Capital has changed and capitalism is changing as a result. For the first time in history, businesses are investing more in things you can neither see nor touch – so-called intangible capital – than in traditional physical assets like buildings, machines, computers or vehicles. Intangible capital, such as R&D, design, software, brands and organisational capabilities, have different economic properties from traditional assets. As a result, the rise of the intangible economy is changing the economy and society in important and non-obvious ways. This new intangible economy helps explain a range of big puzzles and problems: why productivity is stagnating, why inequality is rising, why populism is on the rise. It also helps managers, investors and policymakers understand what to do about it.

Jonathan Haskel, economics professor at Imperial College Business School, and Stian Westlake, policy adviser to the Minister of State in the Department of Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy at the University of Cambridge, have written a new book, "Capitalism without Capital." They will discuss this new economic trend and what it means for the future.

SPEAKERS

Jonathan Haskel
Professor of Economics, Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London

Stian Westlake
Policy Adviser to the Minister of State, Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, Center for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge

MODERATOR:

Jane Wales
CEO, World Affairs and Global Philanthropy Forum; Vice President, The Aspen Institute

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

In a symbolic breakthrough, North and South Korean teams will march together under a single unified flag during opening ceremonies at the Winter Olympic Games. Does this rare show of unity signify a substantial thaw in diplomatic relations on the Korean Peninsula? How might this impact growing international tensions related to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program? Gi-Wook Shin, Director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, and Kathleen Stephens, Former US Ambassador to South Korea, discuss the precarious relationship between the two Koreas. In the second part of this episode, World Affairs' CEO Jane Wales talks with David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times, about how the US might turn to cyberwarfare to contain the threat of a nuclear North Korea.

SPEAKERS

Gi-Wook Shin
Director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Kathleen Stephens
Former US Ambassador to South Korea

MODERATOR:

Jane Wales
CEO, World Affairs and Global Philanthropy Forum; Vice President, The Aspen Institute

For more information about this event please visit: http://worldaffairs.org/media-library/event/1795

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

In his first year in office, President Donald Trump has broken with decades of US foreign policy orthodoxies and injected tremendous uncertainty into a world already in flux. What is behind the Administration’s ‘America First’ doctrine, and what does it signal for the future of US global leadership and international cooperation? Stewart Patrick, the James H. Binger senior fellow in global governance and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance program at the Council on Foreign Relations, will discuss the importance of sovereignty in US politics and how the United States can retain its constitutional independence while cooperating with others to dampen the risks of globalization. Patrick's latest book "The Sovereignty Wars: Reconciling America with the World," offers a clear-eyed framing of the sovereignty debate in terms of what is actually at stake, when it's appropriate to make bargains and how to go about doing so.

SPEAKER:
Stewart Patrick
Council on Foreign Relations

MODERATOR:
Jane Wales
CEO, World Affairs and Global Philanthropy Forum; Vice President, The Aspen Institute

For more information please visit: http://worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1792

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

From North Korea to Jerusalem, President Trump is facing unprecedented foreign policy changes -- some arguably of his own making, some not. Trump's diplomacy is under the microscope as tensions rise in the Middle East and Asia, so where do we go from here? In this special program, World Affairs' CEO Jane Wales talks with Janine Zacharia, former Jerusalem Bureau Chief of The Washington Post, and also David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times. Can Trump pivot away from searing rhetoric and instead work toward strengthening diplomacy abroad?

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

China’s rapid growth and transition towards a more market-oriented economic system have encouraged spectators to predict massive changes to the Chinese political and social system. However, while growth is slowing, the economy remains sound and the Chinese Communist Party emerged from the 19th Party Congress with its strongest leader in years. What makes experts forecast again and again that China is on the verge of collapse? Yukon Huang, former Country Director for China at the World Bank, cuts through the myths and joins us to discuss his new book, "Cracking the China Conundrum: Why Conventional Economic Wisdom is Wrong." His in-depth analysis explores the varied dynamics at play in China’s economic growth today and sheds light on why so many China watchers have gotten it wrong.

SPEAKER:

Yukon Huang
Senior Fellow, Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

MODERATOR:

N. Bruce Pickering
Vice President of Global Programs, Asia Society and Executive Director, Asia Society Northern California, Asia Society

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

Food security is one of Africa's most pressing issues. Globally, 800 million people are undernourished, with 281 million coming from sub-Saharan Africa. Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is working to mitigate poverty and hunger by supporting local farmers. Two pioneers of this initiative, Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet, and Jeff Raikes, former Chief Executive Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discuss how AGRA is tailoring solutions for African partners. They're in conversation with World Affairs CEO Jane Wales.

