If military cooperation with North Korea is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, why would Russia do it so publicly? And what’s in it for the Hermit Kingdom? Andrei Lankov, Director at NK News, joins Ray Suarez to explain why Kim Jong Un is solidifying relations with Russia… and not China.

Guest:

Andrei Lankov, Director at NK News and Professor at Kookmin University

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Russia is firing off more artillery shells than they can produce at home, forcing the Kremlin to shop around for a new supplier. Ray Suarez speaks with New York Times’ national security reporter Julian Barnes about Russia’s alleged arms deal with North Korea, and what it means for the war in Ukraine. 

Guest:

Julian Barnes, national security reporter for The New York Times

Host:

Ray Suarez

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As many as 150,000 US auto workers have walked out in a historic strike against the Big Three Automakers. In this special rerun episode, Mark Phelan, auto writer and columnist for the Detroit Free Press, joins Ray Suarez to break down why electric vehicles and wages are a red line for autoworkers. 

Guests:

Shawn Fain, President of the United Auto Workers 

Mark Phelan, auto writer and columnist for the Detroit Free Press

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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In 2023, the rapid pace of innovation in Silicon Valley is making it increasingly challenging for our global partners to keep up. Ray Suarez speaks with Gerard de Graaf, Senior Envoy for Digital to the US, about strengthening US-EU cooperation on digital affairs. Then, Caitlin Chin, Strategic Technologies Program Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, returns with an update on the latest digital drama between Washington and Beijing… and where a possible TikTok ban goes from here.

Guests:

Gerard de Graaf, Senior Envoy for Digital to the U.S. and head of the EU office in San Francisco

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

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Is West Africa going to war over Niger? And is the Niger coup part of a wider decline in French colonial influence – and growing Russian and Chinese interest – in the region? Ray Suarez sits down with security analyst Fola Aina and journalist Nabila Ramdani to discuss the coup in Niger – and across former French colonies in the Sahel region. They explain why the Niger coup could help the Wagner Group expand influence. 

Guests:

Fola Aina, international security analyst at the Royal United Services Institute of Security and Defense Studies in London

Nabila Ramdani, French journalist and author of “Fixing France, How to Repair a Broken Republic”

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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What will happen to Wagner without Prigozhin? And can Russia continue to isolate itself from the economic chaos its war has created? Ray Suarez speaks with Catherine Belton, The Washington Post’s Russia reporter, about the mercenary organization’s future and the price Russians — ordinary and oligarch — are paying for Putin’s power plays.

Guest:

Catherine Belton, international investigative reporter for The Washington Post and author of “Putin's People” 

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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On August 23rd, Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a mysterious plane crash just 60 days after his mercenary group Wagner led a failed coup attempt that Russian president Vladimir Putin called “treasonous.”

Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum argues that Putin needed a spectacular act of violence after Prigozhin’s challenge to his power. She and Ray discuss what this means for a fragile Russia. 

Read Applebaum’s latest column for The Atlantic, Prigozhin’s Death Heralds Even More Spectacular Violence - The Atlantic.  

Guest:

Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian, author of  Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism and staff writer at The Atlantic.

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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The aftermath of the Chinese surveillance balloon saga reveals a growing diplomatic divide between the US and China. Where does this mistrust come from?

In “Wealth and Power,” authors Orville Schell and John Delury argue that foreign humiliation over the past century and a half is the story that holds China together. They join host Ray Suarez to discuss China’s quest for global dominance.

Guests:

John Delury, US Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea

Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China relations at the Asia Society

Host:  

Ray Suarez, host of World Affairs

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Groups like the Reichsbürger and Sovereign Citizens are not new, but the ways in which they radicalize each other on the Internet are. Ray Suarez and journalist Julia Ebner explore how once-fringe movements like QAnon are popping up in European political circles.

Guest:

Julia Ebner, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and author of “Going Dark: The Secret Lives of Extremists”

Host:

Ray Suarez

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When former President Trump incited his followers to storm the US Capitol, he punctured a 220-year-old tradition in the US. And from the looks of things, the country is headed for another contentious election in 2024. Ray Suarez and New York Times columnist Tom Edsall explore whether we’ve passed a point of no return in American politics. 

Guest:

Thomas B. Edsall, political columnist at The New York Times and author of “The Point of No Return: American Democracy at the Crossroads”

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Asian carmakers have pulled ahead in the race for EV innovation, leaving the US in their rearview mirrors. International auto journalist Hans Greimel joins Ray Suarez to break down how Asian countries are tackling the transition, and what the future of electric vehicles looks like.

Guest:

Hans Greimel, Asia editor for Automotive News

Host:

Ray Suarez

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President Biden’s bold energy future features significant investment in electric vehicles, but the United Auto Workers are pumping the breaks. Mark Phelan, auto writer and columnist for the Detroit Free Press, joins Ray Suarez to break down why the threat of EVs is a red line for autoworkers. 

Guest:

Mark Phelan, auto writer and columnist for the Detroit Free Press

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Elon Musk’s leadership at “X” (formerly Twitter) has been messy, and his disregard for user safeguards is part of a troubling trend in Silicon Valley. Ray Suarez sits down with NYU professor Dr. Scott Galloway to explore how Silicon Valley’s profit-chasing – and unchecked influence – is destroying American society… and our kids.

Guest:

Scott Galloway, Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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With a few keystrokes, users across the world can find virtually anything online. But at what cost? UC Berkeley researchers Alexa Koenig and Andrea Lampros join Ray Suarez to break down how everyday exposure to trauma is affecting social media users worldwide, and to discuss their upcoming book, “Graphic: Trauma and Meaning in our Online Lives.” 

Plus: check out our past conversation with Alexa Koenig on How Technology Fights – and Fuels – Misinformation to learn more about what UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Investigations Lab does.

Guests:

Alexa Koenig and Andrea Lampros, co-founders of UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center Investigations Lab and co-authors of “Graphic: Trauma and Meaning in our Online Lives”

Host:

Ray Suarez

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In June, retired General David Petraeus joined the Marines’ Memorial Association “Leading From the Front” speaker series, where he offered insights on how small nations can contend with formidable superpowers, and how President Volodymyr Zelenskyy scored the role of a lifetime.

