Counterpoint - Foreign Policy

Can South Africa Be a Moral Example to the World? Oct 29, 2024

For many years, South Africa was seen as a poster child for peaceful reconciliation and the triumph of good over evil. The “Rainbow Nation” image brought tourism, international investment, and major global events such as the 2010 World Cup. But beneath the glitz, there was a darker side: grinding poverty, widespread corruption, violent xenophobia, and close ties with authoritarian regimes. These days, South Africa seems intent on restoring its international image as a moral superpower. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Sisonke Msimang, the author of Always Another Country and The Resurrection of Winnie Mandela, and Tony Leon, the former head of the Democratic Alliance and leader of South Africa’s official opposition in Parliament from 1999 to 2007.

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Should the West Pressure Ukraine to Negotiate an End to the War? Oct 22, 2024

In the past few months, the war in Ukraine has taken some dramatic turns. Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory, seizing chunks of Kursk province and embarrassing President Vladimir Putin. Russia retaliated with a number of devastating attacks on Ukrainian cities and military facilities and continued to seize more territory in Donetsk. Rather than moving toward a negotiated settlement, the war seems to be escalating. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Emma Ashford, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center and an assistant professor at Georgetown University, and Rajan Menon, the director of the grand strategy program at Defense Priorities and a senior research scholar at Columbia University.

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Should Israel and the United States Attack Iran’s Nuclear Program Now? Oct 15, 2024

On the night of Oct. 1, Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel. It was the latest in a deadly tit for tat between the two countries. The regionwide war that the Biden administration doesn’t want now seems to be happening. And for that reason, the idea of taking out Iran’s nuclear program with military strikes seems less theoretical and more like a real possibility.

Foreign Policy deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Matt Kroenig, the vice president of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a professor of government at Georgetown University, and Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University.

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Should the U.S. Withhold Military Aid From Israel? Oct 08, 2024

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the start of a war in Gaza that has killed upwards of 40,000 people, many of them civilians. Throughout this conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pursued his own political and military agenda at odds with Washington’s calls for negotiations and de-escalation. Yet the flow of U.S. arms has continued. FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky is joined by Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, an organization working to reform U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, and Dennis Ross, who was Washington’s point person in Middle East peace negotiations under two U.S. presidents.

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Introducing Counterpoint Oct 01, 2024

Each week, FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky and his guests will tackle one pressing question from two opposing points of view.

Listen in as an international cast of diplomats, journalists, academics and activists from around the globe debate controversial issues that get to the heart of the world’s biggest dilemmas.

This season’s debates include, “Should the United States withhold military aid from Israel?”; “Should the Global South Denounce Russia’s war in Ukraine?”; "Does Maximum Pressure on Iran Work?” and “Should the UK rejoin the EU?”

Counterpoint is a Foreign Policy Podcast, in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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Remaking the World Order Dec 15, 2023

Global cooperation can often seem broken. On our final episode of Global Reboot, we look at how to reboot international relations for a multipolar era. Multilateral institutions seem increasingly ineffective, and even outdated, as emerging economies demand more of a role and countries form alliances and blocs outside of these institutions. In such a scenario, what can be done to improve cooperation to meet global challenges?

Borge Brende joins Global Reboot to discuss this and much more. Brende is the president of the World Economic Forum. He previously served as Norway’s minister of foreign affairs from 2013 to 2017.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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Engaging With the Global South Dec 08, 2023

The “global south” encompasses countries with such varied interests and ideologies that the term may no longer be a useful tool. Yet, if the Western world hopes to counter Russia’s and China’s increasing aggression, rebuilding strong relationships with these countries is more important than ever.

C. Raja Mohan is a senior fellow with the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi. He joins Ravi Agrawal to discuss how to reengage with the global south and whether the term is even still relevant today.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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A New Approach to Preserving Ocean Biodiversity Dec 01, 2023

The global community has set a goal of preserving thirty percent of our oceans by 2030. How will we reach that goal? And what’s at stake for ocean biodiversity if that target is missed?

Monica Medina is the president and CEO of Wildlife Conservation Society, and the former United States' Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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What Would It Take to Solve the World’s Refugee Crisis? Nov 17, 2023

2023 is on track to be the worst year on record for refugees. And the figures for internally displaced people—communities forced to move within their own countries to escape conflict or natural disaster—are even worse. How do we fix this?

Kelly T. Clements, the deputy high commissioner at the U.N. agency tasked with responding to this crisis, joins Global Reboot to discuss solutions to this growing problem. This episode was recorded as a special live taping in September at the United Nations General Assembly. You can watch the video version of this live taping here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPt7kI5KI3E

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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How to Regulate Artificial Intelligence Nov 10, 2023

The world’s first comprehensive piece of legislation regulating artificial intelligence could be on the cusp of being approved. The European Union’s AI Act would set guardrails for the technology without curbing innovation. Eva Maydell, a member of the European Parliament, is one of the act’s key drivers and joins host Ravi Agrawal to share her insights.

