Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

When economies started tanking last year as COVID-19 spread rapidly around the globe, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund mounted their crisis response. Now, one year later we can assess some of the impact of the response of these institutions, and what comes next as countries continue to try weather this economic storm. On the line with me to discuss how the World Bank and IMF have responded to the COVID-19 crisis is Scott Morris, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development.

On March 30th, leaders from 23 countries plus the heads of the World Health Organization and the European Union called for a new international treaty to confront the next pandemic. Global health expert Kate Dodson explains what would be included in a new international treaty on pandemic preparedness and response; how might a pandemic treaty be negotiated among world powers; and asks if a new global pandemic treaty even a good idea? (It is) Guest: Kate Dodson, Vice President for Global Health at the United Nations Foundation. Premium Subscription Link

Benin is a geographically small country in West Africa, located between Nigeria and Togo. Since the 1990s Benin has earned a reputation as a strong and stable multiparty democracy. However, that has all changed in recent years and Benin is in the midst of democratic backsliding ahead of elections in which opposition parties have been sidelined. On the line with me from Benin is Jose Biaou, the spokesperson for the Alliance Patriotic de Nouvelle Espoir -- The New Hope Patriotic Alliance.

In mid-March, the government of Turkey announced that is was withdrawing from a key human rights treaty known as the Istanbul Convention. Turkey took this move right in the middle of a major annual united nations conference called the Commission on the Status of Women. Needless to say the unfortunate irony of Turkey withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention during the Commission on the Status on Women was not lost on many observers, including my guest today Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, President and CEO of PAI, an international non profit working on universal access to sexual and reproductive health.

Globalization was always presumed to have a flattening effect; power in a globalized world would be more diffuse and less centralized. A groundbreaking idea, called "Weaponized Interdependence," flips that idea on its head and demonstrates how governments have exploited economic integration to pursue their foreign policy goals and compel foreign adversaries. Guest: Daniel Drezner, professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts and co-editor of the new book The Uses and Abuses of Weaponized Interdependence https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

Health systems in Brazil are collapsing. Hospitals are running out of beds and oxygen as COVID cases in that country are soaring. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has long downplayed the severity of COVID and now deaths are spiking in South America's largest country. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro's rival, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is poised for a comeback in elections next year after a stunning court decision. Guest: Leticia Casado, a journalist and stringer for the New York Times who is based in Brasilia.

Several American allies have pledged to pursue an explicitely feminist foreign policy. But what does this mean in practice? In today's episode, we explore what a feminist foreign policy would mean for the United States and how a feminist foreign policy is one that necessarily must also embrace multilateralism. Guest: Devon Cone, Senior advocate for women and girls at Refugees International.

The pandemic has been described as a mass extinction event for journalism. This is true in the United States, Europe and the developed world but even more so in poorer countries. A free and independent media is a key guardrail for a free and open society -- yet many media organizations in the developing world are struggling to stay afloat. Guest: Nishant Lalwani, managing director of Luminate, and driving force behind a new International Fund for Public Interest Media. https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

In early November, a civil war broke out in the Tigray region in Ethiopia. The conflict pitted the federal government and its allies against the regional government of Tigray, known as the TPLF. Since then the fighting has gotten worse and the humanitarian impact for people living in Tigray has been catastrophic. Guest: William Davison, a senior analyst for Ethiopia for International Crisis Group discusses how and why this conflict started, and where it may be headed next. Premium subscriptions: https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches

On February 1st, the Burmese military mounted a coup, deposing and detaining the civilian leadership of the country. The military arrested the de-facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other key members of her ruling party. This coup is a major setback for Myanmar's transition to democracy and a key foreign policy challenge for the new Biden administration. Why was there a coup in Myanmar and what happens next? Guest: John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director Human Rights Watch. Premium Subscription: https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches