The Inquiry

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Is our future underground? Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

More than half of the world’s population currently lives in cities, and by 2050, the UN estimates that figure will rise to nearly 7 in 10 people. The world is also getting hotter, with heatwaves and wildfires becoming increasingly common.

So how can we deal with the dual challenges of increasing urbanisation and extreme weather caused by climate change? Perhaps we should look downwards.

For millennia, humans have taken refuge underground from the elements, predators and from war. Even today, bomb shelters exist under major cities like Beijing and Seoul. Many cities across the world have subway systems for easy transportation – and some are integrated seamlessly with below-ground business and shopping centres.

But what are the future challenges for urban planners and architects in this subterranean space, and how can we overcome the social stigma against those who live underground?

This week on the Inquiry, we ask: is our future underground?

Contributors: Martin Dixon, trustee of Subterranea Britannica, a society devoted to the study and investigation of man-made and man-used underground places. Jacques Besner, architect and urban planner; co-founder and general manager of Associated Research Centres for Urban Underground Spaces. Antonia Cornaro co-chair of ITACUS, the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association's Committee on Underground Space. Professor Clara Irazábal, Director of the Urban Studies and Planning Program at the University of Maryland, USA.

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Tara McDermott Researcher: Matt Toulson Production Coordinators : Janet Staples & Liam Morrey

Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI via Getty Images

Can Mexico win its battle with US gun companies? Mar 07, 2024

Show notes

The Mexican government has won its appeal to bring a civil lawsuit against a number of American gun companies. Mexico, which has extremely restrictive gun laws, claims that the ‘deliberate’ business practices of these US firms results in the illegal flow of firearms into Mexico, contributing to the gun crime violence in the country. They are now seeking as much as ten billion dollars in compensation.

The gun companies, which include some of America’s oldest established names in the firearms business, deny any wrongdoing. Since 2005, these companies have being granted immunity from prosecution under the ‘Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act’. This law protects the firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. But Mexico’s argument is that PLCAA, as it’s also known, only applies within the United States and therefore doesn’t protect the companies from liability.

It’s a case which is also resonating with other Latin American countries who have been impacted by illegal gun trafficking from the United States. Some of these countries have supported Mexico’s claims in the courts. And they will be watching closely to see if Mexico’s lawsuit, the first by a sovereign state, can set a precedent.

So on this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Can Mexico win its battle with US gun companies?’

Contributors: Ioan Grillo, journalist and author focusing on Organised Crime, Mexico Adam Winkler, Cornell Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law, California, USA Robert Spitzer, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Political Science, SUNY Cortland; Adjunct Faculty Member, College of William and Mary School of Law, USA Dr. León Castellanos-Jankiewicz, Senior Researcher, Asser Institute for International and European Law; Academic Supervisor, International Law Clinic on Access to Justice for Gun Violence, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Journalism Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Cameron Ward Production Co-ordinator: Liam Morrey Image: Reuters via BBC Images

What’s going on with the pyramids? Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

One of the most famous of Egypt’s pyramids, Menkaure’s pyramid on the Giza plateau, is the subject of controversy after the Egyptian authorities announced plans to restore it in what the country’s Head of Antiquities has called “the project of the century” and Egypt’s “gift to the world”. But not everyone believes such a restoration is in keeping with the demands of proper archaeological preservation.

The plans met with opposition from archaeologists and Egyptologists both inside and outside the country. The project has now been paused after recommendations from a scientific committee commissioned by the Egyptian authorities.

So what’s going on with the pyramids?

Presenter: Gary O’Donoghue Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical producer: Nicky Edwards Production co-ordinator: Liam Morrey

Contributors: Aidan Dodson, honorary Professor of Egyptology at Bristol university in the UK Dr Jennifer Hellum, senior lecturer in classics and ancient history at the University of Auckland in New Zealand Heba Saleh, Cairo correspondent for the Financial Times Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo

Photo by KHALED ELFIQI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock via BBC Images

Can Europe reverse its falling fertility rates? Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

Across the world fertility rates are falling and for the first time Europe is experiencing a sustained population decline. The average fertility rate for the European Union is 1.53 live births per woman. In Italy the fertility rate has remained low for the last thirty years, with an average 1.3 births per woman.

Some governments, who are concerned that not enough people are being born to keep their economies functioning in the long term are spending billions on incentives and policies to try and reverse the trend. But even in the Nordic countries, which are noted for some of the best family focused policies, these are proving ineffective against a markedly high drop in fertility rates over the last decade.

Society’s attitudes on when or whether to start a family are shifting, so does this mean that we need to change the way we approach the issue or even adapt to a future with fewer people?

On this week’s Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Can Europe reverse its falling fertility rates?’

