Why It Matters CFR

The world is entering a new era of great-power competition. As U.S. policymakers look ahead, it pays to know what global threats to anticipate. Every January, the Council on Foreign Relations publishes a survey that analyzes the conflicts most likely to occur in the twelve months ahead and rates their potential impact on the United States. But can the country prepare itself for mass immigration, cyberwarfare, and nuclear tensions while still cooperating with adversaries on global issues such as climate change?
 
Read the full 2023 Preventive Priorities Survey. 
Check out the Center for Preventive Action’s Global Conflict Tracker.
 
Featured Guest:
Paul B. Stares (General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action)
 
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/2023-whats-worst-could-happen

In 2022, several major events reverberated around the world: a war in Europe, a global economic downturn, historic protests in Iran, the death of a queen. But these stories couldn’t cover everything that happened in our interconnected world. 
 
To find out what else happened this year, Gabrielle Sierra sat down with CFR President Richard Haass and three of CFR’s regional specialists to break down stories from Latin America, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. 
 
Featured Guests
Steven A. Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars 
Richard Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations
Ebenezer Obadare, Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow for Africa Studies
Shannon K. O’'Neil, Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies
 
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/another-year-living-dangerously 

For years, the world thought of the internet as a borderless zone that brought people from around the world together. But as governments pursue very different regulatory paths, the monolithic internet is breaking apart. Now, where there had been one, there are at least three internets: one led by the United States, one by China, and one by the European Union.
 
Featured Guests:
Anu Bradford (Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization, Columbia Law School)
Adam Segal (Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security & Director of Digital and Cyberspace Policy Program, Council on Foreign Relations)
Tarah Wheeler (Senior Fellow for Global Cyber Policy, Council on Foreign Relations)
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/three-internets

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has kicked off in Qatar, and billions of fans worldwide are tuning in to the world’s most popular live event. And yet as in years past, the Qatar Cup is transpiring under the shadow of controversy.
 
Featured Guests
Laurent Dubois (Academic Director, Karsh Institute of Democracy and John L. Nau III Bicentennial Professor of the History & Principles of Democracy, University of Virginia)
 
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/troubled-cup-beautiful-game 

The world is already witnessing the effects of climate change. One inescapable and irreversible consequence is sea-level rise, which could destroy coastal cities. How will the world adapt to rising tides?
 
Featured Guests:  
Alice C. Hill (David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment, Council on Foreign Relations) 
Klaus Jacob (Geophysicist and Emeritus Research Professor, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University) 
Henk Ovink  (Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Netherlands) 
Gernot Wagner (Climate Economist and Visiting Associate Professor, Columbia University)
 
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/climate-adaptation-rising-tides-in-coastal-cities

The global arms trade is big business and the United States accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s weapons exports. Aside from the profit motivation, selling arms abroad can be an effective foreign policy tool, allowing the United States to exert influence over conflict and security worldwide without having to put boots on the ground. But are the risks worth the reward?
 
Featured Guests:
Christa N. Almonte (U.S. Navy Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations)
William D. Hartung (Director, Arms and Security Program, Center for International Policy)
Rachel Stohl (Vice President of Research Programs, Stimson Center)
 
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/cost-us-arms-trade