Deep Dish on Global Affairs

The apparent concession of American hegemony to China has alarmed many Americans, but it seems unclear what, if anything, can be done. Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times and author of Easternization: Asia's Rise and America's Decline From Obama to Trump and Beyond, explains what the birth of a new global superpower means for the United States, and what we can e...

This is the most important election in the history of the Islamic Republic, says Saeid Golkar. Two main candidates, incumbent president Hassan Rouhani and conservative challenger Ebrahim Raisi, face off in tense two-round vote that will determine the future of Iran's interaction with the rest of the world. Will the moderate, reformist president responsible for the nuclear deal win out, or will Rai...

"When you focus on Korea, you have to focus on everything," says Council expert Karl Friedhoff. In the latest episode of Deep Dish, Karl explains the significance of South Korea's newly elected president and how he will usher in a new era affecting North Korea, China, Japan, and the United States.

The race for the French presidency between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen is approaching its final stage. From the spike in populism to the floundering of primary party leadership, this election will play a major role in determining the direction of political winds across the West. Join the consul general of France in Chicago, Vincent Floreani; the Council's Dick Longworth, who brings decades o...

Often missing from discussions about the US-China relationship is the perspective of the Chinese government. On this week's Deep Dish podcast, Hong Lei, China's Consul General in Chicago, explains how China and the United States may be able to cooperate on global security and the global economy.

Given recent airstrikes in Syria, use of the MOAB in Afghanistan, and missile tests in North Korea, we asked Council President and former US NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder about the objectives of current US military deployments. He discusses the capabilities of the US armed forces and how to balance military action with diplomatic efforts.

President Trump's response to the gas attack in Syria created a wave of media coverage. In this week's Deep Dish on Global Affairs, veteran journalists Susan Glasser of POLITICO and Edward Luce of the Financial Times discuss what insight we gained into Trump's foreign policy and what role the news media might play in shaping his doctrine.

As President Trump meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time, Council fellows Karl Friedhoff and Phil Levy preview the pressing issues likely to arise at their summit: economic relations and the ever-aggressive North Korea.

President Trump said President Obama warned him of a "big problem" before he left office: North Korea. The increasing application of sanctions has been ineffective, transforming its nuclear program into a "superbug" that rest of the world can't seem to kill. North Korea experts Dr. John Park and Karl Friedhoff dish in the latest slice of Deep Dish on Global Affairs.

Populations across Midwest metros are either shrinking or experiencing slowing growth rates, especially in prime working-age adults. But influxes of immigrants are helping offset those declines. Immigration expert Sara McElmurry and expert demographer Rob Paral break down a new report from the Council about these changing demographics in and discuss how to harness this growth in a politically sens...

Brexit is coming. The House of Commons and House of Lords just cleared the way for Theresa May to trigger Article 50 and formally exit from the European Union. Rebalancing the country's economy will be no small task – and to explain what's at stake, former European commissioner for trade Lord Peter Mandelson sits down for a slice of the Deep Dish podcast.

While Mexico and the United States have done a great many things together, "the one thing that we won't be doing together is building a wall," says former Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhán. On the latest Deep Dish podcast, Sarukhán sits down with Council President Ivo Daalder for a frank ambassador-to-ambassador conversation about Trump, the border wall, NAFTA, and more.

China's military expansion in the South China Sea and rising economic influence command increasing attention, but North Korea, Japan, and other regional actors are shifting power beneath the surface. On the latest Deep Dish podcast, Asia experts Richard McGregor and Sheila Smith talk with host Brian Hanson about the intricate choices facing the Trump administration in Asia.

Will the appointment of H.R. McMaster as President Trump's National Security Advisor calm the tumult over Michael Flynn's resignation? On the latest Deep Dish episode, two former NSC members, Ivo Daalder and Kori Schake, illuminate the genuine challenges for McMaster and Trump's national security machine from the inside out.

Syria, Libya, and Iraq are the latest in a series of contentious US interventions. Forced to choose between leaving other countries alone or trying to run the world—Americans choose both, says author and journalist Stephen Kinzer. On this week's Deep Dish, Kinzer and career diplomat Cécile Shea discuss intervention done well, done poorly, and how the intervention debate has endured since the Spani...

A flare-up of violence in eastern Ukraine following a call between presidents Putin and Trump has many wondering what's next in the highly combustible situation. On this week's Deep Dish podcast, former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst joins Russia expert Samuel Charap to analyze Putin's goals and the likely outcome of a shift in Eurasian geopolitics.

President Trump's executive order suspending new refugee admissions and blocking travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries has sparked protests across the United States and shocked the world. Ian Tuttle says Trump's order is mostly right on substance but wrong on rollout, while Robert Pape says Trump is making ISIS great again. Listen to this episode of Deep Dish to hear two leading voices de...

In the aftermath of President Trump's pullout of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, trade experts Gary Clyde Hufbauer of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Council senior fellow on the global economy Phil Levy talk with Council vice president of studies Brian Hanson about presidential powers in international trade.

Talk from the incoming Trump administration on Asia is rattling allies in the region. Council experts Cécile Shea and Karl Friedhoff talk with host Brian T. Hanson about the return on US investment in Asia, what America stands to lose from disengagement, and how China could fill the vacuum created by a US abandonment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Millions of people attended the funeral procession for former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. In the latest Deep Dish podcast, the Council's visiting fellow for Iran policy, Saeid Golkar, explains why Rafsanjani was so beloved and how his death may position hardliners and "conflictualists" to seize the initiative in Iran's internal and external affairs.

As the US election and Brexit vote showed, the relationship between cities and their surrounding areas is fraught with conflicting interests. Council Distinguished Fellow Dick Longworth and the Financial Times' Edward Luce talk about where this relationship is headed in the latest episode of Deep Dish.

For some, social integration is a new challenge caused by globalization and cultural change. For others, inequality and segregation have long been strains on civil society. In this episode, Michael Nutter, former mayor of Philadelphia, and Kamal Al-Solaylee, journalist and author of Brown: What Being Brown in the World Today Means (To Everyone), discuss social inclusion in the 21st century with De...

Anything that surprises people about President-elect Trump shouldn't surprise them too much, says Chinese entrepreneur and 2016 Scholl Fellow Victor Yuan. In the latest Deep Dish podcast, Yuan talks with Council experts about the potential points of conflict and consensus between the next US administration and China.

Washington Post chief correspondent Dan Balz sits down with the Council's Ivo Daalder, Brian Hanson, and Richard Longworth to discuss how Trump redefined the debate on globalization and what the 2016 election exposed about the US identity and its role in the world.

Trade and globalization seem to have played an outsized role in this year's election. On this week's episode of Deep Dish, Council vice president of studies Brian T. Hanson sat down with experts Phil Levy, Dina Smeltz, and Diana Mutz to discuss.