Carnegie Council Podcasts

Garry Kasparov is an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin's authoritarianism, but he is equally critical of the United States and its allies for their unwillingness to confront Moscow. In this fascinating discussion, he and journalist Robert Kaiser grapple with complex and difficult questions about Russia and the "free world," and what we mean by a moral foreign policy.

Quinnipiac professor Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox recently spent three months researching the Indian Constitution in Delhi. In this talk, she details the document's framework, its main architect B. R. Ambedkar, and why it is the world's longest constitution. Is it revered, like its American counterpart? What are some of the constitutional debates in India today?

"Artificial intelligence" is a misnomer, says computer scientist Jerry Kaplan. Machines are not intelligent; their programmers are. What we're seeing is a huge acceleration of automation, which will eliminate all kinds of jobs and create all kinds of unimaginable new ones. This will create a great deal of wealth. But the question is who will get that wealth?

Eurasia Group's Ian Bremmer discusses the top political risks for 2016 and gives a stark warning for the year ahead. Touching on the Saudi-Iranian tensions, China's footprint, and the eroding trans-Atlantic alliance, Bremmer says, "This is very likely to be the most dangerous year of geopolitical risk we have experienced since we started this process."

In this information-filled talk, Jeff McCausland, a retired U.S. Army colonel, explains why the India/Pakistan border may be the most dangerous place on the planet. With nuclear weapons, a contentious history, and world powers vying for influence, a crisis could easily escalate to a "catastrophic" level. Are there lessons to be learned from the Cold War?

From the Balkan Wars to both invasions of Iraq to the current refugee crisis, photojournalist Ron Haviv has been at the center of many of the world's most dangerous conflicts over the last three decades. In this fascinating talk, Haviv walks us through some of his most striking photographs and discusses the complicated ethics of being a journalist in a war zone.

What is terrorism, and how is it different from other violence? How does technology affect rates of violence? How and when can nonviolence be effective? John Sifton of Human Rights Watch reflects on these issues and more, including the intersection between nonviolence and Christian Realism, as exemplified by his grandfather, Reinhold Niebuhr.

Yes, says former EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso, the European Union is facing extraordinary challenges. But the EU also possesses extraordinary resilience and resources. Unlike many, Barroso is very optimistic about its future.

The Sinai, this crucial land bridge connecting Asia and Africa, has become a haven for transnational crime, fostering arms trafficking, smuggling through the tunnels into Gaza, and Islamic militancy. Courageous Egyptian journalist Mohannad Sabry gives us an inside look at the current situation, both in the Sinai and in Egypt as a whole.

The co-founder of the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo during the Iraq War, Suchitra Vijayan discusses the refugee crisis from a legal, political, and humanitarian point of view. She details the remarkable empathy needed to work in the field and why the United States and Europe have an ethical responsibility to respond to the situation.