While much attention is paid to the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, it is important to note that Russia continues to try and exert influence across the world. This is particularly true across the Middle East, where Russia has tried to center itself as the reliable partner for autocratic leaders throughout the region. Russia has a long history of engagement with Middle Eastern Leaders, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it saw its influence wane, down to just a couple of countries. Over the past ten years, however, they have regained a foothold through the Syrian Civil war and have increased their engagement with other countries, especially in the wake of the Arab Spring. While Russia has many interests in the region, our speaker, Vice Admiral John W. Miller (ret.), proposes that the driving force of Russian interests are two fold; to create transactional relationships that benefit Russia, and to disrupt the U.S.' vision for the region. Join us for this episode to gain critical insights into why Russian engagement in the Middle East is an issue that all Americans should be aware of and why it is in the U.S.' national security interest to counter their growing influence. This episode will highlight the number of ways in which the U.S. and Russia approach this region and how many countries would prefer to partner with these large global actors.  Admiral John W. Miller serves as the President and CEO of The Fozzie Miller Group, LLC and as a Principal Partner of Global Alliance Advisors, LLC, both Washington DC based national security firms positioned at the intersection of government policy, defense acquisition programs, and industrial performance. The firm teams with US and international clients to deliver solutions that blend national security strategies and industrial growth into achievable national security objectives.Admiral Miller also serves as a Highly Qualified Expert and Senior Mentor to the U.S. Naval War College, providing advice and expertise to the U.S. Navy on a wide range of operational and educational subjects.His last three assignments in the Navy were as Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander U.S. Fifth Fleet/Commander/ Combined Maritime Forces; Commander, Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center; and Commander, Carrier Strike Group Eleven.Admiral Miller also serves as a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and as an active member of the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation Board of Trustees.

Haiti is a country that has suffered through a long, hard history. From disasters, both natural and man-made, the people of Haiti continue to strive to create a bright future for themselves. However, today that goal seems further away than ever and many people would be hard pressed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. How did a land that was once the Pearl in the Crown of the French Empire ends up in such chaos? In this episode we explore the rich and challenging history of this country, while looking at the current crisis and explaining the difficult road ahead. However, this is not all doom and gloom, as there are glimmers of hope that we can look to in order to see a brighter future for the people of this island nation.Sophie Rutenbar is a visiting fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings, which she joins as a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellow. She also currently works as a visiting scholar with the Prevention and Peacebuilding Program of the New York University Center for International Cooperation.Rutenbar was previously the mission planning officer for the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti. Based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, she worked in the front office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General conducting strategic planning for the United Nations in Haiti. Before that, she served as political affairs officer with the policy planning team of the United Nations Department of Peace Operations. In that role, she worked extensively on U.N. peacekeeping and peace and security reform processes, including supporting the Action for Peacekeeping Initiative (2018-present), the secretary-general’s Peace and Security Restructuring (2017-18) and the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (2015). Rutenbar also helped lead efforts to enhance U.N. peace operations’ capacity to respond to the evolving technology landscape and strengthen U.N. efforts to engage with non-state armed groups.Her other experience at the U.N. has included working with the United Nations Department of Field Support, United Nations Mission in South Sudan, and the U.N. Secretary-General’s high-level panel on the global response to future health crises. She joined the United Nations in 2013 as the first U.S.-sponsored associate expert/junior professional officer in the U.N. Secretariat, working with the policy planning team for the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support.Before joining the U.N., Rutenbar worked for organizations in Sudan and South Sudan, including observing the 2011 referendum process on independence for southern Sudan with the Carter Center and working for USAID’s Sudan and South Sudan Transition and Conflict Mitigation Program. She also has experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Thailand.She was a 2005 Truman Scholar and previously served as co-president of the board of the Truman Scholars Association. She is also a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project. Rutenbar graduated magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Dallas, where she studied global politics as a Eugene McDermott Scholar. Through the Marshall Scholarship, she received master’s degrees in conflict, security, and development from the War Studies Department at King’s College London and in human rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

