The Global Cable

Derek Chollet, author most recently of “The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World”, was an Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration. He’s now Executive Vice President at the German-Marshall Fund. In this podcast with Perry World House Director Bill Burke-White, Chollet discusses strategy differences between Obama and Trump, what makes for a great Secretary of State, and the most important challenges facing the world.

• (1:00) – Chollet’s background and entry into foreign policy.
• (3:15) – What is the role of academia in solving global challenges?
• (6:00) – How did Obama change America’s approach towards the world?
• (9:30) – Is there coherence to President Trump’s “America First” strategy?
• (12:35) – What makes a great Secretary of State?
• (16:19) – What are the two most pressing issues facing the United States in the short- and long-term
• (21:00) – Career advice for students

Episode Reading:

• “Russians, guns and Mosul,” Derek Chollet & Tommy Vietor, Pod Save the World (Podcast)
•  “Donald Trump Has Made America a Back-Row Kid,” Derek Chollet, Foreign Policy, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/07/donald-trump-has-made-america-a-back-row-kid/
• “Trump’s First 6 Months Were Terrible, But He Got 3 Things Right,” Derek Chollet, Foreign Policy, http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/21/trump-first-6-months-mattis-defense-diplomacy/
• “Jesse Helms + Hugo Chávez = Donald Trump,” Derek Chollet, Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/20/jesse-helms-hugo-chavez-donald-trump/
• “The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America’s Role in the World,” Derek Chollet, PublicAffairs, https://www.amazon.com/Long-Game-Washington-Redefined-America%C2%92s/dp/161039660X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513109713&sr=8-1&keywords=derek+chollet

Music and Produced by Tre Hester

Adotei Akwei is the Managing Director for Government Relations for Amnesty International USA. In this conversation with Perry World House Deputy Director LaShawn Jefferson, Akwei discusses his work in human rights, advocating for important issues, and engaging the next generation of noisemakers.  

• (1:10) – Akwei’s path towards a career in human rights.
• (3:40) – How diplomacy can advance human rights.
• (7:30) – The role of advocacy, and Amnesty International’s work in the United States.
• (13:00) – How universities can support human rights and international advocacy work.  
• (16:05) – The art of influencing policymakers to affect change.
• (19:30) – The two most important challenges that Africa faces over the near-term.
• (21:44) – The most important global challenge in the long-term.
• (23:00) – Interesting fact about the world.
• (25:42) – Advice for college students interested in engaging the policy world.

Episode Reading:

• “States worldwide failing to prevent killings and disappearances of human rights defenders,” Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/12/states-worldwide-failing-to-prevent-killings-and-disappearances-of-human-rights-defenders/
• Adotei Akwei, “Love Is a Right, Hate Is a Crime,” Huffpost https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/love-is-a-right-hate-is-a-crime_b_4866712.html
• Chris Tognotti, “The Libyan Slave Trade Didn’t Just Happen – It’s Been Enabled For Years,” Bustle https://www.bustle.com/p/the-libyan-slave-trade-didnt-just-happen-its-been-enabled-for-years-6659275

Music and Produced by Tre Hester

Loren DeJonge Schulman and Bob Scher sit down with Perry World House's Michael Horowitz to discuss careers in national security, global threats, and the blue whale.

Ms. Schulman is the Deputy Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security. Before that, she served as Senior Advisor to National Security Advisor Susan Rice. Mr. Scher is the head of International Affairs, BP America. Prior to that, Scher served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities in the Department of Defense. 

• (0:50) – How did you get interested in international affairs?
• (5:00) – Transitioning from government service to the private sector.
• (5:50) – What is the role of academics and academic institutions in the policy world?  
• (8:50) – What skill or trait has made you successful in the policy world?
• (12:50) – What are the two biggest challenges that the world will face over the next year?
• (15:20) – What the two biggest challenges that the world will face over the next 20 years
• (17:10) – Mike forecasts the implications of weaponized AI through the prism of Wall-E getting a gun.
• (20:50) – Interesting global facts segment
• (22:25) – Advice for college students interested in engaging the policy world

Episode Readings:

