RoozCast

The US president's priorities may be COVID, economic recovery, climate change, and China, but the Middle East problems are still following him — and the US is deeply involved in the region, whether President Biden likes it or not. In this episode, I discuss Biden's priorities in the Middle East.

Lots of news coming out of Russia these days... But just who is Alexei Navalny, and how important is the threat that he may pose to Vladimir Putin's power in Russia?  In this episode of RoozCast I discuss the story of Alexei Navalny in Today's Russia.

What should Europe do with Washington and Beijing? Double down on strengthening traditional transatlantic relations in hopes of containing China's growing power to set new trade and technology rules, and to bolster support for "Western values" of human rights and individual liberty Engage both newly dysfunctional Washington and ever-more-assertive Beijing? Strengthen Europe's strategic independence from the US and China?  In this episode of RoozCast, I discuss Europe's big political decision.

The United States has vaccinated approximately  3% of its total population, while the UK is nearing a solid 5 percent vaccination rate. In Israel, which has been recognized as a vaccine success story, almost 24% of people have already received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine.  But while many countries are able to glimpse the outlines of a post-COVID world, there is a huge group of people who are being left out entirely. Refugees, as well as displaced, undocumented, and stateless people around the world, remain unavailable for vaccinations.

In this episode, I look at several case studies where powerless populations are being left with no vaccination or support.

In this episode, I discuss Bolivia's election and the challenges faced by newly elected president Luis Arce in governing all Bolivians in a country deeply polarized along political, economic, and racial lines.

In this episode, I discuss Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy in the context of trade, conflicts, and international treaties.   Has the president delivered?  

In this episode, I discuss the central question of international trade and Biden's strategy.  I explain how Joe Biden won't move to lower the Trump tariffs immediately or without some concession from Beijing.  Escalation of the trade war seems unlikely as Biden attempts to put the frequently combative US-China relationship on a more useful path.

In this episode, I discuss how the US and China are moving into an increasingly zero-sum competition over technologies like 5G and artificial intelligence, in which the big tech companies are major players. If this turns into a 21st-century tech cold war in which tech companies on either side of the Pacific are the main combatants, US companies will be facing off against Chinese rivals (like, Alibaba and Huawei that have the solid support of the Chinese government, and face few antitrust limitations of their own.

In this episode I discuss, A new survey from the Pew Research Center offering interesting responses to this newest phase of China's rise. This report is based on interviews conducted in nine European countries plus the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

In this episode, I look at the heated dispute between Greece and Turkey over who controls what water in the Eastern Mediterranea.  I also discuss what have Greeks and Turks been arguing about all summer and why it matters.