You may have heard the name before, when they burst onto the international scene in the wake of the Arab Spring, challenged the central government and eventually a Saudi led international response. However, with the civil war winding down in Yemen, the Houthis name recognition seemed on the decline. The war in Gaza has brought this group back to the forefront of the world's mind, as they began firing rockets and drones at cargo ships in the Red Sea, stating that they would stop only when the war in Gaza came to an end. So who are the Houthis and what do they stand for? This group has an interesting background that brought them from a local political party, based on a historical Zaydi Islamic kingdom that ruled North Yemen for around 1,000 years to an international disruptor who has changed the way that upwards of 12% of global trade occurs. In this episode we talk with Sarhang Hamasaeed, Director of the Middle East Program at the US Institute of Peace, to learn more about the history of this group, what they are looking to accomplish, and why they were so successful in capturing and maintaining critical territory from the internationally recognized government. It is important to understand global issues and the people driving it, as we look to understand potential policy responses.

Over the past couple of years the idea of weaponizing migration has come to the forefront, particularly as the current case of Russia enabling migrants to access the Russia Finnish border and Belarus using travel agents to bring migrants to their border with Poland in 2021. However, this "hybrid warfare tactic", as several targeted states have termed it is not something new, it is instead a well worn path used by state and nonstate actors for centuries. To get a better understanding of what weaponized migration is and is not, we spoke with Dr. Kelly Greenhill, professor at Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as author of the book "Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion, and Foreign Policy", probing some interesting stories of people being used as political pawns to extract concessions from targeted governments. Throughout this conversation we covered not only the how and why of weaponized migration, but also the ways in which targeted states and communities can respond (some more palatable than others). One of the most interesting things to note in this is that this coercive tactic only works when the targeted country's population is divided over immigration debates. This means that the United States, which has not been able to agree on immigration policy changes since 1994, is very vulnerable to this and needs to prepare for various countries to utilize this tactic both very publicly and in more clandestine ways. As the Presidential Election season is upon us and the Southern Border remains a hotly debated issue, it is interesting to wonder what the sudden appearance of migrant caravans might be in service of. Are countries trying to impact our elections by creating these caravans and encouraging them to move north? What can malign regimes extract from the Biden Administration simply by threatening to release waves of people upon the US' southern border?Join us for this engaging conversation and dive into the realities of this all too common exploitation of people looking for a better, safer, and brighter future.

The United States of America's government faces a funding deadline of November 17th of this year to pass a full budget or a continuing resolution, or shut down non-essential operations. In what has seemingly become a yearly tradition, the two Parties cannot come together on a number of issues and have missed their self imposed deadline to fund the government once already. On top of this, the House of Representatives spent three critical weeks trying to find a new Speaker of the House, delaying important conversations on creating agreement on how to move a budget forward. Of course, there are a wide range of important impacts that come from a government shutdown, which are well documented by the media. However, not many understand the impacts that these potential shutdowns, as well as wider governmental disfunction, have on the US' ability to project its power and influence abroad. In this episode, we talk with Liz Schrayer, President and CEO of the US Global Leadership Coalition, a broad-based coalition of over 500 businesses and NGOs that advocates for strong U.S. global leadership through development and diplomacy. She outlines for us the problems that these self inflicted issues raise for the United State's global leadership, foreign policy goals, and national security interest. From allowing our adversaries to claim democracy doesn't work, to distracting the government from important global issues, it is important that the government continues its regular functions, and remains focused on its important interests at home and abroad. Of course, global issues cannot always direct governmental decisions, but they should factor into our understanding of the impacts of a government shutdown.  ______________________________________________________________________________________Liz Schrayer serves as President & CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), a broad based coalition of over 500 businesses and NGOs that advocates for strong U.S. global leadership through development and diplomacy. Under her leadership, the USGLC has grown to a nationwide network of advocates in all 50 states and boasts a bipartisan Advisory Council which includes virtually every living former Secretary of State, and a National Security Advisory Council consisting of nearly 200 retired three and four-star generals and admirals.Ms. Schrayer currently serves on the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation’s Development Advisory Council, USAID’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACFVA), as well as several advisory boards and committees for the University of Michigan, including the Ford School of Public Policy. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.In addition to running the USGLC, Ms. Schrayer serves as President of Schrayer & Associates, Inc., a nationwide consulting firm founded in 1995, which works on a wide range of domestic and international issues.Prior to starting her own firm, Ms. Schrayer served as the national Political Director of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) for more than a decade. She worked on Capitol Hill, founding the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and in state government. She has traveled across the country organizing citizen advocates in every state. Ms. Schrayer has been published in TIME, Newsweek, USA Today, and The Hill, among other outlets. She has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and resides in Maryland with her husband Jeff Schwaber, an attorney who helped launch the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

