Shows
The Pivot by Globely NewsWho Is the Real JD Vance?Independent journalist Zaid Jilani joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the political evolution of JD Vance and his transition from being a Never Trumper to Donald Trump’s running mate.
They assess Vance's heterodox political beliefs, how they clash with his personal life, and whether he represents the future of MAGA and the broader conservative movement.
(Image Credit: Gage Skidmore)
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Who Is the Real JD Vance?
https://globelynews.com/americas/who-is-the-real-jd-vance/
Why the Left Gets JD Vance Wrong | Zaid Jilani, Compact Magazine
https://ww...2024-07-251h 11
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Abiy Ahmed Paradox: Meet Ethiopia's 'Pentecostal Putin'The Economist correspondent Tom Gardner discusses with host Arif Rafiq the enigma that is Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who would preside over a civil war roughly a year after being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
The conversation is wide-ranging and covers Abiy's childhood, the role of religion in his life, his rise through the Ethiopian system, his transition from revered to reviled, and his relationship with great and regional powers, including including China, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.
Gardner is the author of "The Abiy Ahmed Project," newly published by Hurst...2024-07-151h 03
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe AMLO Legacy and Mexico’s Future Under Claudia Sheinbaum | Juan David RojasJuan David Rojas (@rojasrjuand) of Compact magazine and host Arif Rafiq discuss the historic victory of Claudia Sheinbaum in this month’s Mexican general elections. They take a deep dive into the record of her mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, and explore his heterodox, anti-neoliberal politics. They also assess what the future holds for Morena and Mexico under the leadership of Claudia Sheinbaum.
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2024-06-171h 23
The Pivot by Globely NewsIndia's Big Election SurpriseIndian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is returning to power for a third consecutive term, but with a slimmed-down mandate delivered by an electorate weighed down by economic precarity. India's surprising election results will have a profound effect on how Prime Minister Narendra Modi rules and who succeeds him.
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2024-06-0504 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsSouth Africa's New Political MomentIt’s a new era in South Africa. In last week's general elections, the African National Congress (ANC), which led the country’s freedom struggle, failed to win a National Assembly majority for the first time since the fall of apartheid in 1994. The party will now have to form a coalition government. Its choices may have profound effects not just on the ANC and South Africa, but beyond the country's borders as well.
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The Pivot by Globely NewsWhy Venezuela’s Maduro Is Saber-Rattling With GuyanaVenezuela is in the midst of a military buildup along its border with its smaller neighbor Guyana, a tiny South American country home to the world’s fastest-growing economy — driven by oil.
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2024-05-3103 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsClaudia Sheinbaum Could Become Mexico's First Jewish and Woman PresidentMexicans head to the polls on Sunday to choose their next president.
If the pre-election surveys are correct, their next president will be Claudia Sheinbaum — who would make history as Mexico’s first woman and first Jewish president.
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2024-05-3000 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsU.S.-China Green Metals Race Heats Up in Central AfricaCobus van Staden of the China in Africa podcast and host Arif Rafiq discuss two competing corridors that are at the heart of the great power race for green metals in the Central African Copper Belt: the Western-backed Lobito Corridor from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia and the China-constructed and potentially soon-to-be revamped Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA).
They unpack the great power dynamics that anchor this competition, the complicated histories of the Lobito Corridor and TAZARA, and how all this fits into or may not fit into the development strategies of regional states Angola...2024-05-201h 00
The Pivot by Globely NewsHezbollah and Israel: The State of PlayGuest Ali Hashem (@alihashem_tv) of Al Jazeera English and host Arif Rafiq (@arifcrafiq) discuss the prospects for a full-blown conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. The episode looks at the history of conflict between the two belligerents, including the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, assesses how both parties have adapted and evolved since then in anticipation of another war, and explains what’s driving the escalating strikes on both sides of the Blue Line since the October 7 attacks. Hashem and Rafiq also address the Iran factor and its influence over Axis of Resistance partner Hezbollah.
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The Pivot by Globely NewsGaza: Famine, Genocide, and the Day AfterKhalil Sayegh of the Agora Initiative joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss conditions on the ground in Gaza, what kind of political future awaits the Palestinian people, and his views on the response of Christian Zionists in the U.S. to the mass killings of Palestinians.
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2024-04-151h 06
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Narendra Modi LegacyIndia’s general elections begin this month and are likely to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party back to power for a third consecutive term.
