Archives for October 2018

What Happens if the International Criminal Court Investigates American War Crimes in Afghanistan?

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The International Criminal Court is likely to open an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Afghanistan. Much of the focus of the investigation would be crimes committed by the Taliban, but actions by Americans could also come under scrutiny. This raises the prospect of the first real collision between Americans and the International Criminal Court.

On the line with me to discuss the implications of this probable ICC probe of the Afghanistan conflict is Mark Kersten. He is a fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and one of my favorite go-to ICC experts.

We kick off discussing the circumstances around this ICC investigation and that segues into a conversation about the history of US-ICC relations and we have a broader discussion about the current work of the ICC around the world–and why many of its cases seem to be faltering.

The Inside Story of How India Eliminated Polio

The challenge was immense.

About twenty years ago, India accounted for over 60% of all polio cases worldwide — in fact it was considered a “hyper” endemic country. Then, the Indian government teamed up with the United Nations and other partners, including through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to tackle polio head on.

India’s vast population, its geographic diversity, and pockets of extreme poverty seriously complicated this effort. But the Indian government and its partners adapted, innovated and above all persisted until they could reach the very last child with the polio vaccine.

In 2014, India was officially declared polio-free. There has not been a single case of wild polio in India in over eight years. Today, only three countries remain polio endemic. And as of October, there were fewer than 20 wild polio cases worldwide in 2018.

The world is now tantalizingly close to the total global eradication of polio, and India’s success in defeating polio within its borders is a big reason why total eradication is within reach

Through interviews and archival material, this special episode of Global Dispatches tells you the story of how, against all odds, India eliminated polio.

This episode is produced in partnership with the the United Nations Foundation as part of a series that examines successes in multilateral cooperation to tackle great global problems.  Previous episodes in this series include how the world closed the hole in the ozone layer, and how the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia successfully completed its work  in 2015. 

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The International Implications of Canada’s Legalization of Cannabis

On October 17, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize the recreational use of Cannabis. The first was Uruguay, which decriminalized Cannabis a few years ago. But Canada’s move is arguably more significant to international relations for the fact that it is a member of the G7 —  and is a country that has a longstanding commitment to international law and the rules based international order

As my guest today Ambassador David Johnson explains, this move puts Canada squarely in violation of its international treaty obligations. David Johnson is a former US assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement affairs. He is also a member of the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board.  This is a body that oversees country’s compliance with international treaties relating to drugs, including what is known as the 1961 Single Convention.

We discuss the implications of Canada’s apparent violation of this treaty; and what it means for global efforts to control illicit drugs trafficking.

More broadly,though, we discuss what happens when progressive policies like the decriminalization of cannabis run afoul of the rules of the international system.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn the international implications of Canada’s decision to decriminalize the recreational use of marijuana, have a listen.

Download this episode to listen later. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify

Why the Latest Ebola Outbreak in the DRC is So Dangerous

An ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sickened over 200 people and resulted in over 130 deaths as of October 18. It could get worse.

What makes this current outbreak so potentially dangerous is the fact that it is occurring in a conflict zone. Ebola has been confirmed in two provinces, North Kivu and Ituri, that have long been a hotbed for various armed groups.  As my guest today, Heather Kerr of Save the Children explains, this insecurity is seriously undermining efforts to bring this outbreak under control.

To be sure, the DRC is experienced in handling Ebola outbreaks. A separate outbreak in the country’s Equateur province was quickly and effectively contained last summer. But the challenges facing this latest outbreak are immense. In particular, the large city of Beni was recently attacked by an armed group, forcing health workers to curtail their activities.

I caught up with Heather Kerr, who is Save the Children’s Country Director for DRC, from Kinshasa, the capitol of the DRC where she was just emerging from a meeting on the ebola outbreak.  If you have twenty minutes and want to learn how local authorities and the international community are responding to this challenging outbreak, have a listen

How The Murder of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi May Reshape International Relations

On October 2, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, seeking to retrieve some documents relating to his upcoming wedding.  He never came out. Turkish authorities believe he was tortured and murdered by Saudi intelligence officers sent to kill him.

This incident has profoundly shaken Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the United States. Khashoggi was well known and well-liked by journalists and others in policy circles in Washington DC. He was a columnist for the Washington Post and had a residence in Northern Virginia. Yet, despite his connections, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman apparently ordered a hit job.

On the line with me to discuss the international implications of this incident is Simon Henderson, the Baker Fellow and Director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He was a friend of  Jamal Khashoggi. He explains who Khashoggi was, and how his murder may impact Saudi Arabia’s relationship with both Turkey and the United States.

