Carnegie Council Audio Podcast

In the wake of the countless Western media takes on Trump-Kim, Senior Fellow Devin Stewart defends the Singapore summit and the president's negotiating style and U.S. Air Force veteran Phil Caruso gives an inside perspective of what a freeze of military drills means. Did Trump give up too much? What are the next steps? And most importantly, are South Korea and Japan safer today than they were one week, six months, or a year ago?

Next time on Global Ethics Forum Yale Law School’s Amy Chua details the effects of tribalism and group identity on American society. In this excerpt Chua discusses why the United States, after the 2016 election, is acting more like a developing country than one of the richest nations in history.

There is a huge divide in the way Americans assess U.S. foreign policy. Take for example, the June G7 meeting, which ended in a clash between Trump and some of America's closest allies: Some say it was a disaster; others say Trump did the right thing. Where do we go from here to restore trust in expertise and government? Don't miss this fascinating conversation with two leading commentators, Colin Dueck and Kori Schake.

Why is democracy under siege around the world? Economist Dambisa Moyo cites a host of reasons, such as short-term thinking, low voter turnout, the huge sums spent on lobbying, and growing economic challenges. To fix these problems, she has 10 proposals for countries to choose from. They include compulsory voting and paying politicians more in order to stop corruption while also forcing them to be accountable for their policies.

Nadine Strossen gives a rousing, detailed, and convincing defense of free speech as it is laid out in the First Amendment. "American law really is nuanced and makes a great deal of common sense," she says and while censorship of 'hate speech' in other countries is certainly well-intended, in practice the laws have proven to do more harm than good.

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang makes the case for universal basic income in the United States. In this excerpt Yang tells journalist Stephanie Sy how he would pay for $1,000 a month for every American adult.

There is a global surge in "golden visas" for the super-rich, who often have "no connection to the country other than a wire transfer, the ability to press a button, and pass a significant sum of money across borders," says Ayelet Shachar. Countries offering these include the U.S., the UK, and Malta. Yet in the U.S. the "dreamers," who grew up in America, are being denied citizenship. Do we really believe these visas are fair?

"Mexico is very present in our daily lives, sometimes even in ways we don't realize," says Andrew Selee. Did you know, for example, that some of America's most famous baked goods, such as Sara Lee, are owned by a Mexican company and made in Pennsylvania? From manufacturing and trade to film, food, and sports, plus the large number of Americans with Mexican heritage, the economies and cultures of Mexico and the U.S. are woven tightly together.

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, Georgetown’s Melanne Verveer discusses the connections between women’s issues, politics, human rights, and economics. In this excerpt Verveer tells journalist Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson about her role in the Obama administration.

How can you ensure that ethics are a core component, not only of an international affairs education, but of graduates' performance once they go out in the field? In this event for students and alumni of the Elliott School of International Affairs, the School's Dean Brigety and Professors Nolan and Kojm, along with Carnegie Council President Rosenthal, discuss the thorny issues of ethics, leadership, and practice in international relations.

Rome-based journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau tells the horrifying story of the thousands of Nigerian women and girls duped into being trafficked to Italy, where they are forced to become sex slaves, drug mules, or weapons smugglers. How can this be stopped? The Nigerian government turns a blind eye, Libya, the transit point, is a failed state, and Italy is overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of migrants--plus prostitution is legal there.

Muhammad Musa is executive director of BRAC, which is working with the one million Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh. He describes the problems there, including growing tensions with the host community and the threat of the coming monsoon season, which may bring floods and landslides. He looks forward to the day when the Rohingya can go home to Myanmar, but this can only occur with the help of the international community.

In this panel Adrian Basora makes a strong case for democracy as not only promoting American values but also serving U.S. interests, while Maia Otarashvili gives a frightening overview of the rise of "illiberal values" (Viktor Orbán's phrase) in the Eurasia region. Basora and Otarashvili are co-editors of "Does Democracy Matter? The United States and Global Democracy Support" and Nikolas Gvosdev is one of the contributors.

The popular memory of WWI today was basically engineered through propaganda and censorship during the war itself, says Charles Sorrie. Those involved in any war need convincing reasons why they are fighting. "There needs to be almost some sort of slogan. The one that was developed at that time, that America was fighting mostly for democracy or for freedom, is one that is still used today in popular history and in popular culture."

We are already living with climate change; and although countries have pledged to limit global warming to 2 °C, success seems highly unlikely. This panel explores how to advance ethical leadership on climate justice globally, nationally, and locally in the years ahead. Topics include the Paris Agreement and commitments going forward, geoengineering governance, the problems in California, and the creative ways the Seychelles are coping.

Every capitalist economy struggles with how to come to terms with greed, says John Paul Rollert, an expert on the intellectual history of capitalism. He describes how our perspective has changed from the Christian view of greed as an unalloyed sin, to the 18th century idea that it could bring positive benefits, to the unabashed "Greed is good" ethos in the movie "Wall Street." Where do we stand now? How can we rehabilitate capitalism?

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, University of Maryland Baltimore County's Professor Kate Brown details the ethical, social, and health costs of nuclear power since World War II. In this excerpt Brown, author of "Plutopia," and journalist Stephanie Sy discuss the little-known Cold War era nuclear production plants in the Soviet Union and Washington State.

"Unknown to the rest of America, we had one regiment of Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico which was totally integrated. The rest of the military was segregated, and the Puerto Rican regiment was integrated." Military historian Richard Millett discusses some surprising and neglected aspects of the Hispanic experience in World War I, along with the war's impact on the United States' relationship with its Latin American allies.

As Obama's adviser on Russian affairs, Michael McFaul helped craft the United States' policy known as "reset" that fostered new and unprecedented collaboration between the two countries. Then, as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012-2014, he had a front-row seat when this fleeting moment crumbled with Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency. "It's tragic," he says. "How is it that we have come back to something close to the Cold War?"

"I'm not making an argument that Maoism is coming back; we're very far away from that. But the crucial thing to recognize is just what we had known as characterizing the reform era is going away, and China is shifting into a more personalized authoritarian regime and one which is more closed with respect to outside influence. For me, I think when you see those things happening it makes you worried about what's the next norm that starts to break."