Guest:

General David Petraeus, Former CIA Director and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute

Host: 

Mike Cerre, PBSNewsHour Special Correspondent

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After 20 years of “forever wars,” the American contest for influence and control in the Middle East hasn’t stopped. But now the US has company, and the countries in the region have options. Mara Rudman, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress, joins Ray Suarez to dissect the delicate state of play in the Middle East. 

Guest:

Mara Rudman, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress

Host:

Ray Suarez

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At the 2023 APEC Forum in Detroit, Malaysian Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong tells Ray Suarez how spaces like APEC are key to balancing relationships with competing superpowers. Then, Deputy Secretary Vangelis Vitalis shares how the demand for traditional Kiwi exports has kept Aotearoa’s economy afloat.

Guest:

Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Minister of Malaysian Investment, Trade and Industry

Vangelis Vitalis, Deputy Secretary, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Host:

Ray Suarez

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US Trade Representative Katherine Tai played host to the APEC Forum in Detroit, where she balanced American interests, international trade agreements and ongoing rivalries with China. Ambassador Tai joined Ray Suarez to speak about how that meeting went, and what it really means to put workers at the center of US trade policy. 

Guest:

Ambassador Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Researcher Christopher Reddy has watched in despair as public confidence in science has plummeted. He joins Ray Suarez to discuss his new book, “Science Communication in a Crisis,” and why scientists may be part of the problem in science denialism.

Guest:

Christopher Reddy, Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and author of “Science Communication in a Crisis”

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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In his new book, “A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World,” nature writer David Gessner grapples with communicating about climate change with the next generation. David and his daughter, Hadley, join Ray Suarez to have that conversation, and to spur all of us “hypocrites” who drive cars and fly in planes to fight the climate fight.

Guest:

David Gessner, nature writer and author of “A Traveler’s Guide to the End of the World”

Hadley Gessner, David’s daughter 

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Screenwriter Noah Pink tells Ray Suarez how he discovered the true story behind “Tetris,” from the Cold War race to secure the rights to the classic video game to its escape from the former Soviet Union.

Guest:

Noah Pink, “Tetris” screenwriter 

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Putin may have won the “battle” against Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin, but he’s losing the meme war. Ray speaks with Jen Kirby, Vox’s foreign and national security reporter, about fact verification and conflict reporting amidst state propaganda and viral Twitter memes. 

Guest:

Jen Kirby, senior foreign and national security reporter at Vox

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Peace is a process, not an outcome. And in the case of Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s meddling in the country’s civil war has prevented peace for almost a decade. Ray Suarez speaks with Arwa Mokdad, Peace Advocate with the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, about what a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran could mean for the future of Yemen.

Guest:

Arwa Mokdad, Peace Advocate with the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Can a single gathering of world leaders really pull billions of people out of poverty? Eric Pelofsky, Deputy Chief of Staff and Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation, joined Ray Suarez days before the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris to share how international financial institutions can make up for past mistakes.

Guest:

Eric Pelofsky, Deputy Chief of Staff and Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Conspiracy communities that once promoted QAnon and anti-vaccine theories have now sunk their teeth into an even tastier morsel: our food supply chain. Laicie Heeley, Executive Producer and Host of “Things That Go Boom,” joins Ray Suarez to break down how cracks in our food system have paved the way for international conspiracy theories about the ongoing food crisis. 

Guest:

Laicie Heeley, Executive Producer and Host of “Things That Go Boom”

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Concerns about a 'global elite' exerting control over demographic shifts and our food choices have hit the mainstream, and they are feeding anxieties. Ray Suarez speaks with French legal scholar Rim-Sarah Alouane about the "great replacement theory", and what it takes to be considered “French first.”

Guest:

Ridha Khadher, baker and owner of Au Paradis du gourmand

Rim-Sarah Alouane, French legal scholar

Host:

Ray Suarez

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The 1998-1999 war in Kosovo may have ended the fighting between Serbs and Albanian Kosovars, but it didn’t end the conflict. Anatol Lieven, journalist and Eurasian Program Director at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, joins Ray Suarez to explain why ethnic tensions are once again flaring up in the Balkans.

Guest:

Anatol Lieven, journalist and Eurasian Program Director at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

Host:

Ray Suarez

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s all-powerful leader of 20 years, was recently re-elected, raising serious questions about the state of Turkey’s democracy. Is Erdoğan trying to rebuild the Ottoman Empire? And is his republic Russia’s Trojan Horse in NATO? Ray Suarez speaks with Merve Tahiroğlu, Turkey Program Director at the Project on Middle East Democracy about Erdoğan’s imperial ambitions.

Guest:

Merve Tahiroğlu, Turkey Program Director at the Project on Middle East Democracy

Host:

Ray Suarez

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For decades, Georgia has tried to extricate itself from Russia's shadow. But with the recent influx of Ukrainian refugees and anti-war Russians and the rise of Georgia’s Dream Party, the former Soviet state is once again walking a political tightrope between Russia and a tenuous future with NATO. In this episode, reporter Levi Bridges takes us on the ground to hear about the dangers of standing up to Russia.

Reporter:

Levi Bridges, journalist 

Featured guests:

Daniil Chubar, co-founder of Emigration for Action 

Monika Jaranowska, Director of Kids Club "Happy Me" Tbilisi

Giga Bokeria, leader of the European Georgia party

Sonja Schiffers, Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Tbilisi Office

Giorgi Khelashvili, Georgian Dream MP and Deputy Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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“How is it that foreign corrupt interests could manipulate our government?” asked retired Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, in her testimony during the first impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump in 2019. 

In her absorbing memoir, “Lessons from the Edge,” Yovanovich reflected on the disinformation campaign that eventually led to the end of her post as Ambassador to Ukraine. Ray Suarez spoke with Yovanovitch about a lifetime of public service, and why she remains optimistic about Ukraine’s fight for freedom.

