40 countries around the world currently do not have U.S. ambassadors. The corner offices have been empty for months, even years at U.S. embassies in major regional powers like India and Saudia Arabia. Even Italy, a G7 country, doesn't have a U.S. ambassador in place.

The hold-up in getting ambassadors confirmed by the Senate is the consequence of Washington's dysfunctional politics that's adversely impacting the U.S. and its effort to compete with China for influence around the world, particularly in developing countries.

Politico's Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Nahal Toosi traveled to Panama earlier this year to report on how U.S. diplomacy is struggling to keep up with China's engagement in the region. She joins Eric & Cobus from Washington, D.C. to discuss her special report on the issue.

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The China-Global South Podcast

Why U.S. Diplomacy is Struggling to Compete With China in the Global South

Research by The Donkey Sanctuary is continuing to reveal the staggering scale and demand for donkey meat and skins, and its threat to the global donkey populations and their welfare. 

In Italy alone almost 6,000 donkeys are now farmed for their milk, but this is dwarfed by the numbers in China, where millions are farmed for their skins to produce a medicinal gelatin (ejiao) that is traded as traditional Chinese medicine.

Crisis in the community: Rise in the donkey skin trade

China is embarking on an aggressive media campaign in Africa with the launch of CCTV's new broadcast operation in Nairobi, Kenya. The network says it hopes to join BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera among the major players in the international news business. Both Cobus and Eric have their doubts that Beijing is actually capable of attaining that goal given the fact that CCTV does not have a very good track record producing compelling content for an international audience.

China in Africa Podcast: China's big media push in Africa

The China Africa Project is a multimedia resource dedicated to exploring every aspect of China’s growing engagement with Africa.  Through a combination of original content and curation of third-party material from across the Internet, the CAP’s objective is purely informational.  None of the blog’s authors or producers have any vested interest in any Chinese or African position.

Why U.S. Diplomacy is Struggling to Compete With China in the Global South

The China-Global South Project

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