Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

2024 is an important year for African democracy. At least 19 national elections scheduled to take place this year. Not all of these elections will be free or fair-- let alone competetive. Some of these elections will serve to ensconce leaders for life like Rwanda's Paul Kagame. Others may serve to consolidate power following a coup. But genuine multi-party democracies like Ghana and South Africa are also headed to the polls in important elections.

Joining me to discuss key trends in African democracy and some of the highlights on the African electoral calendar in 2024 is Oge Onubogu, director of the Africa Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center. We kick off discussing Senegal, a once reliably stable democracy that has experienced significant backsliding and recently cancelled upcoming elections.

Disorder Podcast

Taiwan held elections for President and the Legislature on January 13. These elections were highly anticipated for the fact that the leading candidates have differing views on how to manage Taiwan's relationship with China. The current vice President, Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party won the elections and is considered to be more pro-west, pro-independence, and skeptical of China.

My guest today, Kharis Templeman, spent the last several weeks in Taiwan leading up to the vote. He explains the results, including the fact that while the DPP candidate Lai Ching-te won the presidency, the DPP does not have a majority in the legislature. We discuss the significance of this split government and what Lai ching-te's presidency means for cross strait relations with China. Kharis Templeman is Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and the manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region. He is also a Lecturer at the Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University.

Today's episode is the launch of a new series called "From Fragility to Stability" in which we examine what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings who often struggle to sustain resilient food, land, and water systems in the face of the climate crisis. The series is produced with CGIAR, a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security, to help deepen understanding of fragility, conflict, and migration dynamics. Episodes in this series will convene experts, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders to foster a collaborative dialogue, share insights, and co-create actionable strategies to address the multifaceted challenges of conflict, crises, and fragility.

-Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director–CGIAR -Andrew Harper, Special Advisor to the High Commissioner on Climate Action, the UN Refugee Agency -Arif Husain (Chief Economist and Director of Analysis, Planning and Performance United Nations World Food Program -Katrina Kosec, Senior Research Fellow–IFPRI; Lead–CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration; Lecturer, Johns Hopkins Universit To learn more and access other episodes in this series, please visit https://www.globaldispatches.org/t/fragilitytostability

Western countries have seized hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Since then, the question of what to do with those assets has loomed large over debates about Ukraine.

Vladimir Milov is a Former Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation and now a Russian opposition politician. Milov makes a compelling case for the expropriation of these assets as a means to aid Ukraine's reconstruction efforts and explains the web of state-affiliated money hidden overseas. Vladimir Milov delves into the staggering amount of Russian capital funneled out of the country, shedding light on the possibility that a significant portion is controlled by entities with direct ties to the Russian state. He emphasizes the necessity of differentiating between clearly identified state-owned assets and the more obscured parastatal resources that play a role in the international economy. Milov also discusses the potential for substantial funds to be uncovered, which could dramatically aid in the reconstruction of Ukraine's war-damaged infrastructure and society.

Vladimir Milov's article for GlobeSec