Last month the city of Derna, Libya was destroyed by an intense hurricane that hit the city and surrounding mountains. Two dams, built in the 1970s and not maintained since 2002, burst overnight, sending a 23-foot high wall of water rushing through the city. Over 25% of the city's infrastructure got destroyed and thousands of people were swept out into the ocean or crushed under crumbling buildings. For about a week the international community focused on this tragedy, but then attention shifted elsewhere. However, the crisis for the people of Derna did not end there, as tens of thousands remain in need of basic support; from housing, to food, clean water, and medicine. The World Affairs Council of New Hampshire connected with an International Visitor Leadership Program alumni Akram Bannur, from his home in Tripoli, Libya to learn more about the ongoing crisis, what led to such a catastrophic disaster, and what the people of Derna need in order to continue as survivors of the flood and not succumbing to the humanitarian disaster that ensued. This conversation comes with lessons to learn for people around the world, particularly about the importance of ensuring critical infrastructure remains in tip-top shape as more and more extreme weather events challenge the systems in place. Mr. Akram Moh H. I. Bannur works as a general secretary at the National Anti-Corruption Commission in Libya where he provides advisory services and technical expertise to specialized anti-corruption bodies and units on preventing, detecting, and prosecuting cases of corruption.

Another month, another African coup led by the Presidential Guard, this time in Gabon. This month we talk with Jean Hakuzimana, a journalist and immigration advocate, who provides insights into why this coup occurred, the challenges that face Gabon, and what this means for the wider region. On August 30th, hours after the election results gave a large win to President Bongo for a third term, the Presidential Guard came on national TV and announced the cancellation of the election results, closure of the border, and that the government was now under the control of the military. Listing several factors such as a fraudulent election, a deteriorating security situation, and constitutional violations, they indicated that they were forced to take this action for the protection of the country and its citizens.Listen today to explore the reasons why these explanations do not hold water and how this recent coup fits into the wider regional trends. Jean provides unique insights, having lived and worked in these countries, which allows you to better understand the importance of this region. Just because the media moves on quickly from this crisis, it does not mean it lacks in importance or the West should not try and understand the trendlines that these coups have stemmed from. Jean Hakuzimana has over 12 years of experience in community development strategy design, communication, advocacy, and media,. He is the founder and Director of #NHSONGA (NH Moves) and a deputy editor at Amjambo Africa, a newspaper that covers a wide range of news of immigrants and host communities in Maine. He also host the Amjambo Time podcast at WMPG, a community radio station affiliated with the University of Southern Maine, where he brings new Mainers' voices on air and discusses various topics of interest and relevance to them.Jean graduated in community development policy and practice from the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, and has an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Rwanda. He has worked with the United Nations, European Union funded programs, regional organizations, diplomatic, governmental, and non-profit entities in Africa and USA, focusing on issues such as refugee resettlement, social determinants of health, environment , agriculture, biodiversity, governance, and inclusive finance. He is passionate about using his communication, journalism, and advocacy skills to amplify the voices and stories of marginalized and underrepresented communities, and to promote social justice and positive change.

