A Crisis in Cameroon

There is an escalating humanitarian crisis in Cameroon where more than half a million people have been displaced by conflict.

This conflict erupted in earnest in late 2017 and early 2018 in a series of attacks and reprisals between Anglophone separatists and the French dominated government. In international affairs circles, this is known as the “Anglophone Crisis” in Cameroon.

As my guest today Jan Egeland says, when hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced, it usually sets off international alarm bells. But this is not the case with Cameroon. There is virtually no international mediation, very little media attention, and the humanitarian response has been woefully inadequate.

Jan Egeland is the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a large humanitarian relief organization. He has spent his career in humanitarian affairs, including serving as an under secretary general of the United Nations and as a humanitarian relief advisor for the UN in Syria.  He is one of the world’s most high profile humanitarian relief experts and he is sounding the alarm on this crisis.

Jan Egeland recently returned from a fact finding trip to the crisis-affected regions of Cameroon. A few days after we recorded this conversation, he’s briefing the Security Council on this humanitarian crisis.  You can consider this conversation a preview and extended version of the message he’ll be sending to the Security Council.

This episode does a good job explaining what is driving this crisis. However, if you want a deeper explanation of the origins of the Anglophone crisis, I will point you to a podcast episode from January 2018, recorded just as this crisis was erupting that goes more in depth into the historical roots of the anglophone crisis. Also, if you want to learn more about Jan Egeland himself, I’ll point you to episode number 52 of Global Dispatches, from back in 2015 in which Jan Egeland discusses his life and career in more detail.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn about this under-the-radar crisis, have a listen

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Sudan is in the Midst of a Revolution

Protesters in Sudan have secured the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al Bashir.  The protests began in earnest in December and steadily gained momentum and traction. Then, suddenly,  after nearly thirty years in power Omar al Bashir was deposed in coup on April 11. Now, he is reportedly in prison in Khartoum.

But despite the ouster of Bashir, protesters have not dispersed and are now rallying against the cadre of military officials who have assumed control.

So what comes next in this volatile moment of political upheaval in Sudan?

On the line with me to discuss these events is Payton Knopf. He is a former U.S. diplomat and UN official who has worked on Sudan issues for many years. He is currently an advisor to the United States Institute for Peace

We kick off discussing the events that lead to the ouster of al Bashir. (Note: a podcast episode from January covers these protests in detail,  so we do dwell too much on them in this episode. Rather, we spend the bulk of the conversation discussing this unfolding and fluid situation.)

Payton Knopf explains who these military rulers of Sudan are–and why it is significant that some of them have trained and deployed militias to Yemen and Libya. We also discuss the implications of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for al Bashir and the unfolding geo-political dynamic that may influence how this political crisis is resolved.

If you have 25 minutes and want to understand this moment of profound political change in one of Africa’s largest and most strategically significant countries, have a listen.

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About Payton Knopf

Payton Knopf is an advisor to the Africa program where his work focuses on the intersecting political, economic and security dynamics in the Red Sea. He is concurrently an advisor to the European Institute of Peace.

Knopf is a former U.S. diplomat with expertise in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, and the Middle East. Immediately prior to joining USIP, Knopf was the first coordinator the United Nations Panel of Experts on South Sudan, from its inception in 2015 until April 2017. He was also formerly a senior advisor at the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI)/Martti Ahtisaari Centre and the PeaceWorks Foundation.

Before leaving government, he was spokesman at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under then-Ambassador Susan E. Rice, having previously served as a policy advisor to U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell. From 2006 to 2008, he was based at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, where he advised the then-U.S Special Envoys for Sudan Andrew Natsios and Richard Williamson on issues related to the conflict in Darfur and to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan.

His other State Department assignments included in the Office of Egypt and the Levant and at the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  He was an International Affairs fellow in residence at the Council on Foreign Relations from 2010-2011 where is researched focused on diplomatic engagement with non-state armed groups.

A Conversation With Michael Møller, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva

I was a bit skeptical when my guest today told me that every person on the planet, in any 24 hour period, is somehow impacted by the work of the UN and other international entities in Geneva.

Still, Michael Møller would be in a position to know. He is the Director General of the UN Office in Geneva, which makes him a very senior UN official.  As he explains, the mundane routines of life — everything from brushing my teeth in morning to calling my grandmother in Montreal — is touched by work done in Geneva.

