Foreign Affairs Unedited

During the recent U.S. presidential campaign, railing against trade became a popular pastime. But it is nothing new. Today on the podcast, we’re looking at how efforts to weaken trade have played out in the past, and whether Trump’s proposed trade policies will do what he promises. Featuring interviews with Eduardo Campanella, a Eurozone economist, discussing mercantilism in the past and Marc Levinson, author of An Extraordinary Time: The End of the Postwar Boom and the Return of the Ordinary Economy, on the outlook for Trump’s trade restrictionism. Don’t miss an episode of ForeignAffairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available at ForeignAffairs.com.

On the podcast today, Foreign Affairs continues its discussion on the power of populism. Since we recorded the last show, Americans have gone to the polls and elected Donald Trump as the next U.S. president. We’ll be discussing what his victory means for populism around the world, for Europe, and for Latin America. Featuring interviews with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose, Carlo Accetti, and Shannon O’Neil. Don’t miss an episode of ForeignAffairs Unedited, subscribe oniTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available at ForeignAffairs.com.

On the podcast today, Foreign Affairs discusses the power of populism.  Pankaj Mishra, author of “The Globalization of Rage,” takes a historical view of today’s unrest; Cas Mudde discusses the spread of populism in Europe; and Nadia Urbinati speaks on the best response to populism at home. Don’t miss an episode of ForeignAffairs Unedited, subscribe oniTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available at ForeignAffairs.com.

This week, we provide an intimate look at the changing dynamics of Israel’s relationships with its Middle East neighbors, as many of them go through a period of intense conflict and turmoil. Featuring interviews with Middle East Experts Amos Harel, Steven Cook, and Grant Rumley and hosted by Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Rebecca Chao.   Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher tohave this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available at ForeignAffairs.com.

The age of global transparency is upon us. Whether you’re using mobile wiretaps, drones, or satellites, surveillance has become cheap and ubiquitous. And governments aren’t the only ones doing it. These days, almost anyone can peek into the lives of the world’s rich and powerful—and expose sensitive information, using new-fangled technologies or old-fashioned methods like leaks to the press. In this episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, we’re taking a closer look at what the end of secrecy really means for governments, politicians, and everyday people. Guest-hosted by Deputy Web Editor Brian O’Connor and featuring guests Colonel Sean Larkin, Henry Farrell, and Thorgils Jonsson. Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher tohave this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript isavailable at ForeignAffairs.com.

In this episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, we’re looking at Iran’s use of cyberwarfare after the nuclear deal, the coming Iranian succession crisis, and Iran’s generational struggle to reconcile enlightenment ideals with political Islam. Hosted by Deputy Managing Editor Katie Allawala and featuring guests Ilan Berman, Alex Vatanka, and Ervand Abrahamian. Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available at ForeignAffairs.com.

In part two of our Foreign Affairs Unedited series on Russia under Putin, we’re looking at the history of Russian aggression and the country’s recent military reform. Featuring Gideon Rose, Stephen Kotkin, and Demetri Trenin. Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes, PodBean, and Stitcher to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available at ForeignAffairs.com. Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / Podington Bear, Delphone Dora and The Unexpected

Over the past decade and a half, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has been an economic dynamo and a basket case, an imperfect democracy and a tightening tyranny, a constructive diplomatic actor and a serial military aggressor—sometimes all at once. The only constant has been surprise, as the zigging and zagging has left outside observers, and even many Russians, scratching their heads. Today on the podcast, we’re discussing Putin’s strategy of repression, the real state of the Russian economy, and whether Putin really has a clear foreign policy.  Featuring interviews with authors Maria Lipman, Sergei Guriev, and Daniel Treisman.  Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Podbean, and Stitcher.  Visit ForeignAffairs.com for a full transcript.

For the most part, when people think of crunching numbers, they imagine charts and graphs. Today on the podcast, we’re exploring unusual ways to look at—or rather, listen to—data. Sound can perhaps present information with more urgency and clarity than a visualization. Since this is Foreign Affairs, and we’re nottracking u-boats underwater, we decided to apply the data sonification technique to some somewhat obscure data sets - including the Cheeseburger Index. Listen in as Matt Kenney describes the creation process and Nick Colas dissects the numbers. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Podbean, and Stitcher.  Visit ForeignAffairs.com for a full transcript.

Everyone knows that China’s economy is slowing. But is it still growing? That depends on what you measure. Today on the podcast, we’re talking with three experts, each with a different take on assessing the Chinese economy.  Featuring interviews with recent authors Salvatore Babones, Eduardo Campanella, and Punkaj Ghemawat.  Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes or on PodBean to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.  Visit www.ForeignAffairs.com for a full transcript.