In this episode, we delve into the recent coup in Niger, analyzing its implications and underscoring its significance on the global stage. On July 26th, the Presidential Guard took a daring step by placing President Mohamed Bazoum under house arrest, sealing the borders, imposing airspace restrictions, and boldly proclaiming the seizure of power. The world was caught off guard by this unforeseen upheaval, prompting a wave of sanctions and international condemnations.To provide deeper insights into this complex situation, we were privileged to speak with two distinguished individuals: Kamissa Camara, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mali and current Senior Advisor on Africa at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and Susan Fine, a retired Foreign Service officer with 30 years of experience at USAID. Their perspectives are informed by their extensive contacts in the region, a profound understanding of Niger, and their ability to share broader contextual insights about how this crisis unfolded.While it is tempting to perceive the coup as having no impact on the United States, the truth is there are several intricate complications that could arise if Niger becomes the fourth West African country to succumb to military leadership in the span of two years. The insights shared by Camara and Fine shed light on these complications and underscore the interconnectedness of global politics and stability. As the situation continues to develop, it becomes increasingly evident that proactive engagement and thoughtful consideration of these events are imperative, even for those geographically distant from the affected region.Kamissa Camara is a senior advisor for Africa at the U.S. Institute of Peace. She is a sub-Saharan Africa policy analyst and practitioner with 15 years of professional experience. She has served as Mali’s minister of foreign affairs, minister of digital economy and planning, and most recently, as chief of staff to the president of Mali. Previous to that, she served as senior foreign policy advisor to the president. Prior to working with the Malian government, Camara held leadership positions in Washington, D.C. with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and PartnersGlobal. At NED, Camara co-founded and co-chaired the Sahel Strategy Forum. She also spearheaded a multi-million-dollar program supporting civil society initiatives in West and Central Africa, with a particular focus on the Sahel.From 2015 until 2018, she was the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa instructor at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute where she trained U.S. diplomats. Susan Fine currently serves as the Board Chair of Rain for the Sahel and Sahara, a NH based-NGO that has partnered with rural and nomadic Nigeriens since 2001. She was Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, and Acting Assistant to the Administrator, in USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL).  Ms. Fine, a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer with rank of Minister Counselor, served in multiple positions in Washington and overseas including Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, PPL, Director for Development Cooperation, and Mission Director for Senegal and the Sahel, managing a complex, multi-sector portfolio in Senegal, the Sahel Resilience program and bilateral activities in Niger and Burkina Faso.  Prior to that, she was Director for East African Affairs in the Africa Bureau where she oversaw USAID’s programs in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes countries.

In this month’s episode we explore the challenges surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the need for global cooperation to minimize potential negative outcomes. By speaking with Ben Porter of Prometheus Endeavor, a technology think-tank, the conversation provides a balanced viewpoint of the challenges and opportunities surrounding the development of AI, from the robot overlords of the Matrix to the lifesaving programs identifying cancer cells, there are a lot of potential programs that can be used for good and evil. In response to a National Telecommunications and Information Administration request for comment, Prometheus Endeavour has outlined some guidelines that governments should adopt to protect everyday citizens from the potential harms of uncontrolled AI development. Recognizing the global competition between countries like the United States and China to lead AI innovation, we stress the need for coherent and consistent regulations worldwide. There is a strong need to highlight the importance of transparency, accountability, and adherence to privacy and copyright laws in AI development. While many people are calling for the slowing down or ending of AI development, it remains critical to many national development plans and simply needs positive oversight to ensure a reduction of harms to the end users. Join us as we dive beyond the headlines and provide you with the right insights to help you sleep better at night, without a robot overlord watching over you.Ben Porter - Ben porter is a consultant and educator focusing on innovative use of technology. He has created, built and managed world leading management consulting companies focusing on the strategic use of information technology, as well as led Fortune 500 companies through the development of IT Vision, Strategy, and delivery of strategic business value. He holds a BS in Mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University and an MS in Industrial Administration from Purdue.Over his more than 40 years of consulting and decade plus of teaching, he is passionate about finding ways for organizations to creatively use technology to achieve their business and organizational visions. He has developed careers for scores of consultants and students in the fields of Information Technology, Data Science and Analytics.Prometheus Endeavor - "At Prometheus Endeavor, we challenge conventional wisdom. We research, make observations, ask questions about endeavors and publish our ideas. We apply our knowledge, management experience, frameworks and models to separate issues and good ideas from traps and blind alleys. We uncover unknowns, identify scenarios, set priorities and plans, calibrate adjustments and measure progress."