Guest:

Marie Yovanovitch, Former US Ambassador to Ukraine and author of the memoir “Lessons From The Edge”

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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The innovative concept of a “15-Minute City” holds the potential to address many urbanization challenges. But it hasn’t been without its critics. Ray Suarez and ‘CityNerd’ creator Ray Delahanty, delve into the eccentric conspiracy theories surrounding it, and its feasibility for the future of urban planning in American cities.

Guest:

Ray Delahanty, Host and creator of CityNerd 

Host: 

Ray Suarez

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Derailed trains, collapsed bridges and an unreliable power grid point to America’s growing infrastructure problem. And though President Biden campaigned on “building back better,” these issues have taken a back seat to political gridlock—at home and abroad. 

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg joins Ray Suarez to break down how the Biden administration plans to get America’s infrastructure back on track — one EV at a time. They spoke following the APEC Transportation Ministerial Meeting in Detroit, Michigan.

Guest:

Pete Buttigieg, US Secretary of Transportation

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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The hard truth is that whenever tensions escalate between the US and Asian nations overseas, Asian Americans bear the brunt of that anger at home. In this episode, we revisit the story of Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwanese-American scientist who was falsely accused of spying for the Chinese government, with Helen Zia and George Koo.

Guests:

Helen Zia, journalist, activist and author of Last Boat out of Shanghai and My Country vs. Me

George Koo, retired business consultant and writer

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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For decades, Asian-Americans have been the least likely racial minority to hold political office, accounting for less than 1% of elected leaders. But a new generation of Asian American leaders is changing the tide. In this episode, World Affairs President & CEO Philip Yun tells the story of the election that altered the course of his life. Then, California Assemblymember Alex Lee tells Ray Suarez about the political responsibility he has to all Americans.

Guests:

Philip Yun, President and CEO of World Affairs

Assemblymember Alex Lee, California State Assembly, District 24

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Aarthi Shahani, author of the memoir Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares, joins Ray Suarez to discuss her family’s painful path to citizenship, and why it’s time to change the immigration narrative in America.

Guest:

Aarthi Shahani, author of the memoir Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares and host of “Art of Power”

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Everybody knows the immigration system is broken. So what are policy makers doing to fix it? And with the end of Title 42 – a pandemic-era order to deny asylum at the US-Mexico border – Biden’s immigration policy will face new challenges.  

Ray Suarez speaks with Sabrina Rodriguez, national political reporter at The Washington Post, about what the end of Title 42 means for the 2024 presidential campaign.

Guest:

Sabrina Rodriguez, national politics reporter for The Washington Post

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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In an era where changing social norms and labor-market shifts are pushing men to the sidelines, can a crisis of masculinity explain why men are falling behind? Idrees Kahloon, author of “What’s The Matter With Men?,” joins Ray Suarez to explain why improving the welfare of struggling men may help bring greater gender equality.

Guest:

Idrees Kahloon, DC bureau chief for The Economist and author of “What’s The Matter With Men?”

Host:

Ray Suarez

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Despite being found liable for sexual abuse, many commentators wonder if the E. Jean Carroll verdict will burden — or boost— Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. The rise of strongman rhetoric and polarizing gender politics is fueling a cultural war in the US, and masculinity is at the center of the debate.

Angela Saini, author of The Patriarchs: How Men Came To Rule, joins Ray Suarez to break down what the “patriarchy” is, and how it operates.

Guest:

Angela Saini, author of The Patriarchs: How Men Came To Rule

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Distrust in official election results isn’t a new trend in Nigerian politics, but the explosion of mis- and disinformation across social media platforms ahead of the country’s 2023 presidential elections made it even harder for Nigerian voters to sort fact from fiction. BBC Nigeria senior disinformation journalist, Fauziyya Tukur, joins Ray Suarez to share how digital disinformation is threatening the future of social trust and democracy in her country.

Guest:

Fauziyya Tukur, senior journalist, Disinformation at BBC News Nigeria

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Despite being the first president—former or sitting—to be indicted for a crime, Donald Trump remains the front-running candidate for the GOP nomination. If the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol and allegations of assault and defamation aren’t enough to deter diehard MAGA fans, what does the future of American politics look like?

Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Ray Suarez to break down what Trump’s historic indictment—and the fight for the truth in the US—means for the coming 2024 elections.

Guest:

Tom Nichols, staff writer at The Atlantic and professor emeritus of national-security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Media is being challenged as audience consumption trends continue to change, and journalists are facing violence and imprisonment in the field. What do these threats mean for the future of journalism? Ray Suarez sits down with Mark Goldberg, host of “Global Dispatches,” to explore how international journalism can remain vital.

Guest:

Mark Leon Goldberg, editor of UN Dispatch and host of "Global Dispatches"

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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Recently, media organizations have laid off thousands of journalists, and in March, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russia’s federal security services under suspicion of espionage. It’s clear that international journalism is under threat.

Gulnoza Said, the Europe and Central Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, joins Ray Suarez to discuss why the safety of journalists matters to the health of a free press.

Guest:

Gulnoza Said, CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator

Host: 

Ray Suarez

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The Chinese balloon’s voyage over American skies has escalated concerns about foreign land ownership in the US. Lawmakers in roughly 11 states — from Arizona, to Montana, to Texas — are up in arms about Chinese ownership of American farmland. Nancy Qian, James J. O'Connor Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Kellogg MEDS, Northwestern University, joins Ray Suarez to share how a proposed ban of foreign land ownership could backfire.

Guest:

Nancy Qian, James J. O'Connor Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Kellogg MEDS, Northwestern University 

Host:

Ray Suarez

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The Chinese Communist Party has made reunification with Taiwan one of its main political goals, and it has threatened to take the island by military force. Meanwhile, President Biden has reiterated unequivocal support for Taiwan’s security. Dr. Joel Wuthnow, senior research fellow at the National Defense University's Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, tells Ray Suarez why this puts the US in a political bind.

