The World Unpacked

Former UN high commissioner for human rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has been an outspoken critic of human rights abusers, including of those in power. He sat down with guest host Jarrett Blanc to talk about the death of Jamal Khashoggi, the war in Yemen, the future of the Middle East, and the false promise that undemocratic leaders will bring about lasting freedom for their people. Jarrett Blanc is...

Jen and Jarrett talk to lawyer Greta Lichtenbaum about how sanctions policy translates into the real world, and how she helps her clients navigate them. This is the third episode of a three-part special series—a 101 on how sanctions work and how policymakers should use them. Don’t miss the first two episodes! You can find them in your feed wherever you listen to podcasts. Greta Lichtenbaum is atto...

How powerful are sanctions, really? In this episode, Jen and Jarrett talk to former U.S. treasury secretary Jack Lew about how policymakers ought to approach sanctions, and the dangers of using sanctions unwisely. This is the second episode of a three-part special series on sanctions—a 101 on how sanctions work and how policymakers should use them. Don’t miss part one of our series on what sanctio...

This is the first episode of a three-part special series on sanctions—a 101 course on how sanctions work and how policymakers should use them. This episode, Jen talks with her special cohost for this series, Jarrett Blanc, about what sanctions are and how they work. Over the next two days, we’ll release two more episodes—tomorrow Jen and Jarrett talk to former U.S. treasury secretary Jack Lew abou...

Kosovo and Serbia are trying to negotiate the end of their old and frequently bloody conflict. A solution could pave the way for both countries to join the EU. Jen Psaki talks to Bekim Çollaku, chief of staff to Kosovar President Hashim Thaçi, who explains Kosovo’s goals and parameters in the negotiations. Carnegie’s Judy Dempsey, who has covered the Balkans for years, shares her view on what come...

Jen Psaki sat down with Stanford professor Francis Fukuyama to talk about his new book, "Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment." They discussed Fukuyama’s views on the current trajectory of identity politics in the United States and around the world, and what he sees as a new essential American identity. Go deeper: More about Francis Fukuyama: https://fukuyama.s...

Jen Psaki kicks off a new season of Carnegie's flagship podcast, DiploPod, one-on-one with Carnegie scholar Marwan Muasher, who is the former foreign minister of Jordan and has been through many rounds of Middle East peace talks. They discussed the fading prospects of the two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, the problematic prospect of integrating both communities in a one-state o...

The Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Iran this week, following U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA. Sanctions expert and Carnegie Senior Fellow Jarrett Blanc joined Jen Psaki to talk about the consequences of reimposing sanctions and what Trump is trying to accomplish with his Iran policy. Jarrett Blanc was previously the deputy lead coordinator and State Department coordinator for Iran nucl...

Jen Psaki sat down with Carnegie scholar and Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour to discuss the impact of this week’s Twitter war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian officials, the future of Iran’s leaders, and President Trump’s approach to Iran policy. Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy to...

The Helsinki meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded with a tumultuous press conference filled with jaw-dropping statements on both sides. Carnegie experts Andrew Weiss and Alexander Gabuev joined Jen Psaki to dissect the summit and what it means for US-Russia relations going forward. Andrew S. Weiss is the James Family Chair and vice president fo...

What do recent and upcoming elections in Latin America reveal about the region’s changing political and economic landscape? Are the rise of populism and concerns about corruption having destabilizing effects that outside actors can exploit? Carnegie visiting scholar Julia Gurganus, filling in for Jen Psaki, sat down in the DiploPod studio with Mark Feierstein, special assistant to the president an...

Ambassador Michael McFaul helped launch the Obama administration’s reset in U.S.-Russian relations, which fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries. As U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, he had a front-row seat as the relationship began to unravel in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. In his new book, From Cold War to Hot Peace, he talks a...

Daniel Ellsberg may be best known for his role in exposing the realities of the Vietnam War by releasing the Pentagon Papers, but he also has a new book out, The Doomsday Machine, that lays out a stark depiction of nuclear war planning within the government. He joined Jen Psaki in the DiploPod studio to talk about the threat of nuclear war today, the importance of leaks, and the escalation of tens...

Frederic Wehrey has a new book out this month — The Burning Shores, Inside the Battle for the New Libya. Based on nearly two years of reporting, it tells the stories of Libyan lives upended by turmoil, sheds new light on the country’s afflictions, and provides valuable lessons for the future. For the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki discussed with him what broke down in Libya post Qaddafi, th...

With the possibility of historic talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean President Kim Jong Un on the horizon, the co-directors of Carnegie’s nuclear policy program—Toby Dalton and James Acton joined Jen Psaki in the DiploPod studio to talk about what technical issues should be on the table in the talks and what success would look like if diplomacy does move forward. More on Acton -...

For the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki spoke with Carnegie non-resident scholar Ulrich Kühn and the co-director of Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program, James Acton about nuclear threats from Russia. They talked about President Putin’s march speech touting Russia’s nuclear capabilities, Kühn’s recent report on “Preventing Escalation in the Baltics”, and the path forward for eastern Europe and...

For the latest episode of DipoPod, Jen Psaki interviewed Carnegie senior fellow Karim Sadjadpour and former BBC reporter and Carnegie senior visiting fellow Kim Ghattas to talk about the long standing rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Karim and Kim, experts on the region, discussed how the rivalry impacts the region and the sudden rise of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. They...

In the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki sits down with Julia Gurganus to discuss the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gurganus is a visiting scholar with the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Program. She has spent the past two decades working in the U.S. intelligence community on issues related to Russia and Eurasia. From 2014 to 2017, she was a national intelligence officer for Russia...

In the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki sits down with Douglas Paal to discuss the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. They examine what the North Koreans might want from talks, what expectations and concerns regional actors including China, Japan, and South Korea may have, and how Trump’s decision on whether to stick with the Iran...

Jen Psaki sat down this week with Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, and Andrew Weiss, the vice president for studies overseeing the Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia program for the latest episode of DiploPod. They discussed what to expect from the upcoming Russian elections, how President Putin has changed, and the surprising results from a new poll conducted by the Ca...

For the first episode of DiploPod this year, Jen Psaki sat down with Jeffrey Feltman, the United Nations under-secretary-general for political affairs, to discuss his December 2017 trip to North Korea, the upcoming talks between North and South Korea, and the role of the United States in those talks. Feltman was the highest level official from the United Nations to meet with officials in North Kor...

Jen Psaki sat down with Carnegie’s Jake Sullivan and Jarrett Blanc for the final episode of DiploPod of 2017. They discussed the status of the Iran deal, including what U.S. President Donald Trump may do next year, what is happening in Congress, and how U.S. global partners are reacting to the uncertainty over the future of the deal. Jake Sullivan is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Geoeconomics and...

In a special episode of Diplopod, Jen Psaki sat down with the outgoing Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and former Carnegie junior fellow Nick Rasmussen. They discussed how the threats facing the United States have changed since September 11th, whether the U.S. government is the most effective voice for combatting extremism online, and what social media companies should do to addre...

Earlier this week Jen Psaki sat down with the former acting director of the CIA, Michael Morell, for a conversation about North Korea and the nuclear threat. Tune in to hear their discussion on what Morell would recommend to U.S. President Donald Trump, why he thinks we the United States should consider options that take into account the possibility that North Korea’s has the capacity to reach the...

In the second episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki spoke with Paul Haenle¸ the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center. The wide ranging conversation, coming on the heels of President Trump’s trip to Asia, focused on the view from Beijing of the North Korean nuclear threat including what actions would constitute a red line for the Chinese government, whether the United States and China are aligned on t...