With over 719 million people across the world living below the international poverty line and the current data indicating the world will miss its target of eliminating poverty by 2030, we dive into the issues facing these efforts, what international organizations are missing, and why it is so important to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #1 as soon as possible. It is not by chance that the first SDG is the elimination of poverty in all its forms. Through a wide array of studies, conversations, observations, and engagements, the world recognizes that many different issues stem from poverty including crime, malnourishment, migration, and more. This is not only a problem for the Global South, but for the entire world, as poverty remains endemic in all countries (Iceland has the lowest poverty rate, at 4.5% of its population) and the SDG #1 promises to leave no one behind, while focusing on the most extreme forms of poverty first. However, since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the world has seen the first rise in global poverty rates in over a generation. This issue is not going away soon, but local social entrepreneur, Marc Blumenthal, has a new approach that he believes will create sustainable systems designed to empower local communities to bring economic development to their own communities.In this episode we speak with Marc Blumenthal of Social Ventures Foundation and the EPIC program, and hear from him about how the top down approach of the global development agencies has failed those experiencing poverty and how his new social venture program will tackle the issue from the bottom up. By by-passing governments and working directly with the people, Marc believes his social ventures and social franchises can create economic drivers that are lead and run by the people in-need. Rather than funding the haves and expecting a trickle down effect, the Social Ventures Foundation looks to work with people on the bottom of the economic ladder, not only to build businesses, but to also provide social impact.  Marc Blumenthal has been involved in a variety of startups in the fields of Education, Medical Devices, Plasma Fusion, and Aerospace.  He founded SVF in 2017 and has been involved in the enterprise on a full-time basis. At the age of 19 he was involved in his first start-up, while attending the University of Pennsylvania. His second venture was designed around providing educational opportunities for millions of children across the Northeast, through The Learning Guild. After his time with the Learning Guild, he became Managing Director of a multi-million dollar limited investment partnership, which then led him to creating his own Venture Capital firm, Novations. He began the Social Ventures Foundation in response to a lack of sustainable resource allocation in the poverty reduction industry. Our mission is three-fold: to identify, promote, and invest in businesses of all sorts that have a product or service that lifts the livelihoods of the poor. Through this work, they engage directly with the people inthese communities to build sustainable paths to a better future, economically, socially, and communally. Contact Marc at: marc@socialventuresfoundation.org