Guest:

Dr. Joel Wuthnow, senior research fellow at the National Defense University's Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs

Host:  

Ray Suarez

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As Arizona grapples with looming cuts to its allocation of Colorado River water, the arid state is taking a hard look at how its groundwater is used and who has access to it. Dr. Natailie Koch, author of “Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia,” joins Ray Suarez to explain how Saudi Arabia ended up at the center of a water crisis in the American Southwest.

Guest:

Natalie Koch, Professor for Human Geography at Heidelberg’s Geography Institute and author of “Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia”

Host:

Ray Suarez

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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.

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.

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

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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

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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

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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

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Last May, Ray sat down with documentarian Daniel Roher to chat 'Navalny,' his new film following the famed Russian opposition leader’s recovery from a Kremlin-sponsored assassination attempt and his ongoing search for justice.

We revisit the episode after 'Navalny' recently took home the Academy Award for best documentary.

Guest:  

Daniel Roher, documentary filmmaker and director of 'Navalny'

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.

There are few places in the world where delegates from the United States, China and Russia meet together to consider trade and economic issues, but they met recently in Palm Springs. World Affairs visits a recent Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) event, where 21 nations hashed out the future of global trade. Ray Suarez talks with APEC research head, Carlos Kuriyama, about how the global economy can bounce back from the pandemic.

Guest:

Carlos Kuriyama, Policy Support Unit at APEC

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.

One billion children lost a year or more of critical schooling due to the lockdowns caused by COVID-19. How can we make up for this lost time? On this week’s program, Ray Suarez is joined by Norbert Schady, Chief Economist for Human Development, and Mamta Murthi, Vice President for Human Development, both at the World Bank. They address the challenge of lost human capital, and explain why it’s not too late to get kids back on task. 

Guests:

Norbert Schady, Chief Economist for Human Development, World Bank

Mamta Murthi, Vice President for Human Development, World Bank

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.

Joshua Yaffa wasn’t a war correspondent, but The New Yorker writer became one when Russia invaded Ukraine. He tells Ray Suarez how the war solidified a sense of Ukrainian unity that didn’t exist previously. “That is the tragic and dark irony of this war,” said Yaffa. “Putin's invasion brought about the very thing Putin thought he was fighting against from the beginning.”

Guest:

Joshua Yaffa, contributing writer at The New Yorker

Host:

Ray Suarez

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The war over Ukraine continues, and former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul says Putin is not backing down. He tells Ray Suarez why the global response to the current crisis will determine who wins or loses.

This episode was produced in partnership with Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies podcast WorldClass.

Guest:

Michael McFaul, US ambassador to Russia (2012-2014), director at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies

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.

When Putin announced a mandatory draft of Russians after taking huge losses in Ukraine, thousands fled the nation. As these anti-war activists have taken refuge in post-Soviet countries, they’ve had to face Russia’s complicated relationship with its neighbors.

In part two of our Ukraine war anniversary series, journalist Levi Bridges tells the story of the Russian exodus, and the cultural reckoning that followed. 

Guest:

Levi Bridges, journalist and audio producer

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Bill Browder, formerly Russia’s largest foreign investor, predicted President Vladimir Putin’s long and cruel war in Ukraine. One year later, Browder says Putin’s failures extend far beyond the battlefield.

So, what fuels Putin’s destructive campaign? And what can the rest of the world do to bring the war to an end?

In the first part of our Ukraine anniversary special, Browder joins host Ray Suarez to answer what Putin might do next – and how long this war may last.

Guest:

Bill Browder, financier and author of Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath

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.

The aftermath of the Chinese surveillance balloon saga reveals a growing diplomatic divide between the US and China. Where does this mistrust come from? And why would Beijing take the risk of high-stakes state espionage?

In “Wealth and Power,” authors Orville Schell and John Delury argue that foreign humiliation over the past century and a half is the story that holds China together.

They join host Ray Suarez to discuss China’s quest for global dominance.

Guests: 

John Delury, US Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea

Orville Schell, director of the Center on US-China relations at the Asia Society

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.

A father and daughter journey to their ancestral homeland, looking to track down the place their family had lived before being forced to flee the Armenian genocide.

Armenian Pilgrimages: A Journey to the Homeland, comes from Kerning Cultures, a podcast telling stories from the Middle East, North Africa, and the spaces in between. 

As a postscript to this story – Nubar ended up going back, on a second trip to historic Armenia. This time with a camera crew and a fixer. He wanted to see if he could buy his grandmother’s plot of land.

The film’s not out yet, but you can watch the trailer at scarsofsilence.com.

Guests:

Nubar Alexanian, filmmaker and photographer

Abby Alexanian, Nubar’s daughter

Carel Bertram, author of A House in the Homeland

Armen Aroyan, (tour guide)

Annie Kahkejian, (tour guide)

Hosts:  

Dana Ballout, editor, Kerning Cultures

Alex Atack, managing producer for English production, Kerning Cultures

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.

On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan blockaded a narrow road into Nagorno-Karabakh, creating a disastrous situation for the region’s 120,000 Armenian residents. The blockade is the latest in a bloody, post-Soviet conflict flying under the radar.

Journalist Lara Setrakian and political scientist Artak Beglaryan join Ray Suarez to explain the stakes of the crisis, the role of regional powers Russia and Turkey and hopes for democracy’s survival in the region.

Guests:

Artak Beglaryan, advisor to the state minister, the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) government.

Lara Setrakian, journalist

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.

Earlier in the week, we heard about how President Jair Bolsonaro stoked a Second Amendment culture war in Brazil–a country without a Second Amendment.

Now we'll hear from Bloomberg reporter Neil Weinberg, who explains how the NRA forged ties with Brazilian gun advocates, and how the American gun lobby exported its aims around the world.

Guests:

Neil Weinberg, Bloomberg News reporter

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.

Former president Jair Bolsonaro galvanized a U.S.-style gun culture in Brazil.  Although Brazilians still have no constitutional right to bear arms, the former president loosened gun control, and encouraged his supporters to arm themselves. After Bolsonaro lost the 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, what happened next closely mirrored what happened in the United States after Donald Trump lost the election in 2020. 

