Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters
The longest running independent international affairs podcast features in-depth interviews with policymakers, journalists and experts around the world who discuss global news, international relations, global development and key trends driving world affairs. Named by The Guardian as "a podcast to make you smarter," Global Dispatches is a podcast for people who crave a deeper understanding of international news.
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The Case Against Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court
03/26/2026
The Case Against Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court
One year ago, in 2025, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was extradited to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity and murder for orchestrating a campaign of extrajudicial killings against people he deemed to be involved in the drug trade. Over the course of several years while he was president, thousands of people were killed by police and hit squads. Now, he faces justice at the International Criminal Court. Nearly one year to the day after his extradition, Duterte faced his first major court proceeding: the confirmation of charges against him. This is a major moment for the Philippines and the International Criminal Court. Joining me to discuss the case against Rodrigo Duterte is Diane Desierto, Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School and Professor of Global Affairs at the Keough School of Global Affairs at Notre Dame. We begin by discussing the specific charges against Duterte before having a broader conversation about the significance of this case for both the Philippines and the future of the ICC.
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Is Cuba Next?
03/23/2026
Is Cuba Next?
For the first time in nearly 70 years, it looks like there may be major political changes afoot in Cuba — driven by the United States. The Trump administration has been ratcheting up pressure on the island, including by imposing an oil embargo that is strangling the country’s energy supplies. On Monday, March 16, Cuba experienced a complete collapse of its electric grid, triggering a nationwide blackout. Meanwhile, Cuba’s erstwhile major patron was Venezuela, which, since the ouster of Maduro, no longer provides the support on which Havana once relied. Recent reporting also indicates that Washington and Havana are now engaged in direct talks, even as the Trump administration is explicitly seeking the ouster of President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Trump has also publicly suggested he could “take” Cuba. So will Cuba go the way of Venezuela? What role does the U.S. war in Iran play in Washington’s policy toward Cuba? And might the Cuban regime survive after all? My interview guest today, James Bosworth, answers these questions and more. He writes the on Substack, and we kick off with a brief overview of seven decades of U.S.-Cuba relations before having a longer conversation about where things stand today — and where they may be headed. https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff
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The Iran War Ignites a Global Humanitarian Emergency
03/16/2026
The Iran War Ignites a Global Humanitarian Emergency
Earlier last last week, he United Nations reported that around 300,000 Lebanese had been displaced since Israel opened a new front in southern Lebanon amid this widening regional conflict. Yesterday, that figure surged to more than 800,000 people forced from their homes in just a matter of days. Lebanon is where the humanitarian crisis stemming from the Iran war is most urgent at the moment—but the fallout is rapidly spreading across the region. In Gaza, humanitarian aid has dropped dramatically following Israel’s decision to close a major crossing. Pakistan is bracing for refugees even as it is in the midst of its own war with the Taliban, and in Iran itself, more than 3 million people are reportedly displaced. But according to my guest today, the impact of this conflict on some of the world’s most vulnerable people will be felt far beyond the region. Scott Paul is the Director of Peace and Security at Oxfam America. We begin by discussing the various crises this war has sparked across the region before turning to a broader conversation about the impact this conflict will have on humanitarian operations worldwide. In short, the ability of local and international humanitarian organizations to meet the basic needs of millions of people around the world has just become substantially more difficult because of this war. https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff
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How to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change | Global Catastrophic Risks
03/12/2026
How to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change | Global Catastrophic Risks
Today's episode is produced in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of global catastrophic risks and strengthening global governance to address them. Global Challenges Foundation's 2026 Global Catastrophic Risks report outlines five of the biggest risks facing humanity today, including catastrophic climate change, the topic of this episode. You can find this report at . Two of the authors of the chapter on catastrophic climate change are my guests today. Manjana Milkoreit is a researcher of earth systems governance at the University of Oslo. Eva Mineur is head of climate and sustainability at Global Challenges Foundation. We kick off by discussing what we mean by catastrophic climate change and examining examples of this phenomenon already underway around the world, before turning to a longer conversation about how to strengthen international cooperation and global governance to prevent catastrophic climate change—and the catastrophe it would entail.
