On Shifting Ground

The OPEC+ oil cartel’s surprise decision to cut oil production has the potential to cause all kinds of trouble for the global economy, and may increase geopolitical frictions between longtime allies – the US and Saudi Arabia. So what happens to US-Gulf ties when the desert kingdom turns off the tap?

 

Ray Suarez sits down with Jim Krane, author of “Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf,” to unravel what these escalating tensions mean.

 

Guest:

 

Jim Krane, author of “Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf”, journalist, and the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston.

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez

 

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.

Direct download: 4-17_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Amid heightened tensions between the US, North Korea, and South Korea in recent weeks, we produced a few episodes about nuclear ambitions and deterrence on the Korean peninsula.

 

In our first episode, we featured the voice of Siegfried Hecker – he's a nuclear scientist and former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and author of a new book called Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea's Program.

 

It’s the story of how North Korea went from zero nuclear weapons in 2001, to an arsenal of nearly fifty in just twenty years. And it’s an amazing story… because Sig was there to witness it firsthand…

 

Guests:

 

Siegfried Hecker, former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory and professor emeritus at Stanford University

 

Host: 

 

Ray Suarez

 

Jim Falk

 

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.

Direct download: Sig_Hecker_Bonus.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are heating up once again. For the first time in years, the South Korean and US militaries have been conducting combined military drills in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. And as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares nuclear weapons a policy option, journalist Jeongmin Kim, Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at Korea Pro, answers what it’s like for South Koreans who live under the threat of a nuclear neighbor.   

 

Guest:

 

Jeongmin Kim, Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at Korea Pro

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez

 

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.

Direct download: 4-10_On_Shifting_Ground_pt_.2_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

The security alliance between the United States and South Korea dates back to the Cold War. At its heart is the containment of North Korea, one of three nuclear powers that could threaten the United States – and South Korea and Japan – with catastrophic nuclear war.

 

Siegfried Hecker, the former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, identifies the moment North Korea became a nuclear power–and how the U.S. missed its chance to stop it. Then, Ray Suarez talks with Dr. Victor Cha, Senior Vice President for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to make sense of this escalating tension.

 

Guests:

 

Dr. Victor Cha, Senior Vice President for Asia and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

Siegfried Hecker, former Director of Los Alamos National Laboratory and author of Hinge Points

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez


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.

Direct download: 4-10_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod_REV1.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In the background of the latest US-China political disputes, is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. This year, the United States plays host to the meeting, which involves more than 1,500 delegates from 21 economies – including China and Russia.

 

Ray Suarez spoke with Matt Murray, senior US official for APEC, from the conference's first event in Palm Springs. Murray, who spent a number of years in Beijing and Shanghai, talks to Ray about whether the US and China can find common ground in trade on the Asian continent.

 

Guest:

 

Matt Murray, US Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), US Department of State

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez

 

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.

Direct download: 04-03_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._2_for_pod.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Congress is debating the future of TikTok, the hugely popular video app owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. TikTok’s detractors suggest that while you watch, the app may be watching you too… vacuuming up data from user’s devices, which can then be handed to the Chinese government.

 

Caitlin Chin, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins Ray Suarez to explain the hubbub. She suggests the calls to ban Tiktok aren’t really about data privacy: they’re about China.

 

Guest:

 

Caitlin Chin, Fellow, Strategic Technologies Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez, host of On Shifting Ground

 

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.

Direct download: 04-03_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod_mixdown.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

In recent decades, millions more Russians have died than have been born. There are many causes – Russian women don’t have many children, and Russian men are dying young in large numbers – and the war in Ukraine is only worsening the trend. So why is Vladimir Putin risking the future of Russia?

 

Ray Suarez talks with post-Soviet expert Nicholas Eberstadt to understand why this historic population collapse is fueling Putin’s brinkmanship in Ukraine.

 

Guest:

 

Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez

 

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.

Direct download: 3-27_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._2_for_pod.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russian forces. On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant to arrest President Vladimir Putin for crimes against humanity.

 

In the weeks before the ICC's action, officials within the state department were pressuring the US to support the court’s efforts to hold the Kremlin accountable, but the Pentagon blocked the Biden administration’s coordination with the ICC.

 

To understand why, Ray Suarez speaks with Beth Van Schaack, ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice at the State Department. 

 

Guest:

 

Beth Van Schaack, ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice at the State Department

 

Host:

 

Ray Suarez


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.

Direct download: 3-27_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long had strong ties to the Kremlin, but he has become increasingly dependent on Putin since he retained power after a contested election in 2020. International observers recognized the true victor as Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is now leading her country’s democratic movement in exile.

 

With Belarus’ neighbors still at war, we’re revisiting her conversation with Ray Suarez to understand how women might light a new path of leadership, and why there is still more work to do following the country’s struggle against its strongman.

 

Guest:

 

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, exiled leader of the Belarusian democratic movement

 

Host: 

 

Ray Suarez

 

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.

Direct download: 3-20_On_Shifting_Ground_pt.2_for_pod.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT

So far, the world has failed to keep up with the U.N. development goals for gender equality… and the clock is ticking. Can increased financial inclusion and political participation for women help bridge the gap?

 

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking, believes our traditional financial system fails women. She speaks with Ray Suarez about how tech and global investment can help level the playing field. 

 

Guest:

 

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO of Women’s World Banking and author of “There’s Nothing Micro About A Billion Women: Making Finance Work For Women”

 

Host:  

 

Ray Suarez



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

Direct download: 3-20_On_Shifting_Ground_pt._1_for_pod.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:00am PDT