It has been a very intense few weeks of diplomacy at the United Nations. Even before Russia mounted its full scale invasion of Ukraine there were several meetings at the Security Council intended to deter and dissuade Russia from doing so. And it was in the middle of one such Security Council meeting on February 23rd that Vladimir Putin declared war and began the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Two days later, Russia predictably vetoed a Security Council resolution denouncing the invasion and from there, the action went to the entire UN General Assembly and its 193 member states. 

Anjali Dayal is an assistant professor of International Politics at Fordham University and a longtime UN watcher. We kick off discussing the significance of this General Assembly vote before having a broader discussion about how Russia-focused diplomacy is playing out at the United Nations.

 

It has been one week since Russia mounted a massive invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have thus far mounted a valorous defense of their country and have thwarted Vladimir Putin's plans for a swift victory. 

Still, the situation on the ground changes by the day and Russia remains the dominant military power. This begs the question: What happens if Russia wins this war? 

Liana Fix is a resident fellow at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC. Along with co-author Michael Kimmage recently wrote an essay in Foreign Affairs magazine describing the ways a Kremlin-controlled Ukraine would transform Europe.

We kick off discussing what a Russian "victory" might look like in Ukraine before having a broader conversation about the many ways that such an outcome would upend Europe as we know it. 

 

 

It was 7pm Ukraine time on the evening of Friday February 25 when I caught up with my guest today, journalist Catia Bruno. 

She had recently arrived in Lviv, a city in Western Ukraine not far from the Polish border. She was there to report to bear witness to the growing refugee and displacement crisis caused by the Russian attack on Ukraine, which began three days prior.

This conversation provides a valuable perspective on the choices facing Ukrainians as many seek to leave the country while others are forced to remain.

I caught up with Ambassador Karen Pierce in the middle of a very intense day of diplomacy on February 22. 

She is the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the United States and earlier that morning Boris Johnson announced new British sanctions on certain Russian oligarchs and financial institutions. This was followed by similar sanctions announcements by the European Union and the United States later in the day. 

These new sanctions come after Vladimir Putin's government formally recognized the independence of two regions of Eastern Ukraine,  and Luhansk.  This specific set of sanctions from the UK, EU and USA seem to be a very calibrated and coordinated response to this provocation, which we discuss at the outset of this interview. 

 

 

overran Kabul a few weeks prior.

Despite the apparent danger and uncertainty, Zuhra Bahman told me that she was eager to get back home and return to work as the Afghanistan country director for the peace building NGO Search for Common. Ground.

Today, she is back in Kabul, which is where I caught up with her for the conversation you are about to hear

And she kicks off explaining why and how she returned home.

We then have a long conversation about how she navigates her life and work as a professional woman in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and how her work on peace building issues continues under the new political order in Afghanistan.

Over the last few days, there has been a flurry of diplomatic activity between Russia, Ukraine, the United States, Germany and France -- among others.

Meanwhile, the messaging coming from the White House indicates that they believe a Russian attack on Ukraine is imminent. 

I am joined by Melinda Haring of the Atlantic Council who offers some context and analysis of the recent diplomatic maneuvering. We spoke via Twitter Spaces just after President Biden concluded remarks from the White House.

After I ended my interview with Melinda Haring, I noticed that the former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder was in the audience listening in, and he graciously agreed to take a few questions from me, impromptu. 

 

There have been a spate of coups in Africa over the last 18 months. Most of these coups have taken place in West Africa, but not all. This includes Burkina Faso, Guinea, Chad, Sudan and two coups in Mali. This is not to mention some attempted coups, most recently in Guinea Bissau.   On the line with me to discuss why there have there been so many coups recently, and whether or not this is a trend is Solomon Dersso. He is the founder of Amani Africa, an Adis Ababa based think tank with a focus on the African Union and African Union Affairs.

For about two weeks now, truck driving protesters have snarled traffic and otherwise disrupted daily life in downtown Ottawa, ostensibly to protest covid related restrictions and vaccine mandates.   These protests have spread elsewhere in Canada and for a time, forced the closure of the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada.  Meanwhile, right wing media in the US are now cheering on these protests.    Canadian journalist Justin Ling explains what exactly is happening in Canada, and the broader political implications of this protest movement in Canada and the United States.

The 2022 Winter Olympics have kicked off in  Beijing. Meanwhile, in the northwestern Xinjiang region of China, the government is implementing policies that many human rights organizations and foreign governments have determined amount to crimes against humanity and even genocide against the Uyghur people.   The juxtaposition of this internationally celebrated Olympics in the midst of an ongoing human rights calamity is what drives our conversation today, with four different speakers.    Rushan Abbas is the founder and executive director of the campaign for Uyghurs   Teng Biao is a Chinese human rights lawyer and the Pozen Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago.   Yaqiu Wang is the senior china researcher for human rights watch   Sean Roberts is a professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and author of the book The War on the Uyghurs.   We recorded our conversation live on Twitter Spaces just before the opening ceremony.

On January 31, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting about Russia's military buildup on the border of Ukraine.  Here to help understand what happened at this meeting and any potentially significant outcomes is Ashish Pradhan, who covers Security Council affairs for the International Crisis Group.

We kick off discussing this procedural vote before having a broader conversation about the international and geopolitical dynamics informing diplomacy around this crisis.