'Now' Podcast Series

It is my pleasure to sit with an old colleague who is currently the Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade in the Faculty of the Professions, University of Adelaide, Peter Draper. Much change is afoot in the trade world. First a new Director General has been seated at the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo - Iweala. The DG has much to tackle in the WTO that has been crippled by member actions, especially the Trump Administration. In the Asia - Pacific a new 15 member RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership)
has been signed and China has signed an investment agreement with the EU, the CAI. And then there are the growing tensions between China and Australia. It was at this crucial moment, I was able to ‘grab’ my colleague for an in - depth discussion of global trade with a particular Asia - Pacific focus. Besides being the Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade in the Faculty of the Professions, University of Adelaide, Australia. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Research Foundation; non-resident senior fellow of the Brussels-based Euro
pean Centre for International Political Economy; Associated Researcher at the German Development Institute (DIE); and a Board member of the Australian Services Roundtable.

'Now', Ep 24: An Interview with Peter Draper on reforms to the WTO & new trade construction

In this ‘Now’ podcast we explore the state of politics in South Africa and the continuing role of South Africa in international relations.  

South Africa has just gone through dramatic political change. First, Cyril Ramaphosa, long a member of the African National Congress (ANC), and a close colleague to Nelson Mandela, gained the presidency of the ANC. And then Ramaphosa and his colleagues were able to ‘ease out’ Jacob Zuma from the post of President of South Africa that Zuma has held for the last 9 years. The ANC will face national elections in 2019 with Cyril Ramaphosa likely as the President.

In the face of these changes I invited two colleagues and friends from South Africa to explore the impact of these changes and assess the prospects for Ramaphosa and his Party. Chris Alden is a professor of international relations at the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science.  My other colleague is Maxi Schoeman. She was a professor and head of the political sciences department at the University of Pretoria and is currently the deputy director of postgraduate studies and ethics at the faculty of humanities at the University of Pretoria.  Both have been deeply involved in researching and writing on the domestic and foreign policy of South Africa over the years. 

South Africa remains a critical actor on the African continent and is a member of the BRICS and the G20. Come listen to this ‘Now’ podcast.

‘Now’, Ep. 5: Chris Alden and Maxi Schoeman on South Africa in International Relations

It is a pleasure to welcome back Thomas Wright from the Brookings Institution. Tom is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution. His research at Brookings on European politics and the Trump foreign policy are exactly what suggested our callback to Tom. In this podcast we explore with Tom the growing frictions between President Trump and his European allies. We also seek to understand the growing populist politics in Europe - in Italy, in Germany and in the politics of Brexit in the United Kingdom. Tom and I had a chance to sit down after a number of turbulent weeks. President Trump joined the summit at NATO and roundly criticized his allies. He also visited with UK PM Teresa May after an interview with the Sun newspaper that likely thoroughly embarrassed her, especially after Trump praised Boris Johnson soon after his departure from May’s cabinet. And Trump thoroughly praised Vladimir Putin at the U.S. - Russia Summit calling into question his willingness to accept U.S. intelligence agency assessments that Russia had interfered in the U.S. 2016 elections.

The turbulence in international relations is apparent and Tom and I try to thoroughly explore the various ‘crises in Europe’. Tom has undertaken much research in Trump foreign policy and European politics. He has recently written a book titled “All Measures Short of War: The Contest For the 21st Century and the Future of American Power” published by Yale University Press in May 2017.

'Now', Ep. 6: Thomas Wright on the Crises Haunting Europe

The rising tide of President Trump’s trade warfare is not more central than in the U.S.-China relationship.  With Harry G. Broadman we target the rising friction between these two economic giants. Is the Trump trade strategy – so focused on bilateral trade balances - likely to improve economic relations between the U.S. and China? Will it help prod China in fulfilling and adhering to its obligations under the World Trade Organization, to which it acceded in 2001? 

To dissect such questions and other matters coloring U.S.-China trade, we examine with Harry the evolution of China’s ‘socialist market economy’ and the growing power of China’s President Xi Jinping. Harry has long and deep connections with China and the economic ‘Rise of China’. Harry began working extensively throughout China in the early 1990s overseeing the World Bank’s state-owned-enterprise restructuring loan operations and its policy dialogue with the government’s leadership on trade, foreign investment, antitrust and corporate governance reform. Harry has worked on global finance, trade and investment for decades in more than 75 emerging markets spanning 5 continents. Among other posts, he worked in the White House, first as Chief of Staff of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors and, subsequently, as United States Assistant Trade Representative. In this latter position, he led the U.S. negotiations on international trade and investment across all services industries as part of the establishment of both NAFTA and the WTO.  He also managed all negotiations of U.S. Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) with other sovereigns. He served on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and was a member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). Harry has been Managing Director and a Member of the Investment Committee at Albright Capital Management, an emerging markets-focused private equity firm, and founded and led PwC’s Global Growth Strategy Management Consulting Practice. 

