Archives for November 2020

Better Know Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Linda Thomas-Greenfield will be nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a veteran diplomat who most recently served as Assistant-Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Obama administration. Prior to that she served as the US Ambassador to Liberia during a critical time in that country’s transition to democracy.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield left the State Department in 2017, amid a wider purge by the Trump administration of senior career diplomats. Not long after, she sat down with me for a long interview about her life and career.  We cover a lot of ground in this interview, which alternates between a discussion about policy and her own fascinating life story. 

Get the podcast to listen later

Apple Podcasts  | Google Podcasts |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Radio Public

https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

What’s Next for the Iran Nuclear Deal?

When President Trump came to office in 2017, he inherited from President Obama the Iran Nuclear Deal. Trump rejected the deal and embarked on a fruitless “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. 

Such is the state of relations between the United States and Iran that Joe Biden will inherit when he takes office in January. Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute discusses whether or not it is even possible for a Biden administration to revive the nuclear deal; and what steps a Biden administration can take to get diplomacy with Iran back on track. 

Get the podcast to listen later

Apple Podcasts  | Google Podcasts |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Radio Public

A Ceasefire, But No Peace for Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin met in a videoconference to sign a ceasefire agreeement

On November 9th the warring parties in Nagorno-Karabakh signed a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia. The agreement comes after weeks of very heaving fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia which killed and displaced thousands of people.

On the line with me to discuss these recent events Anna Zamejc, a freelance journalist who has covered this region for years. We spend a few minutes discussing the recent history of Nagorno-Karabakh before having a longer conversation about the regional and international implications of this ceasefire agreement. 

Get the podcast to listen later

Apple Podcasts  | Google Podcasts |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Radio Public

Ethiopia Teeters on the Brink of a Devastating Civil War

On November 4th, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military operations against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the TPLF, which is the group that controls the Tigray region in Northern Ethiopia. 

Tensions have been simmering for some time between the Federal government, which Abiy controls and the TPLF. Now, one year after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Abiy has launched a military campaign that could very well spark a widespread civil war. 

On the line with me to discuss recent events in Ethiopia and offer some analysis of why the country is on the brink of civil war is Mastewal Terefe, an Ethiopian policy analyst and lawyer. 

We kick off discussing the events of November 4 before having a broader conversation about the causes of escalating tensions between Abiy and the TPLF. As you will see in this conversation, there is a great risk right now that this conflict between the federal government and TPLF spreads to other armed groups that are organized along ethnic lines. 

Get the podcast to listen later

Apple Podcasts  | Google Podcasts |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Radio Public

Alliance for Peacebuilding PeaceCon 2020

Mastewal on Twitter 

Veteran European Diplomat Gerard Araud on Joe Biden’s Election and the Future of Trans-Atlantic Relations

European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari

Gerard Araud is the former French Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations. We recorded this conversation on the Friday following the Tuesday of election day, when the result was all but certain. Ambassador Araud offers his take on how the election of Joe Biden will impact transatlantic relations and the ways that a Biden administration can repair some of the damage done to US-European relations these past four years. 

Get the podcast to listen later

Apple Podcasts  | Google Podcasts |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Radio Public

Protests in Thailand

Protests in Thailand took an unexpected turn in October when young Thais began demanding reforms to the Monarchy, a traditionally revered institution. This added to demands that the prime minister, who took over in a coup in 2014 immediately resign.  

Benjamin Zawacki, Senior Program Specialist at the Asia Foundation and author of the book “Thailand: Shifting Ground between the US and a Rising China,” explains what is driving protests in Thailand.  We kick off discussing the role of the monarchy in Thai society and politics before having a longer conversation about what this protest movement means for the future of Thailand. 

Get the podcast to listen later

Apple Podcasts  | Google Podcasts |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Radio Public