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The War in Iran Comes to the UN | To Save Us From Hell
03/09/2026
The War in Iran Comes to the UN | To Save Us From Hell
We cover a lot of ground in There are two new entrants to the race to succeed António Guterres as the next UN Secretary-General; Cindy McCain announced she is stepping down as head of the World Food Programme, meaning there will soon be a vacancy at the top of one of the largest UN agencies—one typically led by an American; and we dissect a bizarre Security Council meeting earlier this week chaired by…Melania Trump. But we begin with an extended discussion of how the new war in Iran is impacting diplomacy at the United Nations—and what role the UN may play as this conflict evolves. The full episode is immediately available after the fold for our paying subscribers. You can use the discount link to get 40% off a subscription, or, if you’d prefer, support Global Dispatches and To Save Us From Hell at full price. https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff
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How Does The Iran War End?
03/04/2026
How Does The Iran War End?
Things are obviously moving very fast in the Middle East. When I caught up with my guest today, Dalia Dassa Kaye, the war was in its second day. Bombings in Iran and throughout the region continued at a rapid clip, and there was little sense of when, if, or how it might end. Regular listeners of the show are no doubt familiar with Dalia Dassa Kaye. She is a senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations and the author of a new book on U.S.–Iran relations,. She has researched and written extensively about escalatory dynamics in the region—how Iran, Israel, the United States, and Gulf countries may respond to being attacked. Now that this dynamic is clearly underway, I thought it would be useful to get her perspective on what we are seeing unfold. We kick off by discussing why the United States and Israel launched this war, given that Trump has never really articulated his motivations as the U.S. moved massive military assets to the region. We then discuss where this may head—and what might inspire de-escalation in the near future. This conversation will give you useful context as this crisis continues to develop. https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: The High-Stakes Fight Over Military AI—and Autonomous Weapons
03/02/2026
Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: The High-Stakes Fight Over Military AI—and Autonomous Weapons
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a high-stakes meeting with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and, according to several news reports, delivered an ultimatum: either Anthropic drops the safety guardrails built into its AI model, Claude, or it faces potentially punishing consequences—including invoking the Defense Production Act to effectively seize Claude, or banning Anthropic outright by declaring the company a “supply chain risk.” At issue are Anthropic’s terms of service for Claude, which prohibit the model from being used to develop or deploy lethal autonomous weapons systems—so-called “killer robots” that can identify and strike targets without meaningful human oversight. The Pentagon wants a free hand to potentially use Claude to develop these systems; Anthropic wants to prevent Claude from doing so. The outcome of this dispute is highly consequential—potentially even for the future of humanity. So-called swarms of drones and other military hardware could operate autonomously, coordinating among themselves to kill with impunity. The Pentagon worries that if it doesn’t develop these systems, China might. Anthropic considers these systems an ethically abhorrent line it does not want to cross. Joining me to discuss the details of this clash between a leading AI company and the Pentagon is Anna Hehir, head of Military AI Governance at the Future of Life Institute. We kick off with a discussion of how AI systems are already integrated into the U.S. military, before turning to a longer conversation about the vast implications of whether Anthropic complies with the Pentagon’s ultimatum. We also discuss how this incident illustrates the need for international agreements on lethal autonomous weapons systems, including now being hashed out at the United Nations.