Contributors: Anna Rotkirch, Research Director, Population Research Institute, The Family Federation of Finland, Helsinki Michael Herrmann, Senior Advisor on Economics and Demography, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Turkey Arnstein Aassve, Professor of Demography, Political Science Centre, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy Tomas Sobotka, Deputy Director, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Journalism Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producers: Nicky Edwards and Toby James Production Co-ordinator: Liam Morrey

Image Credit: PA via BBC Images

Who will be next to walk on the moon? Feb 15, 2024

Show notes

In the next two or three years America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA - plans to send a mission into space that will land people on the moon for the first time in over a half a century.

The mission has already been pushed back and is widely expected to be delayed again.

But America is not alone. Both China and India also have ambitions to land people on the lunar surface.

Who is next to walk on the moon is driven by geopolitics and a desire to harness the moon’s resources. Different countries, and even the private companies involved, all have different agendas. Who gets there first may even determine the political ideology of any future permanent human settlement.

Contributors: Oliver Morton, Senior Editor at The Economist and author of The Moon, A History for the Future Eric Berger, Senior Space Editor at Ars Technica Christopher Newman, Professor of space law and policy at Northumbria University Namrata Goswami, Professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Louise Clarke Journalism Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Production Coordinator: Liam Morrey

Image: U.S. Flag On The Moon by Encyclopaedia Britannica via Getty Images Credit: NASA Youtube Channel

Are Ethiopians losing faith in their Orthodox Church? Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church - once a powerful marker of nationhood - is deeply split as result of the recent civil war in Tigray which exacerbated historical tensions in the church.

The Church, which traces its history to the fourth century, was once the biggest denomination in Ethiopia with nearly 44 percent of the population calling themselves Orthodox Christians, but now its centrality in Ethiopian spiritual and political life - once unquestioned - appears to hang in the balance, with a steady increase in the number of people joining other denominations and the number of people calling themselves Orthodox Christians diminishing. Ethiopia is a modern state, with the second largest population in Africa, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019. But months after he took power, Ethiopia was ripped apart by a civil war which broke out in November 2020 and left tens of thousands of civilians dead. In May 2021, four archbishops in Tigray announced that they were forming an independent structure. They accused the church of not opposing the war - and of being too close to Abiy Ahmed's government. Although a ceasefire was agreed in 2022, the recent splits highlight historic ethnic and religious tensions in Ethiopia.

Contributors:

Ralph Lee: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in the UK. Mebratu Kelecha: London School of Economics. His research focuses on conflict, peace building and democracy. Yohannes Woldemariam: US-based academic specialising in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. Jorge Haustein: Associate Professor of World Christianity at the University of Cambridge.

CREDITS Presenter: Audrey Brown Producer: Philip Reevell. Researcher: Matt Toulson Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards. Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Tara McDermott

Main Image: Ethiopian Orthodox priests walk around the church during the Saint Michael's anniversary celebration at St. Michael church in Mekele, the capital of Tigray region, Ethiopia

Image Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba\AFP via Getty

Can the Vatican stop Nicaragua’s Catholic crackdown? Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

After serving nearly a year of his 26 year sentence for treason in a Nicaraguan jail, Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was flown to Rome in January. The high profile bishop known as an outspoken critic of President Ortega’s Sandinista government has been under house arrest since August 2022. He was allowed to leave the country alongside his supporter Bishop Isidoro Mora and a group of priests and seminarians, after a request from the Vatican. It’s the latest development in a relationship between Nicaragua and the Holy See that has grown increasingly tense. President Ortega has had a complicated relationship with Nicaragua’s Catholic clergy ever since he first came to power in the 1979 revolution. It was with the help of the Church that Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2006, but as his rule became increasingly more authoritarian he steadily repressed any sort of opposition, including critical voices from within the clergy. Mass peaceful protests over social security reforms in 2018 ramped up the repression from the Ortega government in the following years. Opposition leaders, journalists, and prominent leaders from within the R.C.Church were amongst those expelled or advised to leave the country and some like Bishop Álvarez were even imprisoned. The situation has left the Catholic Church in a difficult position. There are no diplomatic ties now between Nicaragua and the Holy See and since the end of the Cold War it appears that the international community has found more pressing concerns. Nicaragua’s Catholic neighbours may have the country on their radars, but how willing they are in supporting the Pope over his concerns for Nicaragua’s Catholic population remains to be seen.

So, this week on The Inquiry we’re asking ‘Can the Vatican stop Nicaragua’s Catholic crackdown?

