Deep Dish on Global Affairs

This week President Trump announced he wants all US troops out of Afghanistan by election day. But is that possible? And what does it mean? In this episode from October 2019, the University of Chicago's Robert Pape joins  Deep Dish  to help us understand the right—and wrong—ways to end the United States' longest war.

While the world is distracted by COVID-19, China has been ramping up its military actions in hotly contested waters – the South China Sea. The Center for Strategic and International Studies' Bonnie Glaser and Lieutenant Commander Matthew Dalton, US Navy, join  Deep Dish  to examine China's strategy and potential US policy options to ensure freedom of navigation remains intact.

Venezuelans face a global pandemic,  a  stalled economy, crippling oil shortages, and  a  potential famine. After a failed coup attempt, will President Maduro hold on to his power? The Inter-American Dialogue's Michael Camilleri and the International Crisis Group's Ivan Briscoe join  Deep Dish  to discuss.

Germany's effective, science-driven response to COVID-19 is a model for countries around the world. But as life returns to normal for many Germans this week, Chancellor Merkel says the country is still on the "thinnest of ice" in addressing the pandemic.  The Wall Street Journal 's  Bojan  Pancevski  joins  Deep Dish  from Berlin to examine Germany's reopening strategy.

Tensions between the United States and Iran continue to simmer amid the coronavirus pandemic. Iran is blaming US sanctions for its lack of medical supplies and recently harassed US warships in the Gulf, while the United States is threatening to increase economic pressure with additional sanctions. Brookings' Suzanne Maloney and the German Marshall Fund's Ariane Tabatabai join Deep Dish to examine...

As New Zealand prepares to emerge from a national lockdown on April 27,  Axios ' Rebecca Falconer joins  Deep Dish  from Auckland to explain the aggressive and effective national eradication strategy and how the government's actions might influence the general election in September. 

Drawing from today's global crises and the patterns of American history, geopolitical forecaster George Friedman predicts the 2020s will be a decade of storm and strain for the United States, followed by a period of prosperity. He joins  Deep Dish  to examine the institutional and socioeconomic cycles of upheaval that have rebuilt and reinvented American life in the past and explains why he's stil...

In another special edition episode, we're taking you inside the global COVID-19 pandemic response by talking to Nikkei 's Kiyoshi Ando, reporting from Tokyo. He joins Deep Dish a few days after the start of a national state of emergency to explain why Japan appeared to be a miracle success story but is currently seeing a spike in infections — complicated by an impending national travel holiday and...

Over the weekend, OPEC+ finalized the biggest oil supply deal in history — drastically cutting production with the hopes of stabilizing plummeting prices as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns. Charlotte Howard, the Economist 's New York bureau chief and energy and commodities editor, joins  Deep Dish  to explain the economic and political implications of the agreement and how it could affect the futur...

Through a series of special edition episodes, we're taking you inside the global COVID-19 pandemic response by talking to journalists on the ground. The New York Times ' Steven Erlanger, reporting from Brussels, joins Deep Dish to examine how European nations are learning from the devastation in Italy and Spain — and what the pandemic might mean for European solidarity in the long-term.

While Europe has been struggling to contain COVID-19, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has used his country's emergency response to reduce checks on his power and make himself a de facto dictator. Princeton University's Kim Scheppele joins Deep Dish to explain why the failure of one democracy should matter to every democracy and examine whether Hungary could have ripple effects on other polit...

Stock markets have plunged, economic output is falling, businesses are closed with some facing bankruptcy, and unemployment is soaring as a result of COVID-19. In a new episode of Deep Dish , former Bank of London governor Lord Mervyn King draws from lessons he learned during the 2008 financial crisis to discuss how to manage the current economic uncertainty.  

Through a series of special edition Deep Dish episodes, we're taking you inside the global COVID-19 pandemic response by talking to journalists on the ground.  We begin in South Korea, which ranked among the top ten countries for total cases at the time of recording . The  Wall Street Journal 's Dasl Yoon, reporting from Seoul, joins us to explain what other countries can learn from South Korea's...

Countries across the globe are rushing to contain COVID-19 and "flatten the curve "  – with mixed results. After months of shutdowns China is slowly  reopening ; India has  initiated  a national lockdown; leaders in Brazil and Mexico have dismissed the danger; and Italy and Spain report high death totals and  l ack  medical supplies.  POLITICO's  Ryan Heath joins  Deep Dish  to explain the lessons...

While the political importance of the American Midwest in 2020 is clear, the region of 70 million people is all too often written off as an economic has-been and a cultural backwater. Shayndi Raice of the Wall Street Journal and John Austin of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs join Deep Dish to tell a different story, one of bright spots as well as blights in this region encompassing all or pa...

Yemen's years-long war pits Iran-backed Houthis against a coalition of Saudi-led forces seeking to restore Yemen's internationally recognized government. The war has created not only a dire humanitarian crisis but also an opening for terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. International Crisis Group's Daniel Schneiderman, who was NSC director for Yemen under presidents Obama and Trump, joins Deep Dish...

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Levant Affairs and Special Envoy for Syria Joel Rayburn joins Deep Dish to explain the Trump administration's plan in war-torn Syria, discussing everything from ISIS and the Assad regime to Russian and Iranian influence.

"The United States needs allies more than it ever has," says Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of the forthcoming book Shields of the Republic . On the latest Deep Dish , Rapp-Hooper joins Council President Ivo Daalder for a discussion about the state of US alliances at a moment when new concerns are flaring up from the Philippines and East Asia to Euro...

This week, soldiers with automatic weapons occupied El Salvador's legislature, demanding more funds to fight rampant criminal gangs. For years, violence and crime have led to poor living conditions in the country and mass emigration. Rosa Anaya, a Gus Hart Visiting Fellow at the Council, joins Deep Dish to discuss her groundbreaking work rehabilitating inmates and gang members in El Salvador with...

First developed by the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious effort for countries to address the world's biggest problems. Yet much of the remarkable work happening now is at the sub-national level, by cities, local governments, and the private sector. Anthony F. Pipa of the Brookings Institution and Catherine P. Sheehy, global lead for sustainability partnershi...

America spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined, and the Department of Defense oversees some 1.3 million military personnel. But is it all necessary? Joining Deep Dish to discuss his provocative new book Close the Pentagon , Charles Kenny argues that not only can the United States cut its defense budget, but it can also better secure the nation by eventually shuttering the...

Demonstrators have taken to the streets from Hong Kong to Lebanon, with many calling for democratic reforms. Yet policymakers in the United States are split on whether or not to support pro-democracy movements abroad. Rochelle Terman and Paul Poast of the University of Chicago join  Deep Dish to debate the two competing options, which they call "America first" and "Spider-Man."

Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria, the young head of a conservative party deeply opposed to immigration, has just formed a coalition government with Austria's Green party. Having adopted a platform that is anti-immigration, pro-business, and pro-environment, the odd pairing of these parties holds important and timely lessons for the larger realignment of left-right politics taking place across...

Earlier this week, in retaliation for the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, Iran fired a dozen missiles on two bases in Iraq housing US troops. After, President Trump said Iran "appears to be standing down." But Kelly Magsamen, NSC director for Iran under US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and now at the Center for American Progress, explains on Deep Dish  that the repercuss...

Following the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani last week, Iraq's parliament voted to ask the prime minister to oust US forces from the country. It comes after violent protests in Iraq against both the Iraqi government and the US embassy in Baghdad. Emma Sky, a former political adviser to the commanding general of US forces in Iraq and now at Yale University, joins Deep Dish  to explain...