Opinion Has It

In the Sino-American great-power drama, Taiwan has taken center stage, as China has ramped up pressure on the island. How much danger is Taiwan in – and how far will the US go to defend it? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The unprecedented fiscal spending that many governments unleashed in response to the COVID-19 crisis has fueled an increasingly heated debate over the risks posed by public debt. But the debate is far from new, and history holds important lessons that should inform it. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Taliban has announced its interim government, and its all-male, often-hardline makeup seems to have confirmed many observers' worst fears. Why did the US mission in Afghanistan fail, and what is in store for the country under Taliban rule? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

While elections alone don't necessarily make a state democratic, they do offer a glimpse into the strength and legitimacy of a democracy. What can we learn from recent electoral outcomes? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After over a decade on the fringes of the global monetary system, digital currencies are increasingly being embraced by companies, governments, and citizens around the world. Are they set to become an integral part of the global monetary system? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered the swiftest and most comprehensive contraction of global economic activity ever. With crises set to proliferate – not least because of climate change – the successes and failures of the pandemic response should serve as lessons for governments everywhere. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Twenty years ago, the September 11 terrorist attacks invigorated America's sense of itself as the “indispensable nation.” But its actions since then have failed to improve global security and have endangered those who it claimed to be helping. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon closed the gold window, effectively ushering in a new global monetary non-system with a single pillar: the US dollar. Fifty years later, that pillar is showing signs of strain. Can the world muster the cooperation needed to manage whatever comes next? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With many low-paying jobs going unfilled, it seems that the COVID-19 crisis has forced a much-needed adjustment in a labor market where workers had long suffered from a decline in bargaining power. But, as pandemic-support programs end and automation accelerates, workers face serious risks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Even when the world isn't gripped by a pandemic, staging the Olympic Games can create serious problems for local populations. So, why do cities and countries keep seeking to host them?Here to help us answer this question is Jules Boykoff. Jules is an associate professor of political science at Pacific University in Oregon, and a former member of the US Olympic Soccer team. He's the author of NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beyond. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Even when the world isn't gripped by a pandemic, staging the Olympic Games can create serious problems for local populations. So, why do cities and countries keep seeking to host them? Here to help us answer this question is Jules Boykoff. Jules is an associate professor of political science at Pacific University in Oregon, and a former member of the US Olympic Soccer team. He's the author of NOlympians: Inside the Fight Against Capitalist Mega-Sports in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Beyond.

The Communist Party of China, founded a century ago, has been in power for more than seven decades – and it has big plans for the future. What do those plans entail, and is the Party still strong enough to implement them? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Communist Party of China, founded a century ago, has been in power for more than seven decades – and it has big plans for the future. What do those plans entail, and is the Party still strong enough to implement them? Here to help us answer these questions is Rana Mitter. Mitter is the director of the China Centre at the University of Oxford, and a professor of the history and politics of modern China.

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel prepares to step aside after 16 years in office, Germany, Europe, and the world are entering a new, more uncertain phase – one that will be significantly shaped by her legacy. But which one? Here to help us answer these questions is Constanze Stelzenmüller. She holds the Fritz Stern chair on Germany and trans-Atlantic Relations at the Brookings Institution.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been the world's only superpower – a status ensured by the country's powerful military. But great-power competition is making a comeback, raising questions about US preparedness. Michèle Flournoy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors, a co-founder and former CEO of the Center for a New American Security, and a former US under secretary of defense for policy.

Despite major challenges, India’s multicultural democracy has thrived for more than 70 years. But can it survive Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist agenda? Here to help us answer this question is Milan Vaishnav. Vaishnav is the director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics.

While critics say that the European Union has stumbled from crisis to crisis for most of its existence, its defenders counter that crises have made it both stronger and more necessary over time. As the bloc’s complex history and current challenges show, both claims are true. Niels Thygesen is an economist and an emeritus professor at the University of Copenhagen. He has spent more than a half-century observing and participating in the European integration process. As a member of the Delors Committee, he helped established the roadmap to Economic and Monetary Union, or EMU. This culminated in the introduction of the euro in 1999.

Popular protests and a tanking economy seem to be weakening President Vladimir Putin’s position, if not threatening his grip on power. Yet Russia’s strongman leader will not go down without a fight. Joining us today to help demystify one of the world’s most prominent dictators is Timothy Frye, the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Post-Soviet Foreign Policy at Columbia University, and the author of the new book, Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia.

US President Joe Biden’s public-investment proposal is undoubtedly ambitious – and highly controversial. But it may also be the key to putting the US economy on the path toward a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future. Here to help us understand the American Jobs Plan – and the debate surrounding it – is James Galbraith. Galbraith is an economist and professor of government at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the author of Inequality: What Everyone Needs to Know.

