Hopkins Podcast On Foreign Affairs

For the past four decades, the United States has had robust unofficial relations with Taiwan, an island nation of about 23 million people. A strong multi-party democracy and an economic powerhouse, Taiwan has been a critically important entity in Northeast Asia. The status of the island and its future also have been key points of … Continue reading Charting U.S. Strategy in Taiwan with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth

Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was allowed to leave Canada in late September, after spending more than 1,000 days under house arrest in Vancouver on an American extradition request. China subsequently set free Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor who have been detained since 2018. While the three-year old saga now appears to be over, important questions … Continue reading Hostage Diplomacy

Over the past twenty years, Southeast Asia a diverse region of 10 nations, has become increasingly important to global economic development, U.S. interests, and great power geopolitics. In this special episode of the Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs, we discuss with Congressman Ami Bera the growing importance of Southeast Asia in the world and in … Continue reading Strengthening U.S. Policy in Southeast Asia with Congressman Ami Bera

In October 2020, Chinese tech billionaire and founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, delivered a speech criticizing the Chinese government’s approach to digital financial regulation in the days before the 35 billion dollar initial public offering of Alibaba’s financial affiliate, Ant Group. Blocked by Chinese regulators shortly after Ma’s speech, Ant’s IPO never happened, and Ma … Continue reading China’s Crackdown on Big Tech

In the last decade, economic sanctions have increasingly become a foreign policy tool of choice in the United States, with the United States designating nearly 1000 entities per year during Trump’s presidency. So, how does the U.S. decide which individuals are sanctioned and how sanctions are enforced? In this episode, we will discuss these questions … Continue reading FP Toolbox: Sanctions

On September 15, U.S. President Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced AUKUS, a new trilateral security pact. The agreement focuses on military capability, and the United States and the United Kingdom notably will be helping Australia acquire eight nuclear-powered submarines. What compelled Australia to seek this agreement? What … Continue reading AUKUS and the Future of the Indo-Pacific

During the past few months, Nigeria has been in the news for the national Twitter ban that the country’s President Buhari instituted over the summer. What used to be a platform that gave international reach to Nigeria’s #EndSARS protests during the summer of 2020 is now banned for use in the country; President Buhari instituted … Continue reading Political Turmoil in Nigeria

The Covid-19 Pandemic has fundamentally altered the way of life of people, businesses, and whole countries. That has been well documented. What we will focus on this episode is whether and how Covid changed the US-built and Rules-based international system. How did the pandemic affect the global economic and financial system? How did it affect … Continue reading The End Of The Old International Order

Why has the UK struggled to find its place in a 21st-century? How have decades of decolonization and the fading of its great power status impacted the nation as a whole? How has it shaped the UK’s relationships with Europe and the world? What have recent events revealed about the UK’s political system? And, perhaps … Continue reading Up To Speed: The (Dis)United Kingdom

September 11, 2001 permanently reshaped counterterrorism policy in the U.S. and abroad, with more than 260 US government organizations created or reorganized to focus on terrorism-related issues in the last 20 years. n this episode, we’ll examine the history of counterterorrism in the U.S, including what practices and threats look like today, 20 years after … Continue reading FP Toolbox: Counterrorism

Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. That seems to be the only thing in the news nowadays. And, for good reason. Today we will explore the history of the US involvement in Afghanistan, what exactly went wrong, whether the withdrawal could have been handled better, and what this all means for America’s foreign policy in the long term. … Continue reading The Fallout of the Afghanistan Exit

Today on the podcast we will discuss America’s supply chains and how the Covid-19 Pandemic fundamentally altered the way we think about globalization. Why do we keep hearing the terms near-shoring and on shoring? What’s the deal with microchips and rare earth metals? And how should policy makers think about securing America’s supply chains? To … Continue reading Securing America’s Supply Chains

Today on the podcast we will discuss the ongoing political, economic, and humanitarian crises stemming from the Northern Triangle. That term refers to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Why are tens of thousands of migrants fleeing those countries? How did the Obama and Trump Administration respond to this migration? And, what is the Biden Administration … Continue reading The Crisis of the Northern Triangle

Singapore is one of the most important economic players in Asia. Yet, as tensions between the United States and China continue to increase, it has found it self in a precarious situation. How to sustainably straddle the middle ground between these two superpowers while continuing to increase its economic power without alienating anyone? To answer … Continue reading Singapore & the U.S. – China Rivalry

Since North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, the United States’ overarching strategy toward North Korea has been one of pressure through isolation. By imposing strict sanctions and avoiding sustained diplomatic dialogue with North Korea, US policymakers have sought to pressure the country  to unilaterally denuclearize. Dr. Van Jackson argues that this strategy has failed, … Continue reading Engaging North Korea

On July 7, 2021, Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in a night time raid against his home in the country’s capital, Port-Au-Prince. Nearly a month after the assassination, critical questions surrounding the killing, from who masterminded the plot and for what purpose, remain unanswered. The assassination has catalyzed preexisting political, economic, and societal crises … Continue reading Haiti After the Assassination

Tunisia has a history of beating the odds. It was the only country to come out of the Arab Spring as a democracy, and despite a difficult political environment in the country, civil society groups were able to come together to keep the government stable and democracy in place. However, the future of Tunisia’s democracy … Continue reading Tunisia on the Brink

At the time of this episode’s release, former Chief Justice of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, will have been inaugurated as Iran’s new president. His election in June was highly controversial; it saw record low voter turnout, with less than half of all registered voters showing up at the polls. Many have claimed that this was a … Continue reading Iran’s Changing Leadership

Lebanon is in crisis. In a recent report, the World Bank has said that Lebanon’s economic crisis may be one of the three worst economic crises since the mid 1800s, and estimates that more than half of Lebanon’s population is living in poverty. The reality on the ground in Lebanon for many of the country’s … Continue reading Lebanon in Crisis

With China on its way to developing a digitized central bank currency and the ease with which new cryptocurrencies are created today, we may now be entering a new era of national digital currencies.  But is the United States prepared for this new era? In this episode, we will discuss the motivations as well as … Continue reading The Digital Currency Revolution