Carnegie Council Podcasts

Which development initiatives really work? Drawing on his personal and professional experience, the UN's David Malone notes that experts' projects often fail and there are many paths to growth--take India and China, for example. The trend now is to move away from grand schemes. What's important are each group's social preferences.

The Middle East needs a double revolution--not just a political one, but a social/sexual one as well, says fiery, courageous feminist Mona Eltahawy. It's time to destroy the oppressive patriarchy of "the trifecta:" the state, the street, and the home. But Arab women don't need "rescuing." Misogyny exists everywhere in varying degrees. Fight it at your own, local level.

"We are in transition today from an age of surpluses to an age of scarcity," says Lester Brown. The reasons are manifold: population growth; climate change; water scarcity; a substantial part of the U.S. grain harvest being used for fuel; increased demands because of rising affluence; and a glass ceiling for crop yields.

When it comes to medical research using human beings, who decides what's right? How do the U.S. institutional review boards work? What does "informed consent" mean when you need a law degree to understand the consent forms? How are clinical trails conducted overseas? Dr. Klitzman explores these troubling and complex ethical concerns.

From the NSA and the kill list, to the failure to close Guantanamo and prosecute those who committed torture, Obama's national security policies are not substantively different from those of George W. Bush, laments Romero. He also discusses 9/11, the history of the ACLU, and the troubling privatization of U.S. prisons.

In the late 1990s, using humor, irony, and imagination, Popovic and his friends toppled Serbian dictator Milošević. They went on to found CANVAS, which now advises activists in more than 15 countries. Popovic explains that nonviolent struggle is a teachable skill, and that nonviolence is not only the most ethical, but the most successful path to revolution.

In Europe, both non-Muslims and Muslims need to honestly confront and contend with the stereotypes, anxieties, and resentments they have about each other, says Professor Cesari in this probing conversation on Muslims in Europe.

In this enlightening conversation, Professor Cole, an expert in relations between the Muslim world and the West, gives an on-the-ground perspective on the Iran nuclear talks and the reaction to them in the Arab world, Muslims in Europe, Yemen, ISIS, and much more.

This is the first in a series of podcasts in collaboration with EthicalSystems.org to explore behavioral science in the workplace. In this installment, we're turning to the financial industry, specifically Deutsche Bank and the Federal Reserve, to explore how the financial system is beginning to apply behavioral economics to incentivize ethical decision-making and foster internal ethical cultures.

Many of the successful campaigns for national liberation after World War II were based on democratic and secular ideals. Michael Walzer asks: What went wrong? Why have states such as India, Israel, and Algeria been unable to reproduce their political culture beyond one or two generations?