When people are engaged in conflict they are required to make ethical decisions everyday. Leaders, soldiers, and those in power at every level have to assess options and make decisions quickly and sometimes with unknown outcomes. How we conduct ourselves in war and the reasons why we go to war are extremely important. Join us as we speak with Professor Perez from the Army War College as we discuss the application of force, proportionality, and Just War Theory.

In this episode of ABROADcast, we speak with Professor Jason Healey, a Senior Research Scholar on Cyber Conflict at Columbia University. As the past few decades as computers and other electronic devices have become an integral part of our daily lives the threat from criminal hackers and state actors have greatly increased. The U.S. Government has been engaging with the private sector to improve the country's cyber defenses and deter attacks against our critical systems, yet the prevalence of malware has only increased. Listen in to learn about the history of cyber conflict and learn what the future holds in this evolving domain.

Urban warfare is one of the most difficult forms of military conflict. The presence of civilians, the natural choke points of urban terrain, and concealment from aerial assets all contribute to urban warfare’s complexities. And while the defender may have the advantage initially there are factors that complicate the ability for either side to truly “win”.  Join us as we talk to Michael O’Hanlon, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University as we discuss these issues and multiple other facets of urban fighting.

The Myanmar people are not just numbers. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military conducted a coup d'état against the democratically elected government led by the National League for Democracy. Shortly after the coup, Myanmar citizens started organizing against the military takeover and to date over 1,500 Myanmar citizens have been killed since the military regime came to power. Join us as we talk with Esther Ze Naw, a Myanmar human rights activist and co-organizer of one of the largest anti-military protests after the coup. For her work on human and ethnic minority rights she was included in Time’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

What does the recent Chilean election say about the current state of democracy in Chile? How did Chile get here, and what will the results mean for the future? Come join us for insights from Dr. Maria Victoria Murillo, the Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

ABROADcast is back after many months with a new season, new theme, and new team! Here's our introduction episode giving you a recap of Season 1 and a preview to Season 2. Tune in every Tuesday to hear about the topics that affected our past, is influencing our present, and will change our futures.

Welcome to ABROADcast, and our first season “Changing World Order”. 2020 was a hectic year for countries worldwide from COVID-19 to Brexit to the Beirut explosion. We entered 2021 with new COVID-19 variations and a U.S. insurrection. The international order is changing, and in our first season, we will be addressing this “Changing World Order” through six biweekly episodes. Check out our first episode!

Hosts: Daniel Guelen & Seungmin (Helen) Lee

Soundtrack: Samir Kumar

Logo: Barbara Lantz

Climate change has been a debate since before the pandemic, but the last year has highlighted the issue even more. Furthermore, the effects and discussions of climate change spills over from the science field into economics, politics, international relations, academia, and education. Joining us today to discuss these issues is Professor Jason Bordoff.

After the Cold War, the world was mostly unipolar, with the United States as its leader. However, China has been rising and becoming more assertive in its territorial claims. The change is making people wonder if China is challenging the current system and the US. Joining us is Dr. Andrew Nathan to discuss this changing landscape.

COVID-19 control strategies have pushed the boundaries of how we integrate technology into our daily lives. The pandemic has highlighted gaps in current technology policies, underscoring the need for transparency as it creates a greater need for data privacy. Beyond the pandemic-driven changes, states have been locked in a race to develop superior AI and 5G capabilities. However, the pandemic has slowed the rollout of 5G with supply chain and hardware delays but increased data traffic globally. Today we are joined by Professor Wichowski to discuss these topics.