Today, Harry is CEO and Managing Partner of Proa Global Partners LLC, a cross-border transaction advisory firm. He is also a member of the Johns Hopkins faculty, an expert witness on trade and investment disputes, and writes monthly columns on global business for Forbes and Gulf News. His most recent book is: Africa’s Silk Road: China and India’s New Economic Frontier. 

Let’s join Harry and me in this podcast on the U.S.-China trade relationship.

‘Now’, Ep. 7: Harry G. Broadman on the Impact of the US-China Trade War on Global Leadership

I took the opportunity when sitting down with Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel to discuss the BRICS (Summit Dialogue: Episode 6) to raise with Oliver the serious refugee crisis that engulfs a number of Latin American states arising from the Venezuelan political crisis. This refugee crisis is unmatched in recent Latin American history and has hit a number of frontline states including Columbia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina. For a hemisphere that has advanced a number of regional organizations, it is startling to see the lack of regional effort, if only with respect to the humanitarian aspects of this crisis. Why has there been so little regional effort to deal with this human crisis?

Oliver is an associate professor of international relations at Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in Sao Paulo. There, with a number of his colleagues, he is launching a new School of International Relations. Oliver has written extensively on the politics of the rising powers, including The BRICS and the Future of the Global Order and his most recent book from Polity, Post-Western World: How Emerging Powers are Remaking the Global Order. He is a frequent commentator on the Hemisphere in journals and in the media across the region.

‘Now’, Ep. 8: Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel on the Refugee Crisis in Latin America

With the election of a new populist president in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, I thought it was a great moment to sit down with our Brazilian colleague, Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel from Sao Paulo, Brazil. In this podcast we explore why Brazil was so interested in electing this rather controversial politician as president. We also wanted to explore the economic policies that the new finance minister, Paulo Guedes is promoting to bring strong economic growth back to Brazil. Guedes supports a strong Chicago School economic program much in contrast to previous governments there.

Oliver is an associate professor of international relations at Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in Sao Paulo. There, with a number of his colleagues, he has launched a new School of International Relations. Oliver has written extensively on the politics of the rising powers, including The BRICS and the Future of the Global Order and his most recent book from Polity, Post-Western World: How Emerging Powers are Remaking the Global Order. He is a frequent commentator on the Hemisphere in journals and in the media across the region.

‘Now’, Ep. 9: Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel on Brazil’s New Populist President and Government

‘Now’ Episode 10 is a wide-ranging discussion with Yves Tiberghien first: on the leadership of Xi Jinping and where Xi is attempting to take China’s modernization and; second an examination of the course, and reasons for, the rising tensions between China and the United States. This interview examines in depth the rising role of the Chinese Communist Party in China’s economic development. Why has the Chinese President seemingly rolled back the economic reforms identified in the Third Plenum of the 18th Party Conference? Then, we explore the direction of China-U.S. policy – trade, investment, technology innovation and geopolitical relations in Asia and globally.

Yves is the Director Emeritus of the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Executive Director of the UBC China Council, and a full Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. Importantly, Yves spent several years working in Japan and has focused a good deal of his research on globalization examining China in particular. He specializes in comparative political economy and international political economy with an empirical focus on China, Japan, and Korea. 

In 2007, Yves published Entrepreneurial States: Reforming Corporate Governance in France, Japan, and Korea (Cornell University Press). He has also published many articles and book chapters on the Japan’s bubble economy, on global governance, global climate change politics, and on the governance of agricultural biotechnology. He has focused more recently on the role of China, Japan, and Korea in the G20 and in global economic and environmental issues. He has published two new books on the topic (L’ Asie et le future du monde, Paris: Science Po Press, August 2012; and Leadership in Global Institution-Building: Minerva’s Rule, edited volume, Palgrave McMillan, February 2013).

‘Now’, Ep. 10: Yves Tiberghien on China’s Leadership and the Growing US-China Tensions

The decision by the Trump Administration to impose tariffs on China and demand changes to the bilateral trade and investment policies has had serious consequences for U.S.-China relations.  But the fallout has not been limited to U.S. China relations.  This podcast with Jeremy Paltiel explores the rising tensions in the bilateral relationship, or more broadly the relationship of ‘China and the West’. With Jeremy I explore the rising tensions in the Canada-China relationship arising from the U.S. request to Canadian authorities to extradite Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies and the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei. The detention has met with a strong Chinese reaction including Beijing charging two Canadians arrested in China on December 10th of stealing sensitive state secrets in tandem. The Canadian pair is Michael Kovrigand Michael Spavor. Additionally, Canada’s ambassador to China, and a former politician, John McCallum, was forced to resign for what were perceived to be inappropriate statements. 