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Ethiopia Is Sliding Fast Toward Major War
02/25/2026
Ethiopia Is Sliding Fast Toward Major War
Ethiopia is on the brink of a war that could turn into a major regional conflagration. Over the past several weeks, military forces have been moving into position across the region in a conflict that would pit the government of Ethiopia and some allied militias against Eritrea and a rebel faction from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, among others. There are several concurrent forces driving the region toward conflict: lingering resentments and unresolved disputes from Ethiopia’s civil war from 2020 to 2022; a move by the government of landlocked Ethiopia to potentially claim a Red Sea port in neighboring Eritrea; and spillover from the civil war in Sudan, where outside forces like the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are seeking to expand their regional footprint. All of this is pushing the region, seemingly inexorably, toward war. This would be a disaster. The civil war from 2020 to 2022 killed an estimated 500,000 people and exposed violent ethnic fissures in Ethiopia. This time around, many of the belligerents are the same—but they have switched sides. Back in 2020, Eritrea and Ethiopia allied to fight a rebellious group in the Tigray region. This time, Eritrea and Tigrayan rebels are joining forces to fight Ethiopia, with several other ethnic militias joining in. Also different this time is the active presence of malicious Gulf actors. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Ethiopia had established, with UAE backing, a training camp for the Rapid Support Forces militia that is ravaging Darfur in Sudan. Several NGO groups, think tanks, and regional or specialty news outlets have picked up this story—and are sounding the alarm. But so far, we have not yet seen much Western media attention to this incipient crisis. That’s tragic, given the sheer human calamity that would unfold if Ethiopia and Eritrea once again descend into a conflict that reverberates across the region. My interview guest today is journalist Zecharias Zelalem. We kick off by discussing recent moves that suggest war could break out at any moment, and then have a longer conversation about what is driving this conflict—and what might bring the region back from the brink. Support this kind of journalism with your paid subscription.
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Board of Peace v United Nations | US To Attack Iran? - To Save Us From Hell
02/23/2026
Board of Peace v United Nations | US To Attack Iran? - To Save Us From Hell
It was an odd juxtaposition: Trump’s inaugural Board of Peace gathered in Washington, D.C. as the U.S. appeared to be readying for war with Iran. In this week’s To Save Us From Hell episode, Mark and Anjali discuss why this Board of Peace can’t really compete with the Security Council, and what its advent says about international relations today. They then discuss a looming American attack on Iran, and what that suggests about the diminishing role of international law and the much-lamented rules-based international order. Finally, they unpack a bizarre confirmation hearing for Trump’s pick for assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs—who appears to be too racist for this particular role.
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Why Has the United States Deployed Gunboats to Haiti?
02/19/2026
Why Has the United States Deployed Gunboats to Haiti?
On February 3, the United States deployed a warship and Coast Guard vessels off the coast of Haiti, near Port-au-Prince. The move came amid political wrangling within Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council, as some members sought to block Washington’s preferred candidate from becoming the next prime minister. This deployment comes amid a deepening political, security, and humanitarian crisis in Haiti that stretches back to the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. In the wake of that killing, armed criminal gangs—once largely confined to a handful of neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince—began seizing territory. Today, a gang alliance controls most of Port-au-Prince and some surrounding areas. Meanwhile, a new UN-backed multinational security force of roughly 5,500 troops is expected to deploy in the coming weeks to help the Haitian National Police confront these gangs. My guest today is Diego Da Rin, Haiti analyst at the International Crisis Group. We begin by unpacking what this American show of force is meant to accomplish, then turn to the interlocking political, security, and humanitarian crises facing Haiti—and whether the UN-backed force can make a meaningful difference. https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff
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The Last Nuclear Arms Control Agreement Between the US and Russia Just Expired. What's Next?
02/16/2026
The Last Nuclear Arms Control Agreement Between the US and Russia Just Expired. What's Next?
The New START treaty, signed by the United States and Russia in 2010, limited both countries to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads, placed restrictions on how those weapons could be deployed, and included strong verification mechanisms to ensure compliance. On February 6, 2026, that treaty formally expired. And now, for the first time in decades, there is no bilateral nuclear arms agreement between the world’s two foremost nuclear powers. Joining me today to discuss the implications of the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is Corey Hinderstein, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. We kick off by discussing how New START built on previous arms control treaties between the United States and Russia, what it means that no such treaty now exists—and why China’s rapid nuclear buildup adds a vexing new challenge to future arms control efforts. There are very few media outlets these days that consistently cover nuclear security issues, despite the existential risks posed by nuclear weapons. I’m glad to bring you this episode. If you care about the future of humanity and want to help me continue producing thoughtful conversations like this, please become a paid subscriber. I’m running a subscription drive this month—and believe me when I say every single new paid subscriber makes a real difference.
