This year, the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and other Black people drove mass Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice demanding communities defund the police. Princeton University’s Laurence Ralph and the Council on Criminal Justice’s Thomas Abt join Deep Dish to explain why police brutality is not a uniquely American phenomenon and argue the strongest examples of successful police reform come from outside the United States.

COVID-19 has exacerbated our society’s extreme inequality in access to healthcare, economic opportunity, education, and the rights that protect some but not others based on race. Economist Thomas Piketty joins Deep Dish to examine the ideas that drive persistent global inequality and the solutions he believes will produce a more equitable future.

Inspired by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, Thailand’s youth organized mass protests to demand reforms from the culturally revered monarchy. Political scientist Pavin Chachavalpongpun joins Deep Dish to explain how social media makes these protests different than past movements and why the United States should see Thailand as a foreign policy priority when negotiating a rising China.

Decades of political corruption and financial crisis in Lebanon came to a head in early August when an explosion decimated much of the country’s economic hub, Beirut. Carnegie Middle East Center Director Maha Yahya and the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Emile Hokayem join Deep Dish to examine the ongoing protest movement, Hezbollah’s role in the crisis, and how a system built on sectarian politics could be rebuilt.

This week, US intelligence released a report examining the threat of foreign influence in the 2020 presidential election from China, Russia, and Iran. The Alliance for Security Democracy’s Laura Rosenberger and Stanford University’s Jacob Helberg join Deep Dish to discuss digital interference, misinformation, and data privacy within the lens of geopolitics.

August 6 marks the 75th anniversary of the first time nuclear weapons were used in combat, when the United States bombed Hiroshima and later, Nagasaki. Former Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and Stanford University’s Scott Sagan join Deep Dish to examine nuclear weapons today and what Americans can do as arms control regimes falter, modernization programs move forward, and new technologies upend the logic we’ve relied on to deter the weapons’ use. 

This week, the Pentagon announced a plan to remove 12,000 troops from Germany, a key US ally, claiming the country was “delinquent” on defense spending. The Council on Foreign Relations’ Mira Rapp-Hooper joins Deep Dish to explain why the alliance system is still essential for America’s global leadership – but must be remade to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

The United States and China are locked in a tense global technology rivalry with significant geopolitical and national security implications. The Council on Foreign Relations’ Adam Segal joins Deep Dish to explain the battles between China and the US over products like Huawei and TikTok, their role in US foreign policy, and why US allies are choosing sides. 

Mali’s mass political protests against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita escalated over the last few weeks, prompting the government to clash with protestors and dissolve the constitutional court. This week on Deep Dish, the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Judd Devermont and the Financial Times’ Neil Munshi explain why Mali’s instability is a threat to Africa’s Sahel region — soon to be the West’s largest conflict zone.

Israel’s long-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided not to annex the West Bank on July 1, at least for now. Former Netanyahu foreign policy advisor Jonathan Schachter and Brookings’ Tamara Cofman Wittes join Deep Dish to examine the bigger story — how Israel’s foreign policy has changed and the way the country’s relationships will shape the future.