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

Essential to a free and functioning democracy is an independent press, a crucial civil society actor that holds government to account and provides citizens access to the impartial information they need to make informed judgments, reason together, exercise their rights and responsibilities, and engage in collective action. In times of crisis, the media fulfills the vital role of alerting the public to danger and connecting citizens to rescue efforts, as Ushahidi has done in Kenya. Or, it can alert the international community to human rights abuses as does Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently. But, the very capabilities that allow the media to alert and inform, also allow it to sow division – as it did in Rwanda leading up to and during the genocide-- by spreading untruths, and, through “dog whistles,” targeting ethnic groups and inciting violence against them. This panel will focus on two topics: the role of media as a vehicle for advancing or undermining social cohesion, and the use of media to innovate, organize and deepen understanding, enabling positive collective action.

* Abdalaziz Alhamza, Co-Founder, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently

* Uzodinma Iweala, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Ventures Africa; Author, Beasts of No Nation; Producer, Waiting for Hassana (moderator)

* Ben Rattray, Founder and CEO, Change.org

* Malika Saada Saar, Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights, Google

This week’s episode offers an in-depth perspective of foreign policy under Trump, with a focus on US - North Korea relations. What is the strategic calculus for both countries and how can some degree of calm be restored?

In the first half of the show, you’ll hear from Ambassador Wendy Sherman. Ambassador Wendy Sherman served as the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. In this position, she led the team from the United States and five other countries in negotiating the Iran nuclear weapons deal. Under the Clinton administration, she served as Advisor to the President and Secretary of State and North Korea Policy Coordinator.

From Jerusalem to North Korea, President Trump has demonstrated again and again a willingness to break with established diplomatic strategy and forge a new path. In our conversation, Sherman discusses the current state of foreign policy under the Trump administration, with a focus on the current diplomatic calculus with North Korea.

The second half features Orville Schell and Philip W. Yun. They discuss whether the US and North Korea can pivot from searing rhetoric, and instead work toward strengthening diplomacy. This interview was previously aired in August.

SPEAKERS

Wendy Sherman, Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group

Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director, Center on US-China Relations, Asia Society

Philip W. Yun, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ploughshares Fund

MODERATOR:

Jane Wales, CEO, World Affairs and Global Philanthropy Forum; Vice President, The Aspen Institute

His Excellency Anatoly Antonov was recently appointed by President Putin to serve as the Russian Ambassador to the United States. A career diplomat, he has served for more than thirty years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2004, he was the Director of the Department for Security and Disarmament. Ambassador Antonov was formerly the Deputy Minister of Defense and, before his recent appointment, held the position of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Please join us for this special event to hear Ambassador Anatoly Antonov discuss the importance of diplomacy and Russia’s role in the world.

SPEAKER:

Anatoly Antonov
Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, Russian Federation

MODERATOR:

David Holloway
Raymond A. Spruance Professor of International History, Professor of Political Science, Senior Fellow Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1783

President Trump will meet with President Duterte during his first visit to the Philippines next month. What can be expected for the future of US-Philippine relations? Although the two countries have historically been strong allies, the elections of Trump and Duterte, as well as policy shifts in both nations, have raised questions about the stability of the relationship. The Philippines has benefited from significant US military aid for several decades. Recently both training and intelligence sharing were especially helpful as Philippine armed forces fought to regain control of Marawi following terrorist attacks by ISIS affiliates. While military aid is considered a symbol of the continued alliance between the two countries, Duterte’s renewed economic and political relations with China are causing tension. Is the Philippines looking to pivot toward China for a stronger alliance and veer away from the US, therefore shifting the strategic balance in the region? As for Filipinos as home, how are they impacted by the rise of a populist leader, one who is focused on fighting corruption and targeting drug offenders? What do these tactics reveal about Duterte as a leader? What issues can Trump and Duterte come together on and where might they disagree?

Richard Heydarian, a Filipino academic and columnist, will join us for a discussion on the Philippines under Duterte and his latest book "The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Elite Democracy."

SPEAKER:

Richard Heydarian
Resident Political Analyst, GMA Network

MODERATOR:

Maria Ortuoste
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, California State University East Bay

For more information about this event please visit: http://www.worldaffairs.org/event-calendar/event/1777