Things have never been easy for the modern state of Israel over the past 75 years, including today where the government faces a wide variety of external and internal pressures. Over the past four years the government has struggled to build a lasting coalition, having five elections in that timeframe and watching countrywide protests erupt over their judicial reform bill in recent months. In addition, the country inhabits an inherently hostile space, as several of their neighbors see the state as illegitimate and take particular issue with the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. While there are no easy answers on the path to a two state solution, there are opportunities for progress.The Global in the Granite State podcast dives into the current state of affairs in Israel, bringing in a historical perspective, by speaking with Jason Isaacson, Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer at the American Jewish Committee. By listening to this month's episode you will come away with a better understanding of the current challenges and opportunities that Israel faces as it celebrates its 75th anniversary. These include the recent challenge over the judicial reform bill, ongoing regional tensions that flared over into violence in the past few weeks, and the longstanding, unresolved issue of creating compromise with the Palestinian leadership. Jason Isaacson, Chief Policy and Political Affairs Officer at the American Jewish Committee, is a longtime analyst of U.S. political and strategic affairs and an advocate for Arab-Israeli peace. An observer to the 1991-92 Middle East peace talks in Madrid, Moscow, and Washington, he represented AJC at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna; since 1993, he has coordinated periodic AJC ministerial meetings throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia, including numerous visits that were the first by an American Jewish civic organization. He has lectured periodically at the Diplomatic Institute of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy. In 2002, he was a Senior Visitor at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. Isaacson directed an AJC initiative to strengthen transatlantic cooperation on Middle East policy – resulting in the opening of the Transatlantic Institute in Brussels in 2004. In 2005, in Tunis, he convened an NGO seminar on tolerance-promotion on the Internet, in conjunction with the UN World Summit on the Information Society. In 2015, he coordinated in Brussels the Defining Moment for Europe conference on strategies to combat resurgent antisemitism. In 2007, the French Minister of Culture and Communication awarded him the rank of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. In July 2009, King Mohammed VI bestowed on Isaacson the honor of Chevalier of the Order of the Throne of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Seemingly forever, the world has debated what to do about climate change. The arguments on both sides are well worn and movement towards incorporating more green technology into the energy system continues to gain momentum. However, as this transition begins, one issue to consider, which has not seen robust public discussion is the idea of bringing justice to the energy system. It is not a secret that energy production, resource extraction, and the most negative effects of pollution impact low income communities the most. So, as the world starts this transition there is an opportunity to bring more equity to the way in which energy is produced and impacts communities. Today we talk with Dr. Erin Baker, Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the Faculty Director of the Energy Transition Institute, about what is meant by a "Just Transition", what stands in the way of this, and how everyday people can have an impact on this issue. Dr. Erin Baker is a Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the Faculty Director of the Energy Transition Institute, which is focused on stakeholder-engaged research at the intersection of energy technology and social equity. She has a PhD in Engineering-Economic Systems & Operations Research from the department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University and a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from U.C. Berkeley. She combines operations research methods and economics to decision-making under uncertainty, with a focus on Energy Justice and publicly-funded energy technology Research & Development portfolios in the face of climate change.

"Never again" has turned into "Again and Again", or "Never Happened". In the wake of the holocaust, the world committed to never forgetting the atrocities and never letting something like this happen again. 75 years later, the world continues to see new genocides begin and concerted efforts to deny that these atrocities ever even happened. As hate rises around the world, the conditions necessary for mass atrocities has ripened, allowing for more than ten current and ongoing genocides to flourish today. In this episode, we talk about the ways in which the world, and individual, can work to better prevent, respond to, and recover from genocides. While this area of international affairs is very difficult to deal with, that does not mean there is nothing to do. The first step is knowledge and awareness. Where countries can shroud their actions behind secrecy and a disinterested global community, this is where governments are able to act with impunity against perceived threats to their authority. Listen today to better understand the ways a genocide gets started, how the world can respond, and why these horrible atrocities continue to occur today. Michael C. Pryce is the founder and CEO of COA Consultants and COA NonProfit, both organizations dedicated to developing pragmatic planning tools to prevent or intervene in a mass atrocity. From 2007-2009, Pryce was the Professor of Conflict Resolution at the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) of the US Army War College, and Director of the Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO) Project, a partnership between PKSOI and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.He used his expertise in military planning and conflict resolution to recruit and lead a group of fellow planning experts in developing the MARO Project's documents. He also coordinated the project's initial evolution throughout the Department of Defense and the US Government. He has formally presented the MARO Project to international military audiences as well as organizations such as the UN and the Pearson Peacekeeping Center in Ottawa, Canada.From 1999 until 2007, Pryce worked in Stuttgart, Germany at the US European Command Plans Division as the lead or deputy planner in stability and combat operations. While there he helped develop plans and strategies for military cooperation with non-defense agencies of the US Government, as well as NATO and EU organizations, and was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. He specialized in guiding small, diverse groups of executives and academics through analytical processes designed to clarify strategic and operational problems and develop feasible solutions. DONATE TODAY