After 20 years and more than $2 trillion, the US is under growing pressure finally to withdraw from Afghanistan, leaving the country where it started: in the hands of the Taliban. What will this mean for Afghanistan’s people, their neighbors, and the world? Ashley Jackson is the co-director of the Centre for the Study of Armed Groups at the Overseas Development Institute. She is the author of the forthcoming book Negotiating Survival: Civilian-Insurgent Relations in Afghanistan.

This week in Outtakes, recent guest Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security, explains why border closures aren’t an effective virus-containment strategy – and says what is.

Even if the world does manage to end the COVID-19 pandemic, we can’t simply breathe a sigh of relief and return to business as usual. With the number of new infectious diseases rising fast, the next pandemic could be just around the corner. Jennifer Nuzzo is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

With the encouragement of leaders like Donald Trump, far-right extremism has gone mainstream in recent years. To mitigate the growing danger far-right groups pose, policymakers need to deepen their understanding of how these groups recruit members and mobilize supporters. Joining this episode is Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor at American University. Cynthia is the director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab, and author of the new book, Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right.

Ten years after a popular uprising overthrew a dictator, Egypt largely appears to be back where it started. Why were Egyptians’ democratic hopes dashed, and can they still be realized? Here to discuss Egypt’s situation and prospects is Michael Hanna. Michael is a senior fellow at the Century Foundation and a non-resident fellow at the Reiss Center on Law and Security.

Just as Brexit marked the end of an era, it marks the beginning of a new one. And there is plenty of reason for both the United Kingdom and the European Union to doubt that the new era will be better. Here to discuss is Timothy Garton Ash, a Professor of European Studies at the University of Oxford and a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is the author of ten books, including, most recently, a new edition of The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of ’89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, & Prague.

After four years of an “America first” foreign policy, President-elect Joe Biden wants the world to know that America is back. But will Biden and his foreign-policy team be able to restore America’s global standing – and the relative stability it once provided? Kori Schake is the director of foreign and defense policy at the American Enterprise Institute. She previously served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, and in senior posts at the Pentagon and the State Department.

One issue links the political ructions and failures that have afflicted America in 2020: trust – or, rather, the lack thereof. Neither a COVID-19 vaccine nor a new president will solve this problem; only a new social compact can. Our guest today is Danielle Allen, a political theorist and classicist. She is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, and the author of many popular books, including Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.

With multiple producers touting promising results in late-stage trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, the end of the pandemic finally seems to be in sight. But rather than work together to produce and distribute vaccine doses, some governments are taking an every-country-for-itself approach – raising serious risks not only for public health, but also for the economic recovery and geopolitical stability. Here to speak with us about these risks is Tom Bollyky. Tom is the director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the founder and managing editor of Think Global Health. He is the author of Plagues and the Paradox of Progress: Why the World is Getting Healthier in Worrisome Ways.

Joe Biden may have won the US election, but the vote was hardly the firm popular rebuke to Trumpism many had anticipated. What does that mean for a Republican Party that has tied itself into knots defending Donald Trump over the last four years? Sarah Longwell joins us to help us answer that question. She is the founder of Republican Voters Against Trump, and the publisher of The Bulwark, a conservative news and opinion website.

Today’s US election comes at a moment of such deep polarization that many are bracing for a bitter fight over the results. In this week’s special episode, we follow up with law scholar Richard Pildes on how America got to this point, and what it means for the next administration’s ability to govern.

Donald Trump’s repeated efforts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the upcoming election has further intensified the polarization that has increasingly defined American politics in recent years. Now, many fear a drawn-out dispute over the results. Richard Pildes is the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University, and the co-author of The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s successor, Yoshihide Suga, has pledged to uphold his signature economic-policy program, Abenomics. What did that program really achieve, and is it up to the task of supporting Japan’s economy through the COVID-19 crisis? Kathy Matsui is Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan, and the author of a new book titled, "How to Nurture Female Employees."

The US Federal Reserve has announced a major shift in its monetary-policy framework: it will no longer target an inflation rate of “around 2%” at all times. What does this mean for the US economy – and the workers who make it run? Claudia Sahm joins us to discuss. Claudia is the director of macroeconomic policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Previously, she was a section chief at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the world will face worsening food crises, devastating wildfires, and coral reef die-offs unless it halves greenhouse-gas emissions within the next decade. Yet emissions actually rose in 2019, suggesting that growing public support for climate action may be too little, too late. Bill McKibben is a longtime climate activist, a regular contributor to the New Yorker, and the co-founder of 350.org.

When COVID-19 hit the United States in March, colleges and universities around the country quickly shifted to remote learning. But, as a new semester begins, the pandemic is nowhere near under control, and many institutions are wondering how much longer they can survive with closed or restricted campuses. Robert Kelchen is a professor at Seton Hall University and studies higher education finance, accountability, and financial aid.

