International Horizons

Are Israel’s policies over the West Bank and Gaza Strip war crimes? What are the implications of such an accusation? Do these policies come from Israel’s security concerns, or are they pretextual explanations for their repressive treatment over the Palestinian population? Eric Goldstein, acting Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, talks to RBI Director John Torpey about the latest HRW report that accuses Israel of crimes against humanity. He discusses what that means and how the determination was made, HRW’s efforts to stay impartial in their inherently political work, and what governments response to the report indicate for the future of Israel. You can read the transcript at https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/05/10/the-human-rights-watch-report-charging-israel-with-the-crime-of-apartheid-with-eric-goldstein/

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What impact has the standardization of international trade had on society? Has the newfound speed and efficiency outpaced other market factors, such as worker conditions and risk prevention? How have dock cities, built on traditional supply chains, been affected by these changes? What can we expect to happen to the hundreds of thousands of shipping containers once they too become obsolete? RBI Director John Torpey talks to Marc Levinson, economist, historian, and journalist, and Liang Wu, doctoral candidate in anthropology at the Graduate Center, CUNY, about how shipping containers have become the new paradigm in international shipping, and what affect that has had on supply chains, markets, and those working in the shipping industry. You can read a transcript of this episode here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/05/03/the-containerization-of-shipping-and-its-global-consequences-with-marc-levinson/

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How did India go from declaring victory over covid in January to being the world’s hotspot 3 months later? As one of the largest pharmaceutical and vaccine producers in the world, did India focus too much on vaccine diplomacy and too little on internal vaccination efforts? How has India’s regional competition with China affected how this plays out? Manu Bhagavan, Professor of history, human rights, and public policy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, talks to RBI Director John Torpey about how India reached its current crisis point and what other problems face today’s India on the international stage. You can find the transcript here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/04/26/indias-struggle-against-covid-with-manu-bhagavan/

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Is Asia in the ascendancy, and the West in decline? How does the rise of Asia affect power dynamics and competition with Western markets? Will China’s creation of its own regional banking and investment vehicles weaken Western-dominated global financial institutions? Does the rise of cryptocurrency threaten to further destabilize and restructure markets? Kimberly Kay Hoang, Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Global Studies at the University of Chicago, discusses economic soft power and its role in the broader pattern of Asian ascendancy. You can read the transcript of this episode here:https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/04/19/asian-ascendency-western-decline-with-kimberly-kay-hoang/

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What does China’s past tell us about its present and future? How do remnants of its pre-Communist history affect the way the current leadership approaches the country’s contemporary challenges? How will the United States and China deal with each other on such issues as trade and climate change? How much “soft power” does China have as it takes its place on the world stage? Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, formerly with the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other outlets, and recently expelled from China, discusses historical trends in China’s development and how they affect the policy choices of the Chinese Communist Party today. You can find a transcript here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/04/12/china-before-today-tomorrow-with-ian-johnson/

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How have governments responded to the economic crisis created by the Covid-19 pandemic, and what will be the consequences? On Tuesday, April 6, a panel discussion with Wolfgang Schmidt, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany, Angella MacEwen, Senior Economist, Canadian Union of Public Employees, and Branko Milanovic, Professor and Senior Scholar, the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, the Graduate Center, CUNY, addressed the inequalities revealed and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the public policy tools available to ameliorate those inequalities, and the likely paths economies can take in the recovery from the pandemic. This public online event was moderated by John Torpey, Director, European Union Studies Center and Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, and organized with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Washington office. It was co-sponsored by the American Council on Germany, Colorado European Union Center of Excellence, University of Florida Center for European Studies, and Stone Center on Inequality at the Graduate Center, CUNY. You can find a transcript of the episode here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/04/08/economic-inequality-after-the-pandemic/ You can also watch the recording of the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdFdOBi7moc

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What are alternative approaches to existing international peacebuilding paradigms? Does de-escalation need to be guided by international elites that work with local leaders, or are there more important societal actors that are better positioned to push for peace? Are differing peacebuilding strategies mutually exclusive, or can they work in tandem to achieve better results? Séverine Autesserre, a professor of political science at Barnard College of Columbia University, talks about her new book, The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider’s Guide to Changing the World, which aims to reform peacebuilding. She discusses the importance of taking seriously the wisdom of local people in troubled areas as a means of decreasing tension and violence, and contrasts this approach with the efforts controlled by international actors with little insight into local conditions. You can read the transcript here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/04/05/peace-from-the-bottom-up-with-severine-autesserre/

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How plausible is the movement for Universal Basic Income (UBI) in today’s political climate? Is it a form of communism, as its critics paint it, or is it not just a practical response to the coming disappearance of many jobs due to automation? How can we test the idea of UBI in order to convince the skeptics? And what about claims that this is a huge expense that will just give money to undeserving people? Karl Widerquist, Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University - Qatar, talks about the current state of the worldwide Universal Basic Income movement. He discusses developments around the world that provide insight into how feasible UBI would be if it were applied in an entire society. Lastly, he discusses common criticisms of UBI, such as the challenge of popular acceptance of such an idea, its practical plausibility, and the fiscal implications of providing a guaranteed minimum income to all citizens. You can read a copy of the transcript here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/03/29/where-is-the-ubi-movement-at-right-now-with-karl-widerquist/

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Where does Canada fit into the global order today? Canada played an important role in building the US-led world order in the post-World War II period. Its proximity to the US has resulted in a complex relationship that is economic, political, and cultural. The four years of the Trump administration were a difficult period in the relationship, but better days seem ahead. What will the future bring? Bob Rae, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, speaks with John Torpey about how Canada’s foreign policy has developed in the recent past, Canada’s role in international affairs, and its relationship with the US. Rae served as.Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. He has also recently served as Canada's Special Envoy to Myanmar and Canada's Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues.

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The conflict in Tigray, the northernmost region in Ethiopia and just south of Eritrea, grows increasingly worrisome, yet very little concrete information about the events has been available. This is largely a product of Ethiopia’s media blackout in the region, which has left the outside world with little insight into the growing humanitarian crisis. H. E. Brita Wagener, former German Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union (2017-2020), discusses the crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, its complicated political and ethnic history, and efforts by the international community to learn more and to resolve the conflict. You can read the transcript here: https://ralphbuncheinstitute.org/2021/03/15/ethiopia-eritrea-and-the-conflict-in-tigray-with-h-e-brita-wagener/

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