Advertise on podcast: Trending Globally: Politics and Policy

Violent, organized conflict is a near constant in human history. But why? Often, large-scale conflicts and wars are explained in material or political terms: humans engaging in conflict over land, resources, or ideologies. But as Rose McDermott, the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor of International Relations, sees it, these explanations fail to fully account for war’s existence and persistence throughout the long history of our species. To do that, McDermott argues that we need to take more seriously the ways that human psychology — shaped by our evolution as a species — predisposes some of us to violence. On this episode, Dan Richards spoke with Rose McDermott about how millennia of human evolution have wired our brains — particularly male brains — for war; what this means for modern society; and how we might think about building structures and institutions to help chart a new, more peaceful path for humanity. Transcript coming soon to our website.

When President Trump took office in January, Congress seemed poised to play a supporting role in the story of Trump’s second term. Republicans largely fell in line to support President Trump’s cabinet nominees and much of his broader agenda; it’s been reported that Trump himself has joked that he’s both the President and Speaker of the House.  Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, appeared helpless to mount a vigorous opposition to Trump’s policies, or even to energize their own base.  But this fall, those dynamics began to shift.  Congressional Republicans have stood up to Trump on some key issues, including most notably the release of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. And Congressional Democrats galvanized supporters around this fall’s government shutdown fight over the future of ACA health insurance subsidies. On this episode, two experts on Congressional politics spoke with Dan Richards about the shifting role of Congress in U.S. politics, as President Trump enters his “lame duck” phase and America gears up for a midterm election in less than 12 months. They also discuss Congress’s consistently low approval rating among Americans, and explore what (if anything) could be done to make Congress work better under the Trump administration and beyond.  Guests on this episode:  Eric Patashnik is a political scientist and director of the Watson School’s Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. Congresswoman Kathy Manning represented North Carolina’s sixth district from 2020 to 2024 and is currently a senior fellow in international and public affairs at the Watson School. 

In October, President Trump and President Xi Jinping met for the first time in Trump’s new presidential term. The meeting ended with commitments from both countries designed to lower trade tensions —– something many observers greeted with relief. But, according to Watson Senior Fellow and Director of the Watson School’s China Initiative Lyle Goldstein, perhaps more noticeable was what was left out of this meeting; almost all of the pressing security issues that exist between the two countries, including the one Goldstein sees as the “most dangerous of all”– the U.S. relationship with Taiwan. On this episode, host Dan Richards speaks with Goldstein about the state of U.S.-China relations over Taiwan, why he believes this issue represents one of the world’s greatest risks to human safety, and why now is the moment to reconsider the U.S. foreign policy consensus on this geopolitical flashpoint. Learn more about the Watson School’s China Initiative Read Lyle’s multi-part series on the past, present, and future of US-China relations

In August 2022 — just over three years ago — the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law. It represented the largest federal investment in renewable energy and climate action in U.S. history. The bill was a historic victory for the climate movement — and, as it turns out, its high-water mark in the United States for the foreseeable future. Since returning to office, President Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, rolled back numerous environmental and climate regulations, issued executive orders to pause renewable energy projects, and worked with Congress to dismantle key parts of the IRA. On this episode, Dan Richards speaks with two experts on climate politics at the Watson School: Jeff Colgan, professor of political science and director of Watson’s Climate Solutions Lab, and Chris Rea, assistant professor of sociology and expert on climate and environmental governance about the new landscape of climate politics. They discuss the state of the climate movement and green transition in America and around the world, where the climate movement goes from here, and what it all means for our politics and our planet. Learn more about the Watson School’s Climate Solutions Lab. Read Jeff Colgan's recent article in International Organization on contemporary climate politics

In 2014, Narendra Modi became India’s Prime Minister, marking the beginning of what many experts and international watchgroups identify as a period of democratic erosion in the country. Since then, a number of other democracies around the world have followed India on this path — including, by many measures, the United States. On this episode, Dan Richards talks with two experts on Indian politics and society about Modi’s rise in India: its causes and effects, how it compares to other instances of democratic erosion around the world, and what it can teach us about democracy’s weaknesses and strengths. Guests on this episode: Poulami Roychowdhury is an associate professor of sociology and international and public affairs at the Watson School of International and Public Affairs.Patrick Heller is a professor of sociology and international and public affairs and director of the Watson School’s Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia. Read Roychowdhury’s and Heller’s recent work exploring democracy and democratic erosion in India.

