Inside the Iran Nuke Talks

All eyes are on Vienna as delegations from the United States, Germany, France, the UK, Russia and China meet with Iranian officials in a final push to secure a comprehensive agreement over Iran’s nuclear program. They have until July 20 to come to terms.

The negotiations are complex and the issues vexing. But one thing is certain: if an agreement is struck it could change international relations in the entire Middle East and even the world. Here to take us inside the negotiations is veteran journalist Laura Rozen. She sets the scene for what to expect in Vienna in the coming days. I also speak with Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association who breaks down the wonky key points of negotiation in an easily digestible way.

I think you’ll enjoy this episode. This is a hugely significant moment for Obama’s foreign policy legacy, the Middle East, and the cause of non-proliferation. Have a listen.

Turkey’s Strategic View of the Iraq Crisis

Turkish foreign policy is always a fascinating case study. As the sunni insurgency in Iraq is gaining steam, how are Turkish foreign policy elites responding? What are Turkey’s near term strategic goals for Iraq and Syria? And how does this impact Turkey’s sometimes hostile relationship to its Kurdish population? Mark speaks with professor Louis Fishman who answers these questions and more.

Be sure to check out Prof. Fishman’s blog, Istanbul-New York-Tel Aviv.

Episode 21: Ambassador Thomas Pickering

 

Amb Thomas Pickering has had a front row seat to some of the most important foreign policy events of the last 50 years. The career foreign service officer and widely respected diplomat served as US Ambassador to the United Nations, Israel, Jordan, Russia, India, among others places. He speaks with Mark about the faltering Israel-Palestine peace process, his role in shaping US policy during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and an awkward phone call with President-elect George H.W. Bush, who tapped him to serve as US Ambassador to the UN during the run-up to the Gulf War.

 

Dying for the World Cup

 

In 2022 Qatar will host the World Cup. Migrant workers, mostly from Southeast Asia, are living in harsh conditions and dying in large numbers as they construct the infrastructure for the World Cup in the Gulf Kingdom. Mark speaks with journalist Pete Pattisson of the Guardian who takes us inside the migrant worker industry to expose horrid conditions, stolen wages, and corrupt practices faced by Nepalese workers in the Gulf.

Episode 20: Jessica T. Mathews

Jessica Tuchman Mathews is on the line this week. The longtime head of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and foreign policy trendsetter discusses the crisis in Ukraine, growing up with a famous mother, her unconventional path from molecular biology to foreign policy; and how two of her Foreign Affairs articles forever changed how we think about the world.

It’s a great conversation!  Have a listen and let me know what you think.

Egypt After the Counter Revolution

Egypt’s ex Army Chief Abdel Fatah al Sisi won election this week (with an astounding 96% of the vote!) The ascent of this Mubarak-era military functionary speaks to the profound failure of Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring revolution.

Who is al-Sisi? Why did the Muslim Brotherhood and Mohammed Morsi fail so spectacularly? And what can prevent Egypt from lurching from one political crisis to the next? Here to provide the context for Morsi’s fall, al Sisi’s rise and What It All Means is Issandr al Amrani of the International Crisis Group. If you have 20 minutes and what to understand what’s going on in Egypt, have a listen.

 

 

Episode 18: Zalmay Khalilzad

 

Zalmay Khalizad is on the line this week. The Afghan native served as US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations under George W. Bush.

Ambassador Khalilzad discusses coming to the USA at the age of 15, how a chance encounter in grad school changed his career path, and how he helped shape US policy during the Iran-Iraq war. The conversation kicks off with a discussion of Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s legacy and America’s legacy of violence in Iraq.

 


Why Libya is Suddenly on the Verge of Civil War

Libya today is arguably closer to a full blown civil war than at any time since the fall of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011. A renegade general named Khalifa Haftar is on the March, seeking to upend an Islamist controlled parliament. Who is this man, what does he want, and why are conditions ripe for a civil war? Mark speaks with journalist Marine Casalis who puts the unfolding situation in Libya in some context.

Episode 14: Douglas Ollivant on Iraq’s Violent Death Spiral

Iraq is in the midst of an unrelenting descent into violence. Every day brings news of another bombing or attack that leaves scores of people dead. This has been the case for the past several months, and it only seems to be getting worse.

I speak with Douglas Ollivant of the New American Foundation who helps put this current wave of violence in context. Ollivant served as a military officer in Iraq, then served on the Iraq team at the National Security Council under both President Bush and Obama. Ollivant offers an indepth analysis of what is driving this violence, what can be done to stop it and the regional implications (read: Syria) of it all. Have a listen.

Episode 13: Gary Bass

The historian Gary Bass has penned a new book that is getting rave reviews. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide tells the story of the muted American response to a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe that befell Bangladesh in the wake of its separation from Pakistan in the early 1970s.

Gary and I talk about his story, what made this particular genocide “forgotten”, and how one goes about researching history like this.  Have a listen!