Jeremy is Professor of political science at Carleton University in Ottawa and was visiting professor at the department of international relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2009. He has published widely on subjects relating to China and its foreign relations, including on the political economy of transition to market economies, management training in the People’s Republic of China, and comparison of business culture in China and Canada. 

This podcast explores the consequences of the rising tensions in China-U.S. relations and the spillover to the relations between China and other states in the ‘West’.

‘Now’, Ep. 11: Jeremy Paltiel on Chinese Foreign Policy and the Current China-Canada Tensions

It is a pleasure to welcome back Tom Wright to the ‘Now’ Series the podcast series that focuses on the contemporary issues in international affairs and global governance.  Tom remains the director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution and a senior fellow there on the Project on International Order and Strategy. His research at Brookings on European politics and the impact that politics has on Europe, the European Union as well as that politics of the Trans-Atlantic community is exactly why we invited Tom to return to the Global Summitry studio.

Tom has been very active writing on contemporary politics and the impact of Trump on American foreign policy.  He has recently begun a series in The Atlantic magazine on what Democratic Party foreign policy might be for the upcoming Presidential 2020 contest. Tom also recently wrote a book on U.S. foreign policy, titled, “All Measures Short of War: The Contest For the 21st Century and the Future of American Power” published by Yale University Press in May 2017.

‘Now’, Ep. 12: Thomas Wright on ‘Europe – Where to From Here’?

On July 3rd, 5 principals published a Scholars’ and Experts’ letter (Letter) in the Washington Post (WP) entitled ‘China is not an enemy’. Taylor Fravel, J. Stapleton Roy, Michael D Swaine, Ezra Vogel and Susan Thornton were the five who shepherded the letter to publication in the Opinion section of the WP. The Letter raised a fair degree of notice as it pushed back against those in the Community and in the U.S. Administration, who urged support for the Trump China policy including support for the current U.S.-China Trade War. This podcast with Susan was designed to understand how the principals came to consensus over the content of the Letter, the objectives of the Letter - its 7 propositions and what might be a better U.S. policy toward China.

Susan is currently a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School and Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center. Thornton was a career diplomat who worked at the United States State Department. She served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs from 2016 to 2018 and before that she worked as the Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States Embassy in Turkmenistan.
 
In leadership roles in Washington, Thornton worked on China and Korea policy, including stabilizing relations with Taiwan, the U.S.-China Cyber Agreement, the Paris Climate Accord and led a successful negotiation in Pyongyang for monitoring of the Agreed Framework on denuclearization

‘Now’, Ep. 13: Susan Thorton on ‘China is not an enemy’

If you enjoyed ‘Now’ Ep 13 with Susan Thorton – and I am sure you did - I expect you equally will enjoy this podcast with Michael Swaine. Michael was central to the preparation and publication of ‘China is not an Enemy’, the Open Letter in the Washington Post (WP) by Michael, Susan and their colleagues Taylor Fravel, J. Stapleton Roy and Ezra Vogel. With Michael we not only explore the reasons for this Open Letter but look at the various publications and views out of Washington that this Open Letter takes on. Michael responds to views expressed by WPs John Pomfret, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Kurt Campbell and Jake Sullivan, former officials of the Obama Administration that declared ‘engagement’ with China ‘dead’.

Michael Swaine is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a prominent American analyst in Chinese security studies. Formerly a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, Swaine is a specialist in Chinese defense and foreign policy, US-China relations, and East Asian international relations. He has authored and edited more than a dozen books and monographs and many journal articles and book chapters on US-China relations.

‘Now’, Ep. 14: Michael Swaine on Scholars and Expertise on US-China Relations

We were fortunate enough to have Sheri Berman join us recently at the annual American Political Science Association meeting in Washington. There she described the crisis of democracy across Europe in the round table's larger discussion of ‘The Strange Death – and Possible Rebirth - of the Liberal Order’. Sheri, following her recent publication of Democracy and Dictatorship: From the Ancien Regime to the Present Day has a great deal to say about the rise of populism and the threats to democratic politics in Europe both in the established democracies of western Europe and new democracies in central Europe. With Sheri we were able to explore EU level politics, the fraught politics in Europe especially in the United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary and elsewhere.

