Carnegie Council Audio Podcast

We have made tremendous progress, but there's still a long way to go, says Melanne Verveer, head of Georgetown's Institute for Women, Peace and Security and former ambassador-at-large for global women's issues. She looks forward to the day when "women's issues" are no longer seen as marginal, but as a mainstream component of peace and prosperity.

"The United States today is starting to display destructive political dynamics much more typically associated with developing countries: ethno-nationalist movements, the erosion of trust in our institutions and electoral outcomes, and above all, the transformation of democracy into an engine of zero-sum political tribalism."

The maximum penalty for blasphemy in Pakistan is death, and public protest is not allowed. Indonesia is nowhere near as bad as this--yet. "Indonesia is now going down the Pakistan route," says Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch. "There are more and more political manipulations using the blasphemy law, and there are more and more discriminatory regulations against minorities in Indonesia."

Rich and poor, we're all dependent on the global financial system and it can be a force for good, says human rights law professor David Kinley, but the incentive structures within banking encourage people to behave unethically. In other words, "finance does not attract cheats, it creates them." How can we change this? We have to start with education, says Kinley.

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, Climate Museum founder Miranda Massie discusses the need for all Americans to take an interest in the environment. In this excerpt, Massie tells journalist Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson how her previous career prepared her for environmental activism and alerted her to the social costs of global warming.

Can tyranny happen here? asks historian Timothy Snyder. His chilling answer is, "it can happen, it happens to people like us, and it is happening now." How can we fight back? Snyder offers 20 lessons; the first is the most important, as if we fail in this one it will be too late for the others: "Don't obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given." Have the courage to take a stand--easy to say, but difficult to do.

Satyagraha, one of Gandhi's most influential teachings, stresses "passive resistance" in the face of injustice. Qunnipiac's Gadkar-Wilcox saw a powerful example of this in regards to a debate in India over sanitary napkins and she also sees it as Florida high school students push legislators for stricter gun control. Why is this tactic or "disposition" so effective?

Today, many feel paralyzed by the constant stream of bad news. Yet as Gregg Easterbrook shows, statistics on crime, poverty, and longevity prove that things are actually getting better, both in the United States and most of the world. So why do we see the world in such a negative light? Is it a coincidence that this trend started in 2004, the same year that Facebook was created?

What are the real facts about fake news? Brendan Nyhan is co-author of an important new study on fake news consumption during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. He discovered that a staggering one in four Americans visited a fake news site in the month before the election. But what was the actual agenda for most of these sites and what effect did they have on voters? His findings may surprise you.

In this fascinating conversation, Jeremy Bailenson, director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, describes how virtual reality (VR) can be used as a force for good. By immersing people in experiences they wouldn't otherwise have, such as the disastrous effects of climate change or the struggles of refugees, they can be galvanized to tackle problems that previously seemed remote and abstract.

Are Americans too deferential to the armed forces, becoming increasingly willing to "outsource" judgement to the military? Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev talks with Dr. Kori Schake of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, co-author with James Mattis of "Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military."

No more euphemisms and denials, says Rob Riemen in this frightening and inspiring talk. Call it by its name: fascism. Neither technology, nor economic growth, nor political activism can fix this, he continues. We must create a new counterculture that replaces kitsch and conformism with truth, empathy, beauty, and justice.

In his third book on slavery, which took 16 years of research, Siddharth Kara calculates that there are roughly 31 million slaves worldwide, at least half of them in South Asia. We need to apply much more resources and compassion to end "this horrible indignity."

There are few countries in the world that are more misrepresented in the West than Iran. By exploring the imperial rivalries that played out there, the dynastic changes and revolutions, the population explosion, the role of religion, and Iran's relations with other nations in the Middle East, Abbas Amanat provides a context that helps us to demystify present-day Iran, one of the most powerful nations in the Middle East.

Former ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell examines the complex situation there, including the roots of the ongoing Rohingya crisis and China's influence there. Aung San Suu Kyi is not providing the necessary leadership, he says--despite her constraints she should be speaking out about the Rohingya and about free speech, for example. Nevertheless, she has been given too much flak, and this has become counterproductive.

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Steven Cook discusses the violent aftermath of the Arab Spring. In this excerpt, Cook describes how and why Washington got its response wrong to revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, with a special focus on Libya.

"'Likes' don't count," was the rallying cry that first brought people to the Maidan. In this remarkable conversation, Marci Shore explores what it means "to experience revolution in your own skin": the human transformation, blurring of time, and destroying of boundaries during this "extraordinary coming together of men, of women, of young people, of old people, of Jews, of Armenians, of Russian speakers, of Ukrainian speakers."

Chuck Collins grew up in a wealthy family and gave away his fortune at the age of 26, yet he realizes that he still has advantages accrued over generations. The current level of inequality is bad for society as a whole, he declares. "It is not in anyone's interest to keep moving toward a sort of economic and racial apartheid." But it doesn't have to be this way. It can be reversed.

Probably the most dangerous geopolitical environment in decades-China, AI, Trump, end of Pax Americana--yes, it's very bad. But all these challenges energize political scientist Ian Bremmer to do his best work! Don't miss this great talk.

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Marlene Laruelle explains the rise of far right political parties throughout Europe. In this excerpt, Laruelle and journalist Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson discuss the issues of immigration and refugee flows as it relates to societal problems in Western Europe.