Deep Dish on Global Affairs

FIFA World Cup 2022 has reached its nail-biting knock-out stage. For big-spending hosts Qatar, the tournament has provided an opportunity to bask in the international spotlight, but it has also drawn scrutiny of human rights and the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf state. On  Deep Dish , Jules Boykoff & Minky Worden discuss the growing phenomenon of sportswashing, why sport appeals to auto...

As protests have erupted throughout China, in response to lockdowns imposed from the government's zero-COVID policy, some protesters have broadened their criticisms of the government, including even calls for President Xi to step down. On Deep Dish , journalist Lizzi Lee reports on what is transpiring, and author Teresa Wright discusses the frequency and nature of protest in modern China and why t...

Deep Dish is taking this week off for the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, but we'll be back next week with a new episode! In the meantime, here' a quick note about Giving Tuesday. We're able to make this show because of the support from our community of listeners —people like you!      Would you consider making a tax-deductible gift this upcoming Giving Tuesday so that we can keep bringing you Dee...

Winter is coming, temperatures are dropping, and people in Europe and elsewhere face a cost-of-living crisis that would have seemed unimaginable only a year ago. On  Deep Dish , young people across Europe share how they are coping with the rising costs. Then, the European Council on Foreign Relations' Susi Dennison unpacks how overlapping economic, climate, and geopolitical crises are shaping peop...

North Korea fired over 80 missiles last week, triggering evacuation alerts in parts of Japan and South Korea. On Deep Dish , a Japanese citizen shares a firsthand reaction and their concerns for nuclear risks from North Korea. Plus, Stimson Center's Jenny Town discusses what Kim Jong-un is trying to achieve and how the United States and its regional allies can reduce the risk of escalation.  Readi...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's victory in Brazil's presidential election is part of a larger leftward shift in Latin American politics in recent years that stretches from Mexico to Chile. On  Deep Dish , Brazilian students share some of the issues facing their country as they went to the polls and the challenges the new president will face. Plus, expert Yannik John discusses what the world should exp...

From microwaves to missiles, smartphones to the stock market, microchips are essential to modern economies and future technological advancements. On Deep Dish , we hear from a representative of a manufacturing sector on how critical chips are to businesses and consumers and the effects of a global shortage. And Chip War author Chris Miller argues that microchips – not data - are the new oil and di...

This week, the Chinese Communist Party hosts its twice-a-decade National Congress and President Xi Jinping is set to secure power for a third term. Nonresident Senior Fellow Paul Heer joins Deep Dish to argue the importance of engagement with China as a necessary component of US foreign policy. If we do not pursue it, he says, we are missing opportunities for a more peaceful coexistence between bo...

President Putin has demanded the West take his nuclear threats seriously and North Korea is rumored to preparing to undertake a nuclear test in the coming days. On  Deep Dish , South Korean and Ukrainian citizens share what it is like to live under the looming shadow of possible nuclear warfare and Ankit Panda discusses whether the nuclear taboo is likely to be broken and how the world should resp...

President Putin mobilized over 300,000 military reservists to buttress Russia's battered forces, prompting protests and an exodus of Russians to neighboring countries. On  Deep Dish , recently fled Russian social media personalities share their perspective on the darkening political climate in their homeland. And independent journalist and filmmaker Mikhail Fishman and  Moscow Times ' Leyla Latypo...

Iran has entered its 12th day of protests following the death of #MahsaAmini in morality police custody. On  Deep Dish , women in the Iranian diaspora share firsthand the severity of what is transpiring, and Narges Bajoghli of Johns Hopkins University unpacks why these demonstrations are different and strike at the core of Iran's regime.

While Putin overreaches in his war on Ukraine, tensions are flaring in the former Soviet territories along present-day Russia's southern border. The most immediate danger comes from two conflicts that escalated this month— between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Caucasus and between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, both clashes leading to hundreds being killed.  Eurasianet 's Joshua Kucera...

Yesterday, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan. While these nations are assumed to be America's chief geostrategic competitors, Russia's faltering invasion of Ukraine has isolated its economy, degraded its military, and undermined its international standing. Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and Wilson Center's Lucian Kim join  Deep Dish...

Last week power struggles between rival Shia groups erupted in deadly street battles that sparked fears of a renewed cycle of violence. Chatham House's Renad Mansour joins  Deep Dish  and argues that the conventional view that Iraq's political instability is driven by sectarian and ethnic divisions is wrong. Rather, the real cleavage is between a permanent political elite, across faith and ethnic...

Like Ukraine, the Western Balkans sit on a fault line between Russian and Western spheres of influence. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, political tensions have grown in the region, particularly in Bosnia and Kosovo. Many experts suspect Russia is exploiting ethnic divisions. The  Economist' s Tim Judah and the Atlantic Council's Ilva Tare join  Deep Dish  to examine Moscow's motives for fannin...

While a 20-year war has ended, the Afghan people continue to suffer, now under a collapsed economy. International Crisis Group's Laurel Miller and US Institute of Peace's Andrew Watkins join  Deep Dish  guest host Elizabeth Shackelford to discuss how the international community's isolation of the Taliban has helped precipitate suffering in Afghanistan, and what can and should be done to help.   Li...

William Ruto has been declared winner of Kenya's presidential election, after edging out longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga by a narrow margin. Odinga has refused to concede, will likely challenge the results in court, and his supporters took to the streets to protest in the election center. Uppsala University's Kathleen Klaus and International Crisis Group's Murithi Mutiga join Deep Dish gue...

Ukraine is home to millennia-old culture, including some of the holiest sites of the Orthodox faith. Now, facing a brutal artillery campaign and intentional cultural persecution by Russia, Ukraine's identity is under attack. But Ukraine is not alone in having its heritage threatened by war, despite this being a war crime. Kyiv-based museum director Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta and Jim Cuno, former Presi...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial Taiwan trip came amid increasingly harsh warnings of retaliations from Beijing and escalating US-China tensions. Nonresident Senior Fellow Paul Heer joins Deep Dish to argue the importance of engagement with China as a necessary component of US foreign policy. If we do not pursue it, he says, we are missing opportunities for a more peaceful coexistence be...

Two weeks ago, Sri Lankans stormed the residence of the President and Prime Minister, following months of protests against corruption and worsening economic conditions. Saddled with billions of dollars of foreign debt and facing the lingering economic effects of the pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine, Sri Lankans face rampant inflation and dire shortages of fuel, foods, and medicines. Dialogue A...

In recent years, the United States has accounted for nearly three-quarters of the world's mass shootings and forty-six percent of all private gun ownership worldwide — more than 10 times its share of the global population. University of Sydney Professor Phillip Alpers joins a special live edition of Deep Dish to discuss how other nations have tried to prevent mass shootings and firearm homicides ,...

Joe Biden is currently on his first trip to the Middle East as President, which will include a controversial meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. On the campaign trail, Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia a "pariah", but with gas prices punishing American consumers, and Russia and China court Riyadh, Biden's tone and policy toward the Kingdom has rapidly evolved. Council on Foreign...

Recent US Supreme Court rulings on abortion, religion in school, gun control, and climate regulation will have far-reaching implications for Americans. How does the role that the Supreme Court plays in US democracy compare to Supreme Courts in other democracies? Constitutional law experts Daniel Brinks and Tom Ginsburg join Deep Dish to explore the uniqueness of the US Supreme Court and what we ca...

As global institutions focused on research, innovation, and ideas, universities have historically been closely tied to geopolitical power. Today, America's world-leading universities face growing competition, particularly from China, with far-reaching implications. Chronicle of Higher Education senior writer Karin Fischer and Harvard Business School professor and author William Kirby join Deep Dis...

What does Russia's war in Ukraine reveal about competing theories of foreign policy thought? The Council's Elizabeth Shackelford is joined by Emma Ashford, senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, and James Goldgeier, visiting scholar at Stanford University, to debate the war, and what might happen next, from the perspectives of liberal internationalism, the predominant for...