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Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Is Rewriting the Political Playbook
02/12/2026
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Is Rewriting the Political Playbook
Donald Trump doesn’t much like Pedro Sánchez — and the Spanish prime minister is perfectly fine with that. Unlike other European leaders who reflexively genuflect to the American president, Pedro Sánchez stands apart for his willingness to confront Trump—not for its own sake, but in service of a theory of politics that diverges sharply from many of his European counterparts. As my guest, journalist Dave Keating, puts it: “While other European leaders zig, Pedro Sánchez zags.” Most recently, Sánchez enacted policies to regularize the immigration status of roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants living in Spain, granting work permits and other pathways to formally enter Spanish society and the economy. He has also resisted efforts to substantially increase defense spending, while boosting Spain’s support for international development and foreign aid. In today’s interview, we discuss Pedro Sánchez’s unique standing in European politics, why he’s sometimes shunned by other leaders in Brussels, and whether his experiment in regularizing half a million undocumented migrants can actually succeed. Dave Keating is the Brussels correspondent for France 24, writes the Substack, and is the author of the new book .
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The Secretary General Race Heats Up — And the Epstein Files Hit the UN | To Save Us From Hell
02/09/2026
The Secretary General Race Heats Up — And the Epstein Files Hit the UN | To Save Us From Hell
For the first time in history, multiple countries have jointly nominated a candidate for UN Secretary General. Earlier this week, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico endorsed Michelle Bachelet—a former president of Chile, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and a survivor of brutal repression under the Pinochet regime. The move is unprecedented—and potentially transformative. What does it signal about the race to replace António Guterres, and how soon might more rival candidates emerge? Anjali and Mark unpack what this coordinated nomination reveals about shifting power dynamics inside the UN. They then turn to the latest Epstein document dump, which has ensnared several prominent diplomats and sent shockwaves through the diplomatic world. Finally, they confront a looming institutional crisis: the UN’s cash reserves are so depleted that even the viability of this year’s UNGA is now being called into question. Get the full episode by purchasing a subscription at this discounted price.
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What Americans Really Think About Foreign Policy
02/05/2026
What Americans Really Think About Foreign Policy
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has been tracking American views on foreign policy since the end of the Vietnam War. Last week, it released its —and the results point to a widening partisan divide on some of the most fundamental questions about America’s role in the world. That was not always the case. For most of the past 50 years, Democrats, Republicans, and independents largely agreed on the proper role of the United States in the world. There were always differences, of course, but they tended to exist at the margins. On big-picture questions—such as alliances and working cooperatively with other countries—there was broad consensus. That consensus began to shift in 2015 with Donald Trump’s entry into the American political scene. Now, ten years later, this latest survey shows partisan divides that are deeper than ever. America’s domestic polarization has finally caught up with its foreign policy. To discuss these survey results, I’m joined by Jordan Tama, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, who specializes in the intersection of American public opinion and foreign policy. We begin by discussing the historical sources of bipartisan foreign policy consensus, before turning to a longer conversation about how and why that consensus has fractured—and what this shift suggests about the future of American foreign policy. Discount code: https://www.globaldispatches.org/subscribe?coupon=124f4694
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Civil War Has Returned to South Sudan
02/02/2026
Civil War Has Returned to South Sudan
For the past year and a half, South Sudan has been on the brink of a new civil war. A 2018 peace deal that ended the last civil war has been faltering, while the war across the border in Sudan has threatened to spill south. According to my interview guest, Daniel Akech of the International Crisis Group, the tipping point has been breached. We are now in the early stages of a new civil war in South Sudan—one that may prove even more destructive than the 2013–2018 conflict, which left an estimated 400,000 people dead. There are a number of reasons for this—not least the civil war in Sudan, which has decimated oil revenues that long underpinned South Sudan’s political economy. And, as in the first civil war, ethnic tensions are being deliberately stoked, raising the prospect of mass atrocities. We kick off by discussing recent events on the ground in South Sudan, including an offensive by opposition forces sparked by the arrest and prosecution of Riek Machar, a former vice president who led one side of the previous civil war. We then explore the potential trajectory of this conflict, how it is intimately tied to the war in Sudan, and the role of key regional actors. South Sudan is a new country, having gained independence from Sudan in 2011—but just two years later, civil war erupted, killing hundreds of thousands, displacing millions, and destroying infrastructure across the country. This new outbreak of violence may lead to something just as bad— or worse — but has received little attention in the Western press.