So, how did Jair Bolsonaro leverage a Second Amendment culture war in a country...without a Second Amendment? And how did a fundamentally American ideology lead to an attack on Brazil’s Congress earlier this year?

Ray Suarez spoke with Reuters reporter Gabriel Stargardter about Brazil’s version of the January 6th Insurrection, and the Latin American nation’s fight over the "right" to bear arms.

Guest:  

Gabriel Stargardter, Reuters reporter in Rio de Janeiro

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.

*Ray Suarez will be at World Affairs live and in-person on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, for a discussion about his life and career.

Find out more information by clicking this link to sign up and attend in person or view online.* 

“On Shifting Ground” host Ray Suarez has just returned from a four-month stint living in Shanghai. There, he had a front-row seat to draconian lockdowns, the White Paper Protests, and Xi Jinping’s triumphant acceptance of a third term, cementing the Chinese President’s vision for the country’s future. On his way out of China, Ray witnessed the country’s chaotic exit from “Zero-Covid”, as Beijing scrambled to face the deadly fallout. 

What is Xi Jinping’s plan to reset China, and how do we make sense of his enigmatic rule? 
Sue-Lin Wong, a reporter from The Economist, joined Ray for a live streamed discussion of the consolidation of power by the Chinese Communist Party, and its national and global implications. Wong is also the host of the magazine’s hit podcast “The Prince: Searching for Xi Jinping.”

Guest:  

Sue-Lin Wong, The Economist’s Southeast Asia correspondent, host of The Prince: Searching for Xi Jinping.

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.

Economist Brad DeLong was feeling optimistic in February 2021, because inflation was well below target. Weeks later, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine, sending price shocks through the global economy.

The latest numbers indicate inflation is slowing, but people around the world are still feeling the sting. While the US has it better than most, no one is immune from the global economic slump.

So what does inflation mean for our pocketbooks, and for our mental health? Ray Suarez speaks with DeLong about why a little bit of inflation may be good for the economy, but also signals to service-sector and middle class workers that the system isn’t working for them. 

Guest:

Bradford DeLong, UC Berkeley economist and author of Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century

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.

Silicon Valley relies on a huge foreign born workforce, mostly from India and China, to provide specialized skills in fields like engineering, biotech, AI and computer science. But after the most recent round of tech layoffs, visa holders have 60 days to find a new job, or lose their residency in the U.S.

Tech reporter Pranav Dixit has been paying attention to the outsized role foreign born workers play in companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon, who have laid off more than 26,000 employees in 2023, and thousands more at the end of 2022. In the course of his reporting, Dixit has found that these drastic cuts have left immigrant programmers and computer scientists wondering if it’s worth staying in the U.S. “People are really using this time to reevaluate their priorities and their relationships,” said Dixit, “with both the US and their own country in many cases.”

Read more of Pranav Dixit’s reporting for Buzzfeed: Laid-Off Tech Workers On H-1B Visas Might Be Forced To Leave The Country

And check out his past appearance on the program: Podcast: Why Farmers are Fighting in Modi’s India - World Affairs Council 

Guest:

Pranav Dixit, tech reporter at Buzzfeed

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.

As we approach the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, Iran has been hit with further sanctions for supplying Russia with drones and ballistic missiles. The dense web of overseas conflicts and the growing use of remote weaponry has left many average Americans feeling disengaged from the human toll of war. Journalist Azmat Khan says our ignorance isn’t an accident. She was recently awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her work uncovering the US military’s systematic failure to investigate civilian casualties in the ongoing US fight against ISIS. 

On this week’s program, Khan sits down with Ray Suarez to discuss what accountability looks like in the age of remote warfare, and the importance of civilian oversight in US military action. Then, Shannon French joins the program to chart the ever-evolving field of military ethics – and its central role in keeping both civilians and soldiers safe.

Guests:  

Azmat Khan, investigative reporter for the New York Times Magazine

Shannon French, Inamori Professor of Ethics at Case Western University

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.

What will a new Congress mean for the next two years of foreign policy? The writing on the wall of the new GOP-controlled House spells more hawkishness on China, and more scrutiny of the Biden administration’s aid to Ukraine.

Ray Suarez speaks with Chris Tuttle, from the Council on Foreign Relations, about the impact of the midterms on US foreign policy. Will the razor-thin Republican majority in the House of Representatives empower more conservative, “America-first” factions within the party?

Guest:

Chris Tuttle, Senior Fellow and Director of the Renewing America Initiative, Council on Foreign Relations

Host(s):  

Philip Yun, CEO of World Affairs

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.

A viral photo captured Rep. Andy Kim as he worked to clear debris in the aftermath of the Capitol attack. Two years after January 6th, Congressman Andy Kim has been reflecting on today's era of division and uncertainty. 

From the failure of deterrence with Russia and China, to rising authoritarianism and a growing disconnect between Washington and the American people, geopolitical norms are under stress. To avoid catastrophic international conflict, Rep. Kim says we will need to think creatively, and act empathetically. 

Kim sits down with World Affairs CEO Philip Yun to discuss why now is the time to steer the ship back to calmer waters, and why it’s important to bring the American people into the conversation. 

Guest:

Democratic Congressman Andy Kim, New Jersey’s Third District 

Host:  

Philip Yun, World Affairs CEO

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.

When President Trump incited his followers to storm the US Capitol, he punctured a 220-year-old tradition in the United States of America. Two years later, we’re still reckoning with the consequences. 

Rising political violence is no surprise to Ruth Ben-Ghiat, scholar of fascism and advisor to the House Select Committee on January 6th. Ben-Ghiat and Ray Suarez discuss the stakes of the committee, and how to prevent another riot in the United States. Then, Ray is joined by Julia Ebner, a journalist who went undercover in the world of political extremists. Ebner reveals how conspiracy theories like QAnon have taken hold in Germany.

Guests:  

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present

Julia Ebner, author of Going Dark: The Secret Lives of Extremists

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.

