Amanpour

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How the Bush era still shapes US foreign policy Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

A lightning Russian invasion into a neighboring state sends shockwaves around the world. President Putin blames the west, and in particular the United States, for triggering its attack. The White House scrambles to make the right response. Not Ukraine today, but Georgia in 2008, when then-President George W. Bush was stunned by a Russian attack on one of its neighbors. It proved a learning moment and demonstrates how the Bush era continues to shape American foreign policy. For more on this, Christiane speaks with President Bush’s former national security advisor Stephen Hadley, whose new book Hand-Off digs into the top-secret foreign policy memos Bush handed to his successor, President Obama.

Also on today’s show: actor F. Murray Abraham; neuroscientist/journalist Stephani Sutherland.

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Is US support for Israel shifting? Mar 15, 2023

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Israel is facing unprecedented internal unrest as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forges ahead with a controversial bill to allow lawmakers a political veto over the Supreme Court, and therefore the independent judiciary. Ever since its founding, Israel has proclaimed itself the sole democracy amid dictatorships and authoritarians. Its strongest allies like the United States have touted that very democracy as a key reason for its steadfast backing, yet even their support may be shifting. To discuss this, Christiane speaks with Efraim Halevy, a former head of Mossad.

Also on today’s show: Aaron David Miller, Former U.S. State Dept. Middle East Negotiator; Victor Gao, Director, China National Association of International Studies; Krish Vignarajah, President & CEO, Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service

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Estonian PM warns: Don't appease Putin Mar 15, 2023

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It is painful, it is tough, and it’s where Ukraine’s future will be determined, says Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky of the brutal fighting in the east of his country. Russians and Ukrainians are essentially locked in a war of attrition, each side rapidly losing troops, something Russia has in much bigger supply. Few actually know the stakes of this fight better than the Baltic states – they are Putin’s neighbors and some of Ukraine’s staunchest backers. In Estonia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’s fierce support for Kyiv helped secure her decisive re-election victory last week, and she joins Christiane from Tallinn to sound the alarm against any notion of appeasing Putin.

Also on today's show: Betsey Stevenson, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Univ. of Michigan & James Jacoby, Director/Correspondent, Frontline’s “Age of Easy Money”; Adam Gopnik, Author, “The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery”

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Imprisoned in Iran Mar 13, 2023

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The families of Americans imprisoned in Iran are being buffeted by a sort of psychological warfare between adversarial states. Over the weekend, Iran’s foreign minister said a prisoner swap agreement between his country and the US has been brokered, and now the ball’s in America’s court – but Washington quickly quashed that. The State Department’s Ned Price called it “a cruel lie that only adds to the suffering of their families.” This follows the heartbreaking appeal made by Iranian-American Siamak Namazi when Christiane spoke with him from inside Evin prison last week. Today's first guest, Bill Richardson, has made it his mission to try to help – he’s a former cabinet secretary, US Ambassador to the UN, and a longtime interlocutor with regimes like Russia, North Korea, and more to secure the release of American captives.

Also on today's show: Tara Tahbaz, the daughter of Morad Tahbaz, detained in Iran since 2019; Alexander Betts, author of “The Wealth of Refugees”; Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, Obesity Medicine Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital

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Special report: Dominion vs. Fox Mar 10, 2023

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A damning lawsuit has revealed shocking details about the inner workings of Fox News Corporation. Dominion Voting System says Fox News is seeking a first amendment license to knowingly spread lies. In a new court filing, the company claims Fox has already admitted that its on-air statements about Dominion rigging the 2020 election were false. It comes as a slew of messages reveal Tucker Carlson’s real, and surprising, opinions on former President Donald Trump. Correspondent Paula Reid has a report with all the details.

Also on today's show: Sarah Longwell, Executive Director, Republican Accountability Project; Jay Rosen, Professor of Journalism, New York University; Grammy award-winning singer iLe; Geopolitical analyst Jamie Metzl

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American imprisoned in Iran speaks out Mar 09, 2023

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Today's show begins with an extremely difficult conversation under highly unusual circumstances. Siamak Namazi is an Iranian-American businessman who has been imprisoned in Iran for over seven years. While several American detained in Iran have been released as part of prisoner swaps with the US -- Namazi's own father was released on medical grounds last October -- Siamak continues to languish in prison, even going on a week-long hunger strike back in January and writing a letter to President Biden. Now he tells Christiane he feels so alone, abandoned, and out of options that he's decided to come to us, hoping to beseech Biden to help him and other imprisoned Iranian Americans.

Next, to dig a little deeper into the plight of Namazi and his fellow American detainees, Christiane speaks with Johns Hopkins professor Vali Nasr, himself an Iranian American and formerly a senior adviser at the US State Department.

Also on today's show: Michael R. Gordon, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal

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Celebrating International Women's Day Mar 09, 2023

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On International Women's Day, Russia's President Vladimir Putin handed out medals to women he called heroes, while Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the day by celebrating the "strength and freedom" of Ukrainian women. Fiona Hill served as deputy assistant to the president for European and Russian affairs under President Trump. She joins the show to discuss.

Also on today's show: Mahnaz Afkhami, Former Iranian Minister of Women's Affairs; Andrew Delbanco, Alexander Hamilton Professor of American Studies, Columbia University

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Is the US about to get tougher on migration? Mar 07, 2023

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Christiane is in Washington, D.C., where the perennial issue remains one that much of the world grapples with: migration. President Joe Biden has resorted to tough measures to reduce the flow of people across America's southern border, amid reports that he is mulling a policy of detaining migrant families entering the country illegally. It would be a major reversal by the president, who initially stopped this Trump-era practice. That - plus rising challenges to national security from abroad, and a morphing threat to the homeland from within - falls squarely on the desk of Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security. Christiane sat down with him at the department's sprawling campus to discuss all this, and his own experience as the child of refugees.

Also on today's show: Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis; Adrienne LaFrance, Executive Editor, The Atlantic

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Russia seeks first battlefield victory in months Mar 06, 2023

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The US and its NATO allies are watching closely developments in eastern Ukraine, where the battle for Bakhmut rages – and where Russia may be on the cusp of victory in the city. Meanwhile in the south, Russian shelling has killed three people, including two children, according to the Ukrainian military. Mike Mullen served as President Obama’s chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and joins the show from Maryland.

Also on today's show: Jing Tsu, Author, “Kingdom of Characters”; Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, Assistant Professor of Immunology & Infectious Diseases

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The rise and fall of Alex Murdaugh Mar 03, 2023

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Life in prison – that’s the sentence handed down today to disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh for killing his wife and 22-year-old son. It’s hard to overstate just how influential the Murdaugh family has been in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina. Alex Murdaugh was a kingmaker in the legal world, and now he’s a convicted murderer. The true crime story has captivated the nation for what it reveals about power and privilege, as James Lasdun has reported on in-depth for The New Yorker.

Also on today's show: Salah Hamwi, assistant country director, CARE Yemen; Steven Levy, Editor-at-Large, Wired

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