Not only do global experiences open your eyes to the world around you, they also help you better understand who you are and they let you explore who you want to be. Whether it is through study abroad, the Peace Corps, agri- or volun-tourism, or any extended trip abroad, you gain so much from engaging with the world, changing your life and the lives of those you interact with. Today we talk with Lisa McAdam Donegan and David Crisci, co-founders of Global Education Partners, about the power of going global to experience the world. While many people may not feel they are able to go abroad, if you are dedicated enough to the opportunity, there are many ways to fund your global experience. As promised in the episode, here are a couple of opportunities  you may want to look into:-  Peace Corps- Teach Abroad with CIEE- Fulbright Program- Travel Sponsorship Ideas- Study Abroad Sponsorship Ideas- Study Abroad Sponsorship Ideas- U.S. Government SponsorshipThis is just a short listing of ideas, which is provided for informational purposes only. The World Affairs Council of New Hampshire does not receive any monetary support from these links and does not guarantee the availability of any funds for particular situations.

If you want to start a heated debate, pretty much anywhere in the Western world today, just bring up the topic of immigration. While there are plenty of policy issues that drive partisanship today, few are as sticky as the immigration issue. From the arguments of protecting the border and rule of law, to the need to protect immigrant rights and the dynamism that comes with welcoming legal immigrant, there are plenty of ideas, issues, and challenges to work on and argue about. In today's episode, we talk with Dr. James Hollifield, Professor and Director of the Tower Center for Public Policy and International Affairs at Southern Methodist University, about why the United States and the European Union have grappled with immigration for so long. The challenge stems from what he identifies as the "Liberal Paradox", where states need to define borders, citizenship, and rule of law, with the need to respect human rights, uphold values, and welcome new labor. Join us as we take a look at the history of immigration in the U.S. and what these countries can do to solve this issue. James F. Hollifield is the Ora Nixon Arnold Fellow in International Political Economy, Professor in the Department of Political Science, and Director of the Tower Center at SMU in Dallas, Texas, as well as a member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations and a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, DC.Hollifield has served as an Advisor to various governments in North and South America, Europe, East Asia and the Middle East and Africa, as well as the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the OECD, the ILO, the IOM, the EU, and other international organizations.  He currently chairs working groups at the World Bank and the IDB and serves on the International Advisory Board of the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR for Migration and Mobility) of the Swiss National Science Foundation.   He has been the recipient of grants from private corporations and foundations as well as government agencies, including the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Social Science Research Council, the Sloan Foundation, the Owens Foundation, the Raytheon Company, and the National Science Foundation.His major books include Immigrants, Markets and States (Harvard), L’Immigration et l’Etat Nation: à la recherche d’un modèle national (L’Harmattan), Pathways to Democracy: The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions (with Calvin Jillson, Routledge), Migration, Trade and Development (with Pia Orrenius and Thomas Osang, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas), Herausforderung Migration—Perspektiven der vergleichenden Politikwissenschaft (with Uwe Hunger, Lit Verlag), Migration Theory (with Caroline Brettell, Routledge, now it its third edition), and Controlling Immigration ( with Philip Martin and Pia Orrenius, Stanford, also in its third edition). His current book projects are The Migration State (Harvard)—a study of how states manage international migration for strategic gains—and International Political Economy: History, Theory and Policy (with Thomas Osang, Cambridge). He also has published numerous scientific articles and reports on the political economy of international migration and development.

