In January, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced sweeping reforms to the country's constitution, resulting in the surprise resignation of his entire cabinet. The 200+ amendments make a number of changes, including outlawing gay marriage, increasing the minimum wage, and removing term limits for the Russian presidency. The amendments were put to a referendum, with voting taking place June 25 - July 1.

Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow and the chair of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, joins Laura to discuss what the referendum results suggest about Russian support for Putin and his ideology.

Read more from Andrei:

The Eternal Putin

Putin’s Majority 3.0

Did Putin Just Appoint Himself President for Life?

Planning for a (Not-So) Post-Putin Russia

What Are Russians Protesting About?

The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with a massive reduction in global demand for oil, has left Saudi Arabia in a dire economic state. MBS has been forced to sideline his ambitious Vision 2030 plan while implementing a series of austerity measures that could undermine the regime’s stability. Add in pressing foreign policy challenges, including the humanitarian disaster in Yemen and the complexities of the US-Saudi relationship, and the kingdom is facing a perfect storm.

This week, Laura talks to Yasmine Farouk about how the kingdom and MBS can weather the storm. They discuss  Saudi Arabia's rapid and effective containment of the coronavirus, the implications of the country’s economic downturn, and how it should best navigate its foreign policy struggles.

Additional reading:

Updating Traditions: Saudi Arabia’s Coronavirus Response

Saudi Arabia: Aid as a Primary Foreign Policy Tool

Managing the coronavirus has been a challenge for both democracies and authoritarian regimes. In particular, the pandemic has further exposed the inequities and lack of trust present in many democratic countries, including the United States, where protests against police brutality and systemic racism come amid the wreckage of COVID-19.

This week, Laura sits down with Rachel Kleinfeld to talk about how the coronavirus pandemic is amplifying worrying trends worldwide, including a rise in autocratic power grabs, increased polarization, and the reemergence of nativist rhetoric. The two also talk about the links between the pandemic and the protests in the United States and how to leverage pockets of progress.

Jen talks to longtime diplomatic correspondent Paul Richter about his book, The Ambassadors: America's Diplomats on the Front Lines. 

Paul talks about four diplomats - Ryan Crocker in Afghanistan, Anne Patterson in Pakistan and Egypt, Robert Ford in Iraq and Syria, and Chris Stevens in Libya - who “do the hardest things in the hardest places.” Paul talks about the role of America’s diplomats in the wars in the Middle East, from running local government, directing drone strikes, nation-building, and risking their lives on the front lines. Jen also asks Paul about the hollowing out of the State Department and the implications for foreign service. 

During the past several years, large-scale protests by citizens against their governments have erupted all over the world. Jen talks to Kai Thaler about what drives protest movements, the methods they employ, and how governments respond.  As protests continue to evolve, what should we watch for?

In her recent book, Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East, Emmy-winning journalist and New York Times bestseller Kim Ghattas examines the unraveling of the modern Middle East and why it started with the pivotal year of 1979.

Kim joins Jen to discuss how the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran has changed over the last forty years, how it has impacted other states in the region, and how the U.S. killing of Qasem Soleimani may impact regional tensions.

The World Unpacked will return soon with new episodes breaking down the biggest topics in foreign policy. In the meantime, we’ll continue releasing pre-recorded episodes every two weeks. Stay safe and healthy!

Guest host Jarrett Blanc talks to Carnegie President Bill Burns. They discuss how the coronavirus pandemic will impact foreign affairs and how to deploy disciplined American diplomacy to mitigate its impacts. They also discuss the new afterword in the paperback edition of Bill's memoir, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal.

In October 2018, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced she would not run again. Since then, her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has struggled to find a successor to lead the party and the country. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Merkel's preferred successor, won a party leadership election in 2018, but has since failed to establish her authority. In February 2020, Kramp-Karrenbauer  announced her resignation as CDU leader, leaving the party in a familiar crisis of leadership. Jen talks to Judy Dempsey about what differentiated Angela Merkel from other German leaders and where the country will go next.