Sheri is a professor of political science at Barnard College, Columbia University and she currently serves on the boards of the Journal of Democracy, Dissent and Political Science Quarterly. Come join us as we discuss the crisis of democracy in Europe.

‘Now’, Ep. 15: Sheri Berman on the Crisis of Democracy in Europe

Jake Sullivan was the youngest head of Policy Planning in the State Department under the Obama Administration. During the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections, Jake was Hillary Clinton’s policy advisor. Currently Jake is the Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, a senior fellow and Master in Public Policy faculty member at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire and a non-resident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Geoeconomics and Strategy Program. In addition, Jake is the co-chair, along with Ben Rhodes of the National Security Action an organization of former senior officials and policy experts, academics and civil servants dedicated to advancing American global leadership and opposing the reckless policies of the Trump Administration. 

It is with pleasure that we welcome Jake back to the Global Summitry podcast (Listen to Jake at Episode 14 of ‘Shaking the Global Order: American Foreign Policy in the Age of Trump’). As listeners will know, GS has been concerned to understand what U.S. foreign policy should be with China in what appears to be a growing U.S.-China rivalry. There is probably no more critical policy issue for United States foreign policy than getting the relationship with China right.  Jake has written a number of articles outlining what he sees as the direction of U.S.-China policy.  Let’s join Jake in this discussion of U.S.-China foreign policy.

‘Now’, Ep. 16: Jake Sullivan on Democratic Foreign Policy and the US-China Rivalry

Thomas Wright and I turned from podcast Episode 27 of ‘Shaking the Global Order: American Foreign Policy in the Age of Trump’ and the U.S.-Iran rivalry, to all the issues surrounding the election of Boris Johnson and his Conservatives in the U.K. in December, and examine the consequences for Brexit, the U.K. and the EU. The future here for all is dramatic. And Tom has a lot to say about England, Scotland, Ireland and the EU. 

Tom is the director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution. Tom is the author of  All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power and Tom is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic.

'Now', Ep. 17: Thomas Wright on the UK in a Post-Brexit Era

The recent horrific Australian bush fires appear be largely out. These bush fires reflect both a sad tale of land burned and enormous loss of unique wildlife. It also appears to reveal a federal government policy resistant to dramatic change to combat the growing threat of climate change. 

As Damien Cave’s recent piece (February 15, 2020) in the NYTimes quoted an Australian filmmaker: “I am standing here a traveler from a new reality, a burning Australia,” Lynette Wallworth, an Australian filmmaker, told a crowd of international executives and politicians in Davos, Switzerland, last month. “What was feared and what was warned is no longer in our future, a topic for debate — it is here.” And Cave added: “Politics have been a focal point — one of frustration for most Australians. The conservative government is still playing down the role of climate change, despite polls showing public anger hitting feverish levels. And yet what’s emerging alongside public protest may prove more potent.”

In the face of these tragic bush fires I sat down with my podcast guest, Steven Slaughter to discuss the fires but more the politics of climate change in Australia. Steven is an associate professor of international relations at Deakin University in Melbourne Australia. He has broad research interests that go beyond international relations to include: international political theory, political and democratic theory and global political economy. He is currently actively working on projects relating to the application of republican thought to contemporary global governance, and the role that the G20 plays with respect to questions of authority, legitimacy and accountability in global governance.

Come join us as we discuss ‘Australia burning’.

'Now', Ep. 18: Steven Slaughter on ‘Australia Burning’: The Politics of Climate Change

The spread of Covid-19 across the globe dominates policy making everywhere. States have responded in a variety of ways; the consequences for these states are varying population spread and death tolls.  Though the virus began in China some of the most serious consequences have been felt in Europe particularly in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. 

It was my pleasure to invite into the virtual studio Torrey Taussig. I was particularly keen to discuss with her the efforts of the EU 27 and the European Commission to adopt collective European efforts to combat the virus. Torrey was with us at our virtual conference at Boston University in March hosted by the Global Development Policy Center (#GDP). There we launched the China-West Dialogue to discuss the future of global governance in the context of Covid-19 and other challenges, such as climate change. The virtual workshop was well attended and featured a keynote introduction by The Right Honourable Paul Martin. The former Canadian Prime Minister called on the #G20 to tackle climate change and the pandemic, noting that now is not the time to forsake multilateralism.

Torrey is currently a non-resident fellow in the Foreign Policy Program’s Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings. She is also a research director of the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School. Torrey focuses her research attention on U.S. foreign policy as well as European and Asian security issues.

Join us in our discussion on the European response to Covid-19.

