America Abroad

The United States Institute of Peace brought 27 global youth leaders to Dharamsala, India, this fall so they could attend leadership workshops, network together, and receive mentorship from the 14th Dalai Lama.

Ambassador Wendy Sherman discusses her unlikely career, which began as an advocate for women's issues before going into politics and eventually landing at the State Department as the lead negotiator for the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Since 1984 there have been five Terminator movies. Another is slated to come out next year. Over that time, what was once pure science fiction has become more and more plausible.

When Bill Clinton took over as president in 1992, his then-Middle East adviser Martin Indyk told him he had a chance to partner with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to secure peace treaties with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinians.

It's been 17 years since 9/11, and 14 years since the 9/11 Commission released its recommendations on how to prevent future attacks. While much of the focus has been on military solutions, the commission also made recommendations on how to use diplomacy and soft power to prevent the growth of extremist ideology abroad. In this episode, we take a look at those recommendations, and how each administration has worked to implement them.

Stories from the Backchannel is a new podcast that examines the stories behind some of America's most important national security moments.

"[Populist leaders who] are willing to vilify other people based on their religion and ethnicity are probably not particularly respectful of democratic institutions."

In May, Iraqis voted in the first parliamentary elections since ISIS was defeated in their country. The winner? An anti-American Shiite cleric's political bloc.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union used the media to undermine foreign powers. Now, Russia is at it again. And while the goals are the same, the methods have changed.

"We feel terrible about what is going on in Syria, but we don't want to get really deeply engaged. So we do just enough to make the situation worse without doing enough to make it better.”

While Europe was in the Dark Ages, scientific discovery was blooming in the Islamic world. Now, centuries later, some Muslim countries are making new investments in space exploration.

Massive document leaks have led to the fall of world leaders and to new anti-corruption laws. But some leaks have put lives in danger. So what's the limit to the public’s right to know?

North Korean missiles can now reach major US cities. The Trump administration promises to "utterly destroy" the Kim regime if there's a war. So, what will it take to ease tensions between the two nuclear powers? This episode features a live town hall discussion recorded on Dec. 1, 2017 — only three days after the latest North Korean ICBM test.

"You could make an argument that trade was the biggest issue that put Donald Trump in the Oval Office. I mean the states that he won the election in were places that lost the highest percentage of jobs to import competition in the last 15 years," said Edward Alden, author of "Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy."

Abortion. Right to die. Stem cell research. Modern bioethical issues confront an ancient religion.

Superstorms like Harvey and Irma are increasingly common — a result of global warming, say climate scientists. Yet President Donald Trump intends to pull the US out of the Paris agreement, a historic international pact to reduce carbon emissions. But how is the rest of the world dealing with climate change?

Filipino President Duterte’s war on drugs has killed over 7,000 people. But not only has the White House failed to condemn Duterte's tactics; President Trump has praised them. This hour: stories about the drug war, the history of US-Philippine relations, a Philippine city besieged by ISIS and Duterte’s overtures to China. And we’ll talk about how the US can manage this delicate situation moving forward.

"We don't crave the combat so much as we crave hard things to conquer," said one Green Beret.

Much of President Donald Trump’s populist support comes from people who are deeply worried about globalization and immigration. But Trump’s pro-border wall, anti-NAFTA stance has strained US- Mexico relations. Can the two nations find common ground and work past the rhetoric?

It’s been a year and a half since 195 countries signed a historic climate change agreement in Paris. Now, cleaner energy policies are being implemented across the globe. But the agreement alone won’t be enough to reach emissions goals.