Why is Russia invading Ukraine right now and how does it figure into Putin’s larger political and military strategy? Clarissa Ward returns to the region to help make sense of the latest developments there and explain just how much is at stake. Recorded on February 26, 2022. 

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Ten years ago, a piece of graffiti sparked an uprising in Syria. Since then, millions of Syrians watched their cities crumble and were forced to flee. Clarissa Ward was there from the beginning, a witness to the courage of the people, and the brutality of the regime. Now, Clarissa asks two Syrian activists: Was it all worth it?

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Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has won his fourth consecutive term in an election that many have called a “farce.” CNN International Correspondent Matt Rivers was denied entry when he tried to report on this pivotal moment, but he was still determined to tell the story. In this episode, Matt meets with exiles persecuted in neighboring Costa Rica and has clandestine phone calls with brave citizens in Nicaragua. They told him the same thing: Ortega will stop at nothing to hold on to power. 

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For nearly thirty years, Sudan was ruled by a dictatorship defined by genocide, civil war, and violent suppression. CNN Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir saw it firsthand. When she was a teenager, her family was targeted by the regime and fled into self-exile. When a grassroots uprising gained momentum democracy became a tangible possibility. This story of what it takes to topple a dictator features Nima’s family, their newspaper, and a generational battle for freedom, amidst yet another coup.

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At the beginning of the year, Myanmar’s future seemed bright. Then one morning in February, the military overthrew the government in a swift coup. What followed was the biggest protest movement in the country’s history. Afterwards, Clarissa Ward was the first international journalist inside Myanmar. Military minders tried to tell her one story, while Myanmar citizens risked their lives to tell her another.  

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The Kremlin has a long history of alleged poisoning of its opponents. When Alexey Navalny, the head of the Russian opposition, fell mysteriously ill on an airplane, Clarissa Ward wondered if President Vladimir Putin could be behind it, but proving exactly who committed a poisoning can be tricky. Follow her through an investigation that leads to the front door of a Russian agent and hear what Navalny’s poisoning has meant for the future of the opposition. 

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Clarissa Ward takes you on onto the streets of Afghanistan and into the homes of its citizens as they watch the balance of power start to tip — and the Taliban tries to keep order with truncheons and whips. In this episode, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, shares firsthand accounts from Afghan citizens who witness the United States military withdrawal - after two decades of war - escalate into the Taliban swiftly toppling the Afghan government watching their twenty years of hard-earned freedoms crumble.

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On Tug of War, CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward travels to some of the most volatile corners of the world to document the greatest power struggles of our time. In countries where democracy is in its dying days, Clarissa shares on the ground reports from ordinary citizens who are risking their lives to fight for freedom. Hear a first-hand account from the streets of Afghanistan as the Taliban takes control, meet the daring activist challenging Putin’s political reign in Russia, and learn how organizers in Myanmar use hand gestures to signal solidarity. Tug of War. Stories of resistance from around the world.

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