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One Year On: What Have Trump’s HIV/AIDS Cuts Cost The World?
01/28/2026
One Year On: What Have Trump’s HIV/AIDS Cuts Cost The World?
One year ago, the United States was winning the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Thanks largely to American leadership, infections and deaths from HIV/AIDS have dropped precipitously over the past 20 years, ever since the U.S. government made combating the disease a global priority. Some once–hard-hit countries in sub-Saharan Africa were even on track to become AIDS-free by 2030. But then, suddenly and without warning, Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 24, 2025 that all but ended U.S. funding for global HIV/AIDS relief. One year on, people have lost access to treatment, and the specter of a resurgence of HIV/AIDS—after years of steady decline—now looms. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is cutting bilateral deals with countries like Zambia, releasing health and development assistance in exchange for access to natural resources and mining concessions. Joining me from rural Zambia is journalist Andrew Green, who is in the midst of documenting the impact of these cuts on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts around the world. We kick off by discussing the historic role the United States played in the fight against HIV/AIDS before turning to what has been lost—and how countries across sub-Saharan Africa are responding.
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The Stories that Will Drive the UN Agenda in 2026 | To Save Us From Hell
01/26/2026
The Stories that Will Drive the UN Agenda in 2026 | To Save Us From Hell
Can Donald Trump’s new Board of Peace really compete with the Security Council? Will we even be discussing it a week or two from now, or will Trump and other world leaders simply move on? And what’s with the Board’s logo, which looks almost like a parody of the United Nations emblem? Mark and Anjali break down the newest—and perhaps strangest—entrant into the multilateral peace and security space, answering these questions and more. But first, they take stock of the major stories set to dominate the agenda at the United Nations as the world body closes out its 80th year. https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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Why a U.S. Strike Against Iran May Backfire
01/19/2026
Why a U.S. Strike Against Iran May Backfire
Protests sweeping Iran are unlike anything the regime has faced since coming to power in 1979. What began as demonstrations by shopkeepers in Tehran over the sharply devalued Iranian rial quickly morphed into sustained, nationwide anti-government protests. The government responded with extreme brutality, killing thousands of people—and in doing so, once again put itself in the crosshairs of the United States. Donald Trump has publicly encouraged the protesters and is threatening military action against the Iranian government. Could the United States strike Iran yet again? Why are Israel and America’s Gulf allies—normally among the loudest advocates of confronting Tehran—suddenly urging restraint? And if the U.S. does launch a strike, how might Iran respond? My guest today, Dalia Dassa Kaye, literally wrote the book on the long and fraught relationship between the United States and Iran. A senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations and the author of Enduring Hostility: The Making of America’s Iran Policy, she has spent years studying how escalatory cycles between Washington and Tehran unfold. We begin by discussing why this protest movement is fundamentally different from those that came before—and then examine why the military options now being debated in Washington are unlikely to produce their intended results. As a crackdown intensifies in Iran and Trump weighs conducting strikes, this conversation gives you useful context for understanding events as they unfold.
