Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

There are just five people in the world who decide each year who wins the Nobel Peace Prize -- and Asle Toje is one of them.

Asle Toje is a foreign policy scholar and author. As of last year, he is also the newest member of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee. 

In our conversation, we discuss how one wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Asle Toje discusses some of the behind-the-scenes work of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, including the kinds of considerations that he and the other jurors make when deciding who should win the Nobel Peace Prize. To the extent possible, this conversation brings you inside the room where every Nobel Peace Prize winner has been decided for most of the last 105 years. 

We kick off with what with a discussion about the history of the Nobel Peace Prize and Alfred Nobel, before having an extended conversation about the process behind selecting the winner, certain controversies surrounding their decision over the years, and whether or not awarding the Nobel Peace Prize can influence broader political or policy outcomes in the service of peace. 

This Global Dispatches Podcast episode is an incredibly unique opportunity to hear directly  from a Nobel Peace Prize juror and I think you will love it.  Asle Toje's newest book is called The Causes of Peace: What We Know Now 

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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

Today’s episode is produced in partnership with the CGIAR Research Initiative on Fragility, Conflict, and Migration for a series that examines what works to improve the well-being of people in Fragile and Conflict Affected Settings. CGIAR is a global partnership that unites international organizations engaged in research about food security.

We are calling this series “From Fragility to Stability” and in today’s episode I host a roundtable discussion with three experts about how to escape the nexus of climate change, conflict and forced displacement

Ms. Jana Birner, Associate Partnerships Officer in the Office of the Special Advisor on Climate Action for the UN Refugee Agency

Barthelemy Mwanza, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who works with the Global Refugee Youth Network

Alessandro Craparo, a Bioclimatologist with CGIAR

When a man-made or natural disaster strikes, aid agencies must turn to donors, hat in hand, to fundraise for the response. This includes UN agencies like the World Food Programme and UNICEF, as well as international NGOs like the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children. Over the years, the UN has established a mechanism to consolidate these appeals through the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It’s a relatively straightforward and streamlined process: agencies outline their needs, and donors pledge funds to support the response. Historically, the United States has been the largest single donor, accounting for about 40% of all emergency humanitarian relief funding. But now, that funding has been abruptly cut.

The consequences of this decision have been profound, both for the people who rely on humanitarian assistance and for the professionals who have dedicated their careers to relief work. As my guest today, Thomas Byrnes, explains, the freezing of U.S. foreign aid and the dismantling of USAID have triggered a collapse of the global humanitarian system, with ripple effects we discuss in detail.

Thomas Byrnes is the director of Market Impact, a humanitarian and development consultancy firm. We begin by exploring how the global humanitarian system functions, why the United States was its lynchpin, and the near- and long-term implications of the near-total upheaval of the world’s approach to humanitarian crises.

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Tanzania has long been recognized as stable country, generally more advanced in its democracy than many other countries in East Africa. To be sure, democracy in Tanzania was certainly imperfect and flawed. But there did exist a degree of press freedom, a robust civil society, and multiple political parties.

Over the last few years, elements of Tanzanian democracy have been curtailed. The country is now in the midst of what scholars would call a democratic backslide. This occurs when the state uses its power to weaken institutions that sustain democracy, like civil society and a free press.

A key inflection point in this process was the 2015 election of President John Magufuli. Magufuli is very much a populist -- his nickname is "The Bulldozer." He came to power on a pledge to stamp out corruption but has also shown himself to be increasingly intolerant of dissent.

Since taking office he has enacted laws to severely restrict press freedoms; many journalists have been arrested, and political opponents silenced.

But according to my guest today, Constantine Manda, the process of democratic backsliding really began under the previous administration. Still, for reasons he explains in this episode, the erosions of have accelerated in recent months.

Constantine Manda is a Tanzanian national and a PHD candidate in the department of political science at Yale University.

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