King’s College London Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot and host Arif Rafiq discuss the fundamental features of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist project developed in the “laboratory” of the Gujarat state and applied nationally over his first two terms as prime minister.
They explore how Modi commandeered India’s Hindu nationalist movement and refashioned it into a Modi-centric populism, backed by a vigilante-driven social surveillance regime and m...2024-04-011h 11
The Pivot by Globely NewsEthiopia, Somaliland and the Horn of Africa's Game of PortsUniversity of Maryland Professor Michael Woldemariam joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the recent maritime access agreement between Ethiopia and the breakaway region of Somaliland. They address landlocked Ethiopia’s problem of geography, its regional aspirations, the challenges of federalism and fragmentation in Somalia and Ethiopia, and the contestation between great and regional powers, including the U.S. and China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey.
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https://globelynews.com/africa/ethiopia-somaliland-horn-africa-game-of-ports/
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The Pivot by Globely NewsChina's War on the Uyghur MuslimsUyghur activist Nury Turkel (@nuryturkel) speaks with host Arif Rafiq on China’s persecution of the Uyghur Muslims; the systems of coercion, surveillance, and collective punishment directed at the Uyghurs; and how you, the listener, may be unknowingly consuming products made in part through forced Uyghur labor.
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2024-03-041h 23
The Pivot by Globely NewsIndonesia 'After' Joko WidodoJacqui Baker (@indobaker) of Murdoch University joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Prabowo Subianto’s victory in Indonesia’s presidential elections, the legacy and political future of the popular outgoing president Joko Widodo, and the durability of the economic and political status quo in this rising Southeast Asian power.
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After Joko Widodo: What a Prabowo Presidency Means for Indonesia
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2024-02-2658 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsGuyana: The World's Newest PetrostateJay Mandle, a professor emeritus of economics at Colgate University, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss whether Guyana, now the world's newest petrostate and fastest-growing economy, can leverage its newfound oil wealth to change its destiny and avoid the "resource curse."
By 2035, Guyana could become the world's fourth-largest producer of oil. But it faces a host of challenges in exploiting these resources for the benefit of its population. In this episode, Mandle and Rafiq these obstacles, including climate change, longstanding ethnic and racial divisions, and threats from neighboring Venezuela.
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Gu...2024-02-1951 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Many Political Lives of Anwar IbrahimMeredith Weiss, a professor of political science at the University at Albany, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the many political transformations of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over his political career. A prominent Islamist student activist, Anwar was cultivated by longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as his heir apparent, only to be victimized and imprisoned by him later. As a dissident, Anwar became an outspoken Muslim democrat both at home and on the global stage. Today, his politics, in the view of some, can be described as post-Islamist. Anwar Ibrahim's fascinating political journey is not his story alone: i...2024-02-121h 01
The Pivot by Globely NewsIran, the IRGC, and the Battle for the Middle EastAfshon Ostovar, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) transformed from being a ragtag militia to a preeminent outside force in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere in the Middle East. They explore the IRGC’s network of partners, including the so-called Axis of Resistance, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in how IRGC leverages these groups as part of its strategy of asymmetric warfare against its adversaries and rivals, including the U.S. and Israel.
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Iran’s IRGC and th...2024-01-291h 17
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe China ChallengeAli Wyne, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the implications of Taiwan's recent elections, how China is responding to the results, the risks of a U.S.-China war over Taiwan, and the broader challenge of managing a rising China.
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The China Challenge: How to Manage Strategic Rivalry With Beijing
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2024-01-221h 24
The Pivot by Globely NewsAmerican Jews: Beyond the TropesJournalist Emily Tamkin, author of "Bad Jews," joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the evolving and often contentious debate over what it means to be an American Jew and how today's conversations about Jews, whiteness, and wealth fit into the broader historical, American Jewish experience. They also discuss the parallels between neoconservatism in the 60s and 70s and today's counter-progressivism — or anti-wokeism — among Jewish public intellectuals. The conversation concludes with Tamkin's thoughts on the crisis of American Zionism.
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American Jews: Beyond the Tropes
CONNECT WITH US...2024-01-151h 13
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Bangladesh ParadoxBangladesh has seen rapid economic growth and development gains amid poor governance, rampant corruption, and growing repression. On Sunday, Bangladeshi voters went to the polls to take part in elections that were neither free nor fair.
Ali Riaz, a distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University, joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how deep and durable Bangladesh's socio-economic gains are and whether they can be sustained under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime.
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Bangladesh Elections: Trouble Lurks Beneath Sheikh Hasina’s ‘Victory’
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The Pivot by Globely NewsThe El-Sisi Guide to Ruling EgyptHesham Sallam of Stanford University joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Pres. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's 10 years as ruler of Egypt and how this one man has dominated Egypt, its institutions, and its 110 million people for a decade. They dive deep into El-Sisi's motives, how his brand of authoritarianism differs from those of his predecessors, and what the future holds for this new pharaoh and the 110 million people over whom he rules.
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How El-Sisi Rules Egypt
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The Pivot by Globely NewsVenezuela’s Long CrisisFrancisco Rodríguez of the University of Denver joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Venezuela's long political and economic crises, the drivers of its instability, the role played by the U.S., its links to the migrant crisis, and the potential for a way out.
In this episode, we take a deep look at the broader political and economic crisis that Venezuela has been experiencing for more than two decades and is driving the ongoing migrant crisis. We’ll unpack the roots of populist authoritarianism in Venezuela and the impact of the U.S. sanctions regime on the c...2023-12-111h 38
The Pivot by Globely NewsIndia’s Global Assassination ProgramMurtaza Hussain of The Intercept joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss India’s global assassination campaign, its modes, methods, and motivations, and what it means for the future of India’s partnership with the United States and the West.
Previously limited to its neighborhood, India's assassination campaign is now extending to the West. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed it has charged an Indian man of attempting to kill a Sikh American supporter of the Khalistan separatist movement. The development comes just months after the killing in Canada of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, another Khalistani activi...2023-12-0448 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Arab Americans of Metro Detroit: Inside a Community That Could Decide the 2024 Presidential ElectionsUniversity of Michigan-Dearborn Professor Sally Howell joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the history of the Arab Americans of Detroit and Dearborn and their rise as a force that is not only reshaping the political landscape in Michigan but could also play a decisive role in choosing the next president of the United States.
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2023-11-171h 13
The Pivot by Globely NewsSaudi Arabia: The Gaza War and MBS’s Plans to Transform the RegionRice University scholar Kristian Ulrichsen joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss how the October 7 attacks by Hamas have impacted Saudi Arabia's moves toward normalizing ties with Israel, its relations with Iran, and plans by its de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to transform the country's economy and society through Vision 2030.
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2023-11-0850 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsHamas: Between Politics and WarKing's College London Professor Jeroen Gunning joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss Hamas's ideology, internal struggles between pragmatists and hardliners, competition with other Palestinian groups, and use of violence against Israel.
The episode concludes with a discussion on how to hold both state and non-state actors accountable for violence against civilians.
Gunning lived in Gaza in the late 1990s and interviewed most of Hamas's leading political leaders as well as many rank-and-file members of the group. His first book, "Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion, Violence," is informed by this field research.
Learn more2023-11-031h 11
The Pivot by Globely NewsNetanyahu’s WarsInternational Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein joins host Arif Rafiq to discuss the mood on the ground in Israel after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, how it may shape Netanyahu’s decision-making, and what the ongoing crisis means for his legacy.
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2023-10-2739 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Palestinian Question: Past, Present and FutureThe Middle East Institute's Khaled Elgindy and host Arif Rafiq discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. policy toward Palestine, and the future of the Palestinian national movement.
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2023-10-1944 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsNarendra Modi’s Dark Vision of a New IndiaHost Arif Rafiq speaks with journalist Rana Ayyub and Professor Audrey Truschke on the danger Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a "New India" poses to Muslims and other minorities, free speech, and academic inquiry in India.
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2019-05-2251 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsCan Imran Khan Build a New Pakistan?Host Arif Rafiq speaks with columnist Mosharraf Zaidi and NYT correspondent Salman Masood on whether Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan can succeed in building a "New Pakistan" in a time of austerity and severe economic crisis.
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2019-05-0626 min
The Pivot by Globely NewsThe Rise of White Nationalism and Transnational IslamophobiaIn the wake of the New Zealand massacres, host Arif Rafiq speaks with The Intercept's Murtaza Hussain and Type Media Center's Eli Clifton on rising white nationalism and cooperation between transnational Islamophobic networks, including Hindu extremists and hardline supporters of Israel.
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2019-04-1630 min