Joe Biden has hinted that, if he wins November’s US presidential election, he will serve only one term. However unlikely that may be, his running mate, Kamala Harris, may well be the next Democratic presidential standard-bearer – even if Biden loses in November. Julia Azari is an associate professor and assistant chair in the Department of Political Science at Marquette University. She joins us from her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

For the past week, we’ve been on VEEP watch – repeatedly checking our phones for any indication that Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for US president, was ready to announce his running mate. The plan was to discuss his choice – and the role of the vice president more broadly, in today’s episode. But as we refreshed our news feeds, our deadline for recording today’s episode came and went – and there was still no word on Biden’s VP. So that episode will have to wait until next time. In the meantime, we’re bringing back Outtakes – special episodes featuring parts of past conversation that were left on the cutting room floor. Today, that means more insights from Tufts University Professor Daniel Drezner, whom I interviewed last time about the resiliency of the nation-state, and how the COVID-19 pandemic might remake the international order.

For decades, globalization has been narrowing the scope of national sovereignty. Does the COVID-19 pandemic – which has highlighted, yet again, the interconnected nature of today’s most pressing challenges – augur the end of the nation-state’s primacy? Daniel Drezner is a professor of international politics at Tufts University and the author of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump Teaches Us about the Modern Presidency.

Just 3% of US economics PhDs were awarded to black people in 2017 – a share that has been trending downward since the mid-1990s. This week, we examine the effects of this lack of black representation on economic policy and outcomes. Lisa Cook is an associate professor in the economics department at Michigan State University.

For over a year, China has progressively tightened its grip on Hong Kong. Its latest move – the introduction of a new security law – may spell the death of the “one country, two systems,” and thus democracy and the rule of law in the city, but at what cost to the Communist Party of China? **Minxin Pei is Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College and a non-resident senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He is a regular contributor to Project Syndicate.

George Floyd’s fatal encounter with the police seems to have been a tipping point in the United States. It comes at time when the pandemic has caused unemployment to skyrocket and exposed the life-and-death stakes of longstanding inequalities. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, the former director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, is Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. This interview has been edited for length.

Not even a pandemic seems to be slowing down the world’s tech giants. Companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google may emerge as the winners of the COVID-19 crisis, but at what cost to our societies and democracies? Marietje Schaake joins Opinion Has It to discuss how Big Tech has shaped our politics and economies, and how, if left unchecked, these companies may gain unprecedented power in the wake of the pandemic. Marietje is the International Policy Director of the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University.

The labor market and workplace conditions have changed dramatically in recent years – often not for the better. How will the COVID-19 pandemic change how jobs are structured in the 21st century?

The COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities for dictators and democrats alike to abuse government power, spurring fears that emergency measures will outlive the emergency. That danger is particularly acute in countries like Hungary.

When it comes to commerce, where Europe leads, others follow. The reason is simple: it’s too costly for global companies not to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to their products. Does that make the European Union a global superpower? Columbia University law professor Anu Bradford joins our podcast to discuss.

From the ashes of the Great Depression, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed through a raft of labor and social reforms that remade the American state and economy. We need FDR’s brand of “bold experimentation” to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

COVID-19 has upended our health systems, economies, and societies, but we’ve been through this before. Yale University historian Frank Snowden says history has much to teach us about confronting pandemics.

Liberian activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee launched a movement that toppled a dictatorship and ended a 14-year civil war. How did she do it? By bringing women into the peace process.

“Make America Great Again” was a powerful campaign slogan in 2016, appealing in states that mattered to voters who felt that the US economy had passed them by. Winning them over – or winning them back – will be crucial to Democrats’ chances in November’s presidential and congressional elections. In a live recording at the Brooklyn Public Library, Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and author Anand Giridharadas discuss how to do it. **Photo credit: Gregg Richard of Brooklyn Public Library

By focusing on practical solutions to small questions, Abhijit Banerjee helped revolutionize development economics. Now, he’s turning his focus to rehabilitating the battered reputations of economists themselves. Abhijit Banerjee is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at MIT. In 2003, he co-founded J-PAL, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. He is the author of several books, most recently, Good Economics for Hard Times, co-written with Esther Duflo. In 2019, he, along with Duflo and Michael Kremer, won the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Since the 1970s, Iowa has hosted the United States’ first primary contest for US presidential nominees, often with make-or-break consequences for the candidates. But the state has come under scrutiny for its relative lack of diversity, and calls are intensifying for it to give up its preeminent position. Edward L. Widmer is a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton. Currently, he is a distinguished lecturer at the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York, and a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.