Carnegie Council Video Podcast

In his long career as a journalist covering the Cold War and its aftermath, best-selling author Robert D. Kaplan often crossed paths with Bob Gersony. A high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, Gersony conducted on-the-ground research for the U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone in the world. In conversation with Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal, Kaplan discusses the powerful example that Gersony set of how American diplomacy should be conducted.

The pandemic has made us all shockingly aware of the way that a highly infectious disease exposes the moral frailties of our social systems. In this virtual event moderated by Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow Wendell Wallach, leading ethicists and historians discuss their work, how it has been affected by the pandemic, and what lessons we may take away from this global crisis.

In the fourth and final installment of "The United Nations at 75: Looking Back to Looking Forward," host Margaret P. Karns speaks with Bertrand Ramcharan, former acting high commissioner for human rights. In this candid talk, Ramcharan discusses why he thinks the "UN human rights system is in crisis" and details the complicated role of the high commissioner. Plus, ahead of the 72nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, he explains why it is "the rallying document of our civilization."

Civil disobedience is a storied political tradition. Can it empower today's activists? How should we understand the connection between protest and democracy? Citing movements from the recent past and using empirical data, Harvard Kennedy School's Professor Chenoweth and The New School's Professor Woodly address the relationship between forms of resistance and successful progressive reform and detail how the Movement for Black Lives is putting these ideas into practice around the world.

Following up on the AI & Equality Initiative's first webinar on artificial intelligence and the future of work, Carnegie-Uehiro Fellow Wendell Wallach and Dr. Christina Colclough, founder of The Why Not Lab, build on that discussion with a conversation about the future of the worker. How can new technology be used to empower workers? What are some progressive strategies and policies that can help to reach this goal?

In the third episode of "The United Nations at 75: Looking Back to Look Forward," host Margaret P. Karns and Noeleen Heyzer, former executive director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, discuss the role of women in the UN over the years. Heyzer speaks about the Beijing Women's Conference; Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security; and the prospects for increasing gender equality in the UN system in the decades to come.