Departures with Robert Amsterdam

The debate over whether or not the United States is losing its global influence and moving away from its role of leadership in the international system has moved more to a discussion of just how far and how fast it is falling, and what that means for how the rest of the world structures its relationships and disputes.

This process, which was well underway before the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, has recently been accelerated in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, according to a number of observers.

In this episode of Departures, Robert Amsterdam invites authors Alexander Cooley and Daniel Nexon to respond to these events and share the insights featured in their new book, "Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order."

Over the past 25 years, the power and influence of the United States has been challenged in new ways from a variety of state and non-state actors, yet our responses to these challenges often seems mired in the past. In this latest episode of Departures, Robert Amsterdam has a wide-ranging discussion regarding emerging geopolitical trends with David Kilcullen, author of the book "The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West."

There nothing better than spending your summer vacation reading some good books - which at least for us, means reading our way through several new titles examining the future trajectory of Vladimir Putin's Russia.

This week, Anders Åslund, a senior fellow in the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council, joins Bob on this episode of Departures to discuss his latest book, "Russia's Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy."

Is understanding the past the best way to view the present? Robert Amsterdam and guest Dr. Ed Watts, author of 'Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell Into Tyranny," discuss how a closer look at the Roman experiment with representative democracy may help us to better understand our own circumstances in the United States, and the obstacles and opportunities that we may see on the way forward.

The City of London takes great pride in its cosmopolitan, international approach to diversity - but the reality on the ground and in the public schools for young black children is sadly rather dire. This week Robert Amsterdam explores the issue with Cheryl Phoenix, who leads the Black Child Agenda, a unique and important organization focused on breaking the schools to prison pipeline in the United Kingdom.

The ambitious expansion of global influence by China, right at a moment in which the US and West are retreating from the world, is rewriting the playbook on global trade. "This is really a change not just in the software of international trade – it's also in the operating system," says our guest Chris Flynn, a lawyer at Australian Gilbert + Tobin. Robert Amsterdam and Flynn discuss how businesses are managing this transition, and what new opportunities are coming in the reordering of Asia.

Helen Epstein is the author of "Another Fine Mess: America, Uganda, and the War on Terror." Epstein has been working in Uganda for the last twenty years. During that time, the region has received some $20 billion of foreign aid, yet the quality of education, health care, and basic standards of living remain low. Epstein's analysis of the situation centers on Uganda's longtime dictator, Yoweri Museveni. She argues that his support for the West's War on Terror has allowed him to channel funds meant for public services into shoring up his regime.

Financial analyst Emanuele Minotti joins Robert Amsterdam's Departures podcast this week to discuss the recent anti-establishment upheavals in Italy and what it means for Italian and European equity markets.

Robert Amsterdam is joined this week by Professor of History Benjamin Carter Hett, whose new book "The Death of Democracy" examines how Weimar Germany marched toward authoritarianism and the events that led to the rise of Hitler. Bob and Prof. Hett discuss a number of broad similarities between this period and the toxic politics of our current scenario.