We discuss how he is trying to change the perceptions of the UN’s work in Geneva by explaining its relevance to everyday life on the planet. We also discuss the innovative “SDG Lab” launched by his office and the work of the UN Conference on Disarmament, of which Møller is the titular head.

I will be seeing Michael Møller in Stockholm next week where he will be delivering a keynote address to the New Shape Forum. This is a conference and ideas festival convened by the Global Challenges Foundation.

We kick off this conversation discussing what Michael Møller is looking forward to from the New Shape Forum and also he previews some of the remarks he’ll be delivering at his keynote address.

This episode is presented in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation, whose aim is to contribute to reducing the main global problems and risks that threaten humanity. Last year, the Global Challenges Foundation held an open call to find new models of global cooperation better capable of handling the most pressing global risks. In May this year at the New Shape Forum in Stockholm, the top proposals will be presented publicly and further refined through discussions with key thought leaders and experts.  

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Episode 180: Anote Tong, former President of Kiribati

President Anote Tong of Kiribati addresses General Assembly. UN Photo/J Carrier

To the people of Kiribati, climate change is an existential threat.

This is an Island nation in the pacific — it is a string of atolls about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. It has a population of about 100,000 and is known for its vast Tuna stocks.

But climate change and rising sea levels are making much of Kiribati uninhabitable–it is a country that is facing extinction. And not in some distant future. This is happening now.

My guest today, Anote Tong, served as President of Kiribati from 2003 to 2016. President Tong is well known in international circles for being a powerful advocate on behalf of people living in small island states that are on the front line of climate change.

What I found so interesting about this conversation was learning how President Tong’s advocacy in international forums has evolved over time–and how this existential threat contributed to President Tong’s decision to create what is the world’s largest marine sanctuary: the Phoenix Islands Protection Area.

This episode is presented in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation, whose aim is to contribute to reducing the main global problems and risks that threaten humanity. Last year, the Global Challenges Foundation held an open call to find new models of global cooperation better capable of handling the most pressing global risks. In May this year at the New Shape Forum in Stockholm, the top proposals will be presented publicly and further refined through discussions with key thought leaders and experts. US$5 million will be awarded to the best ideas that re-envision global governance for the 21st century.

President Tong is a Global Challenges Foundation ambassador and in the conversation we discuss this prize and why new ideas for global governance are important for the future of small island states like Kiribati.

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Episode 177: Robert Malley

Robert Malley is the new president and CEO of the International Crisis Group.

The International Crisis Group provides the public and policymakers with analysis of conflicts and potential ways out of conflict around the world. As regular listeners probably know, it is one of my go-to resources for understanding crises and conflicts around the world and analysts from the Crisis Group are frequently guests on the this show.

(In fact —  and I did not realize this when I reached out to Malley for the interview —  but I’ve now had every single president of the International Crisis Group as a guests on this show, including Gareth Evans, Louise Arbour and Rob’s immediate predecessor Jean-Marie Guehenno.)

We kick off discussing some of the priorities he’ll emphasize as the group’s new president and also some of the major conflicts and crises he’s monitoring as we enter the new year.

We then discuss his unique upbringing. As Rob describes it, his father was a Jewish Egyptian Arab nationalist who became a public intellectual and advocated on behalf of colonized people around the world.  He describes how that background will help to inform his work as head of the Crisis Group.

Rob served in the National Security Council staff of both the Clinton administration and the Obama administration. His last post in the White House was as the so-called ISIL Czar, coordinating policy against the Islamic State.

This is a fascinating conversation with a person who has been at the center of some key foreign policy debates in the last decade.

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Episode 174: Michael McFaul, Former US Ambassador to Russia

Michael McFaul served as US Ambassador to Russia in the Obama administration from 2012 to 2014. Prior to that he served on the National Security Council where he helped shape was known at the time as the “Reset” with Russia.

He has a book coming out this spring, From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia which, among other things, discusses how his time in Russia and in the White House coincided with a worsening of relations between the United States and Russia–including how the reset went wrong. We discuss this at length, and also have a good conversation about how he first became interested in Russia as a high school student in Montana and how, during his frequent visits to Russia he became a pro-democracy activist, which caused many Russian officials to assume he was a CIA agent.