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The Curious Case of America’s Christmas Day Missile Strikes in Nigeria
01/15/2026
The Curious Case of America’s Christmas Day Missile Strikes in Nigeria
On Christmas Day, the United States launched a series of missile strikes in Nigeria, ostensibly against jihadist groups. In the weeks prior, Donald Trump had been claiming that Christians in Nigeria were being subjected to systematic attacks by such groups, and he framed these strikes as a “Christmas present” that killed jihadist leaders and destroyed terrorist camps. But that does not seem to have been the case. The strikes largely targeted an area in northwest Nigeria that is not home to any major jihadist group, and credible independent analysts have not found evidence of any deaths. Last week, a New York Times report found unexploded Tomahawk missiles lying in a field. So what is actually going on here? My guest today, Amaka Anku, is the head of Eurasia Group’s Africa Practice. She was in Nigeria at the time of the strikes, which she said caused considerable bewilderment among Nigerians. We kick off by discussing what we know about the missile strikes and why the region targeted was politically convenient for both the American and Nigerian governments. We then have a longer conversation about what these American missile strikes say—and don’t say—about Nigeria’s multiple security challenges. Support the show! https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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The View from Denmark as Trump Threatens Greenland | Søren Lippert
01/14/2026
The View from Denmark as Trump Threatens Greenland | Søren Lippert
Danes are reeling from the aggressive nature of Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland — but there is little they can do to stop the United States from acquiring the territory, whether by force or coercion. This is an odd position for Denmark, which has long been one of America’s staunchest allies, as well as a core member of the European Union and NATO. My interview guest, Søren Lippert, is the CEO of an independent security policy think tank in Denmark, Ny Verden (“New World” in English). We kick off by briefly discussing the historic, cultural, and political relationship between Greenland and Denmark before moving into a longer conversation about the vast implications of America’s aggressive posture toward Greenland. As he explains, Denmark, Europe, NATO, and the very foundations of the transatlantic alliance are all imperiled by Trump’s quixotic desire to make Greenland part of the United States. Support the show. https://www.globaldispatches.org/
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How China is Responding to the "Donroe Doctrine"
01/12/2026
How China is Responding to the "Donroe Doctrine"
I’m joined by one of my favorite fellow podcasters and Substackers, Kaiser Kuo, host of the long-running , for a wide-ranging conversation on China, Venezuela, and America’s shifting role in the world. We start by unpacking how trade ties between Venezuela and China have produced a deeply imbalanced relationship between Caracas and Beijing, before turning to Beijing’s reaction to Trump’s audacious move in Venezuela and the broader foreign-policy message it sends. What does China make of this “Donroe Doctrine”? What does it mean for Beijing’s claims in Asia, including Taiwan? And as the United States retreats from the liberal international order it once championed, is China prepared—or even willing—to step into the void? https://www.globaldispatches.org/40percentoff
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Is This an Existential Moment for the United Nations? | To Save Us From Hell
01/08/2026
Is This an Existential Moment for the United Nations? | To Save Us From Hell
The Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Monday in response to American military operations in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife— forcing dozens of countries to publicly respond to one of the most audacious U.S. actions in recent memory. Anjali and Mark break down what unfolded in the chamber: which countries issued the strongest condemnations, which were more restrained, and which attempted to thread the needle between defending a core principle of the UN Charter and avoiding the wrath of Donald Trump. They also ask a larger question: can an American foreign policy openly premised on hemispheric domination, resource extraction, and territorial expansion coexist with a United Nations designed to prevent exactly that? Is this an existential moment for the UN? Can the rules-based international order survive? And why has Somalia’s UN ambassador suddenly landed in MAGA crosshairs? We discuss all this—and more! https://www.globaldispatches.org/40percentoff
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The U.S. Just Toppled Nicolás Maduro. Here Are the Major Risks
01/03/2026
The U.S. Just Toppled Nicolás Maduro. Here Are the Major Risks
In a stunning U.S. military operation carried out in the early hours of Saturday, January 3rd, American forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. As of Saturday afternoon Eastern Time, the two were en route to New York, where they are expected to face criminal charges tied to a U.S. indictment issued roughly five years ago. The operation follows months of escalating confrontation between Washington and Caracas. The Trump administration had already carried out military strikes on vessels accused of drug smuggling and seized oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast. Hours after Maduro’s capture, President Trump declared that the United States would now “run Venezuela,” offering few details—but repeatedly emphasizing that the U.S. would soon control the country’s vast oil reserves. To help us understand what just happened and what may come next, I’m joined from Bogotá, Colombia by Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group. We discuss what is known so far about the operation, the risks facing Venezuela in the days ahead, and why this moment bears uncomfortable similarities to the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the occupation of Iraq more than two decades ago. Support Global Dispatches with your paid subscription!