• Bombshell (Podcast), Loren DeJonge Schulman, Radha Iyengar, & Erin Simpson, War on the Rocks, (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bombshell/id1195698408?mt=2)
• Washington Is Never Quite Sure Where It Is at War, Loren DeJonge Schulman, The Atlantic, (https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/11/niger-aumf-war-terrorism/544652/)
• The Necessity of Questioning the Military, Loren DeJonge Schulman, The Atlantic, (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/10/necessity-of-questioning-military/543576/)
• The Winds of War, Herman Wouk, (https://www.amazon.com/Winds-War-Herman-Wouk/dp/0316952664)

Music and Produced by Tre Hester

Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira is the Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary General for UN-Habitat. Before this, Dr. Kacyira served as the mayor of Kigali and Member of Parliament in Rwanda. In this conversation with Perry World House Deputy Director LaShawn Jefferson, the two discuss Sustainable Development Goals, issues of urbanization, and the role of the United Nations in driving development.

• (1:30) Dr. Kacyira’s describes her role as Deputy Executive Director of UN Habitat
• (3:00) The legacy of Habitat III and the role of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals
• (9:30) What is the New Urban Agenda, and why it matters
• (13:20) How to make urbanization- and city-issues accessible to the public
• (16:45) What success looks like in 2030 following the implementation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals
• (19:00) Career advice for students

Music and Produced by Tre Hester

Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro is an expert on the Chinese military, Asia-Pacific security issues, and coercive diplomacy. When Dr. Mastro is not teaching or researching at Georgetown University, she serves as an officer in the United States Air Force Reserve as a Political Military Affairs Strategist. In this podcast, Dr. Michael C. Horowitz and Dr. Mastro discuss China, threats to the United States, and career advice for university students.

• 2:20 – The role of academics in policymaking and politics
• 4:52 – How nationalism and domestic political factors shape China’s approach to the world
• 8:55 – The most important short-term global threats facing the United States
• 13:55 – The most important long-term global challenges facing the United States
• 15:04 – Mike admits that he “doesn’t know about most things”
• 15:55 – Career advice for college students interested in engaging the policy world

Episode Reading:

• Is the United States Still the Predominant Power in the Pacific? http://www.chinafile.com/conversation/united-states-still-predominant-power-pacific
• China’s Evolving North Korea Strategy https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/PB231-Chinas-evolving-north-korea-strategy.pdf
• The Vulnerability of Rising Powers: The Logic Behind China’s Low Military Transparency https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/d769ce_72e210e13d3b48cfaeacc79e4182a35c.pdf

Produced and Music by Tre Hester

Professor Michael Horowitz from Perry World House sits down with Professor Hal Brands and Dr. Alina Polyakova to figure out where the Global Order is going in an era of populism, nationalism, and retrenchment. In this conversation, they discuss:

• 2:25 – The role of academia in policymaking and politics
• 5:30 – The influence of nationalism and populism on the global order
• 7:40 – The future of German foreign policy following the 2017 German Elections
• 9:00 –  The future of great power relations
• 11:43 – The most important global issues over the next year
• 14:45 – The most important global issue over the next 10 years.
• 18:08 – Career advice to students interested in going into policy

Hal Brands is Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He specializes in American Defense and Foreign Policy and Grand Strategy. Alina Polyakova is the David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Brookings institution’s Center on the United States and Europe. She specializes in European politics, far-right populism and nationalism, and Russian foreign policy.

Produced by Tre Hester

Music by Tre Hester

Drum roll please... Welcome to the first episode of The Global Cable, a brand new podcast from Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania! In it, we will discuss the world's most pressing challenges and the people who work on them. 

In our first episode, Kori Schake, William Wohlforth, and Michael Horowitz discuss the future of the global order in an era of nationalism and populism. You should listen to this podcast if you:

• Find conversations on grand strategy to be interesting.
• Want good career advice.
• Need to sound smart at your next dinner party.

Kori Schake is a distinguished research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. William C. Wohlforth is a Professor of Government at Dartmouth University. Michael C. Horowitz is Perry World House's Associate Director and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Produced by Tre Hester. 

Music by Tre Hester