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How to Fix America’s China Policy Nov 03, 2023

The trajectory of the U.S.-China relationship has global implications, with most Democrats and Republicans in Congress calling for a more hawkish approach. Rep. Andy Kim disagrees, calling instead for a foreign policy focused more on coalition building.

Kim sits on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. He’s one of the few members of Congress who has visited China. And when speaking with leaders and policymakers from the region, he says they tell him that “the [United States] cannot be the instigators of the tension. … You need to show that you are a responsible global power.”

The Democratic representative from New Jersey joins Ravi Agrawal for this special FP Live taping of Global Reboot. You can watch the video version of this interview here.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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Rebooting the Patriarchy Oct 27, 2023

In her latest book, The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality, science journalist Angela Saini argues that it’s not biology alone that formed the basis for the patriarchy. The history of the patriarchal state is much more complex. For example, one of the most radical attempts to overhaul gender inequality came from an unlikely actor: the Soviet Union.

Saini joins host Ravi Agrawal to discuss how to reset gender norms in our workplaces, homes, and communities.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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How to Rethink Poverty Oct 27, 2023

Rory Stewart is a longtime administrator of foreign aid, from working as a diplomat in the field to the highest levels of government. He now heads GiveDirectly, one of the world’s fastest-growing nonprofits, which is popularizing direct cash transfers as an effective way to alleviate poverty. He joins Global Reboot host Ravi Agrawal to share his insights.

Rory Stewart previously served as a cabinet member in the British government and is the host of the popular podcast The Rest is Politics.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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A New Season of Global Reboot Oct 20, 2023

Global Reboot returns for a new season. Join host and Foreign Policy editor in chief Ravi Agrawal as he talks with top policymakers and thinkers focused on solving the world’s biggest problems. New episodes drop every week starting on Oct. 27.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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Doha Debates Podcast Aug 22, 2023

BONUS EPISODE: The Doha Debates Podcast —“Financial Future: Is it time to cancel Africa's debts?”

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Should the United States Step Up or Back Off? Aug 30, 2022

For much of the 20th century, the United States has toggled between two foreign policy impulses: to actively insert itself in the affairs of the world or to hang back and focus on its own domestic issues. Advocates of the two approaches to international relations have had various designations, including liberals and realists, or interventionists and isolationists.

But these days, the world is shifting more dramatically than in decades, with the rise of China as a political and economic power and the increasing belligerence of Russia towards its neighbors. With those changes underway, is that old dichotomy still relevant? And what is America’s proper role in the world?

FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal sat down recently with political scientist Stephen Wertheim to discuss these very questions. Wertheim, a senior fellow at the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has written about the issue extensively, including in the pages of Foreign Policy.

We are featuring their conversation in the last episode of our podcast, Global Reboot. The show is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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Is the IMF Still Relevant? Aug 23, 2022

As countries grappled with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in recent years, many turned to global financial agencies for support, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But in some cases, at least, the agencies’ playbook of reforms and austerity in exchange for loans, no longer seemed suitable.

The IMF and the World Bank—along with the United Nations and the world’s other dominant international organizations—were created after World War Two, to serve the global order at the time. In the decades since, that order had changed dramatically. Are these institutions serving the world in the best possible way?

To answer that question, Foreign Policy’s Editor in Chief, Ravi Agrawal, sat down recently with Mark Malloch Brown, who spent years at the World Bank, the United Nations’ Development Program, and the United Nations thinking through these very issues. Malloch Brown is now president of the Open Society Foundations.

We’re featuring their conversation in the latest episode of our podcast Global Reboot. The show is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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Human Rights are in Decline Around the World. What can be Done About it? Aug 16, 2022

In large parts of the world, economic and technological progress has made people’s lives significantly better over the past few decades. From China to Africa to Latin America, large swaths of the population are healthier and more prosperous than ever.

But even as humanity has achieved so much, human rights have regressed in many countries—including some of the wealthier ones. Why is that and what can people do about it?

Those are two of the questions that came up in FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal’s recent conversation with the former United Nations Commissioner on Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein. We’re featuring that conversation in the latest episode of our podcast, Global Reboot.

The show is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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The Democracy Deficit Aug 09, 2022

Analysts who study governance around the world have been warning for years that democracy is in decline, both in quality and quantity. Fewer countries can legitimately claim to be democracies. Among those that can, many are less democratic than they were just a few years ago.

This week on Global Reboot, Foreign Policy’s editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal, discusses the issue with Hélène Landemore, a political scientist at Yale University. Landemore has written widely about the crisis plaguing representative democracy, including in the pages of Foreign Policy. She argues for a more direct form of governance in which average citizens are involved in the decision-making at all levels.

Global Reboot is produced by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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There is a Fix For Climate Change. But Can We Afford It? Aug 02, 2022

The climate and deficit reduction package that Democratic lawmakers agreed on last week earmarks some $370 billion dollars for much-needed energy and climate spending. That figure marks a victory for President Joe Biden and his climate initiative.

