The World Upfront

Since Vladimir Putin's decision to launch a full-scale attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Ukrainian people have demonstrated a remarkable amount of resilience, resistance, and social solidarity. Kevin D. Ryan has a unique perspective on the Ukrainian mentality, having visited Kyiv in the days just before Russia launched its assault and long after the United States had been evacuating...

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has now been at the helm of Turkish politics for over twenty years, slowly reguiding Turkey's once pro-Western future in a highly authoritarian direction. A NATO ally, Erdoğan's authoritarianism and grandstanding diplomatic pursuits have damaged Turkey's relationship with the West, and in particular, the United States. Yet despite much optimism earlier th...

Twenty years following the US invasion of Iraq, the sources, conduct, and consequences of the conflict are still often misunderstood — this while the security climate in the Middle East shifts to a new era. To make sense of the war and its role in US foreign policy, The World Upfront is joined by Colonel (Ret.) Frank Sobchak, PhD. Sobchak has extensive career experience in the Middle East, has wri...

On June 21, the Bureau International des Expositions (otherwise known as BIE) will announce the winner to host EXPO 2027, a months-long event in which countries unveil and showcase their most remarkable achievements. The United States is one of five countries – alongside Argentina, Serbia, Spain, and Thailand – in the running to host the EXPO. If the US wins, EXPO 2027 will be hosted in Bloomingto...

Following Russia's February 24 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, announced a "Zeitenwende" (or "turning point") in German foreign policy. Since, Germany has drastically reoriented its policy towards Russia, including the recent approval of a €2.7 billion military aid package that includes Leopard tanks, armored personnel carriers and vehicles,...

De-dollarization, the idea that the dominant role the U.S. dollar plays in the global economy might be coming to an end, has recently seized the attention of businesspeople, academics, and pundits alike. But is this round of de-dollarization talk all hype or grounded in reality? To discuss this issue on our inaugural episode, The World Upfront is joined by Professor Benjamin J. Cohen, one of the w...