Diplomatic Immunity

In 2003, President George W. Bush proposed spending $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa — a program that would go on to save more than 26 million lives. Journalist John Donnelly, author of "Lifeline: The Story of PEPFAR, the Greatest Humanitarian Initiative of Our Time," joins the show to tell the untold story of how doctors, activists, diplomats, policymakers, and Africans themselves turned an unprecedented promise into reality.

From the horror of the AIDS epidemic in 2001 to the bureaucratic battles inside Washington, from secret meetings with the South African military to the political pragmatism that held a fragile coalition together — this is the story of how the United States built one of the most ambitious humanitarian programs in history, and what comes next as PEPFAR transitions to a new era.

📖 John Donnelly's book: "Lifeline: The Story of PEPFAR, the Greatest Humanitarian Initiative of Our Time" https://www.amazon.com/Lifeline-PEPFAR-Greatest-Humanitarian-Initiative/dp/B0GYG37C3L

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.

Produced by Mislav Majcan.

Follow and Support our work:

https://isd.georgetown.edu/

https://www.instagram.com/gudiplomacy/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-for-the-study-of-diplomacy/

It's been a while! In the first "Headlines in History" since spring, Kelly and Tristan dig into the global stories that refuse to go away.

In this episode: Iran — Months into the conflict, there's still no agreement. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz more than ever, the Houthis are disrupting Red Sea shipping, and the Trump administration's goals remain unclear. Is this ending after the midterms? Don't bet on it.

US-Canada Trade War — The USMCA renegotiation fell apart, tariffs are flying back and forth, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney isn't backing down. From consumer nationalism in grocery stores to American alcohol pulled from liquor store shelves, Canadians are galvanized — and looking to diversify away from an unreliable neighbor.

Canada + the EU — The EU's unprecedented proposal for Canada to become an "associate member" would have been laughed out of the room a few years ago. What does it mean, and how realistic is it?

US-China Summit — A three-day state visit that produced... a new White House helipad. We break down why the pageantry was the point, and the substance was nowhere to be found.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.

Follow and Support our work:

https://isd.georgetown.edu/

https://www.instagram.com/gudiplomacy/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-for-the-study-of-diplomacy/

A former US diplomat breaks down why soft power matters more than ever — and why the United States is ceding ground to China and other adversaries. From polling data showing China is viewed more favorably than the US, to exchange programs that produced 500+ heads of state, to the media networks that deliver facts where authoritarian governments close the door, this conversation covers the tools of American influence that are quietly being dismantled.

Elizabeth is the Bradford M. Freeman Managing Director of Global Policy at the George W. Bush Institute. She recently published a set of recommendations on protecting U.S. values-based power, covering exchange diplomacy, international student access, and U.S. broadcasting, and an analysis of how CRINK cooperation is outpacing U.S. policy.

You can access the report here: https://www.bushcenter.org/publicatio...

Produced by Mislav Majcan. Recorded on 15 September, 2026. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.

Follow and Support our work: https://isd.georgetown.edu/ and @gudiplomacy

🔔 Subscribe for more in-depth conversations on diplomacy, foreign policy, and international relations. #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #History

This week, Kelly is joined by historian and journalist Stephen Kinzer to discuss his book The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. They dig into the Spanish-American War, the fierce imperialist vs. anti-imperialist debate it sparked, and how those same arguments still echo through American foreign policy today.

Find The True Flag here: https://www.amazon.com/True-Flag-Theodore-Roosevelt-American/dp/1627792163

Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction

0:13 – Introducing Stephen Kinzer and The True Flag

2:21 – What Was the Spanish-American War?

6:22 – The Imperialist Case: Roosevelt and Lodge

11:05 – The Philippines and the Rise of Insurgency

17:36 – The Anti-Imperialist Senate Debate

24:01 – Mark Twain's Anti-Imperialist Crusade

27:08 – William Jennings Bryan's Complicated Role

31:18 – The Legacy of 1898 Today

34:02 – Closing Thoughts

Diplomatic Immunity is produced by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. The views expressed herein do not represent the views of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy or Georgetown University.

Kelly McFarland and Tristen Naylor are back with a home team episode covering two major breaking stories: a seismic shakeup in British politics and the fast-moving (and deeply uncertain) US-Iran nuclear negotiations.

• 0:00:06 – Intro & Check-ins
• 0:03:27 – World Cup Chat
• 0:04:48 – Keir Starmer Resigns
• 0:10:58 – Andy Burnham & What's Next for Labour
• 0:18:03 – US-Iran Ceasefire & Nuclear Negotiations
• 0:29:58 – Israel as a Wild Card

Diplomatic Immunity is a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Views expressed herein only reflect those of the participants. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

What if the Civil War's most consequential diplomacy didn't happen in London or Washington — but in the back offices of Bahamian merchants, the shipyards of Liverpool, and the harbors of Nassau? In this episode, Kelly McFarland sits down with historian and Army veteran Beau Cleland to discuss his award-winning book "Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy" — winner of the 2026 Wiley Silver Prize for the best first book in the history of the Civil War.