This year’s protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, are not the first time Iranians have united in the struggle for freedom. Writer, scholar and television star Reza Aslan tells Ray the epic story of an American named Howard Baskerville, who joined Iran’s first fight for democracy nearly 100 years ago.

Guest:

Reza Aslan, writer, religious scholar, and author of a new book, “An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville.” 

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

Iran continues to be shaken up by nationwide protests and general strikes. With no real independent press in the country, Iranians covering the story from around the world continue to provide critical insight into the protests and political turmoil. Golnaz Esfandiari, a senior correspondent for Radio Farda, joins the show to explain how breaking news escapes the country, despite threats and censorship from the regime.

Guest:

Golnaz Esfandiari, Senior correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty focusing on Iran

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.

When journalist Lisa Phu’s mother escaped genocide in Cambodia in 1980, she had no idea what would happen to her. It wasn’t until Lisa had a baby of her own that she had a long overdue conversation with her mother, Lan, about their family’s history—through war and violence, separation and loss, endings and beginnings.

In this special episode, we share “Before Me”, a five-part podcast series following one woman’s life—from Cambodia to America—over the course of decades. The story was created, written, and produced by Lisa Phu, deputy editor of the Alaska Beacon, with support from Self Evident Media.

Guest:

Lisa Phu, justice, education, and culture reporter for the Alaska Beacon

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.

A half-century ago, almost two million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge, a radical communist authoritarian regime in Cambodia. In 2006 – with the assistance from the United Nations – the Cambodian government set up a genocide tribunal. Sixteen years and over $300 million later, only three men were convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Why did it take decades to prosecute, and why was the decision so weak – and costly?

Ray Suarez speaks with David Scheffer, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who played a central role in the genocide tribunal. Then, Ray is joined by investigative journalist Lindsey Kennedy to talk about how Cambodia has changed in the decades since Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

Guests:  

David Scheffer, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations

Lindsey Kennedy, investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker, and the director of TePonui

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.

 As Americans continue to grapple with a post-Roe future, how should those seeking reproductive healthcare navigate rampant misinformation online?

Ray Suarez speaks with Alaa Mostafa from Reveal and Anabel Sosa, a journalist with the Human Rights Center investigations lab at the UC Berkeley School of Law, to untangle the spread of abortion misinformation on TikTok and YouTube.

Guests:  

Alaa Mostafa, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting

Anabel Sosa, Human Rights Center investigations lab at the UC Berkeley School of Law

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.

When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, one group wasn’t surprised: Polish abortion activists. Poland has also restricted access to abortions, and feminist Agnieszka Graff observed, “ This is a cultural battle that has been ongoing for half a century, and I think we were wrong to assume that we won it.” Can Poland’s fight over abortion offer lessons for an uncertain future?

Ray Suarez speaks with Agnieszka Graff about Poland’s war on abortion – and how a historic protest movement is fighting back.

Guests:  

Agnieszka Graff, Polish feminist and co-author of Anti-Gender Politics in the Populist 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.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup, the world’s most popular sporting event, is hosted by Qatar, and over 5 billion viewers are expected to tune in. Even if you’re not a diehard soccer fan, you might be familiar with some of the serious controversies surrounding this year’s games. From allegations of corruption and bribery around Qatar’s bid to the host’s flagrant human rights abuses, the World Cup has already had a heavy financial and human cost.

Ray Suarez teases the tournament’s most interesting storylines with Alex Kay-Jelski, the editor-in-chief of the Athletic UK. Kay-Jelski is England’s first openly gay sports editor, and he shares what it’s like covering the games in Qatar – where homosexuality is a crime. Then, economist Andrew Zimbalist tries to untangle FIFA’s complicated ledger to explain why the games are so expensive.

Guests:

Alex Kay-Jelski, the editor-in-chief of The Athletic UK

Andrew Zimbalist, American economist, Robert A. Woods professor of economics at Smith College

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.

Tribal rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution, but modern court cases – including the Brackeen case currently before the US Supreme Court – are reminders that Indigenous sovereignty and Native lands are still at risk in the United States. And in Canada, Indigenous activists are still fighting back against generations of hardship and forced separation of families. 

Ray Suarez is joined by Tammerlin Drummond, creator and host of the Gold Chains from the Northern California chapter of the ACLU. Then, Jenn Williams, host of Foreign Policy’s co-production with Doha Debates, The Negotiators, talks with Cindy Blackstock, the plaintiff in the largest-ever class action settlement in Canada’s history – $32 billion dollars set aside for Native victims and families harmed by the child welfare system. 

Guests:

Tammerlin Drummond, communications strategist, ACLU of Northern California; creator, host and writer, Gold Chains podcast

Cindy Blackstock, executive director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society

Hosts:

Ray Suarez

Jenn Williams, host of The Negotiators

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.

The US midterms may be over, but the web of misinformation shaping global politics is everywhere…disrupting elections, destabilizing currencies, and dividing communities around the world. Identifying false information, like deep fakes and conspiracy theories, can be hard – and sites like Facebook and Twitter aren’t making things any easier.

In this week’s episode of On Shifting Ground, we look at the global relationship between misinformation, war, and peace. CEO of PeaceTech Lab, Sheldon Himelfarb, sits down with Ray to discuss what makes our present-day information crisis so unique – and dangerous. Then Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center, breaks down “The Berkeley Protocol,” a new international standard for verifying online images in war zones, from Myanmar to Ukraine.

Guests:

 
Sheldon Himelfarb, CEO of PeaceTech Lab

Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley

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.

It’s been three years since the Sudanese Revolution, a massive grassroots campaign that ousted the country’s longtime dictator Omar Al-Bashir. Now, Sudan is back under military control … but calls for change from the country’s pro-democracy movement are only getting louder.

