The World Unpacked

Ambassador Michael McFaul helped launch the Obama administration’s reset in U.S.-Russian relations, which fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries. As U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, he had a front-row seat as the relationship began to unravel in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. In his new book, From Cold War to Hot Peace, he talks about what happened and what went wrong. McFaul sat down in the DiploPod studio with Lauren Dueck to discuss his new book, U.S.-Russian relations, and where Putin’s foreign policy is headed.

Daniel Ellsberg may be best known for his role in exposing the realities of the Vietnam War by releasing the Pentagon Papers, but he also has a new book out, The Doomsday Machine, that lays out a stark depiction of nuclear war planning within the government. He joined Jen Psaki in the DiploPod studio to talk about the threat of nuclear war today, the importance of leaks, and the escalation of tensions with North Korea.​

Frederic Wehrey has a new book out this month — The Burning Shores, Inside the Battle for the New Libya. Based on nearly two years of reporting, it tells the stories of Libyan lives upended by turmoil, sheds new light on the country’s afflictions, and provides valuable lessons for the future. For the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki discussed with him what broke down in Libya post Qaddafi, the role of the United States and other international partners, and the future of Libya. (More on Wehery - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/709)

With the possibility of historic talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean President Kim Jong Un on the horizon, the co-directors of Carnegie’s nuclear policy program—Toby Dalton and James Acton joined Jen Psaki in the DiploPod studio to talk about what technical issues should be on the table in the talks and what success would look like if diplomacy does move forward. More on Acton - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/434 More on Dalton - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/578

For the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki spoke with Carnegie non-resident scholar Ulrich Kühn and the co-director of Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program, James Acton about nuclear threats from Russia. They talked about President Putin’s march speech touting Russia’s nuclear capabilities, Kühn’s recent report on “Preventing Escalation in the Baltics”, and the path forward for eastern Europe and the international community. More on Kühn - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1265 More on Acton - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/434

For the latest episode of DipoPod, Jen Psaki interviewed Carnegie senior fellow Karim Sadjadpour and former BBC reporter and Carnegie senior visiting fellow Kim Ghattas to talk about the long standing rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Karim and Kim, experts on the region, discussed how the rivalry impacts the region and the sudden rise of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia. They also chatted about the shadow of American politics in the region including the election of U.S. President Donald Trump and the recent appointment of John Bolton as U.S. national security adviser. More about Sadjadpour - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/340 More about Ghattas - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1407

In the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki sits down with Julia Gurganus to discuss the re-election of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gurganus is a visiting scholar with the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Program. She has spent the past two decades working in the U.S. intelligence community on issues related to Russia and Eurasia. From 2014 to 2017, she was a national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia, the senior subject matter expert on Eurasia for the director of national intelligence. She is a CIA employee and is at the Carnegie Endowment on a CIA-sponsored sabbatical. The views she expressed are her own and do not reflect the official position or view of the U.S. government or an official release of U.S. government information. (More on Gurganus - http://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1424)

In the latest episode of DiploPod, Jen Psaki sits down with Douglas Paal to discuss the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. They examine what the North Koreans might want from talks, what expectations and concerns regional actors including China, Japan, and South Korea may have, and how Trump’s decision on whether to stick with the Iran nuclear deal could complicate possible diplomacy with Pyongyang. Douglas H. Paal is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was an unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan (2002–2006) and on the National Security Council staffs of presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush between 1986 and 1993 as director of Asian affairs and then as senior director and special assistant to the president. (More on Paal - https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/397)

Jen Psaki sat down this week with Andrei Kolesnikov, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, and Andrew Weiss, the vice president for studies overseeing the Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia program for the latest episode of DiploPod. They discussed what to expect from the upcoming Russian elections, how President Putin has changed, and the surprising results from a new poll conducted by the Carnegie Moscow Center, in partnership with the Levada Center, about the desire for reform within Russia. Andrei Kolesnikov is a senior fellow and the chair of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. His research focuses on the major trends shaping Russian domestic politics, with particular focus on the fallout from the Ukraine crisis and ideological shifts inside Russian society. (More on Kolesnikov - http://carnegie.ru/experts/?fa=1015) Andrew S. Weiss is the James Family Chair and vice president for studies at the Carnegie, where he oversees research in Washington and Moscow on Russia and Eurasia. Prior to joining Carnegie, he was director of the RAND Corporation’s Center for Russia and Eurasia and executive director of the RAND Business Leaders Forum. (More on Weiss - http://carnegieendowment.org/experts/824)

For the first episode of DiploPod this year, Jen Psaki sat down with Jeffrey Feltman, the United Nations under-secretary-general for political affairs, to discuss his December 2017 trip to North Korea, the upcoming talks between North and South Korea, and the role of the United States in those talks. Feltman was the highest level official from the United Nations to meet with officials in North Korea since 2010.