Details from the incident in the Saudi consulate are still emerging. We recorded this conversation on Friday oct 12. And I think that Simon Henderson provides some useful context that will help you understand how we reached a point where the Saudi government was willing to so brazenly murder a high profile critic of the Crown Prince.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn some of the broader international implications of this apparent murder, have a listen.

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PODCAST: US Retreat Leaves an “Empty Throne” of Global Leadership

My guest today, Ivo Daalder, served as the United States ambassador to NATO under President Obama from 2009 to 2013. He is now the president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and he is the co-author, with James Lindsay, of the new book The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership.

The book offers a comprehensive accounting of the first two years of President Trump’s foreign policy and in so doing, it offers an unsparing criticism of what the authors argue is a grand strategic failure of the Trump administration.

For those of you who have been around the foreign policy world for a while, you may recall that Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay last teamed up for the 2005 book America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy. This book won many awards at the time and it was the first book to really offer a full picture of the immense scope of the foreign policy failures of the first term of the George W Bush administration.  We kick off this conversation comparing that era to the one we are currently in.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn the implications of the Trump administration’s retreat from global leadership, have a listen.

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Are Development NGOs Fit for Purpose?

My guest today, Nicola Banks, is a lecturer in global urbanism and urban development at the University of Manchester. She has conducted some pioneering research on the role of the NGO sector in global development.

Some of her findings —  including that development NGOs be more politically engaged —  are being adopted and tested by some major aid agencies. Dr. Banks is also undertaking an ambitious project, along with Professor Dan Brockington of the University of Sheffield, of mapping the UK’s NGO sector and we discuss some of her findings from that study.

Her research that we discuss in this episode asks one big question: Are today’s global development NGOs suitable designed to achieve maximum impact in the fight against global poverty? That is, are they “fit for purpose” in a changing world. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn about the valuable contributions of the NGO sector to sustainable development, and how NGOs might change to achieve more lasting impact, have a listen

This episode is part of a new content partnership between the podcast and the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. For the next several months we will be featuring from, time to time, experts from the Global Development Institute who will discuss their research and also the pressing news of the day as it relates to global inequalities and development. If you’d like to learn more about the Global Development Institute you can go to GDI.Manchester.ac.uk or click on the add on globaldispatchespodcast.com

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A Conversation With Kosovo’s Foreign Minister

I met Kosovo’s foreign minister Behgjet Pacolli in a hotel lobby not far from the United Nations last week, as world leaders gathered in the New York for the annual UN General Assembly.

Kosovo is in a unique diplomatic situation. About 116 countries recognize Kosovo as an independent state. This includes major powers like the United States and most of Europe. Russia and many other countries, however, do not consider it an independent country. Rather they consider Kosovo to be a breakaway region of Serbia.  The United Nations is ground zero for Kosovo’s quest for universal statehood recognition, but so far that has hit a roadblock at the Security Council, where Russia holds a veto.

I was interested in learning from the foreign minister both some of the substantive issues on his plate during UN Week, including Kosovo’s foreign policy priorities today. I also wanted to learn just what life is like during UN week for the foreign minister of a small state like Kosovo. The conversation you about to hear veers between those two threads.

As you’ll see from our conversation Foreign Minister Pacolli’s paramount is to gain full status for Kosovo at the UN and secure bi-lateral recognition from as many states as possible and it was interesting to hear from him how he goes about doing that.

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How Facebook Abets Rodrigo Duterte’s Drug War in the Philippines

If you want a glimpse of a dystopian future in which authoritarian leaders harness the power of social media to carry out human rights abuses and suppress their political opponents, you need to look no further than the Philippines today.

There are few countries in the world as hyper connected on Facebook as the Philippines. And here, President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies are using Facebook to advance their so-called war on drugs which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, mostly through extra-judicial killings. All the while, so called Facebook “influencers” are spreading false information — even a faked pornographic image to undermine leaders in the Philippines who are critical of Duterte. It is a nightmare situation and one in which Facebook is an accomplice.

On the line with me to discuss the deleterious effect of Facebook on democracy in the Philippines is Davey Alba. She is a senior technology reporter with BuzzFeed News who wrote a deeply reported article examining the mechanics of how Duterte and his allies have harnessed Facebook to advance an authoritarian agenda while undermining domestic political opposition. Facebook has very much become a tool of Duterte’s drug war and what is happening in the Philippines right now should serve as a warning about Facebook’s potential to undermine democracy.

Download this episode to listen later. You can subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify