“Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War.”
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
03/28/24
•34m
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Philosopher George Santayana wrote those words 100 years ago, between two massively destructive world wars. Unfortunately, they continue to ring true today amidst a growing global epidemic of political and civil conflict. That epidemic takes many different forms—wars between countries, civil wars, brutally violent conflicts among armed gangs, large-scale terrorism, government-sanctioned ethnic cleansing—but the terrible consequences for civilians are the same. And, more and more people in more and more places are caught up in extreme violence.
What happened to the “peace dividend” after the end of the Cold War? Or the optimism of scholars like Steven Pinker and Yuval Noah Harari who expected mankind’s “better angels” to produce peace and prosperity? Did the Age of Aquarius already come and go?
Clionadh Raleigh believes it is important to understand and document the nature and extent of violent global civil conflict. She founded and leads ACLED, Armed Conflict Location and Events Data and is a professor of political violence and geography at the University of Sussex. Listen as she describes the world as it actually is.
Tell us what you think and comment here.
Previous Episode
Spring Migrations
March 21, 2024
•39m
Mass migration is once again in the headlines around the world. This is less because of the numbers of people on the move than because it is an intensely political year—and fear of migrants is grist for politicians’ fear-mongering. The United States is the exception where both apply.
In a world of increasing conflict, weak economic growth, and populist bombast it is easy to blame migrants. And then to tighten asylum policies, pay departure countries to disrupt travel, find supposedly “safe haven” countries to dump unwanted migrants, and imagine other creative ways to broadcast the message: MIGRANTS NOT WANTED!
Andrew Selee, President of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, has a different idea. How about a calm, expletives-deleted, fact-based pragmatic discussion about migration and migration policies? Listen as he makes his case for an approach to migration that is legal, practical, and in the interests of both destination countries and the migrants.
**Should your country accept more migrants? **Tell us what you think and leave a comment on our website
Next Episode
Defeating the Taliban, One Educated Girl at a Time
April 4, 2024
•28m
Terrorists and Afghanistan were back in the headlines because of the recent murderous ISIS-K attack on a concert in Moscow. No one should be surprised, since terrorism seems to be one of that benighted country’s few reliable exports. But, shouldn’t we all be worried that once again the Taliban seem to be hosting terrorists who can strike far outside their borders? And shouldn’t someone be trying to do something about the underlying problems of a failed state?
The good news is that someone is: Pashtana Durrani, a formidable Afghan woman, is deeply devoted to bringing her country into the 21st century, one empowered woman and one educated girl at a time. Through Learn, an organization that educates high school girls in their home villages, she might be one of the bigger threats to Afghan fundamentalism in the long run. Needless to say, the Taliban aren’t happy with her, which is why she works from exile.
Pashtana recently published “Last to Eat, Last to Learn” describing her journey so far. The book and this conversation aren’t just optimistic, they are proof points that individuals can make a difference, if they are stubborn and have good ideas. Ms Durrani, who was honored in 2021 as a Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize winner in the Emerging Leader category, has both.
Moreover, she may be right: educated girls might just be to the Taliban what kryptonite was to Superman. What do you think?
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