With 5 million recorded COVID-19  infections and 160,000 deaths, the coronavirus has paralyzed the United States…the richest, most powerful country in the world. We know it was preventable because at the same time, some countries with far fewer resources have kept infection and death rates remarkably low. Even with its close proximity to China, where the pandemic started, parts of Southeast Asia have managed to control the coronavirus far better than the US and Europe. What are Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar doing that the rest of the world finds itself unable to do? In this episode, we hear from New York Times Southeast Asia Bureau Chief Hannah Beech, Country Director for the Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam Dr. Todd Pollock and Director of the Oxford University clinical research unit in Vietnam Guy Thwaites about the quick decision making that went into these countries’ successes. What can we learn from them?

Guests:

Hannah Beech, NYTimes Southeast Asia Bureau Chief, based in Bangkok, Thailand @hkbeech

Dr. Todd Pollock, Country Director for the Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam @toddmpollack

Guy Thwaites, Professor of infectious diseases and the director of the Oxford University clinical research unit in Vietnam @ThwaitesGuy

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The United States is in the midst of a national conversation about the role systemic racism plays in law enforcement, but police brutality is not just an American problem. In this episode, we look at how South Africa has grappled with its own legacy of white supremacy and police violence. Under Apartheid, South Africa’s white leaders used the police as an instrument of control, enforcing a web of laws that bound black lives. When liberation came with the end of Apartheid, the police were supposedly reformed. Now, a quarter-center later, has anything changed? Co-host Ray Suarez talks with Stan Henkeman, Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in South Africa, and John Steinberg, Professor of African Studies at Oxford University, about South Africa’s cautionary tale of police reforms made after Apartheid.

Guests: 

Stan Henkeman, Executive director of the Institute and Reconciliation in South Africa

Jonny Steinberg, African Studies Professor, at Oxford University

Credits:

Philip Yun, President and CEO, WorldAffairs

Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs

Teresa Cotsirilos, producer, WorldAffairs

Jarrod Sport, senior producer, WorldAffairs

Joanne Elgart Jennings, executive producer, WorldAffairs

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

Guyana is the latest country where a major oil discovery has been made. With ExxonMobil set to begin oil production next year, the small, impoverished nation is on the path to become one of the richest in the world. But with oil production brings risk. Next door Venezuela offers a cautionary tale of the “resource curse,” a spiral of political corruption and economic mismanagement that has driven commodity-rich nations into crisis.  But it doesn’t have to happen that way.  In some places natural resource production has brought much-needed development through education, infrastructure and economic diversification. What can Guyana learn from countries that have avoided the resource curse?

At the southern border, the rhetoric and emotion surrounding the issue of immigration have stood in the way of comprehensive reform. Where policy has fallen short, international, national and local nonprofit organizations have stepped in to provide vital, life-saving services. On this week’s episode, we’re taking a sobering look at the realities of what happens to migrants when they reach the border. Joining us are civil society leaders working to lessen the trauma for migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violent crime and political persecution.

Lee Gelernt, Deputy Director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, Carolyn Miles, President and CEO of Save the Children, Maria Moreno, Principal of the Las Americas Newcomer School, and Jonathan Ryan, CEO and President of RAICES, are in conversation with Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of MercyCorps.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) brings boundless possibilities. It can now drive our cars, diagnose our diseases, and even help us tackle climate change. But AI can also divide societies and drive nations to conflict. As we cede more of our fundamental decisions to machines, how do we ensure AI is designed with our best interests in mind? Fei-Fei Li, Co-director of the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute and co-founder of the non-profit AI4ALL, and Olaf Groth, founder of Cambrian AI and co-author of the new book, Solomon’s Code: Humanity in a World of Thinking Machines, discuss how our relationship with AI is central to the future of humanity with WorldAffairs Co-host Ray Suarez.

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This extended program is a re-air from earlier in 2018.