In this episode, Foreign Affairs authors discuss how stagnation in Russia and China could lead to anarchy in Eurasia, the role that demographics play in economic stagnation, and what central banks can do to goose growth. Featuring interviews with recent authors Robert Kaplan, Ruchir Sharma, and co-authors Tom Hill and Ian Morris.  Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes or on PodBean to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.   This podcast has been edited and condensed. A rush transcript is available on www.ForeignAffairs.com.  Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Podington Bear

With China slumping, energy prices collapsing, and nervous consumers sitting on their hands, growth has ground to a halt almost everywhere, and economists, investors, and ordinary citizens are starting to confront a grim new reality: the world is stuck in the slow lane and nobody seems to know what to do about it.  Listen in as Larry Summers, Zachary Karabell, and Anne Kreuger discuss the dangers, risks, and opportunities of slow growth and what, if anything, there is to do about it.  Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes or on PodBean to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice. To learn more on the subject, check out the March/April 2016 issue on ForeignAffairs.com.  Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Podington Bear

Was the Arab Spring a mirage? Did it mean anything? Five years on, we’re looking at how the revolutions panned out in Tunisia and Egypt, and why Turkey lost the Arab Spring. Featuring interviews with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Brian Klaas, Marina Ottoway, Nathan Brown, and Merve Tahiroglu.  This podcast has been edited and condensed. Visit ForeignAffairs.com for a full transcript.  Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Jurica Jelić, Podington Bear

Around the world, incomes and wealth for the majority have stagnated even as they have skyrocketed for those at the top. In part two of Foreign Affairs' coverage on inequality, we explore what works and what doesn’t, from Brazil’s Bolsa Familia, to new kinds of taxes, to Donald Trump’s and Bernie Sanders’ own economic proposals. Hear it from the experts themselves: featuring interviews with Foreign Affairs Managing Editor Jonathan Tepperman, British economist Anthony Atkinson, and political scientist Kimberly Morgan.This podcast has been edited and condensed. Visit ForeignAffairs.com for a full transcript. Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Podington Bear 

In part one of a two-part series on inequality, we delve into the rise of economic inequality, when and why it matters, and what to do about it. Featuring Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs, Allison Schrager, New York–based economist and writer, and Ronald Inglehart, professor at the University of Michigan. This podcast has been edited and condensed. Visit ForeignAffairs.com for a full transcript. Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Podington Bear

Part II of a two-part series highlighting the best Foreign Affairs Unedited podcasts of 2015, we revisit some of our favorite conversations on women and gender from around the world. Featuring interviews with Ira Trivedi on bride trafficking in India, Nadia Hashimi on Afghanistan’s female sons, and Adrienne Mayor on the myth and reality of the Amazons.Don’t miss an episode of Foreign Affairs Unedited, subscribe on iTunes or on PodBean to have this podcast delivered right to your audio player of choice.A rush transcript is available on ForeignAffairs.com.Music credit: FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Podington Bear, Jurica Jelić

Part I of a two-part series highlighting the best Unedited podcasts of 2015, we revisit some of our favorite interviews on Putin: his motivations, his strategy, and his ideology. Featuring interviews with Stephen Kotkin, Gregory Feifer, and Nussaibah Younis and hosted by Deputy Managing Editor, Katie Allawala. This podcast has been edited and condensed. Full transcripts are available at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/browse/audio.

Part II of a two part series on the new Middle East—Gideon Rose, Dan Byman, Cyrus Amir-Mokri, and Hamid Biglari chime in on the United States’ response to ISIS after the Paris attacks, counterterrorism in the Middle East, and Iran’s post-sanction economy.

In this edition of Foreign Affairs Unedited, part one of a two part series on the new Middle East, Denise Natali, Natan Sachs, and Jared Cohen discuss who can replace the United States in the region, Israel’s strategy, and how to combat ISIS in the digital age.  Read more at ForeignAffairs.com.Music credit FreeMusicArchive.org / The Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionisio, Podington Bear

Steve Hindy, co-founder and chairman of Brooklyn Brewery, talks about his Foreign Affairs article "Ancient Ales," as well as the future of craft brewing around the world. 

The conflict in Syria has never been simple. From popular uprising, to civil war, to proxy war, the evolving conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. And now, with the addition of Russian airstrikes, things could get a lot more complicated. Foreign Affairs editors speak with the experts - Gregory Feifer, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, Jeffrey Stacey, and Dr. Nussaibah Younis - to discuss Russia’s intervention in Syria, what to do about Putin, and how to prevent the next Cold War. 

A panel of Foreign Affairs experts, Sebastian Mallaby, Péter Krekó, Tara Zahra, Sebastian Elischer, and Patrick Sykes, discuss the issues surrounding the ongoing global refugee crisis.

Neri Zilber, adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, talks with Sam Winter-Levy, Assistant Editor, about Abbas, the Palestinian authority and the possibility of a third intifada.

