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.

Our executive producer Lauren Dueck turns the tables on Jen, and puts her in the hot seat to talk about the state of the 2020 democratic primary race, the major foreign policy topics that might factor into the presidential election, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of President Trump. 

In a shocking move during his annual state address, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced sweeping reforms to the Russian constitution, giving power to the parliament and taking it away from the presidency. Afterwards, his entire cabinet resigned, including long time ally Dmitri Medvedev. Commentators have speculated about Putin's objectives, but no one yet knows what comes next. Jen talks to Washington Post Moscow Correspondent Isabelle Khurshudyan about what these changes might mean for the Kremlin. 

The Coronavirus outbreak has sparked fear around the world, leading to quarantines, transportation shut downs, and disrupting trade, travel, and more. Reports are now emerging that the Chinese government initially tried to cover up the outbreak, threatening doctors and forcing whistleblowers to recant their statements. How has the initial response changed? And what does Coronavirus mean for China going forward? Jen talks to James Palmer about the domestic and international reaction, and what it means for Chinese citizens.

Waad al-Kateab was a college student in Aleppo when she picked up a video camera to document the Syrian revolution. She kept filming when she met and married her husband and had her first child. She kept filming when the Assad regime laid siege to her city, and when the Russian Air Force started bombing hospitals. Waad's husband, Hamza al-Kateab, became the last doctor running the last hospital in Aleppo. 

Waad's footage became the Oscar nominated film, For Sama, which tells the harrowing story of the siege of Aleppo in the form of a letter from mother to daughter. Jen talked with Waad about why she started filming, and why she and her husband chose to stay. 

To learn more about Waad al-Kateab's advocacy, visit ActionforSama.com. For more information about the film visit ForSamaFilm.com

President Trump's recently announced peace deal might be dead on arrival, but it may still create facts on the ground that make the two-state solution impossible. Jen talks to Marwan Muasher about what Jared Kushner's "deal of the century" means for Israel, Palestine, and the United States. 

Reports of China's repression of its Uighur minority have been trickling out for years, but recently leaked documents tell the story of sweeping and systematic campaigns of detention, cultural genocide, brainwashing, and forced labor. Jen talks to James Palmer about what he's learned about the situation on the ground, what the example of Xinjiang has meant for the Hong Kong protestors, and what consequences these two crises have had for China on the world stage.

The U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani has upended Iraq's already fragile political system. How do Iraqis see the escalating tension between the U.S. and Iran? Jen talks to Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad about how Iraqis see the conflict, and what it means for Iraqi society.

Note: Ghaith called us from Istanbul, and was joined by his cat, who you'll hear on this recording.

Last week Donald Trump ordered a drone attack that killed top Iranian general Qassim Suleimani. On Tuesday, Iran retaliated by firing a dozen ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases hosting U.S. military forces. On Wednesday, President Trump declared an end to the escalatory spiral with Iran. But is it really over? Jen talks to Karim Sadjadpour about what Iran might do next.