The conflict in Afghanistan reached its 17th anniversary in October, and US involvement in Iraq will be 15 years. Americans are aware of these wars, but what about the almost 200,000 other US military personnel stationed around the world in over 130 countries? Where are American forces and what explains the large military footprint? Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and Richard Fontaine, President of the Center for a New American Security, discuss the value of the American military abroad with Ray Suarez, former chief national correspondent for PBS NewsHour.

We want to hear from you! Please take part in a quick survey to tell us how we can improve our podcast: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PWZ7KMW

American exceptionalism has long been a tenet of US foreign policy. Today, it’s taken the form of an isolationist, “America first” approach. In this week’s episode, world renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs shares his perspectives on how a century of exceptionalism has created false justification for countless wars while leading to an increasingly polarized, unjust world. Sachs argues that in order to meet the global challenges we face, America must adopt an internationalist view, one that “embraces global cooperation, international law and aspirations for global prosperity.” He discusses his new book “A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism” with Ray Suarez, former chief national correspondent for PBS NewsHour.

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In 2018, Russia will hold its presidential election, and few are likely to oppose the current president, Vladimir Putin. One of the potential challengers gaining momentum is Alexei Navalny, a central figure in the pro-democracy movement. Since 2011, this small but passionate opposition group has captured the attention of many disaffected Russians angered by corruption, economic disparity and the restriction of civil liberties. What can Russia's pro-democracy movement do to break through a culture of systemic corruption to win the election? What can the opposition do to build support among all Russians?

Vladimir Ashurkov, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation and close colleague of Alexei Navalny, will provide insight into the pro-democracy campaign, recent protests in Moscow and the many challenges facing the opposition movement.

SPEAKER:

Vladimir Ashurkov
Executive Director, Anti-Corruption Foundation

MODERATOR:

Carla Thorson
Senior Vice President, Programs, World Affairs

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1744

In 2011, Cairo's Tahrir Square commanded the attention of the world as the Egyptian people demanded their freedom. At the time, President Barack Obama famously declared: “Egyptians have inspired us, they have changed the world.” But, half a decade later, is this the whole story?

The Arab World's most populous nation remains as volatile as ever and thoroughly enmeshed with a broader moment of political turbulence that is unfolding across the globe. In his new book, "The Egyptians: A Radical Story," former Egypt Correspondent for the Guardian, Jack Shenker, examines the roots of Egypt’s revolution, arguing for a much more nuanced, and far-reaching view of the forces that are reshaping the region. Egypt’s revolutionary turmoil has never just been about Mubarak, or his successors, or elections, says Shenker. It is not merely a civil war between Islamists and secularists, nor a fight between backwardness and modernity. Underlying it all, the unrest is about economically marginalized citizens muscling their way onto the political stage to demand sovereignty over domains previously closed to them: factories and urban streets, the houses they live in, the food they eat and the water they drink. The real story is more complicated and, ultimately, more hopeful.

Speaker Jack Shenker is an author and journalist, and Former Egypt Correspondent for the Guardian.

The conversation is moderated by David D. Arnold is President of The Asia Foundation.

For more information please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1683

Our lives in 2050 will be vastly different than today. Rapidly advancing technology is changing everything from food production to health care, energy output, manufacturing and the military balance. Innovations already in development include brain-computer interfaces, vat-grown cruelty-free meat, knitted cars and guided bullets among many others. Technology which once seemed like science fiction is now reality - and even old news - where can we possibly go from here?

The Executive Editor of The Economist, Daniel Franklin, explores how technology will shape the future in his recent book, Megatech: Technology in 2050. His insights are based on extensive interviews with distinguished scientists, industry leaders, academics and acclaimed science-fiction authors who are at the forefront of the most exceptional inventions and sinister trends.

Where will technology be in 2050, and how will it affect the way we live? What does this mean for the job market and how we perform our work? In what ways can we prepare for the opportunities — as well as the dangers — that await?

Speaker Daniel Franklin is Executive Editor at The Economist. He is in conversation with Quentin Hardy, Head of Editorial at Google Cloud.

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1699