Episode 40: Tom Hart

EMT_tom-hart_large-360x444Tom Hart was at the center of the biggest international development debates of the last 15 years. Now serving as the US Director of the ONE Campaign, Hart lobbied for forgiving the debt of the world’s poorest countries in the late 1990s, and in the early 2000s he helped pass the world’s largest program to combat HIV/AIDS. In this episode. Hart tells the genesis story of the Jubilee Campaign, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. And “Genesis” is apt–Tom grew up in Alaska the son of an Episcopal minister and became the Washington, D.C. lobbyist for the Episcopal church. It’s a very interesting story, accessible and interesting for wonks and non-wonks alike.

 

Episode 39: Erica Chenoweth

cropped-erica1c2Erica Chenoweth is a pioneering academic whose groundbreaking research on the strategic use of non-violence showed that movements that use non-violent tactics when fighting for the overthrow of a regime are twice as likely to succeed as movements that use violence as a tactic. Her book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Non-Violence, co-authored with Maria J. Stephan, provides an authoritative study of how and why non-violent movements succeed. Chenoweth discusses her book, some of the current uprisings she is studying and tells Mark how growing up in Dayton, Ohio during the crisis in the Balkans helped propel her to a career in international relations.

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.

 

Episode 19: Louise Arbour

hc-highres-middleInternational Crisis Group chief Louise Arbour is on the line this week. Ms Arbour is a true human rights pioneer, perhaps best known as the war crimes prosecutor who served Slobodan Milosevic his indictment for genocide. In this episode, she tells Mark about her amazing journey from law school in Quebec to the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda — and how one dark episode of Canadian history propelled her to fight governments who abuse their citizens.

 

 

Episode 17: Gov. Bill Richardson

Bill Richardson is a former UN ambassador, governor, presidential candidate, member of congress and energy secretary. But throughout it all he’s had a second career: hostage negotiator. Richardson discusses how he developed a reputation as the “undersecretary for thugs”; his visits to hostile countries to secure the release of political prisoners; and how a famed African dictator almost bludgeoned him with a cane.

The Foreign Policy Implications of India’s Elections

 

The largest excerise in democracy in the history of humanity is coming to an end. Narendra Modi will cruise to victory, but what does his ascent mean for India’s relationship with Pakistan, China, the USA and the rest of the world? Mark speaks with Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution about the foreign policy implications of India’s elections.

Episode 16: Save the Children CEO Carolyn Miles

Save the Children is one of the largest international aid and relief organizations in the world. CEO Carolyn Miles speaks with Mark about her unconvential path to relief work, which included studying animal behavior, a stint selling credit cards in Asia and opening a boutique coffee chain in Hong Kong.

Because this was published on Mother’s Day, they kick off with a discussion of Save the Children’s report on unsafe motherhood around the world.  Have a listen!

What Boko Haram Wants

Boko Haram is in the news for all the wrong reasons. A series of audactious attacks, including the kidnapping of hundreds of school girls, has provoked international outrage. But why would Boko Haram launch such an attack? Who are these people, what do they want, and how can they be defeated?

Mark Leon Goldberg catches up with Jacob Zenn of the Jamestown Foundation who offers insight, context and an explanation for the Boko Haram insurgency. Have a listen.

Episode 11: Kenneth Roth

The longtime executive director of Human Rights Watch is on the line this week. Kenneth Roth discusses some of the world’s most ignored human rights crises; how his father’s experience fleeing Nazi Germany propelled him to a career in human rights; and how the human rights movement is evolving as global centers of power shift.

Episode 9: Mia Farrow

The acclaimed actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador talks to Mark about her work for children in conflict zones around the world. Mia Farrow traces her committment to humanitarian causes from an early age and dicusses the role of celebrity in bringing to light the suffering of vulnerable people in oft-ignored parts of the world. Oh, and she also tells a crazy story about the time she beat up a man beating a woman on the side of the road in Chad! It’s a great conversation.