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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

Africa is the world’s youngest continent — and its future is everyone’s future. By 2030, 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population will be under the age of 30. By century’s end, one in three people on the planet will be African. What happens in Africa will shape the course of the 21st century.
 
That’s why Global Dispatches is proud to launch a bold new podcast series: The Future of Africa. Produced in partnership with the African Union, The Elders, and the United Nations Foundation, this series explores how Africa’s rising generation is transforming the world—and how global leaders are engaging with this dynamic shift.
 
Hosted by the powerhouse Kenyan journalist Adelle Onyango, The Future of Africa features intergenerational conversations between former presidents, Nobel Peace Prize winners, diplomats, and trailblazing young leaders. These are solutions-driven discussions tackling the most urgent issues of our time: climate, education, economic growth, governance, and more.
 
Africa’s influence on global decision-making is rising as the world’s youngest and fastest-growing continent — but will young people be given the power to shape it? Chukwuemeka Eze lays out why legitimacy at home is the foundation for influence abroad, while Chido Mpemba champions young people’s leadership in every sphere of governance. Jake Obeng-Bediako warns against “waithood” as the lost years between education and meaningful leadership, and calls for young Africans to be decision-makers. Together, they highlight ways young African countries are navigating geopolitical shifts, increasing their role in multilateral forums, and leveraging demographic and economic momentum. This is a call-to-action for anyone who believes Africa should lead as an innovator on the world stage.
 Guest Speakers • 

 Jake Bediako, Director of Policy and Implementation for Global Citizens Move Afrika Initiative.
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 Dr. Chukwuemeka Eze, Director for Democratic Futures in Africa at the Open Society Foundation
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 Chido Mpemba, formerly the African Union’s Special Youth Envoy and currently the Advisor to the African Union Commission Chairperson for Women, Gender and Youth.
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Africa's Role on the Global Stage | Introducing: The "Future of Africa" Podcast Series

“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.
 
Support our humanitarian journalism with a paid subscription:
 
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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?
 
Get a 40% discount off Global Dispatches and support the show! https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff

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.
 
Get 40% off a paid subscription: https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff
 
Support the show at full price: https://www.globaldispatches.org/

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. 
 
Here's a discount link: https://www.globaldispatches.org/40PercentOff

To Save Us From Hell: Searching for Compromiso in Seville | Is Rafael Grossi Suddenly Radioactive?

Conflict is escalating in one region of the Democratic Republic of Congo and this conflict has the potential to become one of Africa's next big crises. At issue is a brewing situation in a region of DRC called Kasai. Now, if this is unfamiliar to you, it is with reason. This was not a region heretofore that had experienced much violence or conflict that caught international attention. (Indeed it is the far away eastern part of the country -- and this is a very large country, about the size of western Europe -- that has experienced the bulk of violence in the last several years.) To be honest, Kasai was totally off my radar until earlier this until two UN workers, including an American and Swede went missing there and were later found murdered and mutilated. On the line with me to discuss the situation in the Kasai region is Ida Sawyer, the Central Africa director of Human Rights Watch. She does a very good job of explaining how the conflict started, how it is changing and also the broader political context in which this conflict has erupted. If you have 20 minutes and want to learn why this local conflict could metastasize into something bigger, have a listen Leave a review on iTunes! 
 
 
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: How to Get a Job at the United Nations #8: How to Pick the Right International Relations Graduate School

This Could Be Africa's Next Big Crisis

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