The United States national debt is rising to levels not seen since World War II. Many economists say Washington is on an unsustainable track, but no one knows when it will pass the point of crisis. What is at risk if U.S. debt continues to grow?

Featured Guests:

Maya MacGuineas (President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget)

Roger W. Ferguson Jr. (Steven A. Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics, CFR)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/wim/whos-afraid-national-debt 

The world is watching the U.S. presidential contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris with intense interest. Few countries are tracking the race more closely than Germany, Europe's biggest economy and a founding member of the NATO alliance. Its experiences provide insights into how this election is reverberating globally.

Featured Guests:

Liana Fix (Fellow for Europe, CFR) 

Stefan Kornelius (Foreign Editor, Süddeutsche Zeitung)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/wim/why-world-obsessed-us-election-ask-germany 

West Africa is losing many of its best and brightest. Across the region, doctors, lawyers, and engineers are leaving, depriving some of the world’s youngest countries of the minds they need to develop sustainably. At the same time, coups have rocked the nearby Sahel, threatening to create a corrosive cycle of instability. Can West Africa quell the tide of emigration?

Featured Guests:

Aanu Adeoye (West Africa correspondent, Financial Times)

Ebenezer Obadare (Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow for Africa Studies, CFR)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/can-west-africa-curb-its-brain-drain 

In the past thirty years, sixty countries have expanded access to abortion care as an underpinning of maternal health. The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade made the United States the fourth country ever to decrease access to abortion—and the world took notice. Some countries have since reinforced protections for abortion care, while others have moved to further restrict it.

Featured Guests:

Onikepe Owolabi (Director of International Research, Guttmacher Institute)

Patty Skuster (Reproductive Health Law Policy Researcher and Consultant, University of Pennsylvania)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/global-abortion-access-after-roe

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular man in India. On track to be elected for a third term, he has boosted the country’s global standing and propelled strong economic growth while consolidating power and galvanizing majoritarian support for his Hindu nationalist agenda—all while growing closer to the United States. How could Hindu nationalism reshape India?

Ashok Swain (Head of Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University)

Hartosh Singh Bal (Executive Editor, The Caravan)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/india-modi-and-hindu-nationalism 

A free and independent press is at the core of many democracies. But threats to the safety of journalists abound worldwide, and the rise of generative artificial intelligence has raised concerns about the future of media. At the same time, more people have access to high quality news now than perhaps ever before. Where does all this leave the state of the current media climate?

In this episode, Host Gabrielle Sierra and Foreign Affairs Editor Daniel Kurtz-Phelan talk about the future of journalism, and whether political polarization presents a challenge to nonpartisan publishing.

Dan Kurtz-Phelan (Executive Editor, Foreign Affairs)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/publishing-polarized-world 

A little over a week ago, Iran directly attacked Israel from its own territory for the first time in history. And while the United States and Israel shot down almost all of the missiles and drones, the attack remains unprecedented. Since the release of this episode, Israel has launched a relatively moderate counter strike, and tensions appear to be cooling. But the Middle East might still be on the brink of a wider war. Host Dan Kurtz-Phelan and guests Suzanne Maloney and Ali Vaez discuss the consequences of deteriorating Iran-Israel dynamics and more in this Foreign Affairs Interview episode.

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit Foreign Affairs at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/can-israel-and-iran-step-back-brink 

Thirty years ago, Rwanda’s government began a campaign to eradicate the country’s largest minority group. In just one hundred days in 1994, roving militias killed around eight hundred thousand people. Would-be killers were incited to violence by the radio, which encouraged extremists to take to the streets with machetes. The United Nations stood by amid the bloodshed, and many foreign governments, including the United States, declined to intervene before it was too late. What got in the way of humanitarian intervention? And as violent conflict now rages at a clip unseen since then, can the international community learn from the mistakes of its past?

Featured Guests:

Claude Gatebuke (Executive Director, African Great Lakes Action Network)

David Scheffer (Senior Fellow for International Law and Criminal Justice, CFR)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/remembering-rwandan-genocide 

Many Americans are losing faith in the benefits of internationalism. But whether it’s wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, worsening extreme weather as a result of climate change, or the trade-offs of globalization, events abroad are increasingly having a local impact. At the same time,  more state and local officials in the United States are becoming involved in global affairs, conducting their own form of diplomacy on international issues and driving investment home. What role should the United States play in the world economy? And how do states and cities fit in?

Read about the RealEcon Initiative.

Featured Guests:

Matthew P. Goodman, Distinguished Fellow for Global Economic Policy and Director of the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies

Nina Hachigian, U.S. Special Representative for City and State Diplomacy

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/local-leaders-global-economy 

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are real. And the truth about them is often hidden from the public, for reasons related to national security. That secrecy has fed conspiracy theories about the possibility of alien life on Earth, creating a stigma around the legitimate scientific search for life on other planets. Why are UFOs considered a defense concern? And does a defense framing of UFOs inhibit scientific research?

Featured Guests

Philippe Ailleris (Copernicus Programme Project Controller, European Space Agency)

Shane Harris (Intelligence Correspondent, Washington Post)

Kai-Uwe Schrogl (President, International Institute of Space Law)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/ufos-close-encounters-national-security-kind

Every January, CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey analyzes the conflicts most likely to occur in the year ahead and measures their potential impact. For the first time, the survey predicts that this year/in 2024 the United States will contend not only with a slew of global threats, but also a high risk of upheaval within its own borders. Is the country prepared for the eruption of election-related instability at home while wars continue to rage abroad?

Featured Guest: 

Paul B. Stares (General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/2024-whats-worst-could-happen