‘Now', Ep.19: Torrey Taussig on Europe’s Response to Covid-19

It was a pleasure to sit down again with Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel to discuss Brazil and indeed the region. This session with Oliver was designed to focus on Brazil’s response to the pandemic. It has become clear that Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has remained highly skeptical over ‘lock down’ measures to safeguard Brazilians. He has fired the Minister of Health and, more recently, the politically influential Justice Minister Sergio Moro has resigned and accused the President of criminal conduct. We were eager to understand how Brazilians viewed the President’s actions and the consequences for his government, especially the economic reforms from these various controversies. We also wanted to survey the effect of the pandemic on the major economies in the region. So, join us. 

Oliver is an associate professor of international relations at Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) in Sao Paulo. There, with several colleagues, he launched a new School of International Relations. Oliver has written extensively on the politics of the rising powers, including The BRICS and the Future of the Global Order and his most recent book from Polity, Post-Western World: How Emerging Powers are Remaking the Global Order. He is a frequent commentator on the Hemisphere in journals and in the media across the region.

'Now', Ep.20: Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel on Brazil’s Response to Covid-19

It is a pleasure to welcome back Tom Wright to the ‘Now’ Series to review the United Kingdom and Ireland’s responses to the pandemic.  Tom remains the director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution and a senior fellow there on the Project on International Order and Strategy. Tom has been very busy on examining Europe’s responses to Covid-19 as well as the Trump Administration’s response. He has also been closely following U.S.-China relations and the Trump efforts to ‘call-out’ China’s pandemic responses.

This podcast is one in a series in the ‘Now’ series on various responses to the pandemic including: Matthew Goodman from CSIS on the G20 response, Torrey Taussig from the Belfer Center at Harvard on Europe, and Oliver Della Costa Stuenkel from FGV on Brazil and Latin America.

Tom has been very active writing on contemporary politics and the impact of Trump on American foreign policy.  He continues his writing in The Atlantic magazine on what Democratic Party foreign policy might be for the upcoming Presidential 2020 contest. Tom’s most recent book is on U.S. foreign policy, titled, “All Measures Short of War: The Contest For the 21st Century and the Future of American Power” published by Yale University Press in May 2017.

‘Now’, Ep. 21: Brooking’s Thomas Wright on the United Kingdom and Ireland’s Responses to Covid-19

Lim Wonhyuk has long been involved in global governance issues and the role of Korea in in the regional and international system. I first got to know Lim Wonhyuk when we were both involved in Korea’s year of G20 hosting in 2010. It was a great pleasure to invite Lim Wonhyuk into the virtual studio to explore Korea’s seemingly successful effort to control the pandemic there. It is a fascinating story of earlier failure in public health leading to the current success of the government efforts and being able to hold an election on April 15th.

Lim Wonhyuk is currently teaching at SAIS in Washington D.C. as an Adjunct Lecturer. He is a professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management in South Korea. In 2010, Lim Wonhyuk helped to formulate the G20 Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth. In 2013, he became Vice President and Director of Department of Competition Policy at KDI. Most recently, he served as Associate Dean, Office of Development Research and International Cooperation, at KDI School. His recent publications include Understanding the Drivers of Trust in Government Institutions in Korea (OECD, 2018, co-edited), Improving Regulatory Governance (OECD, 2017, co -authored) and The Korean Economy: From a Miraculous Past to a Sustainable Future (Harvard, 2015, co-authored). He holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford University.

‘Now,' Ep. 22: Lim Wonhyuk on South Korea’s Response to Covid-19

It is a pleasure to welcome back Nick Bisley, an international relations expert from La Trobe University in Melbourne. We were keen to sit down with him in the virtual studio to examine Australia’s response to the global pandemic. We were most interested to understand the relative success of the Australian effort to flatten the curve of infections of the virus when it was clear that Australia had suffered a crisis of competence in dealing with the bush fires that had ravaged Australia in its summer. (Please listen to the ‘Now’ Series Ep. 18: an interview with Steven Slaughter ‘Australia Burning’: The politics of Climate Change in Australia”). The answers Nick provides are quite revealing of how Australia is well and badly governed. 

Nick is currently Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at La Trobe University in Melbourne and Professor of International Relations. Previously Nick served as the Executive Director of La Trobe Asia at La Trobe University. Nick is the author of many works on international relations, including Issues in 21st Century World Politics, 3rd Edition (Palgrave, 2017).

‘Now,’ Ep. 23: Nick Bisley on Australia’s Response to Covid-19

Join Professor Alan Alexandroff as he interviews fellow academics, policymakers, and former officials about global governance and the contemporary global order.

'Now' Podcast Series

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