We spoke just about an hour after the International Olympic Committee announced that Russia would be banned from the 2018 winter games because of rampant doping. We kick off with a reaction to that news, which bleeds into a conversation about Putin’s general malfeasance.

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Episode 172: Agnès Marcaillou Leads the UN’s Bomb Squad

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Daniel Craig, UN Global Advocate for the Elimination of Mines and Explosive Hazards. Agnes Marcaillou, Director of UNMAS, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Photo credit: Stuart Ramson/UN Foundation

Agnès Marcaillou is the director of the United Nations Mine Action Service. This is the UN agency that helps clear mine fields, defuse IEDs and clean up unexploded ordinance around the world. It is the UN Bomb Squad.

In this conversation, we discuss the problem of landmines and unexploded ordinance around the word, the work of UNMAS, and how funding shortages are preventing her agency from being maximally effective in places like Iraq, where UNMAS has received high praise for defusing a bomb-laden bridge in Fallujah to allow aid to enter the city following ISIS’ defeat.

Agnès has had a long career in the UN. Early in her career, as a junior staffer working on the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weaposn, Anges skillfully navigated the tricky diplomacy around these negotiations and ended up having a very big and lasting impact the resulting treaty. It’s a great story she tells in the episode.

Last month, I saw Agnès give an acceptance speech at the Global Leadership Awards, which is an event hosted by United Nations Foundation. The way in which she both described the work of UNMAS and her own long experience in the UN system compelled me to reach out to her for an interview.

This is a great conversation with a true bureaucratic entrepreneur.

To access to this podcast episode: subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher or get the app to listen later

 

Episode 171: David Miliband

David Miliband is President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, the large global humanitarian organization that, among other things, serves refugees and advocates on their behalf. David Miliband is also, of course, the former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, from 2007 to 2010, and served in several positions in the Labor government of Tony Blair.

His new book is called Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time.  The book serves as a helpful entry point for anyone who wants to learn more about the global refugee crisis. It also offers a reflection on his family’s own refugee experience: Miliband’s mother and father were Jewish refugees to the UK who escaped Nazi controlled Europe. In our conversation Miliband describes how growing up the child of refugees influenced and informed his own career in politics and now as an NGO leader.

We kick off with a conversation about his new book and have a longer conversation about his life and career, with some fun and interesting digressions along the way.

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Episode 170: Peter Galbraith

Peter Galbraith helped uncover and confront two genocides. As a staffer in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 1980s, Galbraith compiled evidence of Saddam Hussein’s genocide against the Kurdish people. Later, as the United States Ambassador to Croatia during the 1990s, he used his position to call for more forceful intervention on behalf of besieged populations in the Balkans.

We discuss both these events, plus what it was like to be born the son of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated public intellectuals and liberal icons, John Kenneth Galbraith.

Peter Galbraith recently wrote a piece in the New York Review of Books about how the Trump administration is approaching the Kurdish situation. In it, he discusses some recent events in Kurdish region, including the Iraqi government’s decision to forcefully—and violently — respond to an independence referendum in the Kurdish region. This leads to an extended conversation that includes stories from Peter’s nearly 35 year engagement with Kurdish politics.   We also discuss Peter’s time in the Balkans and the unique way he sought to draw attention to ongoing mass atrocities there.

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The International Relations of California

If California were a country, it would be the sixth largest economy in the world. Its population is greater than countries like Poland and Canada.

So what happens in California can very much impact the rest of the world. And one fairly direct manifestation of California’s global relevance is in the state’s approach to climate change. Earlier this summer, California revamped its Cap-and-Trade program. This is a policy innovation intended to curb emissions by creating a market around greenhouse gasses like carbon. Companies can buy and sell permits to each other to release set amounts of greenhouse gasses.

That’s one way California is having a global impact. There are others as well. On the line with me to discuss California’s global impact is California State Senator Ben Allen. Senator Allen represents about 1 million people in communities around Los Angeles and he has been in the State Senate since 2014. We discuss California’s approach to climate change, and also some strategies that Senator Allen and his colleagues are employing to blunt some of the effects of the federal government’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement. We also discuss some other issues of transnational concern, like ensuring the eduction of immigrant children is not interrupted should they the get deported.

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