In this Foreign Affairs Unedited podcast, Ira Trivedi talks with Rebecca Chao, Deputy Web Editor, about gender politics and the bride trafficking business in India.  Read the article, When When a Bride-to-Be Is a Bride to Buy on ForeignAffairs.com

Bret Stephens, columnist for The Wall Street Journal, debates Obama's foreign policy legacy with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

Laurie Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses Ebola and what to do to prevent it from happening again with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

Kathleen McNamara, author of the recent book “The Politics of Everyday Europe” discusses who to blame for the Greek crisis and the future of the EU with Foreign Affairs Staff Editor Nikita Lalwani. 

Antonio Patriota, Brazil's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, discusses Brazil’s role in the global order with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

Benjamin Duerr, a correspondent covering war crimes issues and the courts in The Hague, discusses the acquittal of Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Brian O’Connor.

Nisid Hajari, author of Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition, discusses Indian partition with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

Gregory Feifer, author of "Russians: The People Behind the Power," discusses Russia and Vladimir Putin with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Brian O’Connor.

David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, discusses humanitarian aid around the world with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose. Read the article: “Improving Humanitarian Aid.”

John McArthur discusses strategies to end world hunger and his recent article, "The Hunger Game,” with Foreign Affairs Staff Editor Nikita Lalwani. 

Andy Nathan, professor of Political Science at Columbia University, discusses the future of China with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.  

Author Chris Walsh discusses the history of cowardice and his recent article, "The Coward’s Guide to History," with Foreign Affairs Deputy Managing Editor Katie Allawala. 

Author Ian Bremmer discusses America’s role in the world, the Obama administration's record, and his new book SuperPower, with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.  

Author Christine Balling discusses Colombia’s minister of defense, Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno, with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Rebecca Chao. Read the article at ForeignAffairs.com. 

Author Harris Irfan discusses Islamic finance and conscious capitalism with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Brian O'Connor.  An excerpt of his book was recently featured on ForeignAffairs.com. 

"Ancient historians and classical scholars have long argued that Amazons were purely imaginary ... we now have enough evidence, archaeological and otherwise, to call that into question," says Adrienne Mayor, research scholar at Stanford University.  Mayor recently sat down  with Foreign Affairs Deputy Managing Editor Katie Allawala to discuss her recent article "Warrior Women: The Myth and Reality of the Amazons.”

Author Amrita Narlikar discusses Doha, the WTO, and her recent article "The Power of the Powerless," with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Rebecca Chao.

Author and Middle East expert, Emma Sky, discusses Iraqi politics and her path to becoming the political advisor to U.S. General Ray Odierno in Iraq with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

In this edition of Foreign Affairs Unedited, author David Schenker discusses Jordanian politics and his recent article "In Jordan, Problems and Politics are Local," with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Rebecca Chao.  Visit www.ForeignAffairs.com to read the article.

"In the battle over cultural heritage, repatriation claims based strictly on national origin are more than just denials of cultural exchange: they are also arguments against the promise of encyclopedic museums," writes James Cuno in his Nov/Dec 2014 article in Foreign Affairs.  "Cultural property should be recognized for what it is: the legacy of humankind and not of the modern nation-state, subject to the political agenda of its current ruling elite."Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs, recently sat down with Cuno to discuss his case against repatriating museum artifacts.

In this edition of Foreign Affairs Unedited, author Matthew Johnson discusses the British election and his recent article "Empire at Sunset," with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Brian O'Connor.

Foreign Affairs author Nadia Hashimi discusses the tradition of Bacha Posh and her recent article "Afghanistan's Female Sons,"with Foreign Affairs Deputy Web Editor Rebecca Chao.

Foreign Affairs author Jennifer Williams discusses al Qaeda's letters and her recent article "The Bureaucracy of Terror,"with Foreign Affairs Deputy Managing Editor Katie Allawala.

The Coin Center's Jerry Brito sits down with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose to discuss Bitcoin, one of the "currencies of the future."

"We live in a world now in which cross-group solidarities are being generated in ways that would've astonished our predecessors." Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses his recent article "Race in the Modern World" with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

The U.S. electrical grid has hardly changed since the 1880s, and its reliability, effectiveness, and affordability are increasingly being brought into question. To prevent disaster, regulators must abandon outdated electrical architecture and redesign the grid. Bloomberg Analyst Brian Warshay discusses his recent article "Upgrading the Grid" with Foreign Affairs Deputy Managing Editor Stuart Reid.

Despite all the grim predictions, the European Union is not on the verge of collapse. Quite the contrary: if European leaders act with resolve and persistence, the union could experience a rebirth. Professor R. Daniel Kelemen discusses his recent article "Europe Reborn" with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

Mariana Mazzucato, Professor of the Economics of Innovation and author of The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths speaks with Foreign Affairs editor Kathryn Allawala on the phone to discuss how and why government should take an active role in funding innovation--and what we have to gain.