The Looking Glass

The Pakistan–Afghanistan border clashes in October 2025 were the latest eruption of a deeper historical fault line at the Durand Line. The roots trace to decades of mistrust, migration, and geopolitics. This episode hopes to explore how the Durand line continues to fuel tensions and how ordinary people (especially near the border) bear the brunt of the security crackdowns and deportations, and how external involvement, both past and present, has shaped the relationship of the two neighbors and reshaped broader geopolitics in South Asia. To help us understand the legacy of this border is Zahid Hussain.

Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author known for his extensive reporting on Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has served as a correspondent for The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal, and has written for Newsweek, the Associated Press, and The Economist. A former senior editor at Newsline, he is now a regular columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s largest english newspaper

He has been the Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., and a visiting fellow at both Wolfson College, Cambridge, and the Stimson Center.

He is the author of three books, including Frontline Pakistan, named The Wall Street Journal’s Book of the Year, and his latest, No Win War.

Hosts: Ayesha Jilani and Jiwon Lim

Produced by Ayesha Jilani

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Peru’s 2026 election season is occurring amid a deepening crisis of political legitimacy. Public confidence in Congress has collapsed to some of the lowest levels in the Western Hemisphere, and Peruvians increasingly doubt whether their institutions can deliver stability, security, and responsive governance. Adding to this political unease, Keiko Fujimori, a polarizing figure and leader of the right‑wing Popular Force party, has launched a renewed presidential bid despite multiple corruption investigations and past electoral defeats. This context raises urgent questions about what has changed, or worsened, in Peru’s political trust since the last election cycle, what factors are driving voter decisions this time around, and how issues such as crime and insecurity are reshaping the electoral landscape. To help unpack these dynamics, we are joined by Martin Cassinelli, an assistant director at the Atlantic Council’s Latin America Center, who brings deep regional insight into Peru’s political evolution and democratic challenges.

Martin Cassinelli is an assistant director at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, where he advances the Center’s work on the region’s economic development and the Andes region. In this role, he advances the center’s work on investment and trade policy in Latin America, as well as leads the center’s work on Peru. During his time at the Atlantic Council, Cassinelli has led the Nearshoring Working Group, co-authored a report on attracting US investment to the Americas, and written several articles on Latin America’s and Peru’s economic challenges. His work has been featured in the Miami Herald, the Diplomat, the China Wire, and La Presse. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Cassinelli worked in cluster development projects in Peru. Cassinelli holds a master’s degree in international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Heidelberg.

This episode was recording on March 26th, 2026

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2026 is a decisive year for Latin American democracy, as democratic institutions across the region are being tested by public distrust and upcoming elections in Colombia, Peru and Brazil. This year, however, it happens under a very different backdrop: The U.S.’s capture of Venezuela's dictator Nicolas Maduro and Washington’s renewed desire to maintain a regional sphere of influence. These developments raise critical questions about the extent of U.S. influence over Latin America’s democratic trajectories, how US political signals affect electoral legitimacy and what this means for the future of democratic governance in the region. To discuss these issues, joining us today is Michael Shifter - former President of the Inter-American Dialogue and Professor at the Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Michael Shifter is a political analyst and expert on Latin American affairs. He previously served as President of the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading think tank focused on democracy, governance, and U.S.–Latin America relations. Since 1993, Shifter has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where he teaches Latin American politics. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Latin American Studies Association and is a contributing editor of Current History. He is currently a board member of InSight Crime and serves on the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch/Americas Division. His work explores the intersection of politics, foreign policy, and democratic governance, with particular attention to how domestic institutions, electoral processes, and external influences shape political outcomes across the hemisphere. Shifter’s comparative research analyzes trends in democratic backsliding, institutional consolidation, and the role of U.S. policy in shaping regional political dynamics. Widely published and frequently consulted by policymakers and media outlets, Shifter offers a nuanced perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing democracy in Latin America. 

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Welcome to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. This episode is part of our collaborative series with the Politics of Disaster class at SAIS. We explore how crises unfold at the intersection of conflict, governance, and environmental risk. My name is Andrea Majert Galera, and I am joined by my co-host Marcel Kolb. Today, we turn to the story of the FSO Safer. FSO Safer is a deteriorating oil tanker off Yemen’s coast that, for years, threatened to unleash one of the world’s largest man-made environmental disasters. The multinational effort to avert this catastrophe became a success story of cooperation amid an active war. It nevertheless raises more profound questions about responsibility, prevention, and the governance of high-risk infrastructure in conflict zones. Joining us today on the podcast is Nicholas Brumfield. 

Nicholas Brumfield graduated with an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and has worked since 2018 as a researcher on Middle East politics and security. He has specifically developed an interest in maritime security. His analysis can be seen in publications including Al-Jazeera, the Daily Beast, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Amwaj Media, and L'Orient L'Jour. We hope you enjoy this episode of the Looking Glass Podcast.

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Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. This is a collaborative mini-series between the Looking Glass and the Politics of Disaster course at SAIS. My name is Nicole Ward and I am joined by my co-host Mira Tarabeine. Today’s episode explores how art, design, and public space shape the way societies rebuild after conflict. To frame our discussion, we focus on Burj El Murr, an unfinished skyscraper in Beirut. Originally envisioned as a symbol of modern architectural ambition, it became a site marked by violence and trauma during the Lebanese Civil War. Decades later, the tower has been reimagined as a venue for design installations that confront themes of war, collective memory, and urban resilience. To help us better understand how war-torn spaces can be transformed into platforms for healing and dialogue, we welcome Mr. Tarek Mahmoud.