Beau reveals how a decentralized network of blockade runners, private merchants, and colonial opportunists gave the Confederacy a fighting chance — and why their ultimate failure holds surprising lessons for gray zone conflict today.

📖 Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Between-King-Cotton-Queen-Victoria/dp/082037525X

Chapters:

0:05 — Introduction & Guest Bio

1:47 — The Standard Story: King Cotton & the Trent Affair

7:22 — British Neutrality & the Legal Gray Zone

10:58 — Nassau, the Bahamas & the Blockade-Running Network

14:43 — Confederate Sympathies in the British Colonies

16:16 — Confederate Warships Built in British Shipyards

20:26 — How Close Did It Come? The Peak & Collapse of the Network

24:34 — Lessons for Today: Gray Zone Conflict & Modern Parallels

Diplomatic Immunity is produced by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The World Cup is finally here — and it's coming to North America. This week, Kelly and Tristen take a lighter-than-usual look at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, kicking off June 11th across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Where there's a major global event, there's geopolitics. From Iran's visa saga to sky-high ticket prices, heat waves in Kansas City, and FIFA's delicate dance with the White House, this tournament is anything but simple. Plus: a quick Iran update, World Cup predictions, and a story involving vuvuzelas and Trafalgar Square.

Chapters:

0:05 – Intro & Housekeeping

3:45 – Iran Update

5:57 – World Cup Overview & Geopolitics

9:49 – Iran at the World Cup

16:39 – Ticket Prices

21:27 – Heat & Logistics

23:50 – Predictions & Wrap-Up

Diplomatic Immunity is produced by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Views expressed reflect only those of the participants.

King Charles visited the White House — and it went exactly as planned. But did it actually matter?

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, we break down King Charles's state visit to the United States, what it reveals about how the British government has learned to work with Trump, and why the royal charm offensive doesn't necessarily translate into real policy wins for the UK.

We also cover:

• Trump's upcoming visit to China and what's at stake
• The latest from the US-Iran conflict
• The growing political crisis facing Keir Starmer back home

The special relationship is alive — but is it useful?

Produced by Freddie Mallinson and Mislav Majcan. Recorded on 13 May, 2026. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Follow and Support our work:

https://isd.georgetown.edu/

/ gudiplomacy

/ institute-for-the-study-of-diplomacy

/ gudiplomacy 🔔 Subscribe for more in-depth conversations on diplomacy, foreign policy, and international relations. #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #History

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, our host Kelly McFarland sits down with Dr. Amy Greenberg, professor at Penn State and author of A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico, to explore one of the most consequential — and least remembered — wars in American history.

We trace the origins of the Mexican-American War from the Texas Revolution and the annexation debate, through James K. Polk's deliberate provocation of conflict, to the rogue diplomacy of Nicholas Trist, whose defiance of presidential orders ultimately shaped the modern American Southwest.

Topics covered:

• How US settlers in northern Mexico set the stage for Texas independence
• Why Texas remained unannexed for nearly a decade
• James K. Polk: the first "dark horse" president and the architect of Manifest Destiny
• The deliberate start of war — and Polk's lies to Congress
• Abraham Lincoln's spot resolutions and the rising anti-war movement
• The forgotten figure John Hardin and his connection to Lincoln's rise
• The US occupation of Mexico City and the "All of Mexico" movement
• Nicholas Trist's defiant negotiation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
• Why there is no monument in Washington, DC to this war — and why America forgot it

📚 A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U. S. Invasion of Mexico: https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-War-Lin...

Produced by Freddie Mallinson and Mislav Majcan. Recorded on 7 May, 2026.

Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Follow and Support our work:

https://isd.georgetown.edu/

https://www.instagram.com/gudiplomacy/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-for-the-study-of-diplomacy/

https://twitter.com/GUDiplomacy

🔔 Subscribe for more in-depth conversations on diplomacy, foreign policy, and international relations. #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #History

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, host Kelly McFarland sits down with presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, to explore one of the most consequential partnerships in American foreign policy history: James Monroe and his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams. They dig into the origins of the Monroe Doctrine, why Adams famously turned down a British alliance offer, and what it actually meant to declare the Western Hemisphere off-limits to European imperial expansion in 1823. From the Adams-Onís Treaty to the Greek War of Independence, this conversation reveals just how much of early American foreign policy was shaped by Adams' extraordinary global experience — and why his vision remains remarkably relevant today. Topics covered:

• The Monroe-Adams partnership and the post-War of 1812 landscape
• The Adams-Onís Treaty and the acquisition of Florida
• The origins and three components of the Monroe Doctrine
• Why did Adams reject the British alliance offer Adams' famous July 4th address: "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy"
• John Quincy Adams' presidency and his forward-thinking approach to Latin American alliances
• Why the Monroe Doctrine keeps coming back — and why context matters

Produced by Freddie Mallinson and Mislav Majcan. Recorded on 20 April, 2026. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For more, visit our website, and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram @gudiplomacy 🔔 Subscribe for more in-depth conversations on diplomacy, foreign policy, and international relations. #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #History