American Diplomat – Details, episodes & analysis

Was Trump's big showdown with President Petro of Colombia a show of might and power, or was there another reality behind the smoke and mirrors?  Pete has a thing or two to say about optics, policy and human lives, from the standpoint of the practice of diplomacy.

Ambassador (and ASU professor) Ed O'Donnell offers a close look at the economic impacts of Trump's foreign policies "Tariff is a beautiful word", "The Chinese are going to take over the Panama Canal!" and "Drill, baby, drill."  What's the reality beneath the bombast, globally and in American households?

Nadya Bliss, the executive director of ASU's Global Security Initiative, helps us understand disinformation from the ground up.  What is the algorithmification of information and what are the technological incentives for its distribution?  When is AI just fine, when is it a problem, how do we detect it and what should we do?  What is the power of diplomats working together with technologists to keep us safe?

Pete and John Feeley follow on last week's interview with Felix Maradiaga, freed Nicaraguan political prisoner.  Pete and John learn the diplomatic and human story behind the story with Patrick Ventrell, one of our diplomats overseeing the evacuation of Felix and so many others freed along with him on the same day.  

The greatest threat to the Ortega regime in Nicaragua?  Ideas.  And that's how Félix Maradiaga, Nicaraguan political activist, ended up in solitary confinement, in darkness, for months on end, with little food, little water and suffering interrogations without end.  And his dearest wish, now, safe in the US?  To be guided not by hate or resentment but by love, to create a different future for not only his grandchildren but those of his torturers.  Welcome to the United States, Mr. Maradiaga.  You elevate us all.

Who can become a sex or labor trafficking victim? Anyone. We all need food and shelter; we all need to provide for our children, just to name a few. Traffickers are expert at exploiting our needs. Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, Director of the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research, helps us understand in depth how it is that Arizona, and the rest of the United States, and every country in the world, are impacted, both domestically and through immigration – after all, who leaves their home country? The desperate. And the desperate are exactly the target for traffickers. Watch Dominique's TedX talk and prepare to be amazed.

More on the labrynth of intelligence, strategy and diplomacy in Ukraine. Centralized control works in concert with decentralized execution, diplomacy is working and countries are working together. Pete continues his candid chat with General Ben Freakley and Ambassaor Mike Polt on the combined efforts of intelligence, military and diplomacy in Ukraine.  

Ambassador Mike Polt and General Ben Freakley of ASU's Leadership, Diplomacy and National Security Lab join Pete for a discussion of Ukraine from a combined diplomatic, military and intelligence perspective, covering not only strategy and the situation on the ground but also ideological and even psychological dimensions of the war there. Among the interesting questions: What do we have to blame ourselves for? Part one of a two-part series.

Iranian citizens are being raped and publicly hanged by their government. We are past the point of words of solidarity. Goli Ameri, diplomat and humanitarian, helps us understand not just the complexity of events on the ground, but how this costs us as Americans, in lives lost through armed conflict, in funds spent, in the weakening of the US global position, and by the consequences of Iran's nuclear threat. What can we as Americans do to address this extraordinary humanitarian crisis?

Were the riots in Brazil on January 8, 2023, a January 6 copycat, or a situation all their own? Ambassador Michael McKinley weighs in (hint – he's far too subtle and informed to toss off a slapdash comparison). Factors affecting coutries worldwide incluide the usual suspects - resentment politics, fear, economic crises, COVID, changing trade norms - but polarized politics are everywhere. Leaders are old these days. Have they talked to 20-year-olds? 40-year-olds? Today's challenges are different than the old days and politcs as usual are not delivering. Plus, you get to hear Laura's dear friend and Brazilian jazz pianist Helio Alves – or watch him play here. Enjoy!