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Global Dispatches

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.

Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

“The worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.”
 
That was the conclusion of a July 29 report by the leading global authority on food security, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The report found that more than one in three people in Gaza (39 percent) are now going days at a time without eating. More than 500,000 people—nearly a quarter of the population—are enduring famine-like conditions. Malnutrition rates are skyrocketing, and deaths from acute malnutrition are mounting.
 
This is the direct result of Israel’s policy of preventing sufficient food from entering Gaza. Now, as images of emaciated children flash across screens around the world, will that be enough to generate the political will in Israel, the United States, and Europe to change course? Alternatively, how much worse can this get?
 
Joining me to discuss the ongoing famine and humanitarian crisis is Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, the CEO of Mercy Corps, a major international humanitarian NGO with ongoing operations in Gaza. She explains why famine has taken hold, what can be done to immediately end it, and why this crisis is very much at a tipping point.
 
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Famine in Gaza — A Political and Humanitarian Tipping Point?

In 1997, Jessica Matthews' landmark Foreign Affairs essay “Power Shift” captured the growing influence of NGOs and other non-state actors in shaping global affairs. But nearly three decades later, that tide has turned. A provocative new piece in Foreign Affairs argues that the age of NGOs is over—and states are reasserting dominance.
 
Joining me to unpack this shift is Jennifer Hadden, co-author of the new article and Associate Professor at Brown University. We discuss the heyday of NGOs in the 1990s, what led to their decline, and what this reversal means for the future of human rights, democracy and freedom worldwide. 
 
Foreign Affairs

The Stark Demise of the Era of NGOs

A groundbreaking new study published in the British medical journal The Lancet Global Health finds that unilateral economic sanctions—most of which are imposed by the United States—lead to approximately 564,000 excess deaths worldwide each year. Up to half of these deaths are children.
 
While sanctions are often touted as an alternative to military force, this research shows they can devastate public health, cause severe food and medicine shortages, and drive mortality rates to levels comparable to those seen in armed conflicts. In fact, the findings suggest that sanctions are about as deadly as military conflicts around the world each year.
 
Joining me to discuss this new study is one of its authors, Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. We begin by examining his key findings and then explore how and why sanctions end up killing so many people globally.
 
https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff
 
Mark Weisbrot's research.

A New Study Shows that Sanctions Kill As Many People As War

I caught up with Comfort Ero at the Aspen Security Forum last week. She is the President of the International Crisis Group, and in that role, she brings a truly global perspective on the drivers of conflict worldwide. Earlier in the forum, she participated in a panel on international aid—timely, given the massive scaling back of foreign assistance by the Trump administration and other traditional donors in Europe. So, for most of this conversation, we explore the implications of this sudden retraction of foreign aid on regional and global security—that is, how might these aid cuts impact conflict dynamics around the world?
 
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Comfort Ero on How Foreign Aid Cuts May Spark Conflicts Worldwide | Live from the Aspen Security Forum

My guest today, Thordis Gylfadottir, served as Iceland's foreign minister until 2024. We spoke last week at the Aspen Security Forum, where she delivered a forceful case for the necessity of continued military and diplomatic support for Ukraine. However, that view—once broadly shared across Europe and the Atlantic—is no longer as ubiquitous as it once was. In our conversation, I wanted to learn from her exactly how firm support for Ukraine remains across Europe, both in politics and in society. And what, if anything, can be done to shore up that support. 
 
We begin, however, with a discussion of her current work as the Special Envoy for the Council of Europe on the situation of children in Ukraine, where she helps bring home Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia during its invasion.

Can Europe Stay Unified on Ukraine? With Thordis Gylfadottir, Iceland's Former Foreign Minister | Live From the Aspen Security Forum

Trump’s pick for UN Ambassador, Mike Waltz, faced questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week. You may recall he previously served as National Security Advisor before being sidelined by Trump after “Signalgate.” But Waltz was never officially fired — he was banished to the United Nations instead. For over two hours, he fielded questions from senators.
 
So, what did we learn about how the Trump administration might approach diplomacy at the United Nations with Mike Waltz as U.S. Permanent Representative? Mark and Anjali watched the full two-and-a-half-hour hearing so you don’t have to.
 
Upgrade to paid to acccess the full episode. https://www.globaldispatches.org/

What We Learned From Mike Waltz's Confirmation Hearing for UN Ambassador | To Save Us From Hell

A furious backlash against gender equality, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights is sweeping the globe. In a new report for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, my guest today, Saskia Brechenmacher, shows that this backlash is not just a temporary reaction to recent progressive reforms but a key front in a larger cultural and political realignment taking place across a diverse set of countries.
 