Contributors: Brandon Van Dyck, Associate Director of the Princeton Initiative in Catholic Thought, The Aquinas Institute, New Jersey, USA Bianca Jagger, President of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, Executive Directors Leadership Council of Amnesty International, London Andrea Gagliarducci, Vatican Analyst, EWTN /ACI Group, Rome, Italy Ryan Berg, Director, Americas Programme, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, USA

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Cameron Ward Broadcast Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley

Image Credit: Mireya Acierto\Getty

What does Iran want? Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

After months of tension and hostility in the Middle East over the Gaza-Israel conflict, Iran has publicly stated its desire to avoid a regional conflict. It has however displayed its military force on several fronts.

There have been missile strikes. Iran targeted militant bases in western Pakistan leading to a retaliatory back-and-forth with Pakistan. With attacks on Iraq and Syria, Tehran said it was targeting Islamic State and Israel's Mossad spy agency - both of whom it claimed were behind the deadliest domestic attack on Iranian soil since the Islamic revolution – an attack in early January that killed almost a hundred people in the southern city of Kerman.

Iran has been using proxy groups too - the so-called “Axis of Resistance” – to carry out attacks on Israel and its allies to show solidarity with the Palestinians. The axis is a grouping of Iran-backed militant groups including Houthi militants in Yemen who have been responsible for disrupting shipping in the Red Sea and have been targeted by US and UK air strikes aimed at deterring them. Other members of the axis include Hezbollah in Lebanon and various groups in Syria and Iraq. Tehran insists that the groups act independently but that the coalition shares its goals. Iran’s stated aim is to roll back US influence in the Middle East and it stands ideologically opposed to Israel. Iran’s grown closer to China and Russia too, the latter more so since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022. What does Iran hope to gain from these relationships?

We also ask how Iran wants the current Israel-Gaza conflict to end.

So this week on The Inquiry we’re asking ‘What does Iran want?’

Experts: Negar Mortazavi, Iranian journalist and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy. Kirsten Fontenrose is a non-resident fellow at the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. Professor Maryam Alemzadeh, Associate Professor in History and Politics of Iran at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies (OSGA) and a Middle East Centre Fellow. Suzanne Maloney is the vice president and director of the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, where her research focuses on Iran and Persian Gulf energy.

CREDITS: Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Philip Reevell Researcher: Matt Toulson Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards

Image: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei

Image Credit: Anadolu/Getty

Can Indonesia pull off relocating its capital? Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

Indonesia’s ambitious plan to move the administrative headquarters of its capital city from Jakarta to a new location on the island of Borneo, in the East Kalimantan province, is nearing the completion of its first phase. Known as Nusantara, the new city’s inauguration is scheduled to coincide with Indonesia’s Independence Day on 17th August, the date of the final term of office for the current President Joko Widodo.

The project has been deemed necessary as Jakarta is considered no longer fit for purpose. Located on the island of Java, it ranks as one of the most densely populated cities in the world and it is reported to be sinking by around 17 centimetres a year in some areas, due to a combination of environmental pollution and climate change.

With four more phases to go, around two million people are expected to inhabit Nusantara by the planned completion date of 2045, but that remains dependent on a number of factors and the schedule has already hit some challenges.

Future development is reliant on billions of dollars from foreign investors and currently the Government is struggling to secure much commitment. Furthermore, with Presidential elections due next month, there are concerns about whether a new leader will be inclined to continue with the vision announced by the outgoing President Joko Widodo.

So this week on The Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Can Indonesia pull off relocating its capital?’

Contributors: Dr Athiqah Nur Alami, Head of Research Centre for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia. Dimas Wisnu Adrianto, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Brawijaya University, Indonesia Sulfikar Amir, Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang University, Singapore Julia Lau, Senior Fellow and Co Coordinator, Indonesia Studies Programme, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producers: Matt Toulson and Jill Collins Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards and Toby James Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley

Image credit: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty.

Why is the US Army struggling to recruit new soldiers? Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

In 1973 America ended a draft that had been in effect since before it entered the second World War, and for the last fifty years the US Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines have been an all-volunteer military.

But, recently, of the four major branches which make up the US armed services, only the Marines have achieved their target for new recruits. And the biggest force, the Army, has been struggling most of all. In the past two years its missed its recruiting target by several thousand.

In this edition of the Inquiry, Sandra Kanthal looks at the myriad reasons the American Army is failing to enlist enough new soldiers, and why this may affect what impact it can have on global security.

Guests: Nora Bensahel – Professor of the Practice at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University Mark Cancian - Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Peter Feaver – Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Duke University and author of Thanks For Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the US Military Beth Asch – Senior Economist, The Rand Corporation

Production Team: Presenter: Sandra Kanthal Producer: Sandra Kanthal Editor: Tara McDermott Technical Producer: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Tim Fernley

Image Credit: Bo Zaunders\Getty

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