Bryce Steinberg is a development economist, which means she studies how lower-income countries grow into more prosperous ones. More specifically, she studies how to help people in low-income countries build their “human capital” — a phrase social scientists use to describe things like getting more formal education, more professional training, or improving your health. As she tells Dan Richards on this episode of Trending Globally, part of the answer is well-understood. “We have to build the schools, we have to build the clinics, we have to get the roads, get the infrastructure in place so that people can access these things,” Steinberg explains. However, decades of development policy has made clear that access alone doesn’t solve the problem, and supplying communities with such resources doesn’t necessarily mean people will use them. Why not? That’s what Steinberg studies. On this episode, Richards talks with Steinberg about her research, which seeks to better understand what she calls the “demand-side” of development policy: What makes people actually use the services that are available to them, and how to remove the barriers that stand in their way. They also discuss how development policy has evolved over the last few decades and how, with the dismantling of USAID, it may be poised to change once again.

Watson School political scientist Peter Andreas has spent decades studying the global economy — but not the one you read about in the business section, or are taught in Econ 101.  His focus is on the illicit global economy.  He’s written about everything from piracy in colonial America to the smuggling of technology during the Industrial Revolution, to clandestine migration and illegal drug trafficking today.  His newest book, “The Illicit Global Economy: Everything You Need to Know,” is both a concise primer on this massive topic and a compelling argument for why you can’t understand our global economy today without understanding how it operates on both sides of the law.  On this episode of “Trending Globally,” he talks with Dan Richards about how the illicit global economy works, the surprising nuances within it, and how it intersects with some of the most pressing issues in our politics today.  Learn more about and purchase “The Illicit Global Economy: Everything You Need to Know.”

In his new book “The Art of Coercion,” Watson political scientist Reid Pauly provides a seemingly straightforward definition of coercion: “The practice of convincing a target by the use of threats, to bend to your will.” However, the simplicity of the definition belies the difficulty of doing it effectively – especially in the world of international security and relations. As Pauly explains to Dan Richards on this episode of “Trending Globally”: “The history of coercive bargaining, coercive diplomacy is really a litany of mostly failures.”   This is a problem not only for countries seeking to coerce others, whether it’s through tariffs, sanctions, or threats of military action. It’s also a problem because when coercion fails, countries usually find themselves one step closer to war.  Why do so many attempts at coercive diplomacy fail, and why do some succeed? The answer may surprise you.  Learn more about and purchase “The Art of Coercion” Read Pauly’s July article in MIT’s International Security 

What’s the role of a university in a democratic society? What responsibility do universities have to foster the public good, and what responsibilities does the public have to support centers of education and research?  These have become some of the most fraught and pressing questions in our current moment. But of course, they’re also timeless questions — ones that are as old as the United States itself.  In May, Watson political economist Mark Blyth explored these questions with literary scholar Kevin McLaughlin and historian Karin Wulf on the Rhodes Center Podcast, another podcast from the Watson School. In addition to having thought deeply on just these types of issues, Kevin and Karin are also the co-chairs of “Brown 2026,” an initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the U.S. and exploring the past and future role of universities in a democratic society.  Their conversation has only become more salient since it was originally recorded, which is why we’re sharing it with Trending Globally listeners today.  Guests on this episode: Kevin McLaughlin is a literary scholar and director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study at Brown. Karin Wulf is a historian and director and librarian of the John Carter Brown Library. Learn more about Brown 2026.  Transcript coming soon to our website. 

On July 4th, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law. The bill cuts trillions of dollars in taxes, and allocates hundreds of billions in new spending. To offset all of this, it calls for over a trillion dollars in cuts to a range of domestic programs.  On this episode, Dan Richards spoke with two experts from the Watson School about the bill: How it will shape American society, what its passage says about the Republican Party, and the role it might play in the 2026 midterms and beyond.  Guests on this episode:  Eric Patashnik is a professor of public policy and political science and author, most recently, of “Countermobilization: Policy Feedback and Backlash in a Polarized Age.”Margaret Weir is a political scientist, professor of international and public affairs and political science, and co-editor, most recently, of the 2021 book “Who Gets What? The New Politics of Insecurity.” 

