On Shifting Ground
In West Africa’s Sahel region, the zone skirting the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, a combination of soaring temperatures, declining rainfall and a booming population is putting the squeeze on the area’s dwindling resources. What began last year as a bad growing season is morphing into a large scale drought and humanitarian crisis. Studies show that this huge swath of land across the African continent, once fertile farming land, is increasingly incapable of feeding the growing population. Abby Maxman, the Vice President of International Programs and Operations of CARE, has firsthand experience responding to large scale humanitarian crises across the continent. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who represents California’s 9th Congressional district, has played a critical role in the raising awareness and US Government support for humanitarian disasters, such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa. They will explore the challenges of working across the Sahel in communities with little or no infrastructure, how humanitarian organizations and the US government are responding to food security issues, and how lessons from past droughts are being used to prevent future crises.
Moderator:Cheryl Jennings, Anchor, ABC7 Evening News
Speaker(s):Barbara Lee, Congresswoman, 9th District of California
  • Abby Maxman, Vice President of International Programs and Operations, CARE
Direct download: 8_6_12_Sahel_Crisis.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 7:00pm PDT

“Economic sanctions” are frequently employed as a tactic in international negotiations, but is this strategy always effective? How have economic sanctions evolved to address the wide range of foreign policy challenges we face?

Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez will discuss economic sanctions using case studies of on-going sanctions regimes in cases such as Libya, Iran, Syria, and Burma. He will review the evolution of U.S. policy on economic sanctions and current actions, as well as lessons learned in recent years.

Direct download: 7_25_12_Jose_Fernandez.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

Join Dr. Stephen Haber, specialist in Mexican politics and Professor of Political Science at Stanford University, for a post-election review and discussion about the implications of the outcome during this interesting political season in Mexico.

Direct download: 7_23_12_Stephen_Haber.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

As the world’s most populous democracy, an emerging economic leader, and an increasingly influential global actor, India has become a critical partner in building America’s presence in Asia. However, a relationship of this size and scope can be a complex one that offers as many potential pitfalls as opportunities. Recently skeptics have questioned whether the importance of the bilateral partnership has been “oversold.” India’s ambassador to the United States has rebutted these suggestions, arguing that  such claims are more myth than fact.

Join Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs from 1997 to 2001, to explore both the perceptions and misperceptions surrounding US-India ties. He will discuss the next steps both nations can take to overcome current obstacles and build, as President Obama put it, one of “the defining partnerships of the 21st Century.” Ambassador Inderfurth will share his views based on his extensive knowledge of the US-India relationship drawn from his distinguished career in public service.

Direct download: 7_18_12_Karl_Inderfurth.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

The rogue nation of North Korea is known for its many secrets, from its nuclear program to the living conditions of the majority of its population. One of the most closely guarded secrets is that of its ill-fated labor camps. Until recently, the conditions of those living in these labor camps, often referred to as forms of modern day slavery, have scarcely been documented.

Blaine Harden, author and former East Asia bureau chief for The Washington Post, will discuss one person’s experience in a North Korean labor camp and what it tells us about living within the North Korean regime. In his new work, Escape From Camp 14, Harden documents two years of interviews with Shin Dong-hyuk in which he describes Shin’s experiences and his determination to adjust to a new life of freedom in the West. Shin is the only person born and raised in one of North Korea’s camps known to have escaped, and his story is one of intense hardship and survival. Shin’s account provides a unique perspective on the desperate conditions in these labor camps where up to 200,000 prisoners are estimated to live, and which the regime claims do not exist.

Direct download: 7_11_12_Blaine_Harden.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

The idea of a “hungry farmer” should be an oxymoron. However among smallholder farmers in Africa for whom agricultural practices have not changed since the 1930’s, most do not produce enough to feed their families. Consequently every year they face what in Kenya is known as the wanjala—the hunger season—between when food from the previous harvest has run out and the next one is ready.

Join Roger Thurow for an exploration of the year he spent following four farming families in Western Kenya as they tried to dramatically change their farming techniques in an attempt to increase their harvest, and the challenges facing individual farmers striving to increase food production, as well as the macro-problems facing our global food supply chain.

Direct download: 6_26_12_Roger_Thurow.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

Internationally acclaimed journalist and former member of the Brookings Task Force on US Relations with the Islamic World, Mr. Rami Khouri will analyze the complexities in Syria due to the convergence of three conflicts: the domestic battle for power between several government oppositions groups; the regional cold war spearheaded by Iran and Saudi Arabia; and the revived global struggle for influence in the region between the USA, Russia and China. Syria has become the main proxy battleground for these three conflicts. Events unfolding there also help shed light on the nature of the other citizen uprisings around the region, as they enter the middle of their second year in June.

Direct download: 6_20_12_Rami_Khouri.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

In order to ensure its economic development and survival, every country strives to secure and stockpile natural resources. Few countries are as aggressive with their resource campaigns as China. Join Dr. Dambisa Moyo, New York Times bestselling author of Dead Aid and How the West was Lost, for an in depth look at China’s unprecedented rush for resources and what it means for the rest of the world.

Direct download: 6_15_12_Dambisa_Moyo.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 1:00pm PDT

When President Obama came to office he was confronted with a world in turmoil. With two long standing wars, an economy on the brink of collapse, and unprecedented political polarization, Obama faced a set of challenges unique to American history. In his complex three and a half years as president, he has approached external threats with new technological tools and shifting global trends with alternative forms of American soft power.

Join Pulitzer Prize winner David Sanger for a discussion of his new book, Confront and Conceal, and an inside analysis of Obama’s idealism-turned-frustration, hopes for the Arab Awakening, pivot towards the Pacific, and efforts to retain America’s influence on the global stage.

Direct download: 6_14_12_David_Sanger.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT

Lindsey Hilsum arrived in Libya when the fighting began and was there when Gaddafi was killed. During this time, she found Libyans of all ages opening up to her with stories of their lives that they were previously unable to share for fear of reprisal from the government. These were stories of torture, execution, loss, and of Libya’s slow decline under the Gaddafi regime from a country rich in oil and human resources to a political pariah on the world stage.

Direct download: 6_13_12_Lindsey_Hilsum.mp3
Category:News & Politics -- posted at: 8:00pm PDT