like so much of our world's history, unequal at best. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Garrett Graddy-Lovelace joins us to discuss agricultural policy, racial inequities, and the need for a new way of thinking about land both in the US and around the wor...

Over the past decade, the internet’s role in international affairs has expanded, with governments, including India’s, periodically shutting down the internet; great powers, like Russia in the 2016 US presidential election, spreading disinformation; and private companies like Facebook and Twitter becoming the gatekeepers of public discourse. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Eric Novotny...

The United States has long considered itself the world's bastion of democracy. However, independent analysis currently doesn't support that belief, and the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual Democracy Index has rated the US a “flawed democracy” for the past several years. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Agustina Giraudy joins us to discuss democratic backsliding in the US. Professor...

In the early 1990s, the US and the USSR signed the first of a series of treaties designed to limit the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Sharon Weiner joins us to discuss the many nuclear weapons treaties between the US and Russia—the world's two largest nuclear powers. Professor Weiner explains the significance of START (Strategic Arms Reduct...

Amidst the long-overdue reckoning with systemic racism in the US and globally, an area of study that focuses on the lives of Black people and seeks to more fully share a totality of Black experience has gained increased attention. In this episode, SIS professor Jordanna Matlon joins Big World to discuss her research on one of these areas: Black masculinity. Matlon explains why individual Black men...

The 1960s started 60 years ago, but the shadow cast by that decade in the US is long. It was a decade that fundamentally changed how the US treats our citizens and views our role in the world. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Sarah Snyder joins us to discuss the long 1960s and US human rights policy. Snyder tells us how she defines the “long ’60s” (1:28) and explains how US human rights...

Russia is defined, at least in part, by its relationship with the United States. In January 2021, US leadership will transition again, and the world's most significant dysfunctional relationship will evolve yet again. In this episode, SIS professor Keith Darden joins Big World to discuss the future of Russia-US relations. Looking back, Darden first discusses whether or not the United States’ relat...

It is not surprising that food—something so universal yet so individual and culturally specific—would have a place in foreign policy. In this episode, SIS professor Johanna Mendelson Forman joins Big World to discuss culinary diplomacy, gastrodiplomacy, and conflict cuisine. Professor Mendelson Forman shares how governments use food as a tool for soft power (1:38) and explains the difference betwe...

Breonna Taylor. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. George Floyd. The list of names goes on and on and on. They are US citizens killed by the police. They are all Black. And those two facts are inextricably linked. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Cathy Schneider joins us to discuss racial profiling and police violence. Professor Schneider explains how ethnic, racial, and religious minorities a...

*Note: This episode of Big World was recorded with Guy Ziv prior to the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that was signed on August 13th, 2020. Over his decades in and out of power, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has redefined what it means for Israel to be a Jewish democratic state. In this episode, Professor Guy Ziv joins Big World to discuss Netanyahu’s outsized r...

A college graduate’s search for their first professional job is made a lot easier when they have a great internship or two on their résumé. In this episode, Shaine Cunningham, SIS director of career education and employer relations, joins Big World to share her insights on landing an internship in international affairs. Cunningham discusses when students should start looking for internships for an...

What happens when a country is powerful enough not to fight its own battles? In this episode, SIS professor Dylan Craig joins Big World to discuss proxy warfare. Professor Craig provides an expansive understanding of proxy warfare and how a proxy war differs from a traditional war or armed conflict (2:01). He explains why proxy wars are a “rediscovered classic” rather than a recent development in...

As far as the West is concerned, World War I is largely a European story, but that's only part of the full narrative. In this episode of Big World, SIS professor Elizabeth Thompson discusses stolen democracy in the Middle East after “the war to end all wars.” Professor Thompson, the Mohamed S. Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace at SIS, provides a more expansive understanding of the impact of World War I...

Viruses are supposed to be the ultimate equal opportunity offenders–they’re just looking for a host. Why, then, have inequities become magnified during the coronavirus pandemic? SIS professor Nina Yamanis joins Big World to discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated existing inequities in the United States. She discusses how foreseeable the pandemic was (1:42) and explains how the social determinants of...

Though Fidel Castro was an authoritarian leader with no tolerance for dissenting views and little regard for human rights, Cuba under his rule developed and maintained robust public education and healthcare programs. This seeming contradiction exemplifies some of the challenges that understanding Cuba presents. In short, Cuba’s governance in the past and today is complicated. SIS professor Philip...

According to Amnesty International’s 2018 review of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, this is not a great time for human rights activists and defenders in the Middle East. That year saw an increased crackdown on civil society in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. In 2019, massive protests took place in Iraq, Lebanon, and Iran. Against this backdrop, SIS professor Shadi Mokhtari joins B...

Over the past two decades, the roles of social media and other digital technologies have evolved. What started as a means of communication among friends quickly snowballed into tools for business, activism, and more. But these new technologies have also been used by terrorists for malicious purposes. Professor Audrey Kurth Cronin, founding director of SIS’s Center for Security, Innovation, and New...

To say the president's foreign policy agenda has been an item of interest lately is a dramatic understatement. The American president traditionally sets foreign policy priorities for the country, but can the modern president do whatever they want? When the subject is the US presidency, what is normal? SIS professor Jordan Tama joins Big World to discuss the role of the US president in foreign poli...

Every minute in 2018, 25 people were forced to flee their homes. That's according to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which also revealed in their 2018 annual report that there are currently more than 70.8 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, including 25.9 million refugees. SIS professor Tazreena Sajjad joins Big World to discuss where refugees go. She reveals which countries are producing a...

On December 31, 1999, Vladimir Putin became acting president of Russia. Twenty years later, he is still the country’s president and will be for the foreseeable future—at least until 2024. But how exactly did he come to occupy such a prominent global role? SIS professor and former dean James Goldgeier joins Big World to discuss the rise of Vladimir Putin. He relays the historical context of Russia...