On July 1st, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially closed its operations. It was the culmination of a months-long effort by the Trump administration to dismantle the agency, which had been in charge of administering U.S. foreign aid for over half a century.  Why did President Trump make the dissolution  of USAID a priority? And what will it mean for the people and places around the world that have relied on foreign aid from the U.S.? To answer these questions, Dan Richards spoke with Jennifer Hadden, a political scientist and associate professor at the Watson School, as well as co-author, with Sarah Sunn Bush, of the new book “Crowded Out: The Competitive Landscape of Contemporary International NGOs.” On this episode, they discuss the fate of USAID in the context of the broader international aid ecosystem. Specifically, they explore the evolving roles of international non-governmental organizations (INGO’s) in the foreign landscape, which have long worked with government agencies like USAID to deliver aid and assistance around the world.  To many, it was surprising that USAID became such a target of the Trump administration. But as Hadden makes clear, Trump’s moves are part of a larger shift in the world of foreign aid — one with truly global implications.  Learn more about and purchase “Crowded Out The Competitive Landscape of Contemporary International NGOs.”

On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Mark Blyth about his new book, co-written with Nicoló Fraccaroli, called “Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.”  Mark and Dan discuss the competing theories for what causes inflation, the merits of each, and how they explain (or fail to explain) the inflation we saw post-pandemic. They also explore why inflation harms some parts of society more than others, and how to make sure that, the next time inflation rears its head, we fight it in a way that’s more effective and more fair.   Learn more about and purchase “Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers”

Mexico, like the United States, has a gun violence problem. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and most of those murders come from firearms. In 2019, for example, almost 70% of the country's 35,000 murders involved firearms. But unlike the U.S., Mexico doesn’t have tens of thousands of licensed firearms dealers.  It has two.  So how do so many guns make their way into Mexico? And how do these guns shape Mexican society?  These are two of the questions Ieva Jusionyte explores in her new book “Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence across the Border.” Jusionyte is an anthropologist at the Watson Institute and spent much of the last few years following people whose lives are shaped by guns in Mexico. Guns, which, by and large, come from the United States.  On this episode, which was originally broadcast in May 2024, Jusionyte discusses the impact of American firearms on Mexican society and the role they play in spreading violence and trauma on both sides of the border.  Learn more about and purchase "Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence across the Border."

The World Press Freedom Index, which is issued by Reporters without Borders, measures the health of press freedom around the world. They do so along a number of axes, including the economic health of independent media, legal protections for the press and the physical security of journalists. In 2025, the global score on the index was the lowest it’s ever been. On this episode, Dan Richards talks with three journalists and media thinkers who work in a part of the world where press freedom is, at times, a matter of life and death. Chernoh Bah is a Sierra Leonean journalist, historian and postdoctoral research fellow at the Watson Institute. Sadibou Marong is a journalist and Sub-Saharan Africa bureau chief for Reporters Without Borders, based in Sénégal. Zubaida Ismail is a freelance journalist and Ghana's correspondent for Reporters Without Borders. They discuss the state of press freedom in countries across Africa, what the struggle for independent journalism in countries in Africa can teach the rest of the world, and the broader relationship between independent media and democratic health.  These guests, along with many others, gathered at the Watson Institute this Spring as part of the Media and Democracy Conference hosted by Watson’s Africa Initiative. You can watch more conversations and presentations from the conference here. 

Tuesday, April 29, marked the first 100 days of Trump’s second term.  To help make sense of all that’s happened (and a lot has happened), Dan Richards spoke with political scientist and Interim Director of the Watson Institute, Wendy Schiller. They discussed how Trump’s approach to governing has changed since his first term, and how the country, so far, has reacted to those changes. They also explore what’s been missing from mainstream coverage of this moment in U.S. politics, and the evolving relationship between national politics and institutions of higher education.