World Class

By Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford UniversityNews Politics

World Class episodes

August 02, 2023 Understanding Israel's Democracy
Changes to the legal code. Massive protests from the public. Walk-outs by members of the legislature. What exactly is going on in Israel? Law and governance expert Amichai Magen joins World Class host Michael McFaul to discuss the growing crisis Israeli democracy faces. Magen gives context on the crisis, explains some of the cultural and institutional reasons that led Israel to this point, and offers his thoughts as to how Israel might move forward from here. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
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30 min
March 20, 2023 Finland's Role in Global Security and Defense
Featuring:
Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland
Michael McFaul, Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute
Anna Grzymala-Busse, Director of The Europe Center
Oriana Skylar Mastro, FSI Center Fellow and expert on the Chinese military and strategic competition
H.R. McMaster, retired lieutenant general and former U.S. National Security Advisor
Steven Pifer, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and European security expert
Risto Siilasmaa, leader in Finnish technology and security policy and board member at Nokia
Alex Stamos, Director of the Stanford Internet Observatory
Kathryn Stoner, Director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.
If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and by subscribing to our newsletters and updates.
1 hr 2 min
February 24, 2023 What a Year of Putin's War Looks Like in Kyiv
It's been a year since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Few people have had a closer view of the realities of that war than Sergiy Leshchenko, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief-of-staff and an alumnus of the Draper Hills Summer Fellows program at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He joins Michael McFaul on World Class to report on what a year of brutal fighting looks like from inside Ukraine, and shares what progress he hopes to see in the coming months as Ukraine continues it's fight to remain a sovereign, democratic state. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
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23 min
January 31, 2023 Women, Life, and Freedom in Iran
"Women, Life, and Freedom:" this phrase has become the rallying cry of tens of thousands of Iranians around the world. What began as protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman detained by Iran's strict morality police, has become a groundswell in Iran's society unlike anything since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
"Those three words [are] even more progressive than 'Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,' because women are central to it. It has life. It has joy," says Dr. Abbas Milani, the director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University. He joins Michael McFaul on World Class to discuss what Dr. Milani calls the "seething volcano" of anger, disappointment, and frustration many in Iran feel towards the corruption, cronyism, and economic mismanagement the regime of Iran has perpetrated against its citizens.
Could Mahsa Amini be the spark that sets off a democratic explosion? Milani and McFaul discuss what the latest calls for change might mean for the country, and how a democratic Iran could rewrite the calculus of the global geopolitical stage. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
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20 min
December 23, 2022 Addressing Policy Challenges: The 2022 Report Card
In this episode of World Class, we're bringing you a conversation from the 2022 Stanford Reunion. In this recording, you'll hear Michael McFaul and a panel of experts from the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies discuss some of the biggest policy challenges of the moment — climate change, Russia and the war in Ukraine, China and Taiwan, and maintaining democracy at home and abroad. Each panelist will give their assessment of a challenge, then provide feedback on how policymakers are addressing it and what more can be done.
Michael McFaul is the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia.
Marshall Burke is the deputy director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment and a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
Didi Kuo is a senior research scholar at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule Law.
Oriana Skylar Mastro is a center fellow at FSI, working primarily with the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Center for International Security and Cooperation.
Steven Pifer is a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and an affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and by subscribing
to our newsletters and updates.
33 min
November 21, 2022 The War in Ukraine: What's Next?
As winter in Eastern Europe settles in, the Russian military continues to cede ground to advancing Ukrainian forces. The question many people are asking now is: “What happens next?”
Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and political scientist Francis Fukuyama join Michael McFaul on World Class podcast to discuss Ukraine’s progress in the war so far and offer possible prognoses for the future. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and by subscribing
to our newsletters and updates.
21 min
November 03, 2022 What We Need Talk About When We Talk About Taiwan
While the world still watches the conflict in Ukraine, on the opposite side of the globe, the potential for conflict between Taiwan, China, and the United States is increasing. Will China forcibly try to reunify Taiwan with the mainland? And if they do, how will the United States respond?
Larry Diamond, an scholar of Taiwan and Chinese sharp power, and Oriana Skylar Mastro, an expert on the Chinese military and security, join Michael McFaul on the World Class to discuss possible timelines for China’s ambitions against Taiwan, and how the U.S. and its allies can deter Beijing. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and by subscribing
to our newsletters and updates.
25 min
September 29, 2022 Putin's Failed War
To launch our new season of World Class, we're bringing you a special extended interview with Michael McFaul and Ray Suarez of the World Affairs podcast about the changing conditions on the Ukrainian battlefield and the political situation inside Russia. Their conversation originally aired on World Affairs on September 23, 2022.
Just before Putin's military order on September 21, 2022 mobilizing up to 300,000 additional troops from Russia to fight in Ukraine, former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, spoke with Ray Suarez to give a sense of what we can expect from the war in Ukraine in the coming weeks and – perhaps – months, and how it's impacting Russia's international standing.
For more from World Affairs, visit their website at — https://www.worldaffairs.org/index.php. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and by subscribing
to our newsletters and updates.
1 hr
March 14, 2022 Putin's Fear of a Democratic Ukraine
This is a special crossover episode of World Class and the World Affairs podcast, hosted by Ray Suarez. Michael McFaul, the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, joins Ray as a guest to discuss what motivated Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine and how is his war changing the balance of power between Russia, the US, Europe and China.
This episode was first published on March 7, 2022 by World Affairs. To learn more, please visit: https://www.worldaffairs.org/media/blog/951 If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
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39 min
February 17, 2022 Taking the Temperature on the Climate Crisis with Marshall Burke
Data clearly shows that extreme weather patterns like those seen across the globe in 2021 are driven by climate change. But is that fact driving policymakers to make meaningful inroads to address the climate crisis?
Marshall Burke, the deputy director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment, joins Michael McFaul on World Class podcast to review the latest data on what’s happening with climate change in the field and in Congress. If you like what you hear, you can get additional content from scholars
at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies by following
us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube, and by subscribing
to our newsletters and updates.
23 min

About World Class

From the publisher's feed

Podcast from the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford University, featuring Director Colin Kahl, former under secretary of defense for policy at the U.S. Department of…