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How to Revive a Global Plastics Pollution Treaty | When Treaties Work
12/29/2025
How to Revive a Global Plastics Pollution Treaty | When Treaties Work
In 2022, countries agreed to negotiate an international treaty to end plastics pollution. They gave themselves a two-year deadline to finalize the treaty text — and needless to say, that deadline has not been met. The conventional wisdom is that these treaty negotiations are hopelessly gridlocked, with some countries pushing for a wide-ranging agreement while others insist on something far more narrow. But according to my guest today, Maria Ivanova, there is a potential path forward. Maria Ivanova is one of the world’s leading experts on international environmental treaties. She is the Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University and Co-Director of the Plastics Center at Northeastern. We kick off discussing the fundamentally global nature of plastics pollution — and why this treaty process was launched when it was in 2022. We then turn to a longer conversation about the key geopolitical divisions that have stymied progress, before Maria Ivanova explains how countries might move beyond seemingly intractable positions and finally kickstart progress toward a binding international treaty on plastics pollution.
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How to Prevent Ecological Collapse | Global Catastrophic Risks
12/22/2025
How to Prevent Ecological Collapse | Global Catastrophic Risks
Today's episode is produced in partnership with the Global Challenges Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of global catastrophic risks and strengthening global governance to address them. Global Challenges Foundation's 2026 Global Catastrophic Risks report outlines five of the biggest risks facing humanity today, including ecological collapse, the topic of this episode. You can find this report at . Two of the authors of the chapter on ecological collapse are my guests today. David Obura is the director of CORDIO East Africa, a nonprofit research organization based in Kenya, and chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Eva Mineur is head of climate and sustainability at Global Challenges Foundation. We kick off by discussing what we mean by ecological collapse and examining examples of this phenomenon already underway around the world, before turning to a longer conversation about how to strengthen international cooperation and global governance to prevent ecological collapse—and the catastrophe it would entail.
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To Save Us From Hell | Anjali Addresses the Security Council! Plus: Rafael Grossi Gets "The New Yorker" Profile Treatment
12/18/2025
To Save Us From Hell | Anjali Addresses the Security Council! Plus: Rafael Grossi Gets "The New Yorker" Profile Treatment
Your very own co-host Anjali Dayal briefed the United Nations Security Council on Monday! She was paired with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for a special meeting of the Council dedicated to examining the role of the Secretary-General and the process for selecting Antonio Guterres’s successor. Anjali gives co-host Mark Leon Goldberg a behind-the-scenes account of what it’s like to sit in the briefers’ chair at the famous horseshoe table and shares highlights from the meeting. After the paywall, Mark and Anjali discuss a glowing New Yorker of International Atomic Energy Agency chief—and UN Secretary-General candidate—Rafael Grossi. It’s certainly a PR coup for the Argentine, but does PR really matter when it comes to running for UN Secretary-General? We discuss! And one more thing: this is the 50th episode of To Save Us From Hell. Fifty episodes of deep dives into power, politics, and the UN’s place in the world. Huge thanks to everyone who listens—and especially to our paid subscribers, who make this show possible. If you’ve been on the fence, now’s the moment: grab a paid subscription using the discount link below, get access to our full episodes and support the show with a cult following around the UN!