Over the past two years the Chinese Communist Party has worked to keep the COIVD pandemic at bay through a series of policies requiring strict quarantines, sometimes of millions of people at the same time, that reduced the opportunity for community spread. Over the past couple of weeks, the Chinese public has come out into the streets to demand the end of the Dynamic Zero COVID polices, as they has suffered too much in this time. From being locked in their homes, sometimes with little to no food, to being forced into quarantine centers without warning, as well as an economy in decline, the protests were a pressure release that looked for substantive change in a number of areas of Chinese life. In today's episode we speak with Dr. Chris Reardon of the University of New Hampshire about what drove people into the streets and what the response from the CCP may look like.  Let us know what you think about this, and other, episode by sending us an email at council@wacnh.org

The Global in the Granite State brings you a extra special, bonus episode, through a collaboration with the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. In this episode, Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett and Tim Horgan join forces for a dynamic conversation about the complex and often problematic ways in which the world of sports intersects and interacts with human rights issues. They cover everything from sportswashing (ancient and modern!) – including the two biggest sporting events of 2022, the Beijing Winter Olympics and the World Cup in Qatar – to the responsibility of sports federations to promote and uphold human rights, to the powerful role that athletes can play as advocates for human rights and other social issues. The episode introduces many of the topics that the Sports & Rights season will dive into more fully, with a special focus on how they play out close to home in the Granite State.

Throughout our work, the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire tries to identify unique and amazing connections to the world from right here in the granite state. From nonprofits doing work across the globe, to stories of international connections fostered by our global exchange programs, it never ceases to amaze the many ways that granite staters are impacting the world. In this month's episode, we speak with Maria Horne, co-founder and CEO of BLI Global, a nonprofit with a unique global history and a deep connection to the state. Through a variety of youth focused programs in countries as far away as Peru and Vanuatu, they are empowering youth to become changemakers in the world. Join us to dive deeper into the great work this program is doing right here in the state.If you enjoy this episode, or want to help us bring more engaging global content to our audiences, please consider a donation today! DONATE NOW

As with many other wars and conflicts that grew out of the collapse of the Soviet Union, there is a much deeper history to what is going on between Azerbaijan and Armenia. You have to understand the historical context to understand why these two countries cannot get together and come to a lasting agreement over their border and what to do with Nagorno Karabakh. With a breaking of the ceasefire last month, and at least 300 dead, this region continues to see instability that has the potential to flare up again and again. For this episode we talk with Mary Glantz, a former US Foreign Service Officer and a current Senior Advisor to the Russian and European Center at the US Institute of Peace, about the intractable nature of this conflict. On a rare positive note, there is hope that a breakthrough in the peace process is closer than ever and there is a high likelihood that the United States could help push this over the finish line. Listen today to help better understand the drivers of this conflict and what the what is happening here!Dr. Mary Glantz was a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service and was detailed to USIP as a State Department fellow prior to her retirement in 2022.Most of her 20-year career as a diplomat has focused on Russia, the former Soviet Union, and other countries of Europe and Eurasia. Previous overseas postings include Baku, Jerusalem, Estonia, and Kosovo. Dr. Glantz also has served as a Russia analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research as well as on the Russia and Poland desks at the State Department. Prior to joining the State Department, she worked as an intern for the Special Adviser for Central and Eastern European Affairs to the Secretary General of NATO, serving in Moscow, Russia and Vilnius, Lithuania.Dr. Glantz received her bachelor’s in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her master’s in post-Soviet studies from the University of London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies, and a doctorate from Temple University with a specialization in military and diplomatic history. She recently completed a certificate in data science at Montgomery College.Donate Today to help support our ongoing series.

The nature of work has consistently changed and morphed, through technological innovation and societal upheavals. Currently, the world sees both factors pushing new ways for people to work, as well as what employees value in their work lives. We speak with Kevin Cassidy, Director and Representative to the Bretton Woods and Multilateral Organizations at the International Labour Organization, about the work that the ILO does to bring together governments, businesses, and workers to ensure a human centered approach to work. Through collaborative efforts of these three stakeholders, a more positive and successful environment for employers and employees can be created. Whether viewed through the lens of the "Great Resignation" the "Great Reshuffling" or the "Great Exploration", the fact of the matter is that major changes are underway and understanding the reason are vital to ensuring a positive outcome.If you would like to join us for our event with Kevin on October 5th, either in-person or online, you can find more information at: https://wacnh.org/event-4953543DONATE TODAY if you enjoy this program!