On this week’s episode, Ray brings us to the frontlines of Sudan’s daily street protests, guided by activist and researcher Muzan Alneel. Then, guest host Hana Baba speaks with Declan Walsh, Chief Africa Correspondent for the New York Times, about Russia’s shadow investments in Sudan and how Putin’s aggressive policy in Africa may have predicted his invasion of Ukraine. Hana sits down with Kholood Khair, a Khartoum-based political strategist, and Bakri Ali, a diaspora organizer, to discuss the failings of US policy in Sudan and the revolution’s importance to democracy movements everywhere.

Guests:  

Muzan Alneel, pro-democracy activist and nonresident fellow at The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

Declan Walsh, Chief Africa correspondent at The New York Times

Bakri Ali, Sudanese diaspora activist and aerospace engineer

Kholood Khair, political strategist and founder of Confluence Advisory 

Hosts:

Ray Suarez

Hana Baba, guest host of On Shifting Ground, host of KALW’s Crosscurrents

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.

COVID-19 and monkeypox cases may be down for now … but we’re not out of the woods yet. And according to famed epidemiologist and CEO of Pandefense Advisory, Larry Brilliant, these aren’t the last – or even the most destructive – mass outbreaks we could see in our lifetimes. Climate change, population growth, and rampant disinformation will exponentially increase the risks of disease.

On this week’s episode of On Shifting Ground, Brilliant joins Ray Suarez to break down what the global pandemic response community got wrong (and right), the enduring geopolitics of vaccination, and the urgent need to build a more pandemic-resilient society.

Guest: 

Larry Brilliant, physician, epidemiologist, and CEO of Pandefense Advisory

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.

In August, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei and stood shoulder-to-shoulder to Taiwanese officials. She said her visit was to honor the US’s unwavering support for Taiwanese sovereignty. Leaders in mainland China – who have made the annexation of Taiwan a key political priority – were furious.

This week, Ray takes a close look at Taiwan: its colonial past, vibrant democratic tradition, and what recent disputes over independence could mean for its people — and national security – today. We hear directly from a range of Taiwanese voices on the ground, including speakers from the two major political parties vying for influence in the country’s domestic sphere. 

Guests:  

Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang, Taiwanese student and research assistant with Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation

Syaru Shirley Lin, professor at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia

Guan Fu, research associate at Taiwan Democracy Progressive Party (DPP)

Steven Wang, former staffer the Kuomintang (KMT) Party

Host:

Ray Suarez, host of On Shifting Ground with 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.

New name...same award-winning insights.

"On Shifting Ground with Ray Suarez" drops on October 31st.

When Joe Biden took office, he promised to pull the US out of costly wars in the Middle East and take a harsher stance toward human rights violations in the region. But this past year, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine – and the ensuing energy crisis – have thrown a wrench in Biden’s strategy. And longtime ally Saudi Arabia is giving the US the cold shoulder, cutting oil production weeks before midterm elections.

This week, Ray Suarez sits down with two Middle East policy experts to debate the best path forward for US engagement in the region. Quincy Institute Executive Vice President Trita Parsi and Brookings Institution senior fellow Shadi Hamid break down their new books, that OPEC news, and the uneasy policy balance between oil, guns, and human rights.

Guests:

Shadi Hamid, senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings Institution

Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

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.

In the past few years, there’s been a growing number of high-profile acts of violence inspired by the “great replacement theory,” an extremist doctrine based on the unsubstantiated belief that non-white populations will “replace” and subjugate white majorities across the globe. Once confined to the radical fringe, replacement theory has now entered mainstream conservative rhetoric. 

On this week’s episode, Ray Suarez sits down with Daniel Byman, a counterterrorism expert and author of Spreading Hate: The Global Rise of White Supremacist Terrorism, to discuss the roots of the global white power movement, how extremism spreads, and what the mainstreaming of violence as a political tactic means for targeted communities–and democracy–in the world today.

Guest: 

Daniel Byman, Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution and professor at Georgetown University

Host: 

Ray Suarez

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President Barack Obama delivered over 450 speeches during his tenure, but one of his most famous was entirely unscripted. Back in 2015, as the country mourned the victims of Charleston church shooting, the president spontaneously began to sing. And for longtime staff speechwriter Cody Keenan, Obama’s famous “Amazing Grace” speech epitomized the power of oration to guide Americans in times of immense national crisis. 

This week, Keenan joins Ray to discuss his new book, “Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America.” In it, he pulls back the curtain on the presidential writers’ room, and how the administration strove to bring a country together. 

Guest:

 
Cody Keenan, partner at Fenway Strategies and former White House Director of Speechwriting

Host: 

Ray Suarez

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Cuba is a small island nation of 11.3 million people, but the country has long loomed large in the American political imagination. Viewed as both a hostile pro-Soviet neighbor and an anti-imperialist revolutionary, Cuba has held a contentious relationship with the US. The Obama administration began to repair the strained diplomatic relationship, but the invasion of Ukraine and enduring Trump-era sanctions are once again inflaming deep-rooted Cold War tensions.

In this week’s episode, we explore the deep roots of Cuban internationalism…and its impact on everyday Cubans. We begin with historian William Kelly, who charts Cuba’s little-known history of solidarity with Ukraine—and how Cuba’s pro-Putin stance is turning this history on its head. Then, Ray is joined by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Ada Ferrer, whose new book Cuba: An American History offers a new take on US-Cuba relations.

Guests:

William Kelly, lecturer in Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University

Ada Ferrer, Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American Studies at New York University and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Cuba: An American History 

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.

In 2008, Jason Rezaian made a life changing decision to move to Iran and follow his dream of being a foreign correspondent. He fell in love, became a reporter for the Washington Post, and even played host to Anthony Bourdain in the Iran episode of “Parts Unknown.” Then, Jason’s life was turned upside down when he was arrested and held hostage in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for 544 days.

At least 40 Americans are currently held captive around the world–not by terrorist groups, but by foreign governments. On today’s episode, we hear Jason’s story and why he thinks it’s essential that the US government and media change the way they talk about American hostages abroad so we can finally bring them home. 

Guests:  

Jason Rezaian, Washington Post global opinions writer, host of 544 Days and author of Prisoner

Yeganeh Rezaian, senior researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists

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.

