Today we explore Kim Yo Jung, Kim Jong Un’s sister, and her official role in North Korea. She first made her international debut in 2018 and has continued to dominate North Korean politics alongside her brother, with many scholars considering her to be a potential successor to Kim Jong Un. We are joined today by Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee to discuss why he considers her the most dangerous woman in the world.  Sung-Yoon Lee is an Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Faculty Associate at the Program on U.S.–Japan Relations, Weatherhead Center for I ..read more

Today we explore Kim Yo Jung, Kim Jong Un’s sister, and her official role in North Korea. She first made her international debut in 2018 and has continued to dominate North Korean politics alongside her brother, with many scholars considering her to be a potential successor to Kim Jong Un. We are joined today by Dr. Sung-Yoon Lee to discuss why he considers her the most dangerous woman in the world.  Sung-Yoon Lee is an Assistant Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and Faculty Associate at the Program on U.S.–Japan Relations, Weatherhead Center for I ..read more

Realism has been the dominant theory of international relations since its conception, and within the realist school, the balance of power theory is a core tenet and posits that in order to survive as independent entities in an anarchic system, states are compelled to increase their power and balance against a potential hegemon. This theory was modified by Stephen Walt in 1985, who emphasized the role played by threat perception, rather than power itself to explain why states do not always balance against rising powers. In this episode, Professor Walt discusses the key tenets of his balance of ..read more

The 2023 Guatemalan elections were closely watched this past summer, especially following the anti-democratic efforts that led to Bernardo Arévalo’s Semilla party being suspended after unexpectedly emerging as one of the two victors of the first round of elections in late June. Arévalo eventually beat out former first lady Sandra Torres in the August 20 run-off election. Manuel Meléndez-Sánchez, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at Harvard University and a USIP-Minerva Peace and Security Scholar at the United States Institute of Peace, joins us today to discuss the Semilla Party’s platfor ..read more

As some countries, including  India, China, the UAE, and Turkey, have started to move away from the U.S. Dollar as the standard for international trade, the government is faced with many questions regarding the importance of Dollar Dominance. In this episode, Saleha Mohsin, senior Washington correspondent for Bloomberg News, joins us to overview the historical influence of the U.S. Dollar as a pillar of international trade as well as how the U.S. government might take action in response to countries’ movement away from the Dollar. U.S. Dollar Dominance Episode Credits: Hosts: Zack Stone a ..read more

In this episode, we discuss Argentina’s worsening economic crisis and ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Argentina is facing historic annual rates of inflation that have reached over 100% this past June. How did Argentina’s situation become this dire? How is Economic Minister Sergio Massa, who is set to be the ruling Peronist coalition’s candidate for the October presidential elections, dealing with this? Dr. Benjamin Gedan, director of Wilson Center’s Latin America Program and its Argentina Project, and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, joins us toda ..read more

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Russia and India have enjoyed a long history of friendly and mutually beneficial relations. The rise of China, U.S.-China  tensions, the war in Ukraine, and the Russian-Chinese partnership, have had profound effects on Russian-Indian relations. Dr. Constantino Xavier,  fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress and a nonresident fellow at the India Project at the Brookings Institution, joins us today to discuss India’s foreign policy and its relationship with Russia. India’s Strategic Shift? Episode Credits: Editor: Leo Kamer Hosts: Nicole Rivas and Alexis Holewinski Music ..read more

Recently, French president Emmanuel Macron used his emergency powers to pass a law that raises the retirement age, and the age at which French people can access their state funded pension. This recent – very unpopular – change alongside a whole host of other issues, has led to massive, and intense protests across France, a vote of no confidence in the government that only failed by a minute margin, and a general strike. Tara Varma, a visiting fellow in the Center of the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution, joins us to discuss the ongoing protests in France. France Takes to th ..read more