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When Treaties Work | The Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court
12/15/2025
When Treaties Work | The Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court
In 1998, 120 countries came together to adopt the Rome Statute, creating what would become the International Criminal Court. Four years later, that treaty entered into force, and the ICC officially opened its doors as a permanent court tasked with prosecuting individuals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Now, looking around the world today, it’s clear the ICC has not put an end to war crimes or crimes against humanity. But even so, the court—and the treaty that created it—have profoundly shaped international politics in ways that are often overlooked. My guest today is Mark Kersten. He’s a Senior Consultant with the Wayamo Foundation and an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. We start with a brief history of the ICC, and then dig into how the court has influenced not just legal definitions of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but how states themselves behave. When we spoke, Mark had just returned from the ICC’s annual Assembly of States Parties—the court’s main governing body. He explains why that meeting offers a window into some of the biggest challenges the ICC now faces, including the very real possibility of U.S. sanctions—not just against individual court officials, but against the institution itself. This episode is produced in partnership with Lex International Fund, a philanthropic initiative dedicated to strengthening international law to solve global challenges. It’s part of our ongoing series highlighting the real-world impact of treaties on state behavior, called “When Treaties Work.”
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2025 Was a Year of Global Protests
12/11/2025
2025 Was a Year of Global Protests
2025 was a year of global protests. More than 70 countries across every region of the world experienced anti-government demonstrations. Some of these movements — such as those in Nepal and Madagascar — led to the toppling of governments; others emerged in countries with little history of protest, like Tanzania. Many were youth-led, with Gen Z protesters drawing inspiration from one another across borders. My guest today is Thomas Carothers, director of the Democracy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he runs the Global Protest Tracker. Drawing on data from the Tracker, he and co-author Judy Lee recently published on the drivers of global protests in 2025, which we discuss in our conversation. We begin with some big-picture global trends before turning to a longer discussion about whether Gen Z–led protests can be considered a global movement.
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Inside the Search for Syria's Missing Persons
12/08/2025
Inside the Search for Syria's Missing Persons
Over the course of Syria’s fourteen-year civil war, around one million people went missing, presumably killed. Among them was the father of my guest today, Maryam Kamalmaz. Maryam’s father was an American psychotherapist who traveled to Syria on a humanitarian mission when he was detained and disappeared by the Assad regime. She campaigned for his release, but eventually learned that he had died in detention. Today, Maryam Kamalmaz is the Director for Missing Persons Affairs at the Syria Emergency Task Force, an advocacy group based in Washington, DC, where she is supporting international efforts to identify the roughly one million people who went missing during Syria’s civil war. We begin by discussing the case of her father before having a broader conversation about why finding the missing—and their remains—is so important for Syria’s democratic transition following the fall of the Assad regime. This is a powerful conversation, recorded live at the Halifax International Security Forum in late November.
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The Security Council Goes To Syria | To Save Us From Hell
12/04/2025
The Security Council Goes To Syria | To Save Us From Hell
On December 4, the entire United Nations Security Council made an unprecedented trip to Syria. It is hard to overstate what a significant turning point this represents — both for the Security Council and the United Nations as a whole. For thirteen long years, the civil war in Syria was the largest and most brutal conflict in the world, and one that stymied the United Nations by exposing massive geopolitical rifts between key global powers. We may now look to Gaza or Ukraine as examples of paralysis at the Security Council — but it was Syria that first broke it. Now, all fifteen members are in Damascus, in an important show of unity. Mark and Anjali break down why this trip is so significant and what role the UN can play in supporting Syria’s democratic transition. After the paywall: Mark and Anjali discuss shocking new revelations about the UN’s budget, and what the official “pre-launch” of the selection process for the next Secretary-General tells us about how the UN’s next leader will be chosen. Discount link to listen to full episode:
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