Foreign Policy Talks

Foreign Policy Talks

By Noto SuonetoNewsPolitics
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Foreign Policy Talks episodes

  • EP #11 COVID-19 and Its Implications on Human Rights in Southeast Asia

    In the name of protecting public health during this COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN governments are reportedly have imposed more restrictive measures in containing the effect of this unprecedented health crisis. Many human rights activists stated that governments have gone so far as to utilize the crisis to limit civil and democratic rights. What are the implications of COVID-19 pandemic on human rights in the Southeast Asian region, can we maintain the protection of “public health” and “human rights” to be upheld by the governments? Or given into consideration by looking at some other countries who are relatively successful in fighting the virus, shall we compromise a bit with more restrictive or more authoritarian measures then?

    I explore those questions with Yuyun Wahyuningrum, Representative of Indonesia to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR).

    53 min
  • EP #10 Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy, A New China?

    During this COVID-19 pandemic, we can see a different trend of Chinese diplomacy- from conservative, passive, and low-key to assertive, proactive, and high-profile diplomacy. Many called it as “Wolf-Warrior Diplomacy”. Why China is resorting to that type of diplomacy? What would be the implication for China’s foreign policy in the future? and is it an effective way to counter what called by the Chinese officials as an “unfair attacks” towards China?

    I explored those questions with Professor Zhiqun Zhu, a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bucknell University, USA.

    25 min
  • EP #9 How Severe is the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Food Security in Conflicted Areas?
    According to the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) report and analysis of the economic and food security implications of the pandemic publicly released in April 2020, almost 212 million people are chronically food-insecure. The large majority of those people are in Africa and another region of concern is the Middle East, with countries such as Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria who all are facing severe economic problems. How severe is the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the food security, especially for the poor and conflicted countries? What is the role of the UNWFP in preventing the food security crisis amid this pandemic so far?
    I talked to Abeer Etefa, the Senior Spokeswoman of UNWFP to explore those questions.
    26 min
  • EP #8 Expectation vs Reality: What Diplomats Really Do? #YouthPerspective
    In this episode, I talked to Niwa Dwitama, an outstanding diplomat at the Department of ASEAN Cooperation of Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss what exactly diplomats do, the streotypes around the diplomat's work, and the set of skills and knowledge that diplomats should have in the modern era of international relations. We also discuss the most challenging experience and the most unforgettable moment he has ever had at his time as a foreign service.
    41 min
  • EP #7 How will the Coronavirus Pandemic Affect the Indonesia's Infrastructure Development?
    The Indonesian government has reallocated some parts of the national budget to fund the economic secure package and to fund the containment policies of the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, it is affecting the ambitious infrastructure development in Indonesia. Moreover, the continuity of infrastructure projects in Indonesia has become a political commodity to attack President Jokowi and his government. The most debatable project is, of course, the new capital city in Kalimantan.
    How huge is the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Indonesia’s infrastructure development? Should the government continue those projects? What if we cancel the new capital city project? And what would happen to the connectivity initiatives like the Chinese BRI, Japanese PQI, and some others? In this episode, I had a fruitful discussion with Kyle Springer, the Senior Analyst at Perth USAsia Centre to explore those questions.
    25 min
  • EP #6 What Taiwan Could Teach the World in Fighting the Coronavirus Pandemic?
    Taiwan is deemed as one of the few countries in the world which have successfully stemmed the spread of the coronavirus without resorting to draconian measures. President Tsai Ing-Wen stated that the success story of Taiwan in battling the COVID-19 is because of the good combination efforts by medical professionals, government, private sectors and society at large. How does it practically happen on the field?
    Moreover, shall we blame China for this COVID-19 pandemic and if yes, how to hold China accountable for this? Also, how is the impact of relationship between Taiwan and the World Health Organization (WHO) on the efforts to fight against the virus?
    I talked to Ambassador John Chen, the Representative of Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO) in Indonesia to explore those questions.
    25 min
  • EP #4 An Update from India: How the COVID-19 Pandemic affects Modi and the country?
    India is one of the first countries to impose the lockdown policies to curb the spread of COVID-19, as obviously there are some socio-economic impacts after the lockdown applied to entire India. Many news reported the possibility of a humanitarian crisis occurred in India particularly among the vulnerable groups (poor people and migrants). I talked with Praket Arya, a Senior Research Fellow and Economist at India Foundation to discuss how the Indian government copes with this situation and how can they manage it so far? Moreover, I asked him also on how is the assessment towards the leadership of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the time of this crisis.
    24 min
  • EP #3 How is the coronavirus crisis affecting Trump's position and the US relationship with China?
    This episode presents my conversation with Ambassador Curtis S. Chin, the US former Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asia Fellow at the Milken Institute. We explored the impact of COVID-19 on the Trump’s possibility to be re-elected this year as the US President, the tension between the US and World Health Organization and also the dynamics and future relationship between the US and China. Moreover, we also discussed the shifting of global economic directions during and after the pandemic and the assessment of Southeast Asian governments in giving their economic policy response to the coronavirus crisis. More importantly, at the end he has a good message to us, young Indonesians!
    27 min

About Foreign Policy Talks

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A podcast to gather and connect the ideas of foreign affairs and international relations, covering the most - pressing global and regional issues in relates to democracy, geopolitics, international…