Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

On February 25th, Nigeria will hold federal elections. Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa and one of the largest multiparty democracies in the world. Incumbent Muhammadu Buhari is respecting term limits and stepping aside, leaving and open field.  In recent history, Nigerian politics has been dominated by two parties. But with about one month before elections there is a surprising third pa...

Agathe Demarais was a treasury official in the French government working in Moscow and Beirut when she saw, first hand, some of the unintended impacts of US sanctions. Agathe Demarais is the global forecasting director of the Economist Intelligence Unit and author of the new book Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against US Interests . The book makes the provocative argument that an over-r...

According to the International Monetary Fund, 22 countries in Africa are either in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress --that is, they are unable to fulfill their financial obligations to creditors.  This is nearly double the number of countries in Africa in some form debt crisis just a few years ago.  Why so many African countries are facing a fiscal crisis today and the implications o...

In December protests erupted in cities across Bangladesh, including the capital Dhaka. The proximate cause was skyrocketing inflation triggered in part by Russia's war in Ukraine. But as my guest Michael Kugelman explains these were not mass protests, but rather highly partisan events ahead of elections scheduled for this year.  Michael Kugelman is director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilso...

In this episode, we are joined by Chris Miller, author of the new book "Chip Wars: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology." The books tells the story of microchip, including its history and its profound impact on international relations and geopolitics today.  Chris Miller is an Associate Professor of International History at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. We discuss why the...

As 2023 begins the world is beset by crises driven by conflict, climate change and the nexus of the two. But some places are expected to be hit harder than others as the year unfolds and this episode's conversation with David Miliband offers listeners key insights into where humanitarian needs are expected to be most acute in 2023. David Miliband is the President and CEO of the International Rescu...

The border region of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is home to violent extremist groups eager to recruit young men to their ranks. To counter the lure of groups like the Islamic State officials have experimented with programs and projects that more deeply root young men to their communities and to reduce inter-ethnic conflict.  This kind of peace-building work to strengthen what is known as "social...

The United States has several hundred military bases scattered across the world. But how do citizens within countries hosting US troops feel about those bases and US military personnel?  In this episode, we are joined by Carla Martinez Machain, who conducted groundbreaking public opinion research on how exposure to a US military presence in an allied country impacts attitudes towards the US govern...

Negotiations for a new Global Treaty on Plastics formally kicked off in early December. Delegates from around 160 countries met in Uruguay for the first round of talks aimed at reducing the harmful impact of plastics on both the environment and health.  Antonio Guterres has called plastics "fossil fuels in another form." And called on governments to support a treaty that not only dealt with plasti...

Delegates from nearly every country in the world are meeting in Montreal for the UN Biodiversity Conference known as COP15. Their goal is to come up with a new global action plan to preserve nature and global biodiversity. Top among those goals is agreeing to a new global target to protect for conservation 30% of land and 30% and marine habitats by 2030.  Joining me to discuss the importance of th...

On December 8, the World Health Organization released its latest annual report on the global fight against Malaria. The World Malaria Report found that progress against Malaria has begun stabilize after COVID related setbacks. Specifically, after a sharp rise in global malaria deaths during the first year of the pandemic, deaths have now begun to decrease -- though not yet to pre-pandemic levels....

This episode of Global Dispatches is a bit different than usual. Rather than the host, Mark Leon Goldberg interviewing someone, he is the one being interviewed. Moderators at the WordNews page on Reddit invited Mark to share some of his expertise on international justice issues in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Specifically, what are the prospects of accountability for war crimes and...

Rare protests broke out across several cities in China in recent weeks. Demonstrators took to the streets to protest the government's extreme Zero Covid policy, which imposes harsh lockdowns in an effort to stamp out the virus. In some cases, the protests took aim at the government itself, calling for Xi Jinping to step down.  Protests of this kind are extremely rare, so this movement understandab...

On November 13, six people were killed in a bombing in Istanbul, which the government of Turkey blamed on a Kurdish militant group based in Northern Syria. Shortly thereafter, Turkey began targeting Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq, with President Erdogan threatening an imminent ground invasion of Northern Syria.  In this episode, we speak with Lisel Hintz, assistant professor of international...

Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat from New Hampshire, lead a large bi-partisan Congressional delegation to the Halifax International Security Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia in mid-November. We just days after the US House of Representatives was confirmed to flip to Republican control following the US mid terms. With that change in power comes a degree of uncertainty around the extent to which Congre...

In this episode, we speak with Jamila Afghani, the 2022 Laureate of the Aurora Prize For Awaking Humanity, which is a prestigious annual award conferred to grassroots human rights defenders.  Jamila Afghani is a the founder of the local Afghan NGO Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization, which among other things supports girls education in Afghanistan. She founded the organization a...

As the World Cup kicks off in Qatar, the plight of the migrant workers who built the facilities enjoyed by fans and spectators is coming into sharper focus. Qatar required massive amounts of labor, and those workers often toiled in highly exploitative conditions. In this episode, we speak with Michael Page, deputy director in the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch We discu...

Over the last several weeks, North Korea has launched an unprecedented number of missile tests. In one week alone in early November, North Korea launched over 80 missiles, including short and long range ballistic missles.  So why is North Korea suddenly flexing like this? And what do these missile tests suggest about North Korea's nuclear strategies and intentions? I put these questions and more t...

During the time of this recording, Wednesday, November 9th, the final results of the US mid term elections are uncertain, but trending towards an outcome in which the Democrats are likely to hold the Senate and Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives. At stake in these elections of course is control of Congress, which has a unique role to play in shaping US foreign policy. Congres...

Delegates from around the world are en route to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt for the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Better known as COP27. The conference lasts from November 6th to the 18th. These COPS are key moments for international climate diplomacy.  And since the 2015 Paris Agreement, it is the main mechanism in which countries renew, r...

There are a record number of cholera outbreaks around the world today.   Consider this data point. In 2022 alone, 29 countries have reported a cholera outbreak. This compares to 20 countries over the previous five years. The outbreaks are distributed across several regions: countries in the Caribbean, middle east, Africa, and Asia are experiencing cholera outbreaks -- some for the first time in de...

On October 18th, the White House released an expansive new strategy on Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security.  The strategy sets out a whole-of-government approach to mitigating biological risks. This includes naturally occurring pathogens as well as dangerous new pathogens created in a lab.  In this episode, we speak with Nikki Teran,...

On October 21st, the United Nations Security Council imposed individual sanctions on Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer turned gang leader in Haiti. For weeks, the coalition of gangs headed by Cherizier, known as the G9 Friends and Allies have imposed a blockade on the main fuel terminal in Haiti. Fuel is now getting more scarce by the day, with prices surging to as much as 20-dollars a gall...

At time of recording an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Uganda has sickened 64 people. 24 people have died. The outbreak was declared on September 20th in a rural community but has since spread to Kampala, the sprawling capital city. In recent years, health officials in Africa have become very adept at responding to ebola outbreaks, and have relied on a highly effective vaccine that was developed in the...

The Chinese Communist Party Congress is always a key moment on the Chinese political calendar. Every five years, party delegates select party leadership. This includes the selection of the top most ranks of the Chinese Communist Party, including its General Secretary. Being a one party state, the head of the Chinese Communist Party is also the President of China.  Over the last several decades, Ge...