Just days before Putin invaded Ukraine, Russian authorities detained U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner on reported minor drug charges. Seven months later, Putin’s war rages on … and Griner—a Black lesbian athlete—remains in Russian custody, facing a brutal nine-year sentence that experts say may be politically motivated. 

With her sentencing, Griner joins a growing list of US citizens detained abroad—not by rogue terrorist groups, but by established foreign governments. This week, ESPN investigative reporter TJ Quinn and hostage expert Dani Gilbert join Ray to discuss how state-endorsed hostage-taking creates leverage for autocrats—like Putin—upends American diplomatic norms, and places civilians in the crossfire.

Guests:

TJ Quinn, investigator reporter and senior writer at ESPN

Dani Gilbert, hostage expert and Rosenwald Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy and International Security at Dartmouth College

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.

On September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered a draft of Russian reservists, mobilizing up to 300,000 troops – the first such draft since World War II.

Just before Putin's military order, former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, spoke with Ray Suarez to give a sense of what we can expect from the war in Ukraine in the coming weeks and – perhaps – months, and how it’s impacting Russia’s international standing.

Guest:  

Michael McFaul, Professor of Political Science and Director of Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and author of From Cold War to Hot Peace

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.

Whether you’re a trader,  techie, or average joe, you’ve probably heard the words “crypto” or “bitcoin” swirling around the web. In the past year, digital coins – once viewed as the exclusive domain of tech millionaires – have shot to global prominence as the preferred currency of Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian resistance fighters, Salvadoran politicians, and everyone in between.

Despite the explosion of “cryptomania,” most people still know little about how the digital currency actually works. This week, we take a deep dive into the global world of cryptocurrency.

We start in Kazakhstan, where crypto miners are converting frigid winters into digital cash – and straining the country’s energy grid. Then, Ray Suarez sits down with Ukrainian crypto champion Michael Chobanian and skeptic Molly White to discuss the ways crypto may help or hurt a country in crisis.

Guests: 

Denis Rusinovich, co-founder of Maveric Group AG

Joanna Lillis, author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan

Jonathan Levin, co-founder and CSO of Chainalysis Inc. 

Michael Chobanian, founder of KUNA exchange and president of the Blockchain Association of Ukraine

Molly White, software engineer and author of “Web3 is Going Just Great”

Host:

Ray Suarez

This program was produced with additional reporting from Levi Bridges. You can check out more of Levi's work here.

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.

Between the passing of Queen Elizabeth and the election of a new leader, the world’s eyes are on the United Kingdom.

Until recently, British politician Liz Truss was a relative unknown outside of the UK. Now, as prime minister, she faces the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, the first monarchy changeover in seventy years, and a host of pressing foreign policy matters – notably, Ukraine, Brexit, and Northern Ireland.

On this week’s episode, we break down the global implications of new British leadership with Ronan McCrea, professor of law at University College London. He joins Ray to discuss the country’s changing voting laws, party politics, and how Truss’s governing approach may differ from past Tory leaders. Then, we travel to Northern Ireland, where the fate of a Brexit protocol – and the precarious peace between north and south – is back up for debate.

Guests:

Ronan McCrea, professor of law, University College London

Noel Large, tour guide, Ex-Prisoners Interpretive Center  

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.

In today’s global economy, a single event – like a storm or virus outbreak – can impact access to basic necessities, like food for millions of people. Add to that a rapidly growing world population and many experts are wondering…  how will we keep everyone fed? In what ways will our lifestyles, and our international supply chains, adapt to meet the needs of a warming and increasingly crowded planet? 

On this week’s episode, we hear from two experts with competing visions of how we can sustainably feed a growing planet. Ray Suarez is joined by Raj Patel and Robert Paarlberg on a journey through the inequities and promise of our global food system.

Guests:  

Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved and co-director of The Ants and the Grasshopper, University of Texas

Robert Paarlberg, author of Resetting the Table: Straight Talk About the Food We Grow and Eat, Harvard University

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.

In collaboration with Foreign Policy, we bring you a story from “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women,” to look at how reforming marital rights could be the biggest first step toward gender equality.

Host Reena Ninan uncovers the lesser-known role of women’s rights in the fight to end apartheid, and how the current struggle to reform sexist property laws in South African courts is keeping this legacy alive.

Guests:

Agnes Sithole, South African marital law reformist

Sharita Samuel, South African lawyer

Host:

Reena Ninan, host, Foreign Policy’s “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women”

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.

It’s been nearly thirty years since the fall of apartheid in South Africa. But what happens when the celebrations cease, the news cameras turn away, and the real work of democracy begins?

In this episode, a co-production with Foreign Policy, we take a look at South Africa’s path to political and economic equality.

First, political scientist Evan Lieberman joins Voice of America’s “Straight Africa Talk” host, Haydé Adams, to discuss the lingering “ghost of apartheid,” and why South Africa’s electoral future gives him hope. Then, we turn to a recent episode of Foreign Policy’s “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women.” Host Reena Ninan uncovers the lesser-known role of women’s rights in the fight to end apartheid, and how the current struggle to reform sexist marital and property laws in South African courts is keeping this legacy alive.

Guests:

 
Evan Lieberman, professor of political science at MIT

Haydé Adams, host, Voice of America’s “Straight Talk Africa”

Reena Ninan, host, Foreign Policy’s “The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women”

Agnes Sithole, South African marital law reformist

Sharita Samuel, South African lawyer

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.

In 1804, Haiti became the first nation to free itself from slavery, much to the disdain of the U.S. and the world’s leading European powers. Scars of colonialism and generations of racism have set Haiti back, and the country has been paying the economic price for freedom for over 200 years.

Ray sits down with Haitian author Évelyne Trouillot and historian Leslie Alexander for a conversation about Haiti’s turbulent history since its revolution.

Guests:

Leslie Alexander, Professor of History at Arizona State University, activist and author

Evelyne Trouillot, Author, Poet and Professor of French at Universite d’Etat d’Haiti

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.