Saskia Brechenmacher is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program. In our conversation, she explains how this backlash is manifesting across regions and the multitude of forces driving this trend.
 
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The Global Backlash Against Gender Equality

The farmer-herder conflict in Nigeria is a long-running and deadly struggle over land and resources, primarily between nomadic herders—mostly from the Fulani ethnic group—and settled farming communities. Driven by factors such as desertification, population growth, and shrinking grazing land, herders increasingly move south in search of pasture, leading to violent clashes with farmers over farmland and water access. The conflict has intensified in recent years, contributing to insecurity and displacement, particularly in Nigeria's Middle Belt region.
 
It was there, in the middle of the night on June 13th, that an unknown group attacked the village of Yelewata. An estimated 200 people were killed, mostly farmers and their families, in what is considered the single deadliest massacre of its kind. The attack sparked a massive public outcry over the government's apparent inability to prevent such violence.
 
Joining me to discuss what is driving this conflict—and why Nigerians are increasingly losing confidence in the government's ability to provide security in the Middle Belt region—is Isaac Albert, a professor of African History, Peace, and Conflict Studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
 
We begin by discussing the recent attack on Yelewata before taking a broader look at what his research suggests is fueling this conflict—and what may be done to prevent massacres like this in the future.

Nigeria's Herder-Farmer Violence is Escalating

The major Financing for Development Conference wrapped up in Seville last week with the so-called Compromiso de Sevilla, which commits countries to accelerating efforts to fund the Sustainable Development Goals and support economic and social development in lower-income countries. In our first segment, we are joined by Michael Sheldrick, co-founder of Global Citizen, who explains what was accomplished at this major UN meeting — and what was left on the table. Then, Anjali and Mark discuss the current predicament facing IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi as he tries to navigate the capricious sensitivities of Donald Trump following the U.S. bombing of Iran.
 
Full episode is available for our paying subscribers. 
 
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To Save Us From Hell: Searching for Compromiso in Seville | Is Rafael Grossi Suddenly Radioactive?

As of July 1, what remains of USAID’s programming is being folded into the State Department. The independent agency, created 64 years ago to advance American values and support global humanitarian causes, is no more. With USAID’s demise comes a staggering human cost. The Lancet today published a study finding that more than 14 million people — a third of them children — will die by 2030 if current U.S. foreign aid cuts remain in place.
 
Behind those numbers are countless stories of tragedy — and heroism.
 
My guest today, Katharine Houreld, is the Bureau Chief for East and Southern Africa for The Washington Post, who recently reported from Sudan on the devastating impact of the swift and sudden cutoff of American aid. We begin our conversation with the stories of individuals living through it — from the grieving mother of a toddler who died of an easily preventable chest infection, to the soup kitchen volunteers fighting to keep their neighbors alive as food supplies vanish.
 
Support the show at a 40% discount
 
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How Trump’s Aid Cuts Are Costing Lives in Sudan—The Largest Crisis on Earth

Dr. James Walsh of MIT is a nuclear security security expert and one of the few Americans who have travelled to both Iran and North Korea for talks on nuclear issues. To this day, Jim meets frequently with North Korean officials to discuss nuclear issues.
 I spoke with Jim the day that Moon Jae-In was elected as president of South Korea, potentially setting up a very different dynamic for nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. We kick off with a discussion about this new South Korean leader and how his approach to the North differs from that of his predecessor. We then pivot to a longer conversation about how Jim became involved in nuclear issues and his decades long study of North Korea's nuclear programs. You will learn a whole lot about North Korea and nuclear security issues in this rather lively episode. 
 
 
You can EMAIL Mark by clicking here.
 
 
 
Become a premium subscriber to unlock bonus episodes, earn other rewards, and support the show!
 
Bonus episodes for premium subscribers include:
 
#1: International Relations Theory, explained.
 
#2: A Brief History of Nuclear Non-proliferation
 
#3: A Brief History of NATO
 
#4: The Syrian Civil War, explained. 
 
#5: Meet the Kim family of North Korea.
 
#6: Better Know Vladimir Putin
 
#7: The Six Day War, Explained. (Coming soon!)
 
#9: "Sustainable Development," explained (Coming soon!)

Episode 151: James Walsh

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