Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

Despite their long history in this country,  Muslims in Australia are often the flashpoint for immigration fears and concern about extremism.

The United States has just imposed new tariffs on Australia and other countries for supposedly not doing enough to combat forced labour in international supply chains. Analysts say the move is political, but regardless it does once again highlight the ongoing issue of slavery. Slavery has been a constant of human history from ancient to modern times. The human rights group Walk Free estimates that almost 50 million people world-wide live in a modern form of enslavement. So how has our understanding of slavery changed over time? And why is it often still portrayed as a thing of the past? 

Guests:

Dr Catherine Armstrong – Reader in Modern History, Loughborough University

Susan Hutchinson – PHD Candidate, Australian National University. Architect of the Prosecute Don’t Perpetrate campaign

Dr Paige Gleeson – Adjunct Fellow, History & Classics, School of Humanities, University of Tasmania

Dr Justine Nolan – Professor of Law and Justice, UNSW Sydney. Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute

What happens when the bombs and the fighting stop? Who pays for all the damage?

It’s estimated that rebuilding Gaza alone, will cost more than US$70 billion. 

What strategy is needed to turn battlefields and ruins into peace and prosperity?

The government of Emmanuel Macron is struggling to deal with ongoing tension and resentment in France’s external territory, New Caledonia. The latest diplomatic and legislative efforts to determine the archipelago’s future have failed, and recent local elections have only cemented the stalemate between pro-independence supporters and those New Caledonians who want to remain a part of France. We explore what that means for the people of New Caledonia; France’s historic presence in the Pacific; President Macron’s grand Indo-pacific strategy; and for the 2027 French presidential elections.

Guests:

Dr Denise Fisher – Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies, Australian National University and former Australian Consul General in Noumea

Cade Winter – Researcher, Yale Review of International Studies, Yale University

Dr Frederic Grare – Senior Research Fellow, National Security College, Australian National University 

Nic Maclellan -Correspondent, Islands Pacific Magazine and Pacific Affairs Correspondent, Inside Story 

One third of the world's fertiliser is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. How did fertiliser supply become so concentrated in the Middle East and what happens when this supply is suddenly at risk?

Americans are preparing for an orgy of red, white and blue as the 250th anniversary of their Declaration of Independence draws near. But what’s not likely to be widely mentioned is the fact that the conflict wasn’t just a revolution against British rule, it was actually America’s first civil war – a bloody and divisive internal conflict. And those rebels who rejected the Crown and called themselves "patriots" were by no means in the majority when war broke out. Historians say understanding more about the conflict could help Americans come to terms with the issues they face today.

Guests:

Dr Maya Jasanoff – Professor of History, Harvard University

Dr Richard Bell – Professor of History, University of Maryland, College Park 

Dr Rebecca Brannon – Professor of History, James Maddison University 

As the war in the Middle East teeters on a peace deal, the carefully managed relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is starting to show cracks.

Despite constant criticism from the Americans, European NATO members are actively rebuilding and strengthening their militaries. Some are even beginning to think beyond the Alliance and the United States, to an independent united European fighting force. NATO members will meet in early July for their 36th summit.

Guests:

Dr Hugo Bromley – Historian of manufacturing, geopolitics, and international trade, Centre for geopolitics, University of Cambridge 

Dr Simon J. Smith – Associate Professor of Security and International Relations at the Royal Danish Defence College

Stuart Dowell – political journalist and commentator based in Warsaw 

Max Bergmann – director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program, Center for strategic and international Studies

Stavros Atlamazoglou – Defence journalist and Greek Army veteran

President Trump has made it clear he doesn’t think diplomacy on its own will stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.So what does history tell us about what actually works? We’re looking back at one of the greatest nuclear risk reduction efforts ever — when the US and Russia joined forces to contain the weapons fallout from the Soviet collapse and convince countries like Ukraine to give up the nuclear arsenal they inherited.

An effort that was led by diplomacy, pragmatism and scientific expertise during a brief period of goodwill between the two countries.

GUESTSGraham Allison - Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the Harvard Kennedy SchoolMariana Budjeryin - Senior Researcher at the Centre for Nuclear Security at MIT and author of Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of UkraineDavid E Hoffman - author of The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms

GUESTSGraham Allison - Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at the Harvard Kennedy SchoolMariana Budjeryin - Senior Researcher at the Centre for Nuclear Security at MIT and author of Inheriting the Bomb: The Collapse of the USSR and the Nuclear Disarmament of UkraineDavid E Hoffman - author of The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms

Gerrymandering is endemic in the United States and could determine the outcome of this year's mid-term elections. It has been a feature of the American political system since the beginning of the republic, according to Princeton University's Samuel Wang. So, how did the self-styled “world’s greatest democracy” end up with a system that former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, says is being rigged by both major parties?

Guests:

Dr John Hart – School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University

Dr Samuel Wang – Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, Princeton University 

Dr Ben Reid – data analyst and researcher, Australian and European history, Parliament of Victoria 

Dr Melissa Rogers – Professor, Politics & Policy and Co-Director, Inequality and Policy Research Center, Claremont Graduate University