But in the broader battle against climate change, the spending is just a tiny fraction of what’s needed. In fact, many experts now believe that finding the money to fix the problem of rising temperatures around the world is going to be a bigger challenge than figuring out the science.

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal is joined by economic historian and author Adam Tooze to discuss climate finance. Who will pay for climate change adaptation? And will there be enough political will to get the job done?

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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Fixing the Food Crisis Jul 26, 2022

Six months ago, the food crisis around the world was dire. A combination of the coronavirus pandemic, supply chain issues, and extreme weather had compounded an already difficult problem. Then Russia invaded Ukraine and the situation became a whole lot worse. On this episode of Global Reboot, Foreign Policy’s editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal, discusses ways to address global food insecurity with Ertharin Cousin, the founder and CEO of Food Systems for the Future. Cousin was previously the executive director of the UN’s World Food Program. She also served as America’s ambassador to the UN agencies in Rome.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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Disinformation, Intimidation, and Other Threats to Press Freedom Jul 19, 2022

Philippine authorities have arrested journalist Maria Ressa 10 times in the past two years. They’ve been threatening for years to shut down the media organization she runs, Rappler. And yet, even as the government in Manila becomes more repressive, Ressa has managed to produce some of the most probing and engaging journalism coming out of the Philippines. Last year, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.

On the latest episode of Global Reboot, Foreign Policy’s editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal, sits down with Ressa to discuss the threat to free expression around the world and the ways people can fight back.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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The Crisis Trifecta Jul 12, 2022

Hello, listeners! Welcome back to Global Reboot, where we look at some of the world’s biggest problems and discuss new ways to address them. Our host, Foreign Policy editor in chief Ravi Agrawal, begins the season by sitting down with Ian Bremmer, a political risk analyst and host of GZERO World, to discuss not one but three major global crises facing humanity in the 21st century. Bremmer’s new book is called, fittingly, The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats—and Our Response—Will Change the World. Like our own show, the book doesn’t just discuss the problems but describes how the world can cooperate on solutions.

Global Reboot is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum.

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COMING SOON: Global Reboot Jun 28, 2022

A new season of Global Reboot is coming to you on July 12. Foreign Policy magazine’s Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal is joined by some of the smartest thinkers and policy makers of our time to identify solutions to the world’s biggest challenges. The show is produced in partnership with the Doha Forum. Listen to season two of Global Reboot wherever you get your podcasts.

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Dr. Bernice King on Racial Justice Jul 14, 2021

Last year’s Black Lives Matter protests seemed to be an awakening for some, but for many black and brown communities it exposed a truth that has always been painfully clear.

On this episode of Global Reboot, Foreign Policy Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews Dr. Bernice King on how to ensure racial justice in a post-COVID world.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

We want to hear from you! To fill out our 2021 listener survey, go to survey.fan/foreignpolicy.com

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Rachel Vogelstein on Gender Equity Jul 07, 2021

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews author Rachel Vogelstein on how to ensure gender equity in a post-COVID world.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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Irshad Manji and Shadi Hamid on Preventing Islamophobia Around the World Jun 30, 2021

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews authors and scholars Irshad Manji and Shadi Hamid on how to prevent Islamophobia around the world.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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US China Relations with Former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd Jun 23, 2021

How the Biden administration steers the relationship between Washington and Beijing could have more impact on the rest of the world than just about any other American policy in the coming years.

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd on the U.S. - China relationship. Rudd is also a fluent mandarin speaker, and one of the world’s pre-eminent China scholars.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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Mariana Mazzucato and Raghuram Rajan on Building Back Post-Pandemic Jun 16, 2021

Behind every protest, and every election debate around the world, an underlying theme seems to be rising anger about inequality, and a sense that capitalism itself is broken. But what can be done to fix it? What can societies do to reverse some of its inherent problems? And how should this inform governments and policymakers as they shape the recovery from the pandemic.

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews Mariana Mazzucato, a Professor at University College London and the author of Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, and Raghuram Rajan, a Professor at the University of Chicago and the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and former Chief Economist of the IMF.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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Marietje Schaake and Vivian Schiller on Big Tech Jun 09, 2021

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor in Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews Marietje Schaake, former Member of the EU Parliament, and Vivian Schiller, former President and CEO of NPR as well as the former Head of News at Twitter, on Big Tech's expansive role in our civic lives. Is high-tech a tool to further democratization or for greater oppression? And what solutions should be considered as governments look to regulate big tech?

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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Dr. Ashish Jha and Dr. Hanan Abdul Rahim on COVID-19 and Global Health Jun 02, 2021

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP Editor-in-Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews Dr. Ashish Jha and Dr. Hanan Abdul Rahim on how COVID-19 will shape health care systems in the future. What lessons have we learned on how to respond to global health challenges and what can we do to prepare for the next pandemic?

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry May 26, 2021

On this episode of Global Reboot, FP's Editor-in-Chief Ravi Agrawal interviews U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry about how the new Biden Administration is addressing climate change.

Global Reboot is a FP Partner Podcast with the Doha Forum.

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