Tarek Mahmoud is a design engineer based in Milan. Growing up between France and Lebanon, Tarek became interested in investigating how designers can intervene in contexts of war.  Our conversation with him today will focus on how design interventions can shape war-torn spaces. Last October, Tarek was one of the curators, along side of an exhibition hosted inside Burj El Murr. We hope you enjoy this episode of The Looking Glass Podcast.

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Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review's The Looking Glass Podcast. We’re your hosts, Maya Martin and Luc van der Linden. In this podcast, we’re unpacking the protection of cultural heritage in Diyarbakir, Turkey, and its recovery since the 2015 Kurdish insurrection. Diyarbakir is considered the unofficial capital of the Kurdish community in south-eastern Turkey. The historic heart of the city is the old town of Sur. There, one can find the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the imposing Diyarbakir walls and the lush Hevsel Gardens. However, many of the cities historical sites were unfortunately damaged between July 2015 and March 2016 during the Kurdish insurrection. In the aftermath, Turkish efforts to rebuild the urban areas of Sur threatened Diyarbakir’s heritage, and the Kurdish communities that reside in the ancient city. Here to help us unpack the cultural heritage recovery of Diyarbakir is Dr. Ronay Bakan.

Dr. Ronay Bakan is a Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow at the European University Institute with a research focus on political violence and the urban spatiality of everyday warfare. By the time she earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University, she was already equipped with bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and international relations from Boğaziçi (Bo-ah-zichi) University in Turkey. Dr. Bakan leverages her extensive academic background to use ethnographic methods to investigate Kurdish politics within Southwest Asia and North Africa. In her writing, she examines why and how states use, and sometimes weaponize, urban development and heritage tourism as tools in counterinsurgency strategies. 

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Welcome back everybody to the SAIS Review's The Looking Glass Podcast. We are your hosts Duru Dogan and Isabella Manzione. With natural disasters becoming more frequent, resilience and recovery have moved to the center of global conversations on human security. These events have sparked important discussions about community preparedness, government responsibility, and what it truly means to build back better. Today, we’re joined by Dr. Alexander Fekete to explore how the regions affected by the 2024 Spanish floods have navigated their recovery and strengthened their long-term resilience.

Dr. Alexander Fekete is a Full Professor at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Rescue Engineering and Civil Protection. His expertise is in Risk Management, Crisis Management, Natural Hazards, Climate Change Impacts, Disaster Preparedness, and Societal Resilience. He has over 250 publications pertaining to these fields. Recently, he co-hosted a webinar on the topic of  “Societal resilience and infrastructure – who is forgotten in post-disaster recovery.” We’re very excited to be joined by him today and hope you enjoy today’s episode of the Looking Glass Podcast.

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Welcome back to the SAIS Review’s The Looking Glass Podcast. We’re your hosts Aaryaman Shah and Jiwon Lim. On May 15, al-Qaeda affiliated militants claimed to kill 200 soldiers during an attack on an army base in Djibo, a village in northern Burkina Faso. This attack is emblematic of the extent to which violent extremism has found a foothold in the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid land straddling the Sahara and coastal West Africa. There are several reasons for the emergence and sustenance of this extremist violence, including free access to weapons, political instability and longstanding ethnic rivalries. Here to help us make sense of violence in the Sahel is Dr Alexander Thurston. 

Dr. Alexander Thurston is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati. He is a scholar whose work specializes in the intersection of Islam and politics. Dr. Thurston is the author of a blog, Sawahil, on issues across West Africa, MENA, Islam and Politics. His work has been featured in prominent academic journals, including Journal of the American Academy of Religion, African Affairs, Islamic Law & Society. He has also written reports and articles for the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and more. He is also the author of Salafism in Nigeria: Islam, Preaching, and Politics and Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement. I hope you enjoy this episode of the looking glass podcast. 

Hosts: Aaryaman Shah and Jiwon Lim

Produced by Jiwon Lim

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Last month, Japan set history by electing their first female prime minister: Takaichi Sanae. In this victory, she must be ready to face old and new issues, ranging from domestic political and social instability to international tariffs. To discuss who Takaichi is, her platforms, and how she will navigate the ever changing international field, joining us on the podcast today is Dr. Sheila Smith.

Dr. Sheila Smith is the John E. Merow senior fellow for Asia-Pacific studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an expert on Japanese politics and foreign policy, and the author of multiple books including “Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power” and “Japan's New Politics and the U.S.-Japan Alliance”. Dr. Smith is chair of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and the U.S. advisor to the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange, a bi-national advisory panel of government officials and private-sector members. We hope you enjoy today’s episode of The Looking Glass Podcast.

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Situated at the intersection of the Arab world, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southern Europe, Egypt remains a pivotal actor in the evolving geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa. Under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Egyptian state has embarked on a sweeping agenda of transformation—redefining its political economy, reasserting its regional role, and confronting a host of domestic and international pressures.

This miniseries aims to move beyond conventional narratives to provide a rigorous, multidisciplinary examination of contemporary Egypt. Through a series of in-depth conversations and analyses, The Looking Glass interrogates the logics, trade-offs, and long-term implications of the choices shaping Egypt’s present and future.

In this final episode, we will dive into the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, an Ethiopian megaproject that has upended relations between Egypt and Ethiopia. The Nile River is shared by over 11 countries, and Ethiopia seeks to use its waters to increase its electricity production. While this seeks to improve Ethiopia’s development, Egypt fears it would bring negative consequences down river, including negative impacts to its water supply. We will discuss this issue in debt, as well as Egypt’s water security in general, which has proven to be a key issue in the country.

To discuss, we are honored to host Mr. John Mukum Mbaku, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, who works on the Africa Growth Initiative.

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