Counterpoint

Over the past few weeks, Taiwan’s military has been on high alert after China deployed warships and fighter jets around the island to conduct unannounced maritime drills. And some are now questioning whether China could be gearing up for a military attack. Foreign Policy Deputy Editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Jessica Chen Weiss, a professor of China studies at Johns Hopkins University and a former senior advisor at the U.S. State Department, and Markus Garlauskas, director of the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council and the former U.S. National Intelligence Officer for North Korea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump made immigration a cornerstone of his campaign. The question now is what will he actually do? Will he seek to round up and kick 10 million people out of the country on Jan. 21? Will he reconfigure U.S. policy to focus on admitting skilled workers and reducing the number of unskilled migrants? Foreign Policy deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Leah Boustan, a professor of economics at Princeton University and co-author of Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success, and Reihan Salam, the president of the Manhattan Institute and author of Melting Pot or Civil War? A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America didn’t join the United States and Europe in jumping to Kyiv’s defense. Their leaders wondered why they should oppose Russia’s aggression after watching Washington get away with decades of military interventions from Iraq to Libya, raising the question of whether opposing the use of force somewhere necessitates opposing it everywhere. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Vijay Prashad, the executive director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, and Martin Kimani, a former Kenyan ambassador to the United Nations and now executive director of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation. For more listening, check out After America: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1983649/episodes/15330743 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in 2016, under a Conservative-led government, Britain shocked the world by voting narrowly to leave the European Union. Fast-forward to today, and the political sands have shifted dramatically. In July, for the first time in 14 years, British voters elected a Labour government. Two weeks later, the new British prime minister, Keir Starmer, signaled his desire for the country to once again grow closer to Europe. And polls now show that if given the choice again, more people would vote to rejoin the EU than stay out. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by businesswoman, activist, and campaigner Gina Miller and former British Chancellor and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. For more listening, check out After America: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1983649/episodes/15330743 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past few months, the war in Ukraine has taken some dramatic turns. Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory, seizing chunks of Kursk province and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin. Russia retaliated with a number of devastating attacks on Ukrainian cities and military facilities and continued to seize more territory in Donetsk. Rather than moving toward a negotiated settlement, the war seems to be escalating. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and an assistant professor at Georgetown University, and Rajan Menon, the director of the grand strategy program at Defense Priorities and a senior research scholar at Columbia University. For more listening, check out After America: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1983649/episodes/15330743 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the night of Oct. 1, Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel. It was the latest in a deadly tit for tat between the two countries. The regionwide war that the Biden administration doesn’t want now seems to be happening. And for that reason, the idea of taking out Iran’s nuclear program with military strikes seems less theoretical and more like a real possibility. Foreign Policy deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Matt Kroenig, the vice president of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a professor of government at Georgetown University, and Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University. For more listening, check out After America: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1983649/episodes/15330743 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the start of a war in Gaza that has killed upwards of 40,000 people, many of them civilians. Throughout this conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pursued his own political and military agenda at odds with Washington’s calls for negotiations and de-escalation. Yet the flow of U.S. arms has continued. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, an organization working to reform U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and Dennis Ross, who was Washington’s point person in Middle East peace negotiations under two U.S. presidents. For more listening, check out After America: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1983649/episodes/15330743 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each week, FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky and his guests will tackle one pressing question from two opposing points of view.  Listen in as an international cast of diplomats, journalists, academics and activists from around the globe debate controversial issues that get to the heart of the world’s biggest dilemmas.  This season’s debates include, “Should the United States withhold military aid from Israel?”; “Should the Global South Denounce Russia’s war in Ukraine?”; "Does Maximum Pressure on Iran Work?” and “Should the UK rejoin the EU?” Counterpoint is a Foreign Policy Podcast, in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Global cooperation can often seem broken. On our final episode of Global Reboot, we look at how to reboot international relations for a multipolar era. Multilateral institutions seem increasingly ineffective, and even outdated, as emerging economies demand more of a role and countries form alliances and blocs outside of these institutions. In such a scenario, what can be done to improve cooperation to meet global challenges? Borge Brende joins Global Reboot to discuss this and much more. Brende is the president of the World Economic Forum. He previously served as Norway’s minister of foreign affairs from 2013 to 2017. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The “global south” encompasses countries with such varied interests and ideologies that the term may no longer be a useful tool. Yet, if the Western world hopes to counter Russia’s and China’s increasing aggression, rebuilding strong relationships with these countries is more important than ever. C. Raja Mohan is a senior fellow with the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi. He joins Ravi Agrawal to discuss how to reengage with the global south and whether the term is even still relevant today. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The global community has set a goal of preserving thirty percent of our oceans by 2030. How will we reach that goal? And what’s at stake for ocean biodiversity if that target is missed?  Monica Medina is the president and CEO of Wildlife Conservation Society, and the former United States' Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023 is on track to be the worst year on record for refugees. And the figures for internally displaced people—communities forced to move within their own countries to escape conflict or natural disaster—are even worse. How do we fix this? Kelly T. Clements, the deputy high commissioner at the U.N. agency tasked with responding to this crisis, joins Global Reboot to discuss solutions to this growing problem. This episode was recorded as a special live taping in September at the United Nations General Assembly. You can watch the video version of this live taping here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPt7kI5KI3E Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world’s first comprehensive piece of legislation regulating artificial intelligence could be on the cusp of being approved. The European Union’s AI Act would set guardrails for the technology without curbing innovation. Eva Maydell, a member of the European Parliament, is one of the act’s key drivers and joins host Ravi Agrawal to share her insights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship has global implications, with most Democrats and Republicans in Congress calling for a more hawkish approach. Rep. Andy Kim disagrees, calling instead for a foreign policy focused more on coalition building.  Kim sits on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He’s one of the few members of Congress who has visited China. And when speaking with leaders and policymakers from the region, he says they tell him that “the [United States] cannot be the instigators of the tension. … You need to show that you are a responsible global power.” The Democratic representative from New Jersey joins Ravi Agrawal for this special FP Live taping of Global Reboot. You can watch the video version of this interview here. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In her latest book, The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality, science journalist Angela Saini argues that it’s not biology alone that formed the basis for the patriarchy. The history of the patriarchal state is much more complex. For example, one of the most radical attempts to overhaul gender inequality came from an unlikely actor: the Soviet Union.  Saini joins host Ravi Agrawal to discuss how to reset gender norms in our workplaces, homes, and communities. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rory Stewart is a longtime administrator of foreign aid, from working as a diplomat in the field to the highest levels of government. He now heads GiveDirectly, one of the world’s fastest-growing nonprofits, which is popularizing direct cash transfers as an effective way to alleviate poverty. He joins Global Reboot host Ravi Agrawal to share his insights. Rory Stewart previously served as a cabinet member in the British government and is the host of the popular podcast The Rest is Politics. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Global Reboot returns for a new season. Join host and Foreign Policy editor in chief Ravi Agrawal as he talks with top policymakers and thinkers focused on solving the world’s biggest problems. New episodes drop every week starting on Oct. 27. Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For much of the 20th century, the United States has toggled between two foreign policy impulses: to actively insert itself in the affairs of the world or to hang back and focus on its own domestic issues. Advocates of the two approaches to international relations have had various designations, including liberals and realists, or interventionists and isolationists. But these days, the world is shifting more dramatically than in decades, with the rise of China as a political and economic power and the increasing belligerence of Russia towards its neighbors. With those changes underway, is that old dichotomy still relevant? And what is America’s proper role in the world? FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal sat down recently with political scientist Stephen Wertheim to discuss these very questions. Wertheim, a senior fellow at the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has written about the issue extensively, including in the pages of Foreign Policy.  We are featuring their conversation in the last episode of our podcast, Global Reboot. The show is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As countries grappled with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years, many turned to global financial agencies for support, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But in some cases, at least, the agencies’ playbook of reforms and austerity in exchange for loans, no longer seemed suitable. The IMF and the World Bank—along with the United Nations and the world’s other dominant international organizations—were created after World War Two, to serve the global order at the time. In the decades since, that order had changed dramatically. Are these institutions serving the world in the best possible way?  To answer that question, Foreign Policy’s Editor in Chief, Ravi Agrawal, sat down recently with Mark Malloch Brown, who spent years at the World Bank, the United Nations’ Development Program, and the United Nations thinking through these very issues. Malloch Brown is now president of the Open Society Foundations.  We’re featuring their conversation in the latest episode of our podcast Global Reboot. The show is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In large parts of the world, economic and technological progress has made people’s lives significantly better over the past few decades. From China to Africa to Latin America, large swaths of the population are healthier and more prosperous than ever.   But even as humanity has achieved so much, human rights have regressed in many countries—including some of the wealthier ones. Why is that and what can people do about it? Those are two of the questions that came up in FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal’s recent conversation with the former United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein. We’re